Trade Up

I Don't Own Digimon or Naruto!

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'Thoughts'

"Speech"

-Merged Speech-

-(V)- New Point of View/Scene Change

- o 0 o -

Ryo Akiyama

Three Days Later

He watches as Naruto studies the cards in his hand with great intent. He gives his own cards a passing glance before glancing down onto the mat with some of their cards on it as it is resting between them. Just this evening, Naruto showed up with not only a starter pack but also eight booster packs and handed them to him with the intent to teach him how to play Digimon the card game.

He had gotten off to a rough start but he's slowly getting the feel of the game as they play against each other. Though he's a bit reluctant to make friends while living in this dimension, it would seem that Naruto wasn't really giving him a say in the matter and seemed to be pretty good at tracking him down over the past three days. Though Naruto has tried to introduce him to his friend, a guy named Henry who's another collector and player of Digimon the card game. It seemed that Henry is pretty busy during the weekday evenings so it's likely that he won't be meeting the guy until the weekend, if ever.

Naruto lies down a card that activates an armour evolution for this Veemon, transforming the rookie into Magnamon and adding two modify cards. He sighs as he glances at his defending Digimon. Naruto's Magnamon attacks his Garurumon, causing him to discard his Garurumon card, which sets him back.

Now it's his turn and he picks up two cards to replace the ones he discarded during his last turn. He frowns as he tries to think up a strategy using his two new cards within his hand. As he muses over his cards, he watches as Naruto gazes at his partner who's currently listening to Naruto's MP3 player, he can't help but wonder where the blond gets the money to pay for something like that.

'Maybe he gets a pay cheque from that government agency.' He muses to himself since as Naruto and Dorumon were giving them a brief tour around the city, the other Tamer had mentioned that he's currently living with a distant cousin who works for a government agency whose duty it was to police Digimon as they're trying to Bio Emerge into the real world. Though it also seems that Naruto's pretty new to the city as well, though where Naruto lived before coming to the city, the blond didn't say and it seems that Naruto's being pretty tight lip about it as well.

Since he's not really willing to talk about where he lived before arriving in West Shinjuku, he didn't press matter with Naruto either. Although, he can't help but wonder when he's going to be force to leave this dimension since he's already growing attached to the blond sitting across from him and knew that one day, he'll have to leave Naruto to go save the multiverse from the dark god once more. 'He kind of reminds me of Tai… only blond and has even more energy then Tai ever had.' He muses before playing his cards.

He manages to get his Viximon to Digivolve not only into Renamon but also put down two Gotsumon in defense stance as well. Naruto nods slightly before picking up the number of cards he needs for his hand. The wicked grin erupts on the whisker cheeked Tamer's face after a few seconds. Just before Naruto's about to play his cards, their Digivices act up and a few seconds later, Naruto's cell phone right out a song.

"Let me guess, a Digimon Bio Emerged." Naruto says in a flat tone, he lets loose a sigh at that. While he is getting better at playing this game, Naruto's luck seems to be in tonight. He figures that once he's better at this game that he'll never lose to the blond ever again. "Uh ah, right, I'm on it." Naruto says before closing the phone.

Quickly they both got their cards off the mat and into either their pocket or deck pouch. Naruto's already sprinting away with Dorumon at his heels. He stands there for a few seconds before recovering from his gawking. With a slight shake of his head, he picks up the mat and once he's done folding it, he stuffs it into a pocket before chasing after the blond. He notices that Cyberdramon was even father ahead then Naruto was, though it seems that Naruto's able to keep pace with Cyberdramon's flight path.

'Well, you can't call him lazy if he can keep that pace up.' He muses as he follows them as best as he could. 'I wonder if Cyberdramon would be willing to give me a lift next time this happens…' He thinks as he begins to feel his muscles complain about the demanding pace that he's set.

By the time he arrives at the scene, Cyberdramon's already battling it out with what appears to be a metal armour Digimon with blue lightning acting as its wings. What's most interesting is the knife blade that coming out of the front of its body. "And that is?" He asks after he jogs up to where the blond is standing next to the purple furred rookie.

