Memories
#4 of Breathless
A/N: Well here I am, back with the fourth part of this story. Hope you'll enjoy this. Anyways, still don't own either Digimon or Naruto ((If I did, a lot of people would notice a few changes ;) )) And I don't own Beautiful Breakdown or Somewhere, the two songs where I use in here. And the plot thickens....
Jolting up suddenly-scaring an already shaken Henry in the process-Naruto wiped the sweat that was on his brow. "Sasuke..." Not really realizing that he had said the name aloud, the blond shivered slightly. Growing colder by the moment, he looked down at his Digivice. The yellow card, and the black one. They were connected, he knew that, but how? The Digi Egg?
"Sasuke? Who's he?" Henry had cleared his throat, seeing Naruto holding Veemon tighter than usual. He really didn't want to let on what he found out about the blond, but right now, he was more intrigued by the name that was muttered.
Turning around quickly, Naruto was still shaken from his own weird dream. The falling, it felt so real like the last time. But the question caught him off guard. "Friend, that's all." My demons surround him, Henry. You wouldn't understand it even if you had known about me. Without another word, the blond looked down at the Digimon in his arms. "I need to go."
"You can't leave, Naruto. It's one in the morning."
"I need to go back to the park. I don't care if you say I can't go." Not even realizing it, his own Digivice began to glow a light crimson, before he placed Veemon on the floor. "Goodbye Henry." Holding his hands in a seal, Naruto let his old jutsu come back. A plant appeared from a puff of smoke, a plant from the balcony he had made sure to be locked. Jumping down from it, Henry was sure the man was going to kill himself. Bolting to open the door and look down, the tamer saw the impossible.
Naruto had landed on one hand and his own feet. The boy wasn't normal-he already knew that-but to be able to do that, it seemed as though he was godly. Even if he was a ninja, it still shouldn't have been possible, but with what he figured out, anything was possible for the hybrid. Disappearing almost immediately, the blond jumped upon each of the lamp posts, going towards the park.
Standing there in the center of the park with a black coat blowing in the wind, Sasuke smirked seeing his old comrade appear before him. Growling to him, Naruto held his stance, just staring at the black haired man. "So you are here, Sasuke," he muttered, glaring back at the smirk that seemed to glow in the limited light.
"Idiot."
Somehow, Naruto had figured that if he had gone back to where he first saw Sasuke, he'd find him again. It just felt like the right thing to do. "Why are you here, bastard?" A cold response from the normally happy-go-lucky blond didn't phase Sasuke.
Snickering at the man, he held out his silver Digivice before him, showing the sparks of electricity that came out of nowhere. "I'm here to make sure you don't leave this place alive." His Digivice began to have a stream of static surround it. "Spirit Evolution!" His hand went by the static, before it began to surround him-a black light upon his skin with his body changing quickly.
"Razimon!" With a new form, Sasuke emerged from the black light sporting a totally black set of armor around him-helmet in the form of a snake's head-as well as a long sword upon his back. Purple also had mixed into his blood somehow, changing his once alabaster skin into a purple snake's head. Even upon that seemed to be the curse seal activated.
Razimon had let a sickening grin come upon his face, with tongue slither out in a hiss. "Take your final breath, idiot, for you won't live past tonight!" Unsheathing his sword from it's long case, he held it in front of him. Naruto was totally confused. How did Sasuke become what looked like to be a Digimon? Though, the time he had to figure out that was cut short as the sword sliced downward at his chest-him backing up enough to just get a large cut at his chest, though barely digging in.
What was the 'Spirit Evolution' he saw? From what he remembered, Takato and Henry only talked about the regular digivolution as well as DNA Digivolving. Nothing about that. How was he even going to do anything against a Digimon alone. Dodging constantly backwards to avoid more slashes, Naruto was at a complete disadvantage from the start.
All the while, Henry had stayed hidden behind some trees. Getting there just about the time when Sasuke had turned into a Digimon, he wondered who were these people. But watching the blond be on the losing side was something he didn't want. Especially since Terriermon was with the boy's Digimon at the moment. Realizing that he had to do something, he stared down at his deck of cards, before pulling out an armor Modify Card.
"NARUTO! Catch!" He shouted as he tosses the card towards the man-who at the time jumped to the side to catch it before looking somewhat startled. "Use it! I know you can use them on yourself!"
