Naruto x Digimon

Alive - Team Minato's Digidestined

Chapter 023

Song: Porter Robinson - Something Comforting

Originally Written: Sunday, January 29, 2023 619PM to 720PM

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A/N: I am sick as a dog right now, so I apologize for the afternoon update. I think a little over a month was more than enough time for the site to fix up its server issues. Hopefully I'm making the right call. Thank you for your patience!

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The moon shone in the night sky. A small platoon of Konoha's finest members of the military police rushed out of a tunnel as a blast of fire and heat chased after them. Around them the tunnel, leading to an abandoned hideout or base, collapsed into bits of stone and quickly assembled wooden supports. An underdeveloped area of Konoha filled with noise as the fire's heat created a vacuum that back-lashed into a loud boom. Fugaku Uchiha was one of the last to exit, barely avoiding the flames licking at his heels. The only thing protecting him was the one thing he couldn't come to terms with in this strange situation.

His limbs flailed as something grabbed the back of his shirt. The next thing he knew he was sitting on the back of a winged lion with bright orange fur. Said winged lion was the thing he couldn't fathom. Its large orange wings flapped as it used the wind to glide, and its feet to rebound off the walls and floor. Fugaku could do nothing else except hold onto the creature's fur with all his strength.

Fugaku and the creature leaped from the tunnel. With expertise the creature's paws skidded across the dirt and grass as it touched land. Forgetting his place, and who he was surrounded by, Fugaku launched himself from the creature's frame as soon as he determined it was safe enough to. Never had he seen such a summon. He sat on the floor, not only to catch his breath, but to get a good look at the being.

He once again tried to come to terms with the winged lion standing before him, but was having a hard time. One reason was the rubble of what was clearly some kind of abandoned hideout in front of him. The second was the winged lion itself. Just from sitting next to it, he could tell it was more than a summon. He had frequently seen Kakashi's armored wolf traveling around the village, guarding his summoner, and he could easily say this particular beast exceeded his. It blew toads, snakes and slugs out of the water by miles. Nothing like he had ever seen before, it radiated a gentle heat off its body of soft orange fur. When Fugaku stood, it reached his shoulders on all fours. A red orange flame made up the tip of its tail, and dark armor covered select joints on its body. The blips of red and white in the joints of the armor reminded him of the Uchiha fan.

He picked himself up on the floor, ignoring his torn flack jacket and sweatshirt. The lion grabbed him and shot off like a jet of fire when he realized he wasn't going to make it out of the collapsing building. "Thank you."

The lion nuzzled Fugaku's side, something that was easy to do due to its size.

"Fugaku-san!" Various members of the Uchiha clan who had come with him quickly surrounded him.

"I'm alright." He brushed off his clothes. He looked at a particular member who was holding a child with a particular shade of silver-gray hair. So, this was Kabuto Yakushi, the boy Obito befriended at Konoha Orphanage. "How's the boy?"

"Alive, stable, under an anesthetic stasis." The chunin promptly replied. "He won't be awake for a while."

"Sir…" Another Uchiha, also a chunin replied. "Our search failed. This hideout was empty…save for him."

"They cleaned out all the evidence." Another Uchiha spat.

"The place was rigged with traps!" Another one retorted. "Who rigs an empty underground building that doesn't lead to anything with traps!?"

"It was clearly being used as a distraction to lure someone here. The question is, what was it being used for beforehand?"

"Speculation isn't evidence! We've got nothing substantial to report." The first Uchiha muttered. "Anbu will be here in minutes."

Fugaku sighed, that was true. They didn't have enough evidence. This would go on the back burner, just like his chances of becoming Hokage, even though he was one of the nominees. "Then we report nothing substantial."

The two remaining squads of ninja that had come with him protested in the darkness of the night. The lion remained silent, letting the humans discuss things for themselves.

Fugaku held up a hand. They fell silent. "A young boy indulging his curiosities, and exploring his abilities." Obito frequently spoke of Kabuto. Kabuto desired to be a ninja, but he was too young to enroll in the academy yet. With peace talks underway between the Elemental Nations, the soonest he'd be allowed to apply would be next semester. And if what Obito had told him about Kabuto's natural healing ability held even the smallest shred of truth, Konoha's academy would want him. Desperately.

"With all due respect, we lost our clan members in the building due to the traps, the explosion and the collapse. All of which the boy clearly didn't set. We cannot let that stand, sir." An older ninja, one of the squad leaders questioned.

Fugaku's sharingan blazed in his eyes. Under normal circumstances he would have no choice but to let the situation go as something unfortunate. However, these were not normal circumstances. Obito frequently told far fetched stories of the situations he got into. Sometimes spruced up, a little change here, a white lie there. Yet at the core they were always true. Danzo Shimura wanted Kabuto Yakushi, and if he could not control him, no one would.

He stared at the rubble. The winged beast circled around him. His focus returned. "We will not." His sharingan faded.

The creature butted his nose against Fugaku's hand. Fugaku slowly ran a hand against its fur. "Go."

The creature disappeared in what was clearly a body flicker using flames that didn't burn its surroundings. The Uchiha looked at the disappearing flames it left in awe. He was certain at least someone in the group would be trying that for their own entertainment within the coming weeks.

Fugaku looked at his clan members. They took the silence to come to an unspoken agreement, and to mourn their fallen allies and family. All gave Anbu the same report. The young boy, Kabuto, got lost exploring Konoha, and came across this space, dared by other children to go in. As Kabuto was still a civilian, he'd be seen by civilian medics, not medic nins. None spoke of the lion, Firamon, who saved their lives. Anbu would immediately assume it was the one who attacked the young Kabuto. Their summoner would reveal who they were when they were ready. As long as Fugaku remembered to call in some favors, they'd be alright until they could figure out what was really going on here.

One could not just speak negatively freely of the Hokage's teammates without meeting extreme, prejudiced and social pushback. This situation could only be handled with the soft quiet steps from one with the patience of a saint.

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A/N: Fugaku has to call in some favors, because their explanation doesn't cover why Kabuto is unconscious via sedative.