Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Naruto or Digimon franchises. Comments/Criticism is fine as long as it isn't just hate or flaming.

Thank you for reading and please enjoy

Humon?

Chapter 33

-Last Time-

"Very true Master." The mummy-like nurse said after taking a long sip from her drink.

"Though it would seem you made quite the first impression with these ningen." The Kyuubi said with a low chuckle as the aftermath of Aidmon's 'visit' appeared.

Shrugging, the nurse continued to drink her beverage for a few moments before answering verbally. "What can I say, you taught me everything I know about making an entrance."

-And Now-

"Ahhhh… now this is the life." Naruto sighed contentfully as he laid back in his lounge chair, the wind gently blowing through his hair and the rays of the setting sun gently warmed his skin.

"You said it," Mimi muttered from her seat right beside the whiskered blonde, a peaceful smile on her lips that didn't even waver as she took a sip from a large cup of tea. "No chaos, no fighting, no running for our lives every five seconds, I'd almost forgotten what being relaxed felt like."

"Zzzzzz… Zzzzzz…" Palmon chipped in as well from her own chair, snoring softly with a pair of overly large sunglasses on her face and her feet resting in a large bowl of water.

It had been a little over two days since they'd run into Pixiemon, who thankfully didn't turn out to be a bad guy after all and they were able to finish stocking back up on supplies without too much issue. Then, after Tai and Agumon returned from some strange moral boosting training and everyone got a decent nights rest, the adventuring heroes bid the tiny pink digimon goodbye and set off to find the last two crests that remained.

And now, after a whole day of nothing but nice calm smooth sailing, Naruto and Mimi were situated at the back of the Sandoraidā watching the spectacular view of the horizon, enjoying a well-deserved reprieve while Izzy and Tai manned the bridge for them.

"Well I'm glad you guys are enjoying yourselves," Joe said sarcastically from a ways behind the pair, slowly swishing a mop back and forth across the deck while Gomamon was skating around him on a pair of scrubbing brushing and Gabumon was sweeping up loose sand. Finishing with the spot he was on, the mild hypochondriac placed the mop in a nearby bucket before shaking his hands with a grimace. "I think my hands are about to fall off."

"Well maybe that will teach you not to go around breaking other people's stuff in the future." Naruto retorted without looking away from the sunset, his expression briefly changing from relaxed to amused as he spoke.

"Ah, come on Joe, it's not that bad," Gomamon said while skating past his partner once again, this time doing a handstand. "Or would you rather be dealing with the septic tanks and garbage like Sora and Biyomon instead?"

Freezing in place with a look of horror on his face, Joe stayed still as a statue for exactly three seconds before grabbing the mop again and started cleaning much more enthusiastically. "Nope! Nope! I'm good!"

Naruto had given the pair two jobs to choose from for today as the last part of their punishment, clean up the entire top deck or work the sewage piping. Naturally, there was no way Joe was going to be stuck doing such a disgusting, horrible, nasty task like that, so he was grateful that Sora volunteered for the task.

He could only imagine how those two poor souls were doing while no doubt knee deep in that bacterial nightmare.

-Below Deck-

Sora hummed along with the tune of a song playing from an old fashioned record player as she sat in front of a large console that had 'Main Sewage Control' posted on the side in bold letters, three different screens, and several various controls that she'd occasionally adjust every few minutes.

Meanwhile, Biyomon could be seen at the end of a nearby hallway calmly scooping ash and bits of half burned trash out from large furnace into a half-full bin several times larger than she is while humming along to the music as well.

-And Back-

Oh, just the thought of it made him feel ill!

"Hey, am I interrupting anything?" Izzy's voice rang out, causing everyone to turn their attention towards the computer whizz as he and Tentomon came out on deck, the former carrying his ever-present computer with him as he walked.

"Not really, what's up Izzy?" Naruto asked with a tilted head. "We near another crest already?"

"About four and a half kilometers ahead of us to be exact, however that is not why I need to speak to you," The redhead said before turning his computer around to show the map that was on screen. "According to the maps I found on the ship's navigational computer we're coming up on a series of canyons and gorges that'll be impossible for our current transportation to safely navigate."

"Which means we'll have to continue on foot," Naruto said, a small frown forming on his lips as Izzy nodded. "I figured something like that would happen sooner or later, should have known it be sooner."

"And that's not all, while I was downloading the map, I was able to briefly hack into Etemon's own network. I was hoping to use it to possible help track down the last two crests faster and keep us under the big ape's radar, but instead I… well just see for yourself."

Pushing a button, the screen changed to show an email inbox with an already opened message, though before anyone could read it for themselves a staticky electronic male voice started to speak. "Help! S.O.S.! I am being held prisoner by Etemon! Help me and I will aid you in finding the crests you seek! Please! Help me!"

…

"Hmmm," Naruto's brows knit together as he raised a hand to rub his temple. "Great, just great, as if things weren't complicated enough."

"So we're going to go help this person then?" Mimi asked, to which the whiskered blonde nodded.

"We'll check it out after we get this next crest," He said with a tired sigh. "It's probably just another trap but I can't in good conscious just ignore someone asking for our help."