Shrugging a bit, Naruto dodged another blow, getting his Digivice off his belt. "Modify: Armor Upgrade!"Again the words had just escaped his lips before he realized what he was saying or even doing; the card already going through the device easily before around his arm an armlet appeared, just in time to deflect a hit that was going to slice off his own arm.
Still not believing what he saw, Henry let it happen, until Razimon had appeared behind him with the sword at his neck. "Seems we have an unwanted guest." Naruto was thrown off by the sudden disappearance of his opponent, turning around to see where the Digimon hybrid had gone.
"Shit. Sasuke! Let him GO!"
Henry's eyes went wide. This was the Sasuke that Naruto had mentioned when he woke up? Was this the reason why the blond had gone to the park? Why he needed to go no matter what he said? Well apparently he was about to get killed because he had to follow the kid, just to make sure that he wouldn't get killed or even become the swirling blackness he had seen earlier.
"Why would I want to, Naruto?" The sword went closer to Henry's neck, cutting a bit into his neck. "Do you have an attachment to him?"
Growling once more, Naruto bolted towards Sasuke, ready to slam his armored fist into his comrade's face for doing a dirty trick like that. "I don't have an attachment, but this is between us!"
Snickering once more, Razimon let his blade fall from Henry's neck, but not before wrapping an armored hand around his neck. Pushing the kid towards Naruto-which had knocked him backwards-Razimon jumped back. "We'll finish this later, idiot. When we have no distractions." The hybrid had disappeared back into the static that had created him.
Barely catching Henry as he was tossed at him, Naruto fell back onto the ground, seeing that Sasuke had left. Again, he had been trumped by the other shinobi, and again he'd have to search even more, especially with the knowledge that his friend was here. Lifting Henry up from the ground, he finally saw the wound that was on the other boy's neck. "We need to treat that!" The blond pressed his other hand upon the bleeding slice, as he watched his other arm return to normal-allowing him to finally hold Henry the way he needed to so that he could jump back towards the other's apartment. "I'm sorry. I never meant for you to be drawn into this."
Laying Henry down upon the floor, Naruto began to bandage up his wound, totally ignoring the tamer's Digimon as he did so. Right now, he was trying to not feel guilty, and it was failing miserably. Slowly, he decided that they would all be better off if he wasn't near them. Turning to Terriermon, Naruto looked at the ground. "Tell them when they wake up, I'm not coming back."
Figuring he'd need those cards, the blond did pilfer them. "I'll return these when I'm done, but I need them, alright?" Afraid of the kid, Terriermon just stared at his trainer, as Naruto disappeared from the apartment. Hiding his sadness, he continued running down the streets, as in the morning light snow drifted down upon him.
_Lost in the darkness,
Hoping for a sign.
Instead there's only silence,
Can't you hear my screams?
Never stop,
To at least know where you are.
Though one thing's for sure,
You're always in my heart._
Noises all around him seemed drowned out by Sasuke's voice. "Wherever you are, I won't stop searching." Tears flew behind him as he let the darkness come back. He'd use that to find his friend; to find the one that he was looking for, for all this time. This all felt too surreal for him to be true, but he saw it, he felt it when it happened. Even as the blood trickled down his chest, he still felt the slight agony from seeing his friend like that.
_It's alright,
Because there's beauty in the breakdown._
All those moments, all those times he had spent with Veemon, were overshadowed by the agony that seemed to choke his own voice and weeps. As the snow drifted down and settled in his blond hair, he wouldn't let himself feel the nice beauty of it. Things were shattered for him, especially knowing what could be. The dream, the vision, even the cards. What were they, and why were they connected to him?
To him, that was the main question he wanted answered. That and how Sasuke had turned into a Digimon. Feelings he had thought he lost, they washed over him like a sea. Maybe there was more to thins than he could figure out. Something that was hidden from him as his emerald eyes peered at the streets. Things seemed to waver back and forth-breaths being harder to catch within the cold air all around him.
It had all caught up with him; the wound, the feelings, even the exhaustion from his battle. His body began to fail him as it crashed down into the pavement. Static seem to cross his vision one last time as he closed his eyes. Let Sasuke take him, maybe then he could get a hold of the man's once good nature.
