Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Naruto or Digimon series. Comments/Criticism is fine as long as it isn't just hate or flaming. If you do not like this story, no one is forcing you to read and you can just leave.
Thank you for reading and please enjoy
Humon?
-Chapter 21-
-Last Time-
"I know that, but still…" Tai trailed off with a sigh, before he and everyone froze up when a blood-curdling scream filled the air. Everyone remained completely still as they processed the sound.
"Oh god, was that Naruto?" Mimi, being the first to snap out of her stupor, asked while she cupped her hands over her mouth.
"That's it, Agumon lets-" *Splash*
Tai was cut off mid-sentence as a familiar figure came flying through the waterfall and skidded to a stop before them. "For the love of Kami, please tell me you guys have a plan to get us out of this mess, because I'm pretty sure I just pissed that guy off… a lot." Naruto stated while wringing the water out of his tail.
-And Now-
"Why do I always end up acting as a living torch?" Naruto deadpanned, still in his Kitsumon form with his fist held high and alit with blue flame as he, the rest of the group, and the Koromon ventured down the dark tunnel they were in. Turned out after he left to distract Etemon, the Koromon had revealed a secret exit at the back of the cavern they were hiding inside but the others had waited for him to return before using it.
"Because none of us can light ourselves on fire without dying, and you're too nice a guy to say no." Gomamon said with a cheeky grin, before yelping when Naruto lazily flicked a pea-sized fireball at him with his free hand. "Hey! Watch it!"
"Oops," Naruto said, a false look of innocence plastered on his face as he continued to lead the way… until they reached a dead end. "Uh, correct me if I'm wrong, but don't escape tunnels usually have, you know an exit?" He asked sarcastically as the group stared at the wall in front of them. It was completely flat, made of a dull orange stone, and had the image of a sun carved into the middle of it.
"This is most strange, our village has used this tunnel for decades to escape whenever danger came. It should lead all the way to the other side of the mountain." The lead Koromon said in genuine confusion. "Though admittedly it has been many years since we've had to use it, I don't remember this being here."
"Hmm, perhaps it is merely a concealed door meant to trick trespassers and we just…" Izzy started to theorize only to trail off as the wall started to glow a bright orange, swiftly followed by the rest of the tunnel.
"W-what's going on?" Mimi asked, practically teleporting to Naruto's side and holding his arm tightly in fear.
"Everybody stay close together, watch you backs." Tai said, making everyone huddle together with the digimon and Naruto forming a protective circle around the kids and the Koromon. However, instead of being attacked or such, the glowing simply died back down as the wall with the sun turned bright orange and shrunk to about two inches big, allowing sunlight to stream in from the opening revealed behind it.
Everyone's attention was then drawn to Tai as an orange glow started emitting from inside his shirt before his tag slowly rose out of his shirt. The small tablet then floated over to the goggle wearing boy and slid into the tag.
"Well, I guess that means we're up one crest." Tai said, grinning widely as he held his tag and crest up to eye level. "Now I can get you to digivolve even further Agumon!" Agumon responded with a cheer as both he and his partner started jumping around in excitement.
"Uh, not to interrupt your little celebration, but could someone please tell me where we are?" Joe asked, while pointing to the outside of the tunnel. This finally got everyone to notice how the mountainous forests they had just been in before had been replaced with hilly grasslands with sparse forests.
"The crest must have brought us here, these hills are a long way from our village." The lead Koromon said, the rest of the small pink blobs murmuring in agreement.
"That's great, that means we have a good distance between us and Etemon." Tai said, taking the lead as he and Agumon hurried outside. "Let's make it count and see if we can find more of the crests." He declared getting cheers of agreement from everyone else but Naruto.
Said foxy blonde instead was staring at a thick black cord that sat on the ground pulsing a light purple every few seconds. He did not like the feel the seemingly innocuous object gave him, his gut telling him that it was absolutely no good, and was just about to blast whatever it was into oblivion when…
"Let's get going then gang, at this rate nothing can possibly get in our way." Tai said, getting another round of agreement from the others.
Naruto froze as soon as he heard the words leave Tai's lips, his entire body going ridged and his tail sticking straight up with the fur on end.
-Several Miles Away-
"Hmm, if that isn't an open invite to cause trouble, then I don't know what is." Kitsunemon said aloud as he set his binoculars back down and laid back into his new hammock. "Don't you agree Aidmon?"
