Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Naruto or Digimon franchises. Comments/Criticism are fine as long as it isn't just hate or flaming.
Thank you for reading and please enjoy
The Hybrid Tamer
-Chapter 24-
"So… bored…" Sitting in her bed, Rika stared up at the ceiling with a blank expression while her eyes mindlessly traced along the wood grain.
"Hang on, I think I've finally got this stupid thing figured out," Naruto said from the end of the bed as he fiddled with the remote for the new TV he'd just set up for her. "Why are TV's so complicated here? All I had to do with mine was plug it in, none of this dumb passwords and weefee crap."
"I don't care… want out of this bed…" Rika groaned out raspily before breaking out into a coughing fit as she adjusted the icepack strapped to her neck with a grimace. It had been two days since her kidnapping and subsequent rescue and she had been unable to do much aside from laying in bed and trying not to speak for most of it, only allowed to stretch her legs under careful supervision (Read Shizune's).
At least she was doing better thanks to medic nin's treatments, with most of her injuries already reduced to nothing more than scars and fading bruises. The only exception was the throat, specifically her larynx, which needed more time to recover due to the sensitive tissue and muscles.
Well that and due to how much Shizune had underplayed the side effects would be from the frequent use of healing jutsus on the battered girl. By the end of the first day she had felt like she had one of the worst colds ever, complete with cramps, vomiting, and all the other fun symptoms until her body got used to the foreign energy.
"Sorry but when Shizune tells you to stay put then you stay put, not even boss is dumb enough to ignore what she tells him… most of the time at least." The foxified boy stated, revealing his status as a clone while briefly glancing back at the bed bound teen to make sure she wasn't trying anything. The real him was out training with Renamon while Shizune was out with Rumiko and Seiko doing some shopping.
Even Jeri was gone, having been picked up by her family the other day with another disguised clone of Naruto tagging along. Because like hell if he was leaving anyone he cared about out of his sight for even a second.
"Still… sucks…" The redhead said as she continued to stare at the ceiling, even when the clone finally got the television all set up and turned on the news.
" In other news, authorities still have no leads as to what caused the recent destruction of the Dokoni Mo District last Saturday. Some wild eye witness accounts claim to have seen monsters which medical personal have attributed to a gas leak…"
"Totally." C Naruto said with a nod while setting the remote in Rika's hands before transforming into a small golden fox that curled up on her lap. A few seconds later one of the injured girl's hands found their way on his head and started gently scratching his scalp, causing him to purr softly and nuzzle his snout against her stomach.
'… I'm sorry.' Despite her lips moving no sound came from Rika's lips when she spoke, leaving the words unheard as she finally raised her head in order to look at the transformed clone, revealing the dark bags under her eyes. And thus the final reason she was still bedridden, she hadn't had a decent night of sleep since her rescue, because all she could see when she closed her eyes was… him.
Kyuubi, just the mere thought of that guy caused the scratch he'd left on her cheek to start stinging with a vengeance. Whenever Rika fell asleep she'd find herself right back at his mercy, every single vivid detail in perfect clarity from being almost mauled by a zombie wolf to her lungs burning for air as her throat was squeezed just hard enough not to be crushed completely.
And then there was the voices…
"The only reason you're still breathing is so you can squirm around like the worthless little worm you are to lure in that pathetic old host of mine."
"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!"
"To be more specific, I have the power to kill you at any time and in any way I please, whether it be by crushing your scrawny neck or slowly carving you apart one piece at a time."
"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."
Both Naruto and Kyuubi's voices rang through her mind, their words reminding her just how much she had been letting her ego blind herself to the truth.
This was not just a game. She wasn't dealing with obedient mindless data packets that fought when told but intelligent and self-aware creatures that would not hesitate to strike her down if it suited their needs. It was funny that it took getting kidnapped and almost murdered several times over for her to finally understand the very real danger she had been so casually trying to throw herself in since Renamon and Naruto arrived, expecting them to take all the risk while she reaped the benefits.