She huffed; staring at the blond before her was a bit annoying. Here again, she found him on the ground, and not only that, he had seemed to be bleeding into the perfect white snow. "Idiot," was all she muttered as she lifted the man up from the ground and carried him into an abandoned building. Stoking the fire she had on the concrete floor, her own pale green eyes softened. At least she found him-seeing Sasuke one more time made her wonder what was going on, especially since they both were in this world that she had no idea where it was.
Going back over to Naruto, her hands carefully cleaned out the wound, before wrapping it up. Though she could have used something else to heal it, she felt that he needed to realize that going out alone wasn't the smartest thing in the world. "You better get better idiot. Seems we're both in for a ride."
Holding his hand, her eyes closed for a few moments-which had turned into a few hours, before she realized that she had nodded off while taking care of him. Blushing a bit, she withdrew her hand before going back over to the fire. Keeping it up was her main priority, and without it, she knew that they'd have no way to keep warm in the freezing weather that seemed to come out of nowhere.
From the inside of the building, her eyes caught the vision of snow once more from the outside. It seemed weird for her to deal with, since it wasn't every day that she saw the white flakes come down from the sky. However, there were more pressing matters than just enjoying the snow drifting down-ones that dealt with the blond that was still unconscious on the ground behind her.
A few hours later, emerald eyes winked open; vision seemed to drift in and out for the blond staring up at the ceiling. What had happened? Wasn't he face down in the snow? But the warmth around him made him think he wasn't outside anymore. Maybe all of that was a dream, a dream worth forgetting. His world might just be around him, and with that, all of his friends were there, ready for him to jump back up and get into action.
But when he tried to sit up to look outside, his chest ached. Looking down at the tattered crimson shirt that barely hugged to him, he groaned. It wasn't a dream; he was still here, in this weird place in which he didn't even know what was going on. Sasuke was still here, that thought made him shiver. And yet, what had brought him into a building? Takato? Henry?
"Glad you're finally awake Naruto." No, it couldn't be. The voice, it was too familiar for him to really comprehend. "Nice wound you got there. Is it from Sasuke?" Turning his head slightly, his thoughts were correct as emerald eyes met the face behind the voice.
"Sa..kura?"
She giggled slightly-though looking extremely different from what he had remembered her to be, but to him, he didn't know how he had remembered her. "Who'd you think it was? Ino? Temari? Of course it's me, Naruto." She poked the fire with another small piece of wood she had found in crates. Sakura knew that it was wrong, but the fire was more important than really having a right or wrong.
He couldn't believe it, Sakura was here too? Focusing his vision, Naruto totally sat up to rub the back of his head. The fall had given him a headache, though it might have been cause by the fact he thought too much.
"You have one of those strange devices too, don't you?" She asked softly, pointing to the thing around his belt. "And what are those cards?"
Naruto froze. She saw his Digivice? And what did she mean by 'too'? "Devices? It's just a watch."
"Right. That's why it's glowing crimson." Sakura laughed, before pointing to the pink one she had around her neck. "I have one as well. Don't know exactly what it does, though."
"It's called a... Digivice, Sakura."
Nodding, she turned towards him with a smile. "Ahh, well at least now I know what it's called. Digivice, alright. So what does it do?"
He looked at her with a frown. "It's for a person's Digimon." Though Sasuke used his own without having a Digimon. "To digivolve them and such."
Another giggle. "Well, guess I have a lot to learn."
"How did you get here?"
"Dunno. I just found myself in this weird place." Leaving out the fact that she had seen Sasuke, she left it be. "So, what are these Digimon?"
As Naruto began to explain what they were, and what the cards were for, Sakura just still nodded. She was intrigued by what the blond knew about all this, though she had already knew a lot about it. It was all to prod the man's knowledge.
Overall, though, it was great to see that Naruto was here, even after the fact she thought that the only person that even she'd know was Sasuke. Her hand went into her pouch, feeling around for the marble that was given to her, having a sigh of relieve when it fit into her palm. "Hey Naruto, I'm going to get more wood, stay there, okay?"
Nodding to her, Naruto laid back down, surprised at who he had met. To him, this was the happiest day of his life-knowing that he'd have someone on his side wanting to help him get Sasuke back. Sakura slipped out of the building, to stand in the snow and stare at the static that appeared before her. "Why him?"
