Partners For Life

Chapter 6: Rookies

Yay! Quick updates! This chapter was easier, since it only needed a little filling out. I still need some help though – see the author's note below.

Naruto smiled, Renamon's hand warm in his. [I'm glad that we're FINALLY done with sewer duty!] She nodded. [I was starting to think i'd never get that god-awful stench out of my fur...] As a celebration of their first sewer-free day, Naruto had asked Renamon on their first official date. He even managed to get reservations at a fairly nice restaurant, thanks to Iruka. He was slightly worried about what their reception would be once they actually got there, but he was sure that they wouldn't refuse service outright to a shinobi.

Looking over at her, he grinned. She's gotta be the most beautiful girl in the whole village, no, the world! Renamon had dressed for the occasion, after being kidnapped by Sakura to go clothes-shopping; They still had a lot of money left over from the last mission, as Tazuna had kept his promise to pay for the escalation once he had the money. She wore a deep purple, sleeveless dress, and her old purple arm-warmers. Sakura had convinced her to wear jewelry in the form of a simple, golden necklace. She felt his gaze, and his thoughts, and she blushed. Naruto wore a simple black suit that Iruka had helped him pick out, and with a little 'persuasion' from the chunin, he'd even managed to get it at a fairly good price.

Sucking in a nervous breath, he opened the door. The maitre d' sneered at him. "What exactly are you doing here, child?"

Naruto glared at him stubbornly. "I think you'll find a reservation for two, under the name 'Iruka Umino'.

The man raised an eyebrow, and, without even looking at his list, said, "I'm sorry, but it appears that name is not on our list."

Naruto growled.

The maitre d' jumped, as an aged voice called out from behind him.

"Ahh, Naruto. What a pleasant surprise! It just so happens that I'm eating here with my grandson. Care to join us?"

Naruto bowed. "I would be honored, Hokage-sama."

Renamon rolled her eyes. [Suck-up.]

He smiled at Sarutobi. [Sssshhh, I'm trying to salvage this.]

The Third led them over to his table. "How fortunate. We were just about to order." He motioned over to a small boy in a scarf. "This is my grandson, Konohamaru."

Renamon smiled at him. "Hello, Konohamaru. I'm Renamon."

Naruto smiled as well. "Naruto's the name." Renamon smacked him with her tail, and Konohamaru laughed.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Rena-chaaaan..."

Sarutobi chuckled. Young love... even if it's a little odd, it's still a wondrous thing to behold. They all placed their orders; no one seemed to see the worshipful glances that Konohamaru shot Renamon every now and then.

She's sooo cool! She even called me by my name, and not just 'Honorable Grandson'!

After a few minutes of enjoyable, but pointless conversation, Sarutobi decided to change the subject. "So, Renamon, how exactly is it that you came to our world?"

She grimaced. "Well, it's a rather long story... you see, the digital world had been taken over by four megas calling themselves the Dark Masters."

He frowned. "Megas?"

She sighed. "There are levels of power for each digimon, called a 'digivolution line'. This form that i'm in is my Rookie form; after that comes Kyuubimon, who is a champion. After champion comes ultimate, and then mega."

He nodded. "So, these digimon were at the highest form possible?"

"Yes. They were also very cruel and sadistic; once, they even attacked Primary Village, which is- or rather, was the hatching grounds for all newborn digimon."

Konohamaru paled. "That's horrible!"

She nodded sadly. "Anyway, I don't know exactly how it happened, but rumours were flying around, that a bunch of human kids calling themselves the 'digidestined' took on the Dark Masters, and won."

Konohamaru smiled. "That's a good thing, right?"

Renamon tried, and failed to hide a brief flash of pain. "Not quite. Apparently, the Dark Masters' defeat unleashed something worse. I don't know whether or not it was actually a digimon, but whatever it was, started tearing our world to pieces. Entire islands vanished in the blink of an eye, along with the digimon who lived there. I was on Angel Island, when it disappeared. Our leader, the angel Seraphimon, somehow managed to keep us together." She closed her eyes, reverent. "Were it not for him, I can't honestly say what would have happened to our people."