And to make it worse she had frequently looked and spoke down to both of them most of the time, treating them like stepping stools at best and annoyances at worst. The fact of the matter was that it was nothing short of a miracle that either of them cared enough to actually have bothered to rescue her at all.
Oh how stupid she had felt when it had finally dawned on her that that was exactly what the whiskered teen had been trying to get her to understand this whole time. And with that realization came an immense of guilt as Rika recalled her and Naruto's fight just before her kidnapping, of how she basically spat in his face when all he was doing was looking out for her.
She owed him an apology, a big one at that, yet no matter how hard she tried the moment she tried to utter those two simply words her voice would suddenly die, which had nothing to do with her condition. Maybe it was some remnant of her stubborn pride unwilling to let her admit she was wrong or perhaps she didn't feel like she deserved to be forgiven yet.
' Maybe I just need to get my mind off of this for a bit.' Raising her head once more, Rika hit the channel button on the remote.
" And now back to NPA: Abduction Specialists…"
'…or maybe not…'
-Meanwhile, at School-
"You know, this isn't nearly as weird as I thought it'd be," Jeri was all smiles as she skipped along the halls of school, waving to various students she passed by. "Are you sure you're okay Naru?"
The peppy girl glanced down at her other arm as she spoke, where her yellow dog-like sock puppet had been replaced with one that looked drastically similar to a certain otherworldly ninja's fox form.
"It'll take some getting used too but I'll manage, boss has dealt with way weirder than this before." A likeness that was immediate proven not to be a coincidence when the puppet spoke in Naruto's voice as the limb raised it up to eye level. Smoothing out its front that had started to ride up with its stubby arms, the disguised clone offered up the best smile it could managed with its cloth mouth before tapping its chin in a thoughtful manner. "We just need to figure out our routine, I'm thinking I'll be the wise-cracking smart mouth and you be the humble one who tries to get me to stop blabbering."
"Nah, that's a little overdone." Jeri said with a shake of her head, making the fox puppet pout before whirling around with his arms crossed.
"You didn't have to shoot it down so fast," He grumbled, still acting all pouty, until he noticed all the kids that had stopped in the hall to stare at him in shock. "What? You guys never seen a fox before or something?"
This seemed to snap them out of their shock as most of the students were quick to move along once more, though a few kept sending the puppet sidelong looks on the way by.
"Whoa, that was so cool!" The only exceptions were a pair of boys that instead walked right up to Jeri, one a tall boy with spiky brown hair held up by an open top cap wearing a crest of reliability shirt and a shorter boy with glasses, a khaki vest over an orange shirt, and short dark green hair smoothed down.
"Oh, hey Kazu, Kenta, how's it going?" Jeri blinked in surprise before waving to the two as her smile grew a bit more at the familiar friendly faces. "What are you guys doing here so early? Shouldn't you be off playing cards until the last possible minute?"
"Oh ha ha, we aren't that bad… well he is but I'm not." Kenta muttered, adding the last bit as an afterthought while jabbing a thumb at Kazu.
"That was awesome, I couldn't see your lips move at all!" Luckily the hatted boy was more focused on Jeri's 'ventriloquism' to notice his friend's remark. "You must have been practicing really hard, huh?"
"Oh well I wouldn't say all that…" Feeling a bit sheepish at all the praise that she didn't exactly deserve, Jeri scratched the back of her neck with her free hand as an awkward giggle slipped past her lips.
"Yeah! Give me some credit!" Naru exclaimed while making Jeri's arm lift up, causing the two boys to jump back in surprise when he was suddenly right in their face. The clone turned puppet had his arms crossed as he gave the pair the best grumpy look he could manage with his cloth face. "I'm the comical genius coming up with all this great material thank you very much. All she has to do is make a funny voice and move my mouth."
"Hey… I do more than that Naru." Playing along, Jeri huffed with a faux grumpy look as she turned the puppet back towards her.