"Because, he is a problem. And you need to solve it since another could do it. Now solve our problem!"
She visibly winced, before holding out the orange marble she had. Spinning it around, Sakura watched as it turned into a orange card. "I guess you want me to go into that form, right?"
"Yes."
"Alright." Sliding the card easily through the Digivice, her eyes closed. "Spirit Evolution!" Her body erupted into a red light, having armor attach itself to her body quickly. "Tymemon!" Her voice was shaky, as though she didn't really want to do this, but it was necessary for her to get Sasuke back. At least that was her terms. But to go against Naruto like this, it felt like she was betraying their friendship, especially after all that they had been through.
Feeling the final parts of the dragon armor become part of body, she looked at the static. "It'll be done." Watching the static disappear, Tymemon entered the building once more, facing the blond whom had his eyes closed.
He had a feeling of relaxation cross his mind-finding Sakura had done it to him. Just being in that state of mind, Naruto hadn't heard the creaking of armor as it went towards him. Settling just above the blond. "GET UP!" She muttered, grabbing Naruto by the neck.
Though tears were visible through the bottom of her visor, she wouldn't let them control her actions. Struggling in the hybrid's grasp, Naruto winced at the tightening hold upon his neck, barely breathing out, "Who are you?"
"Someone called upon to kill you." More tears fell from her face, as fingers shook. Looking down, she brought her other hand towards his chest-the one with claws ready to slice him up. He struggled more, not liking the fact that he was unable to do anything-his cards were across the room; and even if he did have them, his arms felt dead against his sides so he couldn't even use them to modify.
"SAKURA! HELP!" Hearing his pleas, the inside Sakura broke. Even if this was for Sasuke, she couldn't just kill the blond that she held helplessly.
I can't. She thought, before Tymemon leaned in close. "Run. Just RUN." Tossing him near his cards, Tymemon looked to the ground. "Don't look back, please."
Startled, Naruto did as he was told, though grabbing his cards in the process.. He really didn't want to be pureed anytime soon. "But Sakura.."
"SHE'S ALRIGHT! JUST LEAVE!"
Bolting towards the door, he didn't look back, or even wonder what was going on. The only thing he cared about was Sakura at the moment, and yet, how could he trust a beast that was ready to kill him. "She needs my help." He whispered, stopping at the door.
"I already told you, she's alright. She just... ran away." It was the best the hybrid could come up with to explain her appearance like this. "GO!"
A hurtling fireball towards his back made the blond run finally; Tymemon failed in her mission, but she didn't care. Seeing Naruto here, it changed her mind about wanting to deal with everything. "Don't come back, Naruto. I'm sorry, but don't come back. You wouldn't want to know what was going on in our home."
Not losing himself into his mind, Naruto ran all the way through the town. His heart was racing, beating fast and furiously. Nothing was going right with him since he came here. But who was the Digimon he saw. It looked like a person behind it, just like Sasuke had still looked a bit human when he turned into Razimon. Yet, as he poured thought into it, he really didn't want to dive deeper. Some things were better left unknown to him, and he understood that.
Huffing and panting as he finally stopped near another building, Naruto held himself against a lamp post, trying to get breaths. He had no idea where he was, or even where he was going; just that he had to get away from that building and stay away. Hearing only his pulse in his temples, Naruto finally felt the cold return, especially as the morning became more and more apparent. Though as he looked around, he saw no one. Not a single soul.
He really couldn't understand it. Though trying to would only lead back to him wanting to get further away from anything. At least he could have some peace-or so he thought. "Naruto." A voice whispered behind him. Freezing up again, the blond felt a cold touch to his neck-though he really couldn't explain it. Just a slight passing touch, that faded away immediately. "You need to learn how to summon me."
Looking behind him, he saw nothing, though the tickle of something touching the back of his neck continued. "Summon yourself, to summon me." By then, he had finally heard the beeping on his Digivice-and staring down, he saw that a red light was coming closer to him. Still not knowing the full extent of his device, Naruto hid in an alley near where he was, until he saw the red light turn towards him.
"Shit," he whispered.