"I certainly do master," A soft feminine voice said as a small doll digimon walked in with a tray laden with various snacks and beverages. Aidmon looked like a chibi mummy nurse with the majority of her small body covered in bandages, a single button eye visible, and a pair of oversized pink lips that were set into a bright smile as she held the tray up for the large fox-man. "The real question is, what trouble shall you cause?"
These words made Kitsunemon smirk darkly as he grabbed one of the offered drinks and casually sipped from it. "I knew keeping you around was a good idea." He had found the small digimon on a tiny island she'd been shipwrecked on for several weeks while he was following after his former jailor. Extremely thankful for the rescue and just a touch crazy from prolonged isolation, Aidmon had pledged herself as his servant in return for him saving her.
Without getting up, the digitalized Biju spread his tails out in a similar fashion to a peacock before promptly stabbing them into the ground… and the sky? Pulses of familiar red data then flowed from the long limbs into the area.
Within seconds the sky began to darken as clouds began to rapidly form, ice began to spread shoot across the ground towards the children, and a heavy chill started settling into the area. "I think these kids could use some cooling off." Kitsunemon said mockingly as a few snowflakes slowly flitted to the ground around him.
-Back with the Digidestined-
"Just so you know, I blame you." Naruto told Tai blankly, ignoring his indignant squawk in favor of the massive storm seemingly appear out of thin air and head towards them while dropping out a veritable waterfall of snow as it went.
"We should head back in the tunnel and take shelter until it passes," Izzy said as he slowly backed up. "The odds of us surviving long in the open is less than five percent." His point was emphasized when the edge of the clouds already reached them and snow started to lightly fall seconds later.
"Uh, maybe you should tell that to them." Sora said, pointing to the Koromon who were hopping off in the opposite direction of the storm at a surprising speed.
"I'll go get them." Agumon and Gabumon said at the same time, looking at each-other in surprise before shrugging it off and heading off together.
"Alright, then the rest of us better get some firewood and such while we can," Tai said, rubbing his arms slightly as the air rapidly grew colder. "We're definitely going to need it."
"We should also do something to block the entrance, so the snow doesn't get in." Joe added in.
"That's a good idea," Tai agreed, rubbing his chin for a moment in thought before turning to our resident foxy blonde. "Naruto, can you and Biyomon take of that?" The two responded with a thumbs-up and cheery "No problem!" respectfully before heading off to the treeline to get the materials needed.
"Alright, now let's get some firewoo-" *Boom!* Tai was cut off as an explosion rang out, followed by the groaning of wood and a cry of "TIMBER!" as a large tree fell to the ground.
"Not very subtle that one." Gomamon said in a fake wise voice, even going as far as to stroke an imaginary beard before breaking out in laughter.
"…lets just get the firewood already." Tai said blankly.
-10 minutes later-
"HEAVE!" Naruto yelled over the roar of the storm as he, a few clones, the digidestined, and their digimon pulled on a pair of ropes to lift a makeshift wall made of logs and more rope over the tunnel entrance with all their strength. A task made exceedingly more difficult as harsh winds chilled them all to the bone and heavy snowfall threatened to bury the wooden barrier.
Thankfully though, they just managed to heft it into place after one last pull, almost completely cutting off all light in the room. This was quickly resolved as well when Naruto ignited his hand again and filled the chamber with a soft blue light. "Well… that was fun." He stated sarcastically while walking over to a newly made unlit campfire and stuck his burning hand straight into the kindling.
In less than five seconds, the whole thing was burning brightly and everyone was huddling around it for warmth, each wrapped up with several blankets Naruto had unsealed. Drawing his hand back, Naruto hissed slightly as he felt several minor burns sting his fur covered appendage. 'Note to self, only immune to my own fire.' He thought while sitting down himself with a tired sigh. His fight with Etemon, combined with the constant use of his spirit flames in his Kitsumon form and Kage Bunshin, had left very tired.
Since they were encamped for the moment and likely not going anywhere for a while, Naruto decided to test an idea of his and after taking a few deep breaths began actively trying to suppress his chakra levels. He figured that if flaring his chakra caused him to digivolve higher, then by suppressing it he should de-digivolve back into his lower forms. His theory was swiftly proven to be true as with a bright glow Naruto shrunk down to his ChibiNarutomon form.