Standing up from his seat, Naruto stretched a bit, his joints giving off a muted cracking sound as he did, before cracking his neck and turning back to the others. "Alright then, tell everyone to get ready, it's already late so I'll go find us a place to park for the night and we can start walking in the morning."

"Got it!"

"No problem."

"We're on it."

"Weeeeeeeee!" Were the responses from Joe, Izzy, Tentomon, and Gomamon respectively as they hurried off to do just that while Naruto headed off towards the bridge with Mimi naturally following right after him.

"Zzzzz… Zzzzz… Huh whazzit?" Palmon snorted as she woke up from her own snoring, glancing at the now abandoned deck in confusion. "Hey, where'd everyone go?"

Looking around a bit more, the plant digimon yawned deeply before shrugging off her confusion and laying back down. "Eh, probably went to bed or something… ah well… Zzzzzzz."

-Bridge, Few Hours Later-

"Okay, this seems like a good spot." Naruto said as he cut the Sandoraidā's engines and carefully brought the ship to a stop at the entrance of a large canyon.

"About time, I waaaaaas starting to think we'd never find one." Mimi mumbled while leaning against a nearby wall, her eyes drooping as she yawned heavily.

"I did say you should have just gone to bed already since it would take a bit Mimi." Flicking a few switches and spinning a large valve, Naruto grinned as there was a distant crashing sound from the vessel's anchor falling to the ground.

Unnecessary for sure, but he liked doing that, made it feel like he was really at sea.

"And done," The blonde said, pretending to dust off his hands after putting everything on standby. "Let's go hit the hay Mimi… Mimi?"

Not getting a response, Naruto glanced over at the pink lover before chuckling softly when he saw her dozing away, having slid into a sitting position with her head comically pressed against the wall. Stepping over to the slumbering girl's side, the fox boy gently scooped her up into his arms, settling her into a bridal carry with her head nestled into the crook of his neck.

Making sure he had a decent grip, Naruto then proceeded to walk towards their sort-of shared room, moving at a slow yet steady pace to avoid jostling his passenger too much.

Thanks to his now intimate knowledge of the ship's layout, seriously even he was surprised at how well he could find his way around sometimes, it only took the blonde a few minutes for the blonde to arrive at his destination. Standing in front of the door to their room, the foxy blonde's face scrunched up in concentration for a moment as he used his tail to open the doorway.

Not wasting a second, Naruto stepped inside and silently pushed the door back shut behind him before going over to the bed and laying Mimi down. Once he was done tucking her in, the whiskered blonde sat down on the edge of the mattress with a gentle smile on his lips as he stared at the sleeping girl.

However, out of the blue, Naruto's gaze dropped to the floor as the cheer on his face suddenly just vanished and his lips curled into a deep frown, his expression flickering through many different emotions until it settled into a contemplative stare.

"Kitsumon digivolve to… Teumesemon," He whispered, briefly covering Mimi's face with her blanket as he changed to his stronger form before biting his thumb hard enough to draw blood and, after doing three quick hand-signs, placed it against the ground. "Summoning Jutsu."

*Poof* In a puff of smoke, a familiar vest wearing orange toad appeared before the whiskered blonde with an abnormally blank expression. "Hey Naruto."

"Hey Kichi."

…

…

"How long?" Naruto asked, finally breaking the long tense silence that had formed between them.

"About an hour," Gamakichi said in a low tone, making Naruto sigh deeply as his shoulders drooped. "You?"

"Two weeks," Naruto's hands balled into fists and his arms started trembling as he spoke. "Two weeks… two whole weeks…in just an hour."

As it turns out, there was some weird time difference between Naruto's home and wherever he was now. It was something the blonde discovered when he'd summoned Gamakichi on Whamon's back about two-thirds of the way to Server and the toad chewed him out as it had only been five minutes for him.

"Come on Naruto, chill out," Gamakichi said, hopping up and giving the blonde a semi-gentle slap on the cheek. "It's not that bad bro, annoying sure but you've had to deal with worse."

"Yeah, probably," Naruto said, sending the toad a dirty look while rubbing his cheek. "Is everyone alright at least?"

That was something that had been nagging at him for some time now, whether or not his friends were alright, if any of them had been seriously hurt or worse killed, and if he'd managed o stop Sasuke from falling into Orochimaru's hands.

"Mostly, your friends Neji and Choji just got out of surgery and I saw that Sasuke buddy of yours getting his face stitched back together, but otherwise everybody is alive and well from what I've heard." Gamakichi said, making the blonde smile slightly.

"So I did manage to keep my promise to Sakura-chan after all, that's good to hear." Naruto mumbled with a relieved smile. However, once again the boy's cheer was short-lived and he went back to staring at the floor much to the toad summon's surprise.

"Uh, what's up with you Naruto?" He asked with a tilted head. "I just told you that all your friends are okay and your mission was a success, kinda figured you'd be jumping for joy right now. I haven't seen you act like this since… well, ever actually."

"I am happy." Naruto said without looking up from the floor, making Gamakichi stare at him with a deadpan expression.

"Yeah, because you look just absolutely overjoyed."