"Of course, of course, you're also my transportation," The cloth fox stated while playfully patting the girl's nose before gesturing to his waist. "I tell ya, it isn't easy getting around without legs. Really should have thought about that when I tried to renegotiate the whole 'cost ya an arm and a leg deal'."
A snicker escaped Kazu's lips as he and Kenta struggled not to interrupt, neither they nor the performing duo noticing as more students and even Nami stopping to watch the little play by play.
"I told you that it wouldn't end well," Jeri wagged her finger with her best 'I told you so' face she could manage. "But did you listen? Nope. And now look what happened."
"Oh you just have to rub that in don't you? It's stuff like this that makes me wish I could go solo." Naru grumbled with crossed arms while Jeri rolled her eyes playfully.
"Well why don't you then? I wouldn't stop you mister comical genius."
"Because every time I try I end up feeling so hollow inside." The puppet said while drooping sadly.
"Pffft hahaha!" "Hehehehe!" Unable to keep it in anymore, Kazu and Kenta finally burst into fits of uncontrollable laughter with the former falling on his ass. Meanwhile, the rest of the crowd clapped and cheered, finally getting Naru and Jeri's attention.
"Uh… hi everyone." The brunette muttered sheepishly with a blush, shrinking into herself a bit from all the attention. On the other hand, Naru was eagerly bowing and soaking in the praise with a big smile on his cloth lips.
"Thank you, thank you, we'll be here all week," He said while pretending to blow kisses before turning to and poking Jeri's cheek to get her attention. "By the way, you're late for class."
The moment he said this the bell rang, causing everyone in the hallway to freeze…
"Well what are you standing here for? Move it or lose!" The puppet exclaimed, snapping them out of their shock as they all scrambled for their classrooms as fast as they could.
-Also Meanwhile, at the Supermarket-
Seiko hummed softly under her breath as she eyed a clutch of juicy red tomatoes, looking for any signs of bruising or spoilage. Not finding any, she nodded to herself before bagging them up and adding them to the rest of the items in her shopping cart.
"And here they are during their first public appearance."
"Oh my… I honestly thought you were kidding."
"Why would I kid about something like this?"
' Maybe I should have just left those two at home.' The elderly woman thought to herself in amusement as she glanced over her shoulder to find Shizune and Rumiko chatting it up while flipping through a magazine together showcasing what the latter's doppelganger clone and her 'apprentice' had been up too.
Speaking of the model, her normally dirty blonde hair was covered by a vibrant red wig similar to her daughter's natural hair color and a tanner complexion. Couldn't risk getting recognized by fans when 'she' was currently halfway across the country in a highly publicized photo-shoot after all.
"Part of me kinda wishes you were to be honest. It's not really a good idea to leave a shadow clone running around for so long like this." Shizune said with a slight grimace as she read the dates on the article of Naruko's debute.
"Really?" The faux redhead asked curiously, getting a nod from the medic nin. "Why though? Naruto didn't mention that there could be any problems when I asked him to do this, well aside from them getting dispelled by accident."
"Because he probably doesn't know about it either," Placing the magazine back on its stand as she spoke, Shizune gave a tired sigh while rubbing the side of her forehead and glancing around to make sure nobody else was in earshot. "See whenever a shadow clone disperses it sends back everything it has experienced back to the original, memories, feelings, fatigue, stuff like that."
"In that case how could Naruto not know? The kid uses them all the time." Seiko chipped in as she rejoined the duo before they all started heading for another part of the store.
"Because Naruto is Naruto," Shizune stated with a giggle, making Rumiko tilt her head in confusion while her mother sighed and nodded in agreement. "In any case, I'd suggest we stock up on a lot of aspirin."
"Way ahead of you." Seiko said as she guided the cart towards the Health and Beauty department.
-Also, also Meanwhile, in the Forest (Last one, promise!)-
"One hundred eighty-five… one hundred eighty-six… one hundred eighty-seven… why am I doing this again?" Renamon, back in her rookie form, asked through panted breaths as she did push ups in the middle of a secluded meadow with Naruto, still in his nine-tailed state, laying on her back with a large boulder held by his tails.