"According to my Digivice, that's BladeKuwagamon, a champion level machine Digimon that's got a virus attribute. It also says that blade has been Chrome Digizoid-itized." Naruto answers as Dorumon hums in agreement. "I'm surprised you didn't try to get Cyberdramon to back off so you can deal with this one." He admits and Naruto glances at him, Naruto's blue eyes met his for a few seconds before Naruto's gaze returns to watching Cyberdramon toy with the champion Digimon.

"Well, for one thing, Cyberdramon's an ultimate level Digimon while Dorumon can only achieve champion level. Then there's the fact that you're partner is always spoiling for a fight, so why get between his and his… 'prey.' Besides, I can sympathize as to why they keep Bio Merging, they're only looking for something they can't find in the Digital world. While I'm sure there are Digimon out there just seeking to destroy life as we know it, I believe they're few and far between." Naruto admits before sighing, he sighs as once more, the blond shows that there's more to him then what he's seen so far.

"I get this feeling that you'll never cease to amaze me, blondie." He says teasingly, Naruto blinks at him before chuckling. "That's me in a nut shell." The blond preteen says jokingly. He nods in agreement before watching Cyberdramon finish trying to get as much out of his current opponent as he can.

As the metal insectoid Digimon thrusts its blade, likely aiming for his partner's chest, Cyberdramon growls in annoyance and punches the trusting blade with his left hand. His partner moves to his left to avoid the misaimed thrust and within a few heart beats, the grey dragon type Digimon is now behind the champion level Digimon. "Erase Claw!" His partner snarls and the claws on both hands glow as Cyberdramon dives into the relatively un-protective back of BladeKuwagamon, since unlike the front the back lacks the protruding blade.

Other then a zapping screech, the scene before them was quiet as his partner downloads the data particles that made up the metal Digimon. Cyberdramon growls in annoyed way, it was clear that the battle hadn't satisfied him in the least and he could only sigh. "Well, I think that ends our evening." He tells Naruto in an apologetic way and Naruto shrugs.

"I guess. Any way, keep the cards and get some practice in, you never know, you might just beat me by next week." Naruto says, giving him a foxy grin. "I was thinking by this weekend." He states dryly and the blond just chuckles as Dorumon flicks his tail in amusement.

"Good luck with that goal, Ryo. I get the feeling that Naruto's luck is here to stay." The purple rookie says sagely, his arms were crossed over his chest as Dorumon stands his full height, using his tail for balance. "I'm hurt by your lack of faith, my furry friend. Truly hurt." He says in a fake hurt tone with his left hand over his chest.

"Later." Naruto says and he nods, he watches as the pair head off, likely in the direction of his uncle's apartment. He sighs as he turns to look at his partner, he felt kind of helpless at what to do with the forceful dragon at this time.

'It would be so much easier if he could become Monodramon, I mean, Monodramon is still in there, right?' He wonders for a few seconds before dismissing those thoughts since he doubts wishful thinking will make it happen. Cyberdramon leans down slightly and picks him up, once in the nock of his arm, the ultimate level Digimon launches off the ground and soon they're traveling over the city, heading to a warehouse where his partner has taken to cool off.

-(V)-

Naruto Uzumaki

Four Weeks Later

Digimon the Card Game Tournament

"How did you talk me into this?" Ryo hisses at him and he just grins. "It was fairly simple, Henry's out of town visiting his grandparents on his dad's side of the family, so I couldn't very well put his name on the form now could I?" He replies cheerfully as he pins the paper with Ryo's number on his back.

"I'm really beginning to wonder if there is a 'Henry' since I have yet to meet the guy." Ryo grumbles, he can't help but think of Cyberdramon as Ryo continues to pretend to be reluctant to participate in this tournament. "It ever crossed your mind to put your name down?" Ryo adds as the other Tamer glares into his face.

"Sure did, heck, Henry mentioned it too come to think of it. But really, I'm not the one complaining about being bore now was I?" He answers as he pats the older Tamer on the shoulder. He wasn't going to add the fact that Henry also doubted Ryo's existence since for some unknown reason, every time he's about to say Ryo's name, something interrupts him or distracts him.