"NARUTO!? HEY NARUTO!?" Another familiar voice, however he identified it as Takato. Not wanting to be found in this state, the blond slide down against the wall, hoping to stay hidden, but Takato's voice drew even closer. "I know you're here. Just come out, I want to talk with you."
The brunette looked behind the dump ster that had hidden Naruto from him. "Come on, Naruto. Get up. Henry told me you ran off." Wincing at him, the blond shook his head. Takato, however, wouldn't take it. Grabbing his arm and yanking him up, the brunette digidestined pulled Naruto down the sidewalk towards his own apartment. "There's something going on, and we're all thinking you might know more about it." There was an undertone of something else, but Naruto couldn't really pick up on it.
"Let go of me. I'll just get you all hurt, like I did with Henry." Takato laughed, shaking his head.
"Sorry, Naruto. Can't let you really leave us. You're our only clue as to why people are disappearing everywhere, and about the man whom Henry saw turn into a Digimon. We want to know what you know." He was more forceful than Sakura was, however Naruto had to comply. Knowing that even Veemon would want answers, Naruto swallowed the guilt that passed by his throat.
Arriving at the brunette's apartment, Naruto sighed. Today just sucked. Everything went wrong; ranging from being transported to another world he did not know, to two humans wanting him dead for something he himself didn't understand. Alas, there was nothing he could do about it right at the moment. That voice had nagged at him. Who was it? And why did it tell him to summon it?
Folding his arms, Takato looked at the blond. "So why did you leave Henry alone after what he said you battled this Digimon-human thing?"
"I...I didn't want him or anyone else to get hurt by something that just deals with me."
Sighing to himself, the brunette rolled his eyes. "Well now it deals with all of us. From what Henry can tell, only us tamers are here. Everyone else has disappeared, and that doesn't seem right. And just because you know this Sasuke person doesn't mean you can go off on your own to fight your own battles. We're a team, and whether you like it or not, a team works together."
Naruto had a flashback to what Kakashi had told him and his team a while back. 'Teamwork is necessary for a team to survive. It doesn't matter what happens in the mission as long as you get everyone back safely.' "I know." His eyes stared at the ground.
"By the way, what happened to your eyes. They were blue before."
Not really having an answer for that, Naruto just shrugged. "Dunno. Didn't even realize they changed." Taking out a card from the deck he had pilfered from the other digidestined, the blond just continued to flip it around.
"And those are Henry's cards, you know. Though I heard from him you were going to return them after you were done; just ask next time. We could have given you Modify Cards if you wanted."
Naruto shrugged again, just staring at the card before him. A speed chip. "So, Sasuke's here? Shouldn't that be good for you?" continued Takato.
"I wish I was. But..."
"But what?"
"He's still the same as he was when he left Konoha. The Avenger. And now whatever that card thing he had, it somehow changed him."
Blinking a few times, Takato wanted to know more. "Card? You mean a Modify Card?"
Naruto shook his head. "No. It was a completely Yellow Card, just like I had a completely Black Card that I scanned yesterday."
Now it was a bit clearer to the brunette. "So, you found something that was like a Blue Card? Well, it was what we found that changed our Card Readers into Digivices. Though, I really don't know how it could change a person into a Digimon, unless..."
Perking up, Naruto looked at Takato. "Unless?"
"Unless the rumors were true about the Eight Cards. It's something that was told about between tamers. That they possess weird powers; changing them in ways we couldn't imagine."
"Maybe they are true. I don't really know, or care. All of this seems to be my fault-staying near me is just going to get you hurt, so you better just leave me alone." Still on that 'self-hatred' track, the blond really couldn't bring others into his own demons.
"SHUT UP!" Takato screamed, slapping Naruto before he even realized what he did. "I...I'm sorry. Just, I don't like it when people start that way."
Rubbing his cheek, Naruto sighed to himself. "It's alright. But still, you'll get hurt. It's best if I just go about this myself, else the other one will-" Quickly shutting himself up, the blond stared out the window.
"Other one? What, there's two out there?" Naruto wouldn't answer. "Tell me! Is there a second one out there?"
"Yes," a quiet whisper, croaked in between the guilt swallowing. "I think it took 'her'." Takato was still not getting the full set of answers from the blond, but right now, he was starting to think that was a lost cause. Speaking to a brick wall would yield better results than doing it with him.