Naturally however, the instant a certain brunette noticed this change, Naruto found himself swiftly scooped up into Mimi's arms and held tightly to the shivering girl's chest. Instead of struggling or complaining though, the chibi blonde simply got as comfortable as he could in her grasp. So tired was he, Naruto barely even registered that his head, the only part of him currently visible, was resting against the pink loving girl's developing chest as he slipped into slumber.
"Man, he's sure tuckered out, isn't he?" Sora said, a small giggle escaping her lips as Mimi started gently stroking the sleeping blonde's head between his fox ears, causing a soft rumbling to echo from his chest.
"It's not surprising, he has been doing most of the heavy lifting for us both figuratively and literally." Matt glanced at the large wooden barrier they had just erected then to the stack of different non-perishable foods and drinks Naruto had unsealed along with the blankets they were currently using to keep warm.
"No kidding, god only knows how much trouble we would be in right now if it wasn't for him." Joe added, getting everyone to think back on all the chaotic events that had happened over the last few weeks.
-Insert Calming and/or Sad Music-
Mimi moved her hand from Naruto's head and rubbed her upper arm instead, her fingers running over the unnaturally smooth and rubberish feeling scar tissue. She then slowly migrated up to her throat, a shiver running through her body that had nothing to do with the cold as a phantom sensation of being choked briefly ran through her. Shaking the thought off, she hugged Naruto just a little tighter while Palmon rubbed her back comfortingly.
Izzy, Joe, and Sora were remembering the fight with Andromon, and how they likely wouldn't have made it out of there mostly unscathed if it wasn't for Naruto distracting Andromon long enough for them to regroup and figure out how to beat the cyborg digimon. Despite the fact he was probably feeling the sickest and most nauseated in his life, he hadn't hesitated to through himself in peril in order to protect them. Sora couldn't help but stare at her hands, the multitude of long skinny scars being thrown into stark contrast by the flickering light of the flames.
Similar thoughts ran through all of the groups heads as the time slowly crawled by. Such as when they first met and he had leapt out to help Matt when Seadramon was squeezing him. There was the time they had first run into Ogremon and a possessed Leomon and Naruto forced himself to stay digivolved so to keep them safe.
Of course, not all these memories were bad, such as when Naruto built a shower so they could all could be clean, or when he gave up his personal supply of ramen so they could all have a decent meal.
…
…
"…this is really happening, isn't it?" Matt stated more than asked, not getting a response as the reality of everything finally started to hit the kids, except Mimi who was already VERY aware thanks to a certain dark fox digimon. With how fast paced everything had been, none of them had any time to truly comprehend exactly what they had gone through. Even when they were crossing the sea on both the raft and Whamon, they had plenty of things to keep themselves occupied.
Now however, trapped inside a cave by a blizzard as they basked in the warmth of the fire, there was finally nothing stopping them from actually thinking over their current situation. Joe gripped his shoulder, remembering how it had almost been dislocated when he was bucked off of on Unimon's back. Izzy's fingers traced over the top of his closed laptop, feeling all the dents and scratches it had gotten from him falling and getting knocked around.
Tai was doing the same only with his pocket telescope, a grimace crossing his face as he saw the slightly cracked lens on the front end. T.K. was remembering how Tokomon had basically sacrificed himself as Angemon when fighting Devimon while he huddled closer to Matt, who wrapped an arm over his little brother's shoulders.
It was to these thoughts that each of the kids and digimon slipped into slumber one by one until only Mimi was left awake. Staring into the fire, the flames reflected in her drooping eyes as she stroked Naruto's head again. "…Thank you," She whispered into his ear, causing it to twitch slightly as she moved her hand and rested her chin atop his head while allowing her eyes to close. "Thank you for everything."
-End Chapter-
AN: Not a very eventful chapter, but I felt it was needed since as said in the chapter, these kids needed a moment to get a reality check. Think about it, they've been basically kidnapped to another world, constantly being attacked by giant monsters, and in my version recovering from a multitude of injuries and very close near death encounters. That kind of trauma and stress isn't really something you can just shrug off easily especially for kids, shown in season 2 when T.K. has a small meltdown when he sees Devimon in the dark pit. Sure there are a few small moments where the kids reflect on this sort of thing, them talking about homesickness and such, but I personally think that it would be a lot harder on them than that.
As for Kyuubi 'hacking' the world and causing the blizzard, it is possible for a digimon to do something like that, with the dark masters doing basically the same thing on a much larger scale when they remake the digi-world into spiral mountain. Thank you for reading and please review.