'I'll admit, getting hit in the back of the head by a baseball that Kazu throw was odd, continually getting hit in by something that Kazu has touched is beginning to make me wonder if there's this conspiracy determined to keep me from saying Ryo's name at school.' He muses darkly to himself once Ryo's looking away from him. With a sigh, he also glances around at those that have managed to sign in before the registry was closed, though he would have thought that more would have turned out since the prize was to have yourself featured in the latest Digimon game that's about to come out.

'Besides, Ryo needs a confidence boost. I mean, I can't help but keep winning all of our matches… True, it's pretty much the same result with everybody else that I go up against as well, but, with Ryo, I've TIRED to lose on purpose! Nothing works, which is kind of funny since I suck at what I wanted most to be.' He adds thoughtful, his musings end as over the speakers they're asking that people get seated and for the contestants to head off to where they're suppose to be.

"See you in the finishing circle." He says in the best cheery voice he could muster as he pats Ryo on the shoulder one last time. Ryo's eyes flash with irritation before sighing. "If I manage to win…" He hears Ryo mutter as the other Tamer walks away from him. Amusement flashes across his face before heading off to go find his seat. He has faith that Ryo will win this thing; after all, Ryo's the only one to last more then four rounds when they play against each other. It's not long before he manages to get to his seat, although it took some doing getting pass some of the people already settled down. He once more winces from having his foot stepped on for the fourth time as he manages to get by a rather heavy looking individual. And then, finally, he slides into his padded seat which is by the entrance into the arena, which places him against a concrete wall.

He had long since disregarded the people talking into the mic, all they were doing was going over what the prizes were and then went on to generate more hip about this game that the winner will star in. He privately was reminded of all those guest speakers that Iruka-sensei would have back when he was attending the academe. He closes his eyes as he feels a rush of homesickness as well as regret on leaving the way he did. He felt bad for not even getting the chance to write a letter or something to not just Iruka, but also to the old man Hokage and to the pair that work at his favourite Ramen bar.

He clinches his jaws as he forces those feelings away by focusing on Dorumon. 'Maybe I should go into a bit more detail about my past… I mean, that could help get rid of these feelings, right? I mean, it happens in the movies, so, it should work in real life, right?' He muses until the crowd around him roar in approval, startling him out of his depressing musing.

He blinks a few times before he notices that there were at least four tables set up. The card players currently on floor, eight of them he noted, had just finish sitting down at their assigned table. A red head catches his notice for a few seconds before he decides to watch the one he had the better view of. The players begin to shuffle their cards and the rooting quiets down to manageable levels, although there is a dim of murmuring voices, he can already regret the fact that he didn't bring any Aspirin as he begins to feel a slight pounding at his temples.

The first match to between the red head and a guy with an earring was the first to end. "Rika Nonaka is the winner of our first match, so a round of applause for our first winner!" The announcer exclaims and he plugs his ears as the crowd roars heartily. Rika doesn't seem too thrilled about this as she doesn't react to the crowd at large.

He watches as Rika heads off out of the arena, he shrugs mentally, deciding to keep an eye on her during future matches. He returns to watching the other three matches, trying to decide who'd win out of the matches. Though at this point, he kind of wished that he could have brought Dorumon with him.

-(V)-

Dorumon

Same Day

He sticks his tongue out as he moves the game console to the left while Tally just chuckles at his antics. Riley's sitting back on the couch behind him, currently nursing a slight hang over. The pair were over to keep him company until they have to leave for their evening shift.

"Damn it! Why couldn't it turn faster?" He growls as his character rams into a wall for the fourth time during this course. "Too bad you're character doesn't turn as you move your console, huh?" Tally says teasingly.

"It would help even more if he had more then three fingers on each... hand." Riley throws in. He frowns as he looks down to look at his arms. He didn't see what's wrong with them, but then, compared to a human's, his were pretty short for his body. Although, he'll give them the bit about lacking four fingers and a thumb since it would give him a better grasp of the game console or TV remote.