Hiruzen gave her a speculative look. It would seem that this 'Seraphimon' is quite the character. To earn such admiration, to endure such sacrifice... It almost sounds as if one of my ninja were speaking of the Hokage and our legacy. He made a mental note to instruct Jiraiya to be on the lookout for the angelic Digimon; After all, respect and loyalty go hand-in-hand. It would be a shame were he to side with Stone, or Cloud.

"Well, that went well." Naruto laced his fingers through those of his partner, breathing deeply in the night air.

Renamon stared off into the stars. "Mmm."

He gave her a sideways glance, his expression worried. "You're feeling homesick again, aren't you?" She hung her head, and he brushed against her. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, y'know. I know I'd miss the Leaf if I had to leave."

She looked over at him. [Would you really?] Images flashed through her mind, of cold glares, turned backs, and indifference... A prison of ice, and all because her partner had had the misfortune of being the Hidden Leaf's savior.

He grimaced. [Despite that, this is my home. If I hadn't had Old Man Sarutobi, or Iruka-sensei, or the Ichiraku's, it might've been different, but I do, and they love this village with everything they have. If they love it, there's gotta be something worth staying for, yeah?]

She sighed. [I guess. I still think that almost all the civilians we've met have been retarded.]

He shrugged. [Let them be. It's not like they can actually do anything to us.] For a moment, they walked in silence, and then Naruto's face lit up as he had an idea. They both leapt to a nearby rooftop, and sped towards the Hokage monument.

"Whoa... You can see so much from here..." Renamon's eyes were wide as she tried to take in everything at once.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah... this is definitely my favorite spot in the village." They both sat on the Fourth's head, stargazing.

Midnight found them fast asleep, curled around each other. Sarutobi looked down on the scene from his tower. Young love is a wonderful thing, indeed...

Naruto yawned as he and Renamon sat on the rails of the bridge, waiting for the rest of the team to arrive. He closed his eyes, about to take a nap, wheen the sound of pattering feet caught his attention. Opening one eye lazily, he twitched as he saw the three students approaching them. One of them was definitely Konohamaru, and the other two looked to be his classmates. That wasn't what made him twitch, though. It wasn't even the fact that they should've been in class-as a veteran prankster, Naruto could understand the need to get away from Iruka every once in a while. No, what really got him, was what they were wearing. Each wore an identical white shirt, emblazoned with a taijitu, and two purple arm-warmers, with the same on the wrists.

Renamon laughed. "What brings you three here? Shouldn't you be in class?"

The girl, a red-head with two ridiculously long buns, squee'd. "Wow, she really is cool!"

Renamon tickled the girl with her tail, and Moegi laughed. Renamon smiled good-naturedly. "Your sensei is probably looking for you, you know."

Konohamaru made a face. "Eurgh. Ebisu-sensei is so stuck up! He's always going on about those stupid shortcuts of his..."

Renamon raised an eyebrow. "Shortcuts?"

He nodded. "He says, if I ever wanna be Hokage, I gotta do everything he says."

Naruto frowned. "What, like he's ever taught a Hokage?"

Konohamaru put on his best 'begging face'. "He never really teaches us anything! That's why we came to you, boss!"

Renamon chuckled. "Boss?" All three nodded enthusiastically. She thought for a moment. [What do you say, Naruto? We've got another hour or two before Kakashi gets here, anyway.]

He nodded, confusing the Konohamaru Corps. [Yeah, it sounds like fun!] An image of a particular jutsu crossed his mind, and Renamon's eyes narrowed.

[Don't you dare.]

He pouted. [But-]

[No.]

He opened his mouth, only to have it covered by Renamon's tail.

Konohamaru looked at her with an even more worshipful look, if that was possible. "Whoa, boss! You didn't tell me you could read minds!"

