Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Naruto or Digimon franchises. Commetns/Criticism is fine as long as it isn't just straight up hate or flaming. If you do not like, no one is forcing you to read and you can just leave.

Thank you and please enjoy

The Hybrid Tamer

-Chapter 18-

-Last Time-

"…How is it that you're the most normal one?" The elderly woman asked the fox digimon after a long silent pause.

"I would normally be offended by that question, if I hadn't been wondering the same thing ever since I got here." Renamon said dully while pulling out her Icha-Icha book from… somewhere and continuing where she left off.

Sighing at the digital being's response, Seiko flicked open Jeri's phone and quickly found the girl's home number.

…

When it finally stopped several seconds later, the prankster digimon's twitching smoking body dangled limply in its captor's grasp until they tossed him aside like garbage. "Thank you for your contribution Impmon, as thanks for your kindness I'll let you keep your life."

Raising his head weakly, Impmon glared at the mysterious being as they left, just barely able to make out their silhouette as they left. "I swear… I'll get you… back… for this."

-And Now-

"Naruto, you don't have to stay with me all day." Jeri said from where she was laying on her stomach across Rika's bed with several wrapped icepacks laid out across her back, watching as a bored Naruto did chin-ups using the walk-in closet's clothes bar.

Dropping to the ground with a soft *thump* after finishing his current set, Naruto turned to the injured brunette with a light smile as he wiped the sweat off small amount of sweat that had built up on his palms. "Well I am kind of grounded, so it's either this or hanging out with Mr. Wall all day and between you and me, he's not exactly the best conversationalist."

Seiko and Rumiko were out shopping for groceries at the moment while Rika and Renamon were looking for new digimon to defeat, leaving just those two within the household. And since Naruto wasn't allowed to leave the house, because of the grounding, that left him with little to do but some basic exercise and talking with Jeri.

Speaking of the odd girl, she was a bit nervous since her step-mother was on her way, having been somewhat informed of her 'accident'. Having known that it would be a terrible idea to try and explain what had actually happened, Seiko simply told the woman last night that Jeri had fallen out of a tree while trying to retrieve her sock puppet that had gotten tossed up there by a random teen jerk.

Said stepmother, who's name was Shizue, had naturally been worried and concerned but was calmed down a bit once Seiko put Jeri on the line and the girl was able to say for herself that she was alright.

After all of that went down, the woman agreed to wait until tomorrow to come by since it was already rather late at the time of the call.

Giggling at his joke, Jeri watched as Naruto intentionally fell to the floor and started doing some push-ups before blinking as a thought popped in her head. "While we're on that subject, I've been wondering something."

"And what's that?" Naruto asked, raising one arm and folding it behind his back.

"Why did you accept being grounded so easily?" Jeri asked back, causing the whiskered boy to freeze. "I mean you could have just ignored what Ms. Hata said or even argued against it yet you just gave in after a few seconds. Why?"

Naruto didn't respond right away, simply staying in the position he was in completely motionless for several moments before pushing himself up to his feet.

"It's personal," The whiskered boy finally said after a long pregnant pause. "And it's kinda stupid."

"I won't judge." Jeri said supportingly.

"…Promise?" Naruto asked while taking a seat on the bed.

"Cross my heart."

Nodding at the immobile girl's words, Naruto let out a deep sigh before looking at his arms intensely as he started speaking. "You already know that I wasn't always… whatever I am now, right? That I used to be human?"

"Uh-huh, Rika and Renamon told me. They also told me how it happened." Jeri said with a grossed-out expression. She'd asked the redhead what digimon he was, figuring 'Naruto' was a nickname or shortened version of his digimon name, only for Rika to bluntly state that he wasn't one at all to which Renamon had elaborated further. To say she didn't sugar coat the explanation was an understatement. "Are you homesick?"

"Extremely, but that's not what I'm getting at, I was just making sure you knew," Naruto said, not looking away from his arms at all as he idly ran a clawed finger through the fur. "I'm an orphan."

Jeri's eyes widened in surprise at the blunt statement, but stayed quiet as Naruto continued to speak.