As Tally presses a button to get rid of what's currently on the TV screen, he glances at the clock hanging on the wall in the kitchen. Yamaki keeps it around just encase there is a black out caused by a high level 'Wild One' Bio Emerging. With a shrug, he puts down the game console as Tally turns off the Game Cube so they could watch TV.

"I wonder how Ryo's doing in that card tournament." He muses, while he doesn't know how to interact with Cyberdramon that doesn't really apply to Ryo though. It also made him wonder what the ultimate level Digimon was doing while Ryo participated in this tournament; he hopes that the humanoid dragon hasn't gotten into any fights while Ryo's with his Tamer.

"Well, considering who's his regular opponent is, he's more then likely to win it." Riley muses before getting up to refill her mug. "Naruto definitely was born under a lucky star." Tally replies, agreeing with her co-worker. He shrugs; he doubts that even if he tried to tell them otherwise that they could change what the whisker blond had gone through.

Besides, his Tamer rarely mention his birth village and he's more then happy to leave the subject alone until Naruto's willing to talk about it. He wonders briefly if anybody back in Naruto's home village has ever given much thought of contacting him since Naruto left. After all, if anyone from there asked the right people, they would have phone here to check up on him.

As Riley returns from the kitchen, the red headed woman brought the box of pastries that she got before heading to the apartment. He waits for the two adult humans to pick something before he picks out a pastry. As he pops the cream bun into his mouth, the news cast switches out to talk with one of their reporters on location. He perks as he hears mention of the card tournament and moves to turn up the volume.

"It's been a quite exciting day here at the Digimon card tournament and the prize being a game character based on the winner of this tournament." The reporter at the event says. "So I take it there's been quite the gathering then?" The anchor woman states, her question directed at the reporter on location.

The reporter nods ever so slightly, it was hard for him to tell since the man occupied a small screen in the right top corner of the corner. "There was an ok turn out concerning that this is the first time an official tournament has been held. It would also seem that the crowd have their favourites among the players as well." The reporter on location answers. "And who might they be?" The anchor man asks.

"A young man named Ryo Akiyama and a young girl named Rika Nonaka, daughter of the famous model Rumiko Nonaka." The reporter replies. There was a lame joke that he didn't bother to pay much mind to it before the screen showing the on location report changes to display a red cross.

His current state of mind, he felt a great deal of pride of not only by the fact that Ryo's teacher had been his own partner, Naruto Uzumaki, but also in the fact that an actual Tamer had gain a great deal of favour from just one event. Although he'd feel a great deal more pride if Naruto had just entered the tournament himself but then, there were just times when Naruto seem to shun the spot light to push others into it. 'At least he's willing to share the lime light.'

He snaps out of his thoughts as Riley's cell phone beeps. With a sigh, he's already going through his mental list of groceries so he has a good idea of what he wants for supper since it's more then likely that the pair of adults with him will be leaving sooner then expected.

-(V)-

Naruto Uzumaki

West Shinjuku Park

"I've decided on a nickname for ya, Ryo." He informs the other Tamer now that Ryo has won the tournament. "Oh? And what's the nickname?" The taller Tamer asks carefully as they pick up Cyberdramon from the shred that Dorumon and him had lived for a couple of days. "DK, short for Digimon King, not to be confused with Donkey Kong from that show Donkey Kong Country." He tells the other Tamer in a cheerful voice. He stops as Ryo stops; the other boy begins to groan on hearing that nickname. "You got to be kidding me… You think that's a good nickname?" Ryo asks him, it's clear that Ryo doesn't find the name to be amusing.

"It's shorter then you're original name and already people are thinking of you as the Digimon King, too, you know." He points out as he turns to face his friend. Ryo sighs and shakes his head as he replies, "But you always win when we play! If anything, you're nickname should be the Digimon King, besides, it's only shorter by one letter."

His grin widens as he answers, "So what? Officially, you're the Digimon King and I'm just the advisor of the King. Or maybe I'm the general, you know, the guy better at doing the actual work while the King gets all the credit by the simple fact that he hired the General." Ryo cracks a grin and he gives Ryo a toothy smile before he turns away from the teen to continue on to the concrete shed that Cyberdramon is suppose to be staying at.