"You said you wanted me to help you get stronger so we're training to do just that." The whiskered blonde told her bluntly while fiddling with the buttons on his implanted D-power, causing several random holographic images to appear ranging from various digimon to simple binary code.
"Then why… don't we just… find a digimon… to fight?" The fox digimon barely managed to wheeze out, shaking her head to get the sweat out of her eyes.
"Because A, the only other digimon to fight are the other Tamers and we have no idea when more will appear, and B, even if there were any they'd probably be too low level for you to even get a noticeable boost from downloading their data anyway," Naruto held his digivice down for his fellow blonde as the projection changed to show an image of her and her current vital stats. "If this is accurate then that fight with all those Numemon yesterday barely even did anything and there were like a hundred of those annoying bastards."
"It was only twenty… and that's hardly surprising… Numemon are the weakest champion digimon… of all time…"
"My point still stands you want to get stronger then you're just gonna have to buck up and work for it the normal way." Flipping up to his feet while he spoke, Naruto flung the boulder he was holding into the air as he was briefly enveloped by a bright glow and reverted to his one-tailed form before flipping again to a one-handed handstand. A second later Renamon pushed herself up from the ground and hopped up to stand on the blonde's feet with her hands held upwards, grunting as she caught the giant rock mid-fall.
"I'm made of data not flesh though," The fox digimon pointed out once she managed to catch her breath, whilst Naruto continued to fiddle with his digivice as he worked out. "My body doesn't have the same muscle tissue to benefit from this sort of exercise that you do. You have no idea if this is even working for me either."
"Well it's at least worth a shot at least, and it's better than sitting on our asses doing nothing all day hoping a fight comes to us," He retorted with a huff. "So unless you have a better idea-"
"I think I just might actually," Renamon cut in, getting Naruto to pause briefly as he glanced up at her. "It's something I noticed when I fought Kyuubi in that game he trapped Rika in."
"…I'm listening." He muttered reluctantly, his curiosity peaked.
"Well you didn't see it since you were helping Rika, but during the fight he was actually able to draw data directly from the game itself with his digivice to power himself up," She explained as quickly as she could when she saw the frown on his lips grow. "It wasn't much, maybe a weak rookie's worth at most, but it was enough to keep him a step ahead of me and that got me thinking. If he could do so then perhaps…"
"That maybe I could do the same with mine," Naruto finished for the anthro fox as his brow furrowed in thought. "I'm guessing that's not something digimon can normally do."
"No idea honestly, as far as I know no digimon has ever even bothered considering doing something like this before." Renamon admitted with a shrug.
"…Let me guess, too beneath them or some crap like that?"
"Essentially."
"I guess that makes sense then," The whiskered blonde muttered with a nod, able to see how digimon would consider 'mere human programs' too worthless to bother with. However, he was quick to pick up on one not so small problem with her idea. "But would it even be worth it? Champion level data barely makes a dent for either of us and you said the data in that game was barely rookie at best."
"It was also nearly thirty years out of date, video games have become a lot more sophisticated and more importantly data packed since then," Renamon said while tossing the boulder to the ground so she could reach into one of her sleeves and pull out a scrap of paper which she dropped down to the teen. "I was thinking that this might be a good one to test it out."
Catching the paper with his free hand, Naruto raised a brow as he uncrumpled it to reveal an advertisement for a new game. "You've put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?"
"Like you said it was better than doing nothing all day," The fox digimon said with a shrug. "So what do you say, want to give it a shot?"
"…Eh sure, might as well," Naruto said before launching himself and Renamon into the air with one last big push, both of landing side by side a few feet away. "But you're the one asking Seiko-baachan for the money to buy it."
"No need, I already have the cash." Renamon said while pulling out a large roll of bills from her other sleeve.
"…How the hell did you fit that in there, and better yet where the hell did you even get that?" The whiskered blonde asked with a raised brow.
"Trade secret." Was all the vulpine woman said while slipping the money back where it came from and sauntering away.
-End of Chapter-