"I grew up almost completely alone, with a handful of people I could truly call friends." Naruto said, his shoulders shaking a little as memories of his childhood flashed through his mind. "Since the orphanages were overfull at the time, I was given a small apartment to live in and enough money to pay rent and get food each month once I turned five."

"At first I loved it, definitely beat sharing a single room with six other kids after all." He said with a nostalgic smile before it was swiftly replaced with a frown. "Then the time started to go by. Day after day after day, I'd come home from the academy or from shopping to that same empty apartment. No one there to talk to, nobody asking how my day went, if anything interesting happened, or simply demand what took me so long getting home."

"So when Seiko-baachan got all upset with me yesterday, it was actually kind of nice. She treated me like I was one of her own, another member of the family. It made me… happy." Naruto finished quietly, a tiny smile working its way onto his lips.

'Whoa…' Jeri found herself at a loss for words as silence fell over the room, and who could blame her. The weight held within Naruto's admission was palpable, and the sheer trust he was showing to her by revealing this to her was simply overwhelming.

"Like I said, pretty stupid huh?" Naruto asked rhetorically as he stood back up, snapping Jeri out of her thoughts.

"It's not-"

*Ding-dong*

"Ah, that must be your mom now," Naruto said as the sound of the doorbell ringing reached his ears, which also conveniently cut Jeri off just as she started to speak, before the whiskered boy was engulfed in a puff of smoke and transformed into his 'normal' appearance. "I'll go let her in."

Walking out of the room, he quickly went up to the front door and pulled it open to reveal a slightly chubby woman with short brown hair and soft brown eyes that lit up with recognition upon seeing him. "Um… excuse me young man but is this the Nonaka Residence?"

"Yes ma'am, and you must be Jeri-chan's mom." Naruto said with a grin, stepping to the side when Shizue nodded her head. "Come on in."

"Is Jeri still alright? Where is she?" The step-mom asked worriedly once she was inside.

"She's fine Katoa-san, she's right over here." Naruto said, motioning for the woman to follow him before quickly heading back towards Rika's room.

Upon reaching said bedroom, he wordlessly opened the door and stepped to the side, allowing the worried step-mother to enter first. This proved to be the best decision as Shizue immediately rushed by upon seeing Jeri, getting right up in the girl's face as she asked her if she was alright.

Seeing that this was a personal moment between them, Naruto left the two alone and went to the living room to watch some TV.

-Meanwhile-

"What do you mean you won't fight them?!" Rika demanded angrily, glaring at Renamon as she jabbed a finger towards Henry, Takato, and their digimon. The six of them were currently in a small clearing of a familiar park, with the latter four slowly backing away from the raging redhead as she yelled at her partner.

"Trust me Rika, the trouble we'd both have to deal with afterwards just wouldn't be worth the small amount of data those two would give me." Renamon said calmly, titling her head ever so slightly in confused interest as her tamer's face began turning an interesting shade of dark red and veins bulged on her forehead.

"…Naruto?" The redhead asked in a deathly quiet tone.

"Naruto."

Growling under her breath, Rika turned towards the four males with a glare that could melt rock. "You four better be thanking your lucky stars, because I have bigger fish to fry right now." She said before turning around and marching off with Renamon in tow. 'When I get my hands on that stupid meddling blonde I'm going to rip off his fur with duct tape!'

…

"…Does anyone else know what the heck just happened?" Takato asked once he was certain the scary duo were gone.

"Nope." "Not a clue." "Can I have some bread?"

"Thought so," Takato muttered with a sigh before blinking as he noticed something odd. "Uh, is it just me or is that cloud coming right at us?"

-Nonaka Residence, several minutes later-

Naruto and Jeri were chilling back in Rika's room, casually watching some cartoon about a teenage superhero team on the TV he'd moved from the Livingroom. It was just the two of them once more as Jeri's step-mother had gone home, but only after she'd given the younger brunette a complete look over and insisted that Jeri never pull such a dangerous stunt again.

Shizue wanted to bring Jeri home with her right then, but had reluctantly agreed to wait a day or two after getting a glimpse at the bruising that covered her step-daughter's back.