"This coming from a preteen who looks like he's got a blond hedgehog on top of his head and for eyes a pair of sapphires." Ryo says in a bland tone as his buddy starts off after him. He sticks out his tongue at his friend and Ryo rolls his eyes at his childish antics as he shakes his head. Ryo sighs theatrically and in a mock despairing tone says, "It's so hard to be the mature one, you're always dealing with troublesome children."

He snorts slightly at the word troublesome; it kind of reminds him of one of his cut buddies, Shikamaru. "If you had it your way, you'd be highly anti-social bookworm." He retorts as he looks forward and folds his arms behind his head as he continues to walk in front of one of his best human friends as he does count Henry as a best friend along with Ryo.

Something bounces off the back of his head, he pauses, momentarily before he lowers his arms and glances to see Ryo whistling innocently. He narrows his eyes slightly as he says, "Ok, you're going down DK!" Ryo grins slightly before taking off at a dead run away from him as a trail of laughter marks his passage. With a slight smirk, he mentally counts to twenty before taking off after Ryo.

After a game slightly game of rough and rumble, they both laid on the grass panting. Unlike Ryo, he's not really winded from their mock combat but he felt slightly giddy about just goofing off like he'd seen the other guys back at Hidden Leaf do with close friends. He only worried slightly about accidentally injuring Ryo during their little scuff since he knew he's in better shape then his friend and fellow Tamer.

"You know, that kind of helped." Ryo says between pants. He sits up so he can look at Ryo's face. "Oh?" He asks and Ryo nods slightly. "Well, it's been a while since I just let go and acted my age. I can't recall the last time I felt so… free." Ryo admits softly, his gaze softens as he turns away as he nods, he gets what Ryo's saying, after all, he's never really got a chance to act his age either.

True, he'd goof off to get attention and there were plenty of times where people considered him an idiot, but really, how was he suppose to know what most other kids know when he didn't have anyone around to teach him or take time to get to know more about him. True, Iruka-sensei was beginning to see him as somebody but the man also expected something from him that he couldn't give since he didn't know what the man had wanted or how to give it. Then a thought occurred to him that caused a smile to erupt on his face.

'But maybe I got a second chance to do it with Yamaki.' He muses as he glances at a random tree trunk. "So, you and your dad ever do much together?" He asks, it's kind of off topic but he wouldn't mind getting an idea of how close Ryo was with his parental unit. He doesn't see Ryo's face but he glances at Ryo once his friend and fellow Tamer says, "We don't… we're not… exactly seeing eye to eye at the moment." He winces slightly on hearing that. "Well, if it helps, I'm not sure my uncle and I are even facing the same direction." He admits as Ryo sits upright.

"That bad, huh?" Ryo asks and he shrugs. "Well, yea, I guess. He's a bit of a workaholic; his focus is on overseeing Hypnos and trying to find a way to keep Digimon from Bio Emerging. Dorumon and I spend more time with Tally and Riley then with him." He tells his friend.

Ryo winces in sympathy as Ryo looks away from him. "Funny, it seems that the point of conflict for us seems to be Digimon." Ryo says and he gives his buddy a confused look. "I don't get it. The only reason Yamaki and I met is because of Dorumon." He tells Ryo, his friend blinks and studies him for a moment. "Err… Huh?" Ryo asks in confusion.

"I wouldn't have come to West Shinjuku if I hadn't hooked up with Dorumon. You could even say that because of Digimon I stopped running away and began to run towards something. Besides, Dorumon's become like a brother to me, I can't picture life without him at my side." He tells Ryo as he elaborates his previous statement.

He notices the oddly thoughtful look on Ryo's face once he said that, Ryo seems to be lost in thought for a few seconds. "Anyway, it's getting late, so we better get to the shed, Hige." Ryo says with a toothy grin at the last word. He snorts as he shakes his head at the so call original nickname that DK came up with. "Real original… DK." He says once he's on his feet, its Ryo's turn to roll his eyes and shake his head. He helps his friend to his feet and they continued on in a comfortable silence.