She shook her head bemusedly. "Only Naruto's; it's a connection that we share."

"Cooooool..." He began to scrunch up his face.

Udon asked, "Uh, Konohamaru? What are you doing?"

Konohamaru grinned. "I'm trying to read your thoughts!"

Renamon sweat-dropped. "It only works because he's my partner, and even then it's only because my species is naturally telepathic."

Moegi's eyes began to sparkle. "How romantic! A bond between partners that nothing can break..."

Naruto began to back away slowly.

Renamon sighed. "Alright. You want me and Naruto to teach you?"

The three academy students nodded.

"Lesson one: Stealth. I'm going to give you 20 seconds to find a hiding place; after that, we're coming for you." Almost as soon as the words left her mouth the trio vanished, leaving nothing but smoke in their wake.

Renamon put her arm over her eyes, and her tail over Naruto's. "One..." She grinned. [What a way to pass the time, huh?]

Naruto nodded, beaming.

Sasuke stared at the heap of exhausted academy students. He opened his mouth, and then shook his head. I probably don't want to know.

Agumon shook her head, exasperated. What are these kids doing- oh. She saw a yellow tail hanging down from the top of the bridge, and followed it up to its owner, who was sitting next to Naruto, watching the little ones with an amused expression on her face. She followed Renamon's eyes, and saw the kids' arm-warmers. Agumon shook her head. I definitely don't want to know.

Naruto stared at his Digivice, the Hellfire digi-modify in his other hand. [Hmm... I wonder what this does?] He turned the digivice around one way, and then another, until he finally spotted the narrow channel that went down one side. Placing one corner of the card at the top of the channel, he said the first thing that came to mind: "Digi-modify!" He swiped the card, and Renamon put her hand on her chest.

"I feel... strange..." She coughed, sending a ball of white-hot flames rocketing into the sky.

Naruto stared at it, wide-eyed. [Coooool...]

Kakashi passed a trio of kids, all wearing purple arm-warmers. Interesting... I wonder what they've been up to? Meh, I'll find out soon enough. Putting in his Ninja Earplugs(tm), he walked up to his genin.

...

"YOU'RE LATE!"

He heard a small whimper at his feet, and nearly smacked himself. Oops... I forgot to warn Labramon... "It's okay, Labramon, you'll get used to it."

Sakura growled, flames dancing in her eyes. "I don't care how adorable your partner is, that's no excuse!"

He held up his hands defensively. "Now, now... If you maim me, I can't give you these." He held up three sheets of paper.

Sakura took one, and read it. "Registration forms, for the chunin exams?"

He nodded. "That's right."

Sasuke scowled. "And what about our partners?"

Kakashi shook his head. "As they're not technically human, the proctors count them the same as a summon, or a familiar."

Sakura frowned. "Do you really think they'll fall for that, though? What if one of them has to digivolve?"

Naruto grinned. "We'll just have to kick ass without digivolving, ne?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Anyway, if, and I do mean if you decide to take the exams, turn in your forms to room 301, tomorrow before noon. Participation is strictly voluntary – So if you feel you're not ready, then by all means, wait for the next one."

As the team headed for the tower to pick up their missions for the day, only Kakashi and Gabumon noticed the pensive expression on Sakura's face.

"Do you think I'm up for this?" Sakura gave her partner a sidelong glance, her back against the wall beside her bed. Their missions for the day hadn't been particularly tiring, and since the exam was tomorrow Kakashi had permitted them to take the latter half of the day off. This gave her plenty of time to think... And plenty of time to second-guess herself.

Gabumon shrugged. "Aren't exams your specialty?"

She nodded. "True. But something tells me a written test won't be the extent of it."

"Hmmm... Maybe we should ask around?" Gabumon grinned. "After all, the exam is a regular event, isn't it? I'm sure we could find someone who knows what it's all about."

