[Uchiha District, Konoha] - Uchiha Takehiro

The Naka shrine was as welcoming as it had been for the last ten years since their marriage. A childless marriage that was.

Takehiro clasped his hands in prayers in front of the shrine, his wife doing the same. After all, this was a ritual they'd done countless times, and today was no exception.

"May we be blessed with a child very soon," he prayed to any deity that would hear. "And may the child be healthy and bring wealth and more love to our family."

The wealth part wasn't necessary, but a little money for child support and extra expenditures wouldn't hurt.

When they took their walk back to their house, Mie whined and started what had already become their routine bickering.

"Why can't we just adopt?"

Takehiro rolled his eyes. "Yeah. And let's take in the Uzumaki child while we're at it, why don't we?"

Mie shrugged, her eyes tinkling with mischief. She nudged him in the rib. "I'm not averse to it, you know. Any child would do by this point."

"Uchihas are racist," he almost said, but refrained due to listening ears around. Instead, Takehiro recited his usual response to his wife. "I'd rather not have my child grow around people that treat him badly just because they look a little different."

"We can look for a child with black hair?"

"How many black hair orphans do you see that aren't adopted already?"

"I don't know? At least some?"

Takehiro sighed, tired of having this discourse almost every single day.

"Let's just stop talking about this, can we?"

Mie nodded in defeat. Alright, now he felt bad.

Sighing again, he squeezed her shoulder.

"Okay, look. I'll make a bet. If a child ever fell from the sky, no matter if he looks like an Uchiha or not, we'll adopt him."

Mie gave him a brief incredulous stare before whipping her head up, because the moment he said that, they both hear a scream coming from above them.

With reflexes he gained back from his shinobi days, he jumped and skillfully cradled the boy into his arms before landing back next to his wife.

The boy was no older than ten and sported a brown hair never seen on any Uchiha. His pale red eyes however would fit in well with the Sharingan that the clan was so proud of.

The boy looked at them with recognition on his face once he calmed down.

"Mom? Dad?"

Takehiro and Mie shared a look with each other. She then grinned.

"You were saying?"


"So you're saying a huge dragon told you to go through this hole in the sky and then you fell here?" Takehiro repeated, ignoring the mountain of rice his wife was creating in the boy's bowl.

The boy, Takato, nodded as he inhaled the mountain out of existence. He seemed like he was choking but fortunately found the miso soup quick enough to save himself.

"Sorry." He sheepishly apologized. "I haven't eaten anything since yesterday."

"Poor baby. Here, eat more," Mie said and promptly dumped in another mountain that was taller than the previous one.

He thanked her and ate slower this time.

"Where were we? Right, monsters. So I was fighting this huge monster with my friends, and we won. But the something happened and sucked us in. And then I met you."

Takehiro nodded, accepting the story. While the boy didn't seem like a shinobi at first glance, looks could be very deceiving in this profession. And even if the boy was lying, there was no harm in humoring him.

"But I'm still curious." Takehiro scratched his non-existent beard. He'd met the Hokage a few times and the old man looked cool doing it. "Why did you call us mom and dad?"

Mie, surprisingly, nodded in agreement. "Do we look that similar to your parents?"

Takato nodded in response. "You look the same. Even have the same names. The only difference is the black hair. My parents' hair is brown like mine."

Takehiro blinked, looking at Mie if she also found this strange. She just shrugged and continued to feed their not-son to death.

"My, you're scrawny. Here, eat this too."

He ignored his wife and studied the boy.

"Where are you from? Do you know the way home?"

Takato hummed as he chewed on his food. "It's a bit difficult to believe even for me, but think I came from another world. That's the only explanation."

"...huh?"


Takehiro peeked at his son-from-another-world through the door's small gap as the boy settled in his futon for the night.

His son. Who fell from the sky.

It was just surreal.

Wishing the boy good night, he silently slid the door closed and went to look for his wife.

Mie was in the laundry room, humming a happy tune as she rinsed what appeared to be Takato's clothing.