-(V)-

Henry Wong

Monday Morning

"Hey Henry!" He hears Naruto call out as the blond spots him by the sport's shed. He grins at his energetic blond friend as he nods in Naruto's direction. "So, how was your weekend?" He asks the blond once Naruto's about five to four feet away from him.

"Fine, too bad you weren't around to watch the tournament with me." Naruto says and he smiles slightly before asking, "Here I thought you'd be watching with you're other friend… I still don't know his name." Naruto's eyes sparkle with mischief as Naruto's grin widens slightly as his friend answers, "I signed him up, anyway. By the way, I've dubbed him with the nickname of DK."

"And what's his nickname for you? Blondie?" He asks his friend with an easy grin on his face. "No, he'd picked out Hige for my nickname." Naruto says with a slight rolling of his eyes. "Hige, whisker, seems to be a good one considering what's on you're cheeks." He muses and Naruto gives him a mock glare before shrugging.

"I guess we're going to have to think up a good nickname for you one of these days." Naruto muses and he snorts softly, not like that'll ever happen. "So, just think, a few more days until New Years." He muses as he changes the subject. It still surprises him that he's known Naruto for only a few short months but it already it feels longer then that.

"So, does that mean I'm invited over?" Naruto inquires, giving him a hopeful look. For a moment, the look on the blonde's face reminded him of a hopeful puppy. The moment passes and he answers, "Yea, it seems my parents want to met the 'hooligan' who keeps getting me involved with the pranks that occur around the school."

"Ah, and here I was looking forward to meeting your parents and siblings." Naruto says in a sad tone. "You should be an actor." He notes in a teasing tone. His friend rolls his eyes at that before saying, "It could have happened to anyone."

He snorts as he corrects his friend's statement, "Sure it could. It's possible for Kazu and Kenta to 'accidentally' eat some pudding that's been laced with liquid laxative and then found their washroom stalls sealed with sticky tac. The only reason they were found was because one of their friends found them locked in their stalls and went to get the janitor."

"Exactly, it could have happened to anyone." Naruto says with a few nods, as if agreeing with him that it was all an accident. He sighs in defeat, it's clear that the blond wasn't going to admit that he helped that event to happen. True, he supplied the sticky tac and the pudding, but that's all he did to help that incident take place and that it was Naruto who did the rest.

"So, what time should I arrive at to celebrate the Chinese New Year?" Naruto asks, going back to their original topic. "You can walk with me to the apartment after school." He informs the blond and Naruto grins winningly at him. "I'll be sure to bring my appetite." His best friend says cheerfully and he chuckles on hearing that.

"Hope you like frog legs." Is his finishing remark as the warning bell rings to signal that they should start to get to class before the final bell rings and which means that they're late to class. Naruto and him spilt up as they head to their lockers, they'll see each other within a few minutes since they're in the same classroom.

'Well, at least I can't say that my life is boring.' He muses to himself as he reflects on how much his life has changed since Naruto began to seek out his company. Ever since he beat up that bully when he was younger, people kind of avoided him and he in turn avoided them. In time, people forgot about the incident and somebody else became the center of gossip, though he never forgot what a moment of anger could do and did his best to stay in control of his emotions so such an incident doesn't happen again.

"Sorry!" Says a kid who's in his class, one of the ones that's regularly hang out with Kazu and Kenta. It would seem that the brown haired kid is in a rush to get to his locker, it's likely that the kid expects to be late as well. "It's alright, no harm done." He says to the excitable boy. With a smile of relief on his face, the other nods before walking quickly through the halls, trying to get to his locker before the final bell rings.

Once he's closed his locker, it takes him about a minute or two to get to the classroom with his text books and book bag. It seems that Naruto beat him again. There's a slight exasperated look on the blond's face as the blond is getting ganged up on by a pack of girls.

It would seem that Naruto's going to have a date for the Valentine's Day dance whether he likes it or not. Two girls glance his way and a calculating look enters in their eyes as they size him up. As he keeps his face carefully blank, his thoughts circle around just what Naruto's said to the pack before his entrance into the classroom. It would seem that he'll have a date for the dance as well.

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