However, their peaceful TV time was brought to an abrupt end when they heard the front door suddenly slam open and Rika's voice yell out. "Naruto!"

"Huh, wonder why she sounds so pissed?" The whiskered boy muttered with a raised brow.

"We'll find out soon enough." Jeri shrugged, both of them turning their heads to the door as they heard the redhead stomp towards them. Sure enough, just a few seconds later, Rika burst into the room with a snarl and grabbed the front of Naruto's shirt, Renamon trailing behind her with her usual bland expression.

"Why?! Why do you keep getting in my way!?"

"…What the hell are you talking about?" Naruto asked as his eyebrow vanished into his hairline.

"She's pissed because I wouldn't attack two other tamers digimon, the idiot with the lizard and the pacifist with the rabbit since I know you'd get on my case about it." Renamon explained getting Naruto to nod in understanding.

"Yeah, sounds like something I'd- *Smack*" Naruto started to say, only to be cut off when Rika punched him as hard as she could, making his head snap to the side from the unexpected blow. His eyebrow now twitching in irritation, Naruto slowly turned his head back to Rika with a 'Are you serious' glare on his face. "Did you just punch me?"

"I don't know, did it feel something like this." Rika retorted while swinging at him again, only to grit her teeth furiously when Naruto's hand snapped up and caught her wrist. She tried to strike with her other hand but ended up with similar results. "Let. Me. Go."

"Why? So you can hit me again for no reason?" Naruto asked rhetorically. "Yeah… no, not gonna happen."

"You bastard!" Rika yelled, making the three other occupants in the room blink in surprise at the girl's language before Naruto grunted as she repeatedly kicked his legs. "You fucking bastard! Let me go dammit! Let me go! I'm gonna-MMPH!"

This time it was her turn to be cut off as Naruto pulled her into his arms and clapped a hand over her mouth. "Renamon, I'm gonna go have a little… chat with Rika, please stay here with Jeri until we get back."

Not waiting for a response from the foxy digimon, Naruto walked out of the room with Rika, who squirmed uselessly in his grasp as he dragged her along. If he'd stayed longer, he'd seen the look of irritation cross Renamon's face as she easily figured out his request wasn't actually a request.

'I'm really getting tired of him ordering me around.' She thought while walking up to the door and leaning against it, giving her the appearance of simply being casual while coincidentally giving her the perfect place to hear everything going on throughout the house as her fluffy ears discreetly swiveled backwards.

Meanwhile, in Naruto and Renamon's room, said whiskered boy all but threw Rika away from him the moment they entered before shutting the door. "Alright Rika, I'm getting sick of your attitude, what's your problem?" He asked as he watched the girl collect herself.

"My problem? My problem?!" Rika asked back incredulously as she glared at him angrily. "You're my problem! Ever since you've gotten here you've been nothing but a problem that I've had to deal with on a daily fucking basis!"

"Oh really?" Naruto demanded, a scowl forming on his own face as he and Rika got right up in each-other's faces. "And how's that exactly?"

"You keep getting in my way! Always stopping me from getting Renamon stronger!" The redhead yelled while shoving Naruto. "If it wasn't for you I'd have gotten her evolved into an ultimate by now at least yet she's still just a rookie level!"

"And how exactly am I stopping you huh?!" Naruto demanded with a shove of his own, sending Rika stumbling back a few feet. "From stopping Renamon from attacking someone else's partner?!"

"Among other things yes! I've missed so many opportunities because of you and I'm getting sick of it!" Rika screamed as she rammed her head into Naruto's stomach, before repeated bashing her fists against his chest when he doubled over slightly. "You burst into my life and just act like you belong here but you don't! You are just some pathetic stray my grandmother had pity on!"

Swatting the girl's punches aside, Naruto shocked the redhead when he grabbed her by the throat and roughly pinned her against the wall with a deep growl. "And you're just a spoiled selfish little bitch who can't accept that things won't always go her way! Well guess what Rika, unlike what you seem to believe the universe does not solely revolve around you!"