Takehiro leaned himself next to the doorway, tapping on the wall to announce his presence. Or that was his excuse. He just didn't quite know how to best break it to her.

"Say, Mie," he nervously called her. His wife turned to him but didn't stop humming. "You know there's a chance he's not who he says he is, right?"

At that she paused before nodding in confirmation. Well, at least she was aware.

"I thought a bit about it," She said, pensive. Then she threw him a teasing smile. "But he didn't eat like you, so I dismissed it."

Takehiro didn't even feel like giving a reaction to that.

"And how are my table manners relevant here?"

She giggled, getting back to brushing the laundry.

"Because you're tense all the time. You can't go a few bites without eyeing around like there's a spy waiting to ambush you when you're not looking. Takato wasn't like that."

If the boy wasn't a spy, then he might have been sent by one, but Takehiro didn't want to upset his wife further so he conceded to her reasoning. It wasn't like he was so famous during his shinobi days to earn a bounty on his head.

...or so he thought when an unmistakably light footsteps belonging to a child approaching him from behind. But his wife's words filled his conscience and he listened to it enough to notice how sluggishly un-shinobi-like the footsteps were, no matter if the boy was a spy or not. So he pulled his tense hands back.

Takato stopped behind them, causing both Takehiro and Mie to gasp, but for different reasons.

"Takato, you look pale. Is something wrong?" Mie exited the laundry room and bent down to his height. Takehiro applauded her for her acting skill to completely ignore the glowing red eyes the child now sported. A three-tomoe Sharingan swirled nervously where the boy's pale red eyes were supposed to be.

"My... my toy," he paused, as if looking for the right word to describe it. Or he could just be taking his breath but Takehiro didn't live this long by ignoring his hunch. "Wh-where is it?"

Takato looked around frantically

Mie pointed to the kitchen.

"I found it in your pocket and left it on the ta–" he didn't even let her finish before rushing to the kitchen. "–ble."

When he came back with his "toy", Takehiro stepped in front of him and gently grabbed his shoulders.

"Takato, you have the Sharingan." It wasn't a question, but it did seem to make questions for the boy if his tilted head was any indication.

"Huh? What's a Sharingan?" The boy asked tiredly before yawning. He wiped his eyes. "Sorry. I'm not usually this tired..."

Takehiro nodded. "Activating Sharingan does that to you. Does everything move slower for you right now?"

The boy squinted and confirmed with a nod. "Yeah. It's weird." Another yawn escaped him. "How do I... deactivate this Sharingan?"

"Follow my hands."

Takehiro made a handsign that should redirect the chakra from Takato's eyes to his hands. The boy, by virtue of his fully developed eyes, copied the sign perfectly. This usually helped when a non-Uchiha needed to manually redirect their chakra so they wouldn't fatigue themselves from Sharingan over-usage.

Takato's glowing eyes gradually faded into his pale red ones. Takehiro was fortunately right in front of the boy to catch him when he fell, eyes now tightly closed. His toy fell and clanged on the wooden floor.

Just who and what was this boy?

"He's our son from another world after all. Of course he'd have the Sharingan," Mie commented, accepting it as if commenting about the normal change of weather. "Still. He can deactivate it but gets chakra fatigue like people with Sharingan transplants..."

Takehiro mulled over her words but decided he could find out more about it later once Takato was awake.

"You know, I'm beginning to think he's just a lost boy with lots of questions attached."

He huffed as he lifted the boy up, intending to carry him to his room. He was getting old if a boy this light was giving him this much trouble.

"So we'll adopt him?" Mie asked with those hopeful big eyes of hers.

He shook his head at her antics. "Just until it's his time to go home. But before then, we'll take care of him," he said, looking at the child sleeping peacefully in his arms.


[West Shinjuku, Tokyo] - Lee Shiuchon

Shiuchon listened to dad panicking over the phone, her ears pressed against her room's door.

"No, he's not here either. I'll check with Yamaki. Yes, I'll inform you if I hear anything."

