Naruto x Digimon

Alive - Team Minato's Digidestined

Chapter 056.2

Originally Written: Tuesday, April 4, 2023 1043AM to 526PM; Wednesday, April 5, 2023 907AM to 418PM; Wednesday, April 12, 2023 450AM to 616AM

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One day, while traveling the forests around Konohagakure, Zhuqiaomon came to Madara. Zhuqiaomon spoke to him of a peaceful red-orange fox that had entered the forest. The Digimon took his human to the fox. Madara was not expecting the size. He was expecting something like a usual animal. Instead, this fox resembled something from the Digital World.

Standing, it was as large as a small mountain. Nine tails almost as long as its body were wrapped around it. It folded its arms with human-like hands underneath its head. Large red eyes watched Madara.

Madara looked at the creature from his place between the trees. The time spent in the Digital World gave him enough experience and knowledge to realize, "We're in your forest."

"There's no place I can go without encountering you pests." The fox spoke. "There isn't a human on this planet that doesn't know how to destroy. Not anymore."

Madara stepped out from the trees. Against his better judgment, he found he agreed with the creature. "The Senju will hunt you, if they find you."

"The Senju?" The creature asked. "Are they who attack my brethren?" The creature's tails extended out towards Madara. "Tell me what you know, or I will end you."

After being in the Digital World, the fox wasn't nearly as intimidating as it thought it was. Madara didn't know much, but he said he could find out. Zhuqiaomon however, knew much more. Hashirama Senju, Hokage of Konohagakure, was hunting the fox and other creatures like it. He intended to use them as bargaining chips for peace between the warring villages.

Madara thought of someone using Zhuqiaomon like that, and found he did not agree. If he could ally with Zhuqiaomon without tethering the beast to him, then surely Konohagakure and whatever other villages existed now could do the same. He looked at Zhuqiaomon. "I see why you brought me to this being."

He allied himself with the Nine-Tailed Fox, and planned. He learned the creature's name was Kurama. When Hashirama Senju and his wife, Uzumaki Mito, arrived, they were ready.

The battle was fierce, and changed the landscape. Kurama's tails carved through mountains, and the abilities Hashirama gained, with assistance from Mito, carved through the land. The skeletal armor of the Sharingan based ability, Susannoo, surrounding Madara protected him from harm. They had the upper hand, as Madara had been gone so long that the abilities of the Phoenix that attacked them years ago had nearly been forgotten.

Mito faulted as Kurama made his claim and she realized the implications of his words. Under Zhuqiamon's guidance, though he didn't believe the Senju would listen, he knew the Uzumaki were more kind and understanding to creatures. Madara knew better, Mito was no longer an Uzumaki. She married a Senju, she was now a Senju and would act like one until her death under the contract.

Hashirama looked at Kurama with a solemn expression. He apologized, declaring that Kurama would be safer if he was unable to roam freely under the threat of other humans. And as the trio of Madara, Zhuqiaomon and Kurama fell to the duo's assault, Madara wondered just who the Senju was apologizing to, and if that apology actually meant anything. He crouched over Zhuqiaomon, holding onto the creature. He expected Hashirama to leave him after his victory. It was always custom.

Instead, the man towered over him. "No more. I will harden my heart if I must. No. More."

Madara watched as Hashirama Senju raised his hands and forced chakra to flow through them. His ears rang as Zhuqiaomon thrashed and screeched, sounding more like a mythical dragon than a phoenix. Fire and flame filled his vision. His blood pumped through his chest, and his heart raced. He never stopped looking at the man who dishonored him by betraying him.

He did not expect to wake again. Yet he did. Another Digimon watched over him as he recovered. It was one he didn't recognize. And one of the less common types of Digimon. A Digimon that took after humans more than beasts. It was dressed in a dark, skin tight material, including a wide brimmed hat that hid its appearance. Its skin was pale, and its hair light, the ends colored a red only found in the sharingan. Its clothes were also dotted with sigils he didn't recognize made of the same red. A dark red, nearly maroon face mask covered its mouth. A dark almost black scarf wrapped around its neck and the collar of the thick, dense matching black armored half cloak it wore.

The scarf fluttered like wings, lifting the creature off the ground. Over time Madara noticed that the creature could not stand, though it had legs. The legs just did not seem to function normally. He wasn't sure why that was, but he would spend a great deal of time fixing it, if he could find a way to.

The Digimon introduced itself as AvengeKidmon. It helped both Madara and Zhuqiaomon's previous form. He explained that Zhuqiaomon reverted because it used all its chakra to heal Madara. Now it was Hippogiffomon. In time, with Madara's aid, it would return to its Zhuqiaomon form.

AvengeKidmon treated Madara and Hippogriffomon like old friends. The Digimon protected them from any harm that threatened them. When Madara recovered, but learned he wouldn't ever stand again, AvengeKidmon got other Digimon who liked and remembered Madara to give him a means of movement. Yet, Madara remained where he was. The little home in the forests near the red mountains that Zhuqiaomon originally introduced him to.

Slowly, over time, Madara analyzed AvengeKidmon. He acted very familiar, yet was different. Less regal and composed, but the lessons taught were still there. They just weren't needed in this new environment. One day, he whispered a name to the Digimon. With a three clawed hand, and a glow of red eyes flashing a sharingan, Avengekidmon tipped its hat. Madara laughed, and embraced the Digimon in a tight hug. So grateful to the creature who swore allegiance to him long ago, Madara lended Hippogriffomon his chakra, and Zhuqiaomon soared through the skies once more, keeping watch over them.

Zhuqiaomon traveled to and from the human world, learning the whereabouts of Konohagakure and the growing villages. He learned of the 'Valley of the End', the place where he and Hashirama Senju last clashed in battle. He learned his clan mourned him for many moons, and built a shrine for him and Izuna. They kept the secrets of the Uchiha clan there, and kept a close eye for when the Senju would eventually turn against them. They refused to let the Senju clan tear Madara's dream from him.

Madara learned, and lived, and aged. The thought of protecting his clan was never far from his mind. Kurama also haunted him. He failed the creature, just as he failed his brother and clan. His bones turned old and frail, his skin filled with wrinkles of age, and his once recognizable trademarked thick, black hair turned stringy and gray. With the loss of his youth came realization and understanding. He learned from his two Digimon companions that his eyes had changed. No longer the sharingan, it was something different, something he only read about in scrolls. He now knew what needed to be done.

He gathered warmth from Zhuqiamon's body. He was always cold in his old age. He ran a hand through Zhuqiaomon's feathers, using the digimon like a pillow. "I'm too old now. I don't think I would live if I returned…" He mourned.

Zhuqiaomon keened. The Uchiha knew Zhuqiamon didn't understand why humans and creatures from his world aged and died. Digimon died, but they didn't really age. And when they died, they came right back if something didn't take their data for their own schemes. In his world, the only creatures that didn't die were those like Kurama, and humans blindly hunted him like they had done Zhuqiaomon.

Digimon flocked to Madara like his clan members did in the days of old. They left him gifts and thanks, remembering the many days where it was just Madara and Zhuqiaomon. This was his home. He wished he could bring his clan here. They would like it….

Madara spoke to Zhuqiaomon and AvengeKidmon. He told them his hopes and dreams. "Look after them for me."

Madara Uchiha expected dying to be painful, but the only thing painful was that he could feel Zhuqiaomon's grief deep within his bones.