Intentionally tightening his grip just enough for Rika to really feel the pressure and instinctually grasp the offending limb, Naruto continued in a quieter but no less intimidating tone. "Maybe you don't understand that your attitude can and will get you killed one of these days. You may think you're all hot kuso because you know how to play the card game, yet that will amount to jack given you are dealing with beings that could tear you apart like a piece of wet paper."

As he spoke, Naruto began calm down as his anger seemed to gradually shift towards genuine concern for the redhead. "Despite what you think, it is abundantly clear that digimon are quite capable of thinking for themselves. With that said, have you ever considered the fact that one of them will wise up and decide to kill you before dealing with Renamon? Better yet, what if Renamon decides you're not worth the constant degrading anymore and leaves you to fend for yourself, or worse deals with you herself?"

Sighing tiredly, Naruto withdrew his hand, thus allowing Rika to fall to the floor with a gasp. "This is your last warning Rika, either you clean up your act soon or I'll make you."

With their 'conversation' at a close, Naruto turned around and walked towards the door. However, just as he opened the door, the whiskered boy paused as he heard heavy breathing and turned around to see an absolutely livid Rika glaring at him as she got back up, clasping several random objects in her hands.

"You… you… you… JERK!" She screamed before hurling the items at him with all her strength. Given that she was just a mildly athletic preteen though, this was about effective as using a BB gun against a tank as Naruto simply stood there with a dull expression as he swatted the incoming objects away with ease. This included his deck of digimon cards, a few hairbrushes, a few kunai he'd left out, some instant ramen packets, and even one of Rika's shoes.

However, it would be the last item Rika threw at him that would end up being the girl's biggest and final mistake of that day as she thoughtlessly grabbed her digivice from her belt and hurled it at him. It wasn't until it was already airborne that Rika's brain caught up with what she'd done, the world seeming to slow down around her as she watched the white and blue device fly towards Naruto in shock.

With a single swift motion, Naruto's arm shot up and easily swatted the digivice out of the air like everything else. But, unlike everything else, the small machine just so happened to hit the device embedded into the back of Naruto's hand.

…What happened next surprised both of them.

Instead of flying away like he'd expected, the moment the he made contact, Rika's digivice glowed brightly before exploded into a cloud of white particles that swiftly dispersed into nothing. At the exact same time, Renamon gasped in shock and clasped her chest as she felt a, for lack of better description, breaking sensation in her digital core.

Staring at the space before her with wide eyes, Rika collapsed to her knees as disbelief flowed through her like a tidal wave. So deep in her shock, the redhead didn't even notice as Naruto sighed deeply and left.

"Congratulations Rika, you just threw away your Tamership."

-End Chapter-

AN: Uh-oh, has Rika's digivice truly been destroyed? What will happen to her and Renamon now that they aren't partners anymore? Keep reading to find out more. Now, for those of you who don't understand how this happened, let me explain. Rika is a highly asocial at this time of the story, with a large amount of issues that stem from her parents divorce and her mother constantly working.

'But Curious, Naruto made it so Rumiko can stay around, shouldn't Rika be grateful?' you may ask, well yes, but Rika is way to stubborn to admit having her mother around is nice for her and the grudge has already built, so if anything this would cause more resentment to Naruto, which she already has much of since he gave her a fear of blood and gore she won't admit. This anger at Naruto has been building for a while, but Rika was mostly able to shrug it off until now, which resulted in a powder keg just waiting to go off, with the final spark being when Renamon refused her orders because of Naruto.

Naruto on the other hand, has already stated that he sees a lot of Sasuke in Rika and wants to change that, however he can also see that unlike his former teammate, Rika doesn't have the ability to back up her tough talk and thus is reliant on Renamon, who as he stated again, could simply go 'Fuck this, I'm out' whenever she feels like.

Finally, as for why Renamon refused said orders, that's because she knew it would annoy Naruto, who's proven that he can and will kick her ass if she did something like that, so she just didn't want to deal with the trouble fighting those two low level rookies would bring her. Like deciding not to buy a cheap chocolate bar because you know it'll just give you a massive stomach ache. Tnak you for reading and please review.