"Just don't leave, alright? Henry will be over in a few hours with Veemon and Terriermon, so if you leave, you'll be disappointing your Digimon, and that is something that a tamer shouldn't be doing, no matter how self-righteous they are feeling. Got that?"
Shrugging again, the blond leaned against the wall, letting his head stare up at the ceiling. Maybe soon he'll figure all this out, but that voice still nagged at him. A nag that wouldn't stop clawing at the back of his head.
"I'm going to try and get some sleep before Henry comes, so you'll be on your honor Naruto. Don't disappoint me."
Still staring at the ceiling, Naruto didn't really care about the sleeping kid near him in the room, or even at the thought that Veemon was coming closer. The silence that continued through the room seemed to annoy him more than any amount of snoring or commotion ever could.
"Still beating yourself up?" The voice was Sasuke's, he was sure of it. "Still the same weakling that I left in Konoha, that's for sure." The static world surrounded him once more, showing him the raven haired man standing there with folded arms. "You better be at the park by sunset, or you'll lose a close friend."
Before Naruto could even let a response come through, the static disappeared, as did the vision of Sasuke. Biting his lip, worried about the situation, Naruto closed his own eyes, hoping it wasn't true. But still it felt weird to continue lying to himself about something that he knew existed.
"Naruto, you must realize yourself." Another voice back, but it was the one that he had heard while panting on the street. "Find me. Find yourself." Thinking he was seeing things as he stared at the ground, the blond rubbed his eyes a bit.
But it wasn't just a figment of his imagination-there was a small fox in front of him, with a swishing tail. Follow me, if you want to summon me. Scampering out the door, the fox left Naruto with no other words.
Figuring that well nothing else could go wrong, Naruto went running after the fox, winding down the steps before finding himself back outside, with the light snow seemingly on repeat. Still on the ground was the same light fluff that was there hours before-just like nothing had really changed.
Seeing that the fox was going down the street, Naruto sped up, not wanting to lose it. What the hell, he was already going nuts as it was, might as well continue the little crazy spurt that he was having, even though it felt like it was all a reality. The fox wavered back and forth between the posts, working its way towards the school a bit of a ways in front of Naruto.
The blond sped up faster, until he ran side by side with the fox, constantly staring at it. As he did so, the once vivid memories of when he was a Digimon seemed to slip from his mind. He hadn't realized they were disappearing, though as they did, different thoughts crossed his mind. Of Sasuke, and of Sakura-they were both here, and he wanted to bring them back. Even in the long forgotten thoughts of being with Veemon, they ranked higher.
With the school edging closer, it seemed to be covered with its own static, before it morphed towards the Academy Naruto knew. Little did he know, his own body was changing, making him look younger and younger with each step, until finally he was looking like a five-year-old. His movements seemed to slow down, because of his shorter legs, but the blond still kept pace with the fox, until it finally stopped, only to jump upon the swing that brought back even more memories.
Sitting there upon the swing, the fox's tail wrapped around itself, with it staring back at the blond who was catching his breath. Find yourself. Find me. Disappearing in a little gust of wind and leaves-making Naruto have to shield his eyes from dust-the fox left no other help for him, yet the blond sort of knew what he had to do: face whatever was here, face whatever was holding him back and keeping him like the child he looked like.
"Sasuke..." His feet carried him to the door, as small fingers wrapped around the knob to push it open, revealing the dust covered hallway that led to the various classes Naruto had remembered. Feeling like his vision was betraying him, Naruto rubbed his eyes a few times, but the dust didn't leave-as if this place hadn't been used for years. But he trekked on. No longer would he want to have himself stuck without answers, and no longer would he want to feel as though he wasn't a help to anyone or anything.
Pushing open a sliding door, green eyes stared at the chalkboard as well as the benches. Tears wanted to escape his eyes, but he wouldn't let them. He couldn't let them out, because it would show his weakness, a weakness he left behind long ago. Within his mind, he created images of his past, having the room filled with the ninja of his past. It felt right, since the room had been so betrayed by the loneliness and forgotten years that it was left empty.
Words entered his ears-conversations of years long gone by. Enough to bring a smile to his face, the blond slipped over to where he used to sit, finding himself looking at the board before him, as well as the seats to the left of him. Sakura and Sasuke used to sit there-he remembered that, as well as he remembered where Hinata and the others sat. It all seemed right. It all seemed like he was back home, back in a place that wouldn't let him down.