"Stuff it Kichi," The blonde grumbled, earning a brief laugh from the small toad, before scratching the back of his head with a sigh. "Look, I just got a lot on my mind, alright?"

"Oh really, and would any of it happen to have anything to do with the sweet little number slumbering next to ya?" Gamakichi asked suggestively while pointing towards Mimi, who had latched onto several of Naruto's tails as they were talking, snuggling them to her chest like one would a teddy bear.

Thankfully, Naruto didn't have to worry about accidentally hurting the girl as the white fires on the ends of his tails gently licked over various parts of her body, since his flames only actually burned when he wanted them too.

"Yes actually," Naruto stated bluntly, causing the toad to blink in surprise. "Kichi, be honest with me… do you think I am a good leader?"

"Uh, little out of the blue there ain't it?" Gamakichi asked back, only for Naruto to continue staring at the floor. "Seriously Naruto, what's this about?"

"Her, them, all of these guys keep looking to me for guidance, to tell them where we should go or what to do next," As Naruto spoke, he finally looked away from the floor and instead started staring at the wall as he gripped the sides of his head. "But why though? Why me? I've never led anyone before, I don't even know how to lead."

"Ah, I get ya now bro." Gamakichi said while rubbing his chin. "Sounds like you're overthinking things to me."

"Am i?" Naruto asked, his gaze filled with uncertainty. "What if I make a mistake and one of them gets killed or something? I mean come on Kichi, we both know I'm an idiot most of the time."

"Don't you mean all the time?" The summon asked joking, earning a dry glare from the whiskered blonde as his flames flared out menacingly.

"I'm being serious here Kichi."

"Alright, alright, chill dude," Raising his hands up in a pacifying manner, Gamakichi couldn't help but gulp nervously at the rather intimidating sight. "Sheesh bro, you really are wound up."

Naruto continued to glare at the toad for several moments before his whole body seemed to deflate as he took a few deep breaths as an air of exhaustion surrounded him. "Sorry Kichi."

"Don't be, I get it," Gamakichi said while waving off the blonde's apology. "You're under a lot of stress, not exactly the best time for me to be cracking jokes."

"No kidding-Ttebayo," Naruto muttered, running a hand through his hair as he tried to recompose himself. "`I really need some help Kichi, I just… I just don't know what to do anymore."

"So you want my advice then?" The toad asked, getting a slow nod in response from the whiskered teen. "Alright, then here it is. Stop thinking about it so much."

"What are you-" Naruto started to say, only to be cut off when Gamakichi hopped onto his lap and smacked a hand over the foxy boy's mouth.

"Let me finish," The summon said sternly. "Look, If I'm being honest then yes, you are inexperienced as a leader, yeah you could mess up and get someone hurt or worse, and yes you can be dumb at times."

With each word the toad spoke, Naruto seemed to physically deflate while an air of tiredness and defeat surrounding him.

"However," Gamakichi continued, snapping the blonde's attention back on him. "You are also ridiculously brave, great at coming up with on the fly plans that have yet to fail, always do you best to help others, and are generally just a nice guy."

Pulling his hand away from the blonde's mouth, the toad hopped back to the floor just as his summoner reverted to his one-tailed form. "You say that these kids want you to lead? Well maybe that's because you have done nothing but proven time and again that you can. Consider that for a bit, I'm out of time."

*Poof* With that the toad was gone, leaving Naruto alone to contemplate his words.

And contemplate the whiskered blonde, his gaze once again dropping to the floor as he opened and closed his hands over and over, many thoughts passing through his mind yet his face remained inexplicably blank through it all.

Eventually though, Naruto just sighed tiredly before laying down on the bed, careful not to disturb Mimi and to keep a respectable distance between them as he pulled the covers over himself. Shifting around a bit until he was comfortable, the foxy boy's face still held a lot of doubt on it even as he slipped into a deep but slightly uneasy sleep.

Not even ten minutes after he'd fallen asleep though, Mimi's eyes suddenly snapped open and immediately focused on the slumbering blonde as she sidled over until she was snuggled right up to him.

"You really are too caring," She whispered while wrapping her arms around his waist, her voice compassionate and supporting. "We're lucky to have someone like you helping us. So please, don't doubt yourself because of us."

Her piece said, Mimi gave Naruto a soft kiss on his whiskered cheek before snuggling her head against the crook of his neck with a gentle smile.

-End Chapter-

AN: As I've stated many times in the past, deep emotional parts like this are rather challenging for me and any tips or constructive criticism is welcomed. That said, I really do hope I managed to depict how Naruto is struggling to cope with his role as leader of the digidestined.

Something I noticed is that a lot of stories tend to have him simple take control and that's that, and thus overlooking a very glaring thing. At this point of Naruto's life, while he has had brief stints of being in charge, has never had to handle any form of long term leadership obligations before, and now he's suddenly has to take charge of seven incredibly underprepared children (and their inexperienced digimon) through all sorts of dangerous life-threatening challenges.

Given his caring and sympathetic nature demanding he keep those kids safe, the not so small concern about the kyuubi being loose, then add in his own worries on whether or not he can ever return home, and just try to imagine the amount of stress he's under right now. Thanks for reading and please review.