"What's wrong?" She heard Jen-niichan ask dad.

"Takato is missing. Nobody knows where he is now."

Then she heard thumping. Probably dad running across the room.

"Tell your mother I'll be late tonight. Call me if you hear anything about your friend."

Shiuchon pulled herself from the door once she heard a closing clack from the front door.

"Takato-niichan really went there, huh," she said, turning to look at her bag packed to the brim with bread, candies, water, and anything she'd ever need if she got hungry. It appeared she wasn't the only one with the idea.

With Hypnos threatening to seal off the portal Takato-niichan found at Guilmon's old shed, of course he'd go there before they could stop him. The rest of the Tamers were probably planning the same... well except for Jen-niichan.

Though, this was good news.

Now everyone would realize Takato-niichan had gone to the Digital World through that portal, meaning they couldn't close it until they find him.

Finding her resolve, Shiuchon continued packing and planned how to escape her family's supervision. She only had one chance for this. Only one chance to go and find her partner.

"Lopmon, please wait a bit longer. I'm coming for you."


[Zhuqiaomon's Domain, 6th Layer, Digital World] - Alice McCoy

"Was it wise telling him to go there." Alice looked up to the sovereigns who well towered over her.

The four giant beasts all responded differently. Or indifferently to be precise. Only Qinglongmon seemed to be concerned over it.

"Dukemon's human half decided it himself. We have no reason to interfere," Zhuqiaomon the ever emotionally-unattached rationalist said. The Phoenix was unbothered that they had just allowed a child her age to go into the unknown.

"What is that place anyway?" She asked.

One of the Xuanwumon's two heads answered her. Though the turtle's answer only confused her futher.

"It is a crack in space. That's the best way I can describe it. The fabric of the Digital World was already shaky the moment the humans entered, but something else, somewhere, caused a tear in it. I fear we may see more of it in the future."

Baihumon, the most uninterested in the conversation, huffed. Though he must've kept it to minimum or Alice would've flown away.

"It was a mistake on our part to send the partnered Digimon to check on the void. But they've proven they were strong. They wouldn't die easily, and neither would their partners."

"The human child shall be fine," Qinglongmon finally said. The dragon hovering over her was the largest amongst the beasts, but his face was the kindest, offering Alice reassurance with just a smile.

"When he went into the void, he followed his compass did he not? From what I understood, the compass breaks when either of the partners dies, but his was working like it should. So fret not."

Alice still couldn't shake the worry in her stomach but believed in the Sovereigns's words.


[Uchiha District, Konoha] - Matsuda Takato

Running away from home, meeting the Sovereigns, landing in another world, and lastly meeting his parents look-alike from that same world. This whole thing was crazy.

Takato watched the sunlight creeping over the floor before letting his eyes fall on his seemingly broken D-Ark.

The compass that was supposed to lead him to Guilmon was going haywire and pointed to every direction it could point to.

Yet, despite that, he knew Guilmon was in this world. He could feel it as if the Dukemon in him were shouting to reunite with his partner.

"I'll find you, Guilmon. And then we'll go home."

Nobody would separate them again. Not the Sovereigns, not the government, and not the adults.

The opening of the door pulled him from his thoughts.

"Takato? Are you already awake?" His mother from this world asked. It was weird looking at someone with the same face and name as his real parents, but had different hair.

"Yeah, I'm awake..." He trailed off, feeling awkward as he was about to call her by name. "Um, can I call you mom? It's weird to call your name."

The woman looked more delighted than anything.

"Of course you can call me mom." She smiled, reminding Takato of his real mom that he left at home. One that was probably crying. He tried to ignore it. And failed it seemed. "Something bothering you?"

"Oh," Takato rubbed his pricking eyes when he realized he was caught. "It's... I just miss home I guess."

Black-hair mom nodded, approaching him and pulling him into a hug. She ran her hand up and down across his back.

"There there. Once your business here is over, you can go home to your family."

Takato smiled tightly, hugging her back. "Yeah. You're right.