But as he felt the security, more words shot all around him. The words of the villagers, and of the other students. Whispers of things, whispers of the Kyuubi and the destruction of the village. Words that were never meant to be heard by him, but were. They broke him down, shunned him, even threw him into the darkness he so totally loathed.
Pushing himself up, he couldn't help but cry. It was all so real. The villagers turning their backs on him-keeping him from the attention he desired. Something inside of him broke once more. The static surrounded him, letting the room go back to the swing outside, to relive his failure at the Graduation Exam. He remembered the Genin who let their words travel to the winds come towards him. And the loneliness that surrounded the tree where the swing hung from.
Naruto sat there, holding the ropes tightly between his fingers. Staining his cheeks were the tears that he relived-though as he did, he looked at the ground, seeing a shadow of a fox, a nine tailed fox. His own demon. Given it since birth, he had found it to be a help when he needed it. But he remembered why he hadn't always liked it.
"Why you crying?" A soft voice came towards him, giving a small smile.
Looking up to see a small kid around his own height, Naruto shrugged. "I'm alone. Why else?"
Touching Naruto's cheek, the small blond smiled before him. "Don't cry. You're not alone. See, I'm here."
Had he not been crying, Naruto would have realize it was a double of him, just talking softly, trying to lessen his older self's cries. "Yeah, but if you know what I am, you wouldn't want to be with me."
The younger version of Naruto chuckled softly-grabbing the older blond's hand. "I don't care. I just want to play with someone. Come on!" Yanking him off the swing, and out of his crying, the younger Naruto smiled playfully.
Wiping his eyes, Naruto smiled. "Alright," sniffling so slightly, it was barely heard by the other blond, though it really didn't matter. As he was pulled, the reality morphed back into its rightful place, with Naruto just staring at the large school building that stood really where his Academy was moments before.
You have awakened. The fox was back in front of Naruto, tail swishing back and forth in the snow. The cool spring day he had in his vision was but a false hope he had for today. Though, he just blinked at the fox's words to him.
"What do you mean I've awakened?" Naruto's eyes were directed towards his Digivice, by the fox's tail-which was glowing black once more. Grabbing it, the blond tilted his head, "What happ-"
By then, the fox disappeared, with a last coo, You have become one of them. Still not understanding what the animal meant, Naruto clenched his hand around the Digivice. Answers weren't given, just more questions. But as his hand wrapped harder around the device, it glowed with much more ferocity. With his attention back to it, his other hand began to have static surrounding it.
"What the..." The last memory Naruto had, was that of Sasuke, and how he changed. Maybe this was the same thing. "Spirit Evolution!" Dragging the tip of the Digivice against his left hand, he felt himself separate from the world around him. His vision split in two as he watched his body start to be covered by armor.
Around him, was a strange grid, that seemed to flash green and black-and as ominous as it felt, he still didn't seem worried. With calm spirits, his eyes closed, letting it come to him; each and every piece had attached itself to the blond with precision he hadn't even known existed.
As the last piece of armor attached itself to him, his eyes opened beneath the visor, staring out at the tinted world around him. Blue and black armor seemed to cover his whole body, not only that, but it seemed to be decorated like a fox-him hunched over on all fours. Strangely enough, a surge of power coursed through his bones as he stood there, swishing the metallic tail behind him.
A growl escaped his lips, followed soon after by a howl. He was back as a Digimon, though he had lost his memories of when he was one. Memories that were his only key as to how this all worked. Neokitsumon. The fox's voice was back for a moment, but it seemed to be all around him, as if he was the fox, and the fox was him.
Neokitsumon.
Walking into Takato's apartment, carrying both Veemon and Terriermon, Henry looked around. "Naruto? Takato? Are you here?" Snapping out of his sleep, Takato stumbled to his feet.
"M'awake." He managed, just barely though. "Naruto should be..." Looking around the room, he saw no one else there, which made him a bit furious. "He ran off again." Outside, seen from Takato's balcony, there shined a bright black light up by the school. With both tamers entranced by it, they watched as it disappeared just as quickly as it came.
And with that, both had the same thought. "Naruto..."