Sakura shook her head. "I read over the form – part of it is a nondisclosure agreement. Even if we could find someone who knows, they wouldn't be allowed to tell us."

Her partner frowned. "That's not exactly helpful. I guess the question you have to ask, then, is... Do you feel like you're ready to be a chunin?"

She sighed. "Being completely honest...? No, not really. Oh, sure, I'm book-smart. Any of my instructors at the Academy could tell you that. Unfortunately, book-smarts aren't all it takes to be a good ninja." Crossing her arms over her knees, Sakura curled into a ball of misery. "It's no wonder Sasuke never notices me – I'm too weak to be worth the effort." She ducked her head, as her eyes began to water.

There was a faint rustling, as she felt a soft, furry blanket settle on her shoulders. "I think you're worth the effort."

Sakura looked up, startled. Her eyes widened in shock, as she realized what her partner had done.

He'd given her his pelt. As he stood there on the bed, blushing furiously, she noted that underneath it he looked pretty similar to Agumon, but with a horn.

Unconsciously, the pinkette drew the fur around her tightly. He'd told her before about how every Gabumon wore a Garurumon pelt, and how they were never taken off... Except in front of someone the Gabumon trusted completely. It was the ultimate display of vulnerability.

Before Gabumon could react, he found himself glomped by his partner, tears leaking through her closed eyelids.

"...Thank you, Gabumon."

Naruto swore as droplets of boiling broth splattered onto his hand. "Gahh! Rena-chan, dinner's ready."

Silently, the golden fox materialized beside him, accepting her cup graciously. Though she'd been able to get him to buy more nutritious groceries, there was still a massive stockpile of instant ramen lurking throughout the apartment that needed to be demolished. As the two partners ate, Renamon took a moment to reflect on the life she shared with her partner. Not hardly a month had gone by since the Wave incident, and here they were about to be tossed into what was sure to be a life-changing event. They might call it a simple exam, but I'd be willing to bet good money it'll be anything but. As a test of a ninja's overall skills, odds are good we'll be in mortal danger at some point... And that's not even counting our terrible luck.

Naruto paused a moment, noodles hanging half-out of his month. [Our luck isn't that bad, ne? Out of all the ninja in the village, Team 7 are the only ones to have partners-]

[That we know of.]

He nodded [-that we know of, and all four of us do. I'd call that pretty good luck, yeah?] He grinned, slurping up the last of his ramen. [Not to mention, I ended up with the best partner any ninja could ask for. I like my luck.]

Renamon blushed. [Flatterer.]

Naruto shrugged. [Just tellin' it like it is. Whatever happens during the exam, we'll ace it, believe it. After all...] He grinned widely. [We're the only team with six members. How could we lose?]

His partner smiled softly. [How, indeed...]

Agumon crossed her arms. "Are you brooding again?"

"...Hn."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, don't tell me you're nervous."

Sasuke smirked. "Hardly. I am excited, though. This is a chance to test myself, to prove myself. It's one step closer to being the ninja I need to be."

Agumon poked him in the chest. "Ourselves. You're part of a team, lest you forget."

"Hn."

"Don't give me that 'hn' crap! You can be dark and mysterious on your own time, buddy."

Despite himself, Sasuke couldn't help but smile. "Hn."

If she'd had hair Agumon would've been tearing it out. "Aughhh! Men." Throwing her claws in the air, she stalked out, leaving her partner to his thoughts.

She is right, though she'll never hear me say it. Wave proved that much at least. Naruto has depths to him I hadn't considered, and Sakura... He shrugged, unconsciously. Well, at least she has a partner.

Renamon narrowed her eyes at what was obviously a foreign ninja, holding Konohamaru aloft by his scarf. "If you wish to keep that hand, I suggest you drop him."

Kankurou turned to her, his eyes widening slightly as he saw the humanoid fox glaring death at him. "Get lost, unless you wanna join him."

She crossed her arms. "Put. Him. Down." [Claws, please.]

Naruto nodded, swiped a card, and whispered, "Digi-modify..."

The puppeteer smirked. "And what are you going to do if I don't?" He nearly jumped out of his skin as she disappeared, and her voice came from behind him.

He felt a sharp prick of metal on his throat, as she said, "I'll behead you."

Gulping nervously, he put Konohamaru down, and the claws disappeared from his throat.

Renamon appeared in front of him, holding Konohamaru.

Such speed... it's unreal! What is she, anyway? Doesn't look like any summon I've seen...

In a swirl of sand, Gaara appeared in between them. "Kankurou, you are a disgrace. Leave before I kill you."

Kankurou immediately turned and ran, Temari following close behind.

Renamon raised an eyebrow as she set her charge down. "And who are you?"

He stared at her eyes for a moment, before shifting his gaze. "Gaara of the Desert."

She gave a small bow. "I'm Renamon, and my partner is Naruto."

Naruto waved cheerfully.

Gaara simply gave him a flat look, then shifted his gaze back to Renamon. "Will you and your partner be in the exams?"

"Yes...?"

He nodded. "I look forward to killing you, then." In a swirl of sand, he was gone.

Sakura shuddered. "Creepy"

Gabumon nodded. "You said it."

Though no one said anything outright, Koromon and Tsunomon drew plenty of attention as Team 7 entered the academy.

Renamon took note of every detail as she glided invisibly through the crowded halls, completely bypassing the two chunin guarding the wrong door. [Must be a part of the test – we're only on the second floor.]

At the top of the stairs, right by the door to room 301, was Kakashi, smiling through his mask. "Congratulations. You're now a part of the chunin exams."

Naruto frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Well, the Exams can only be taken in groups of three; if one of you had decided not to come, the others wouldn't have been allowed to take the test."

Sakura grinned ruefully. I really should've expected something like this; since when has Kakashi-sensei ever told us the entire truth about a test? And to think, I almost didn't come... Without another word, the three genin entered the testing room, quietly moving to a corner to avoid drawing attention. Alas, it was not to be.

"Sasuke!"

Dear god, what!? "Hn."

Naruto leaned against their corner, enjoying the show. Ino had tried to glomp Sasuke, only to be chomped on by Koromon. Now, she was waving her bloody hand around, trying to get Koromon off, and everyone else was having a hard time containing their laughter.

A bespectacled, silver haired boy walked up to them, eyeing Koromon nervously. "You guys should be more quiet, you know. You're rookies, just out of the academy, right? This isn't a picnic."

Ino, who'd finally managed to get Koromon off of her arm, glared at him. "Who do you think you are?"

He smirked. "I'm Kabuto. What you should really be worrying about... well, look over there."

Team Seven turned, and saw three rain-nin glaring at them.

Kabuto continued, taking a friendlier tone. "Although, I'd say it's a little late to worry abut causing a scene." He chuckled. "Well, I can't blame you. You're clueless rookies. You remind me of how I used to be..."

Sakura spoke up. "So this is your second time?"

He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "My seventh, actually..."

The pinkette twitched. "Your seventh? Really?"

Kabuto looked down, seemingly embarassed. "Well, yeah. The exams are really tough. They don't let just anyone become a chunin, you know." He smiled at them endearingly. "Tell you what, I think I'll share some info with you." Almost as if by magic, a deck of cards appeared in his hand. "These are my nin-info cards."

Sakura frowned. "Nin-info cards?"

He nodded. "That's right. They're cards that I've burned information onto with my chakra. This way, only I can reveal the information they contain. For example." He took off the top card of the deck, and placed it on the floor. Touching it with two fingers, he channeled his chakra into it, and it spun around a few times, before turning into a map of the elemental nations, with numbers alongside each country. "This is a graph of how many candidates there are from each nation."

Sasuke thought for a moment. "What other kinds of info do you have?"

Kabuto shrugged. "Mostly stuff on other candidates."

[Ask him if he has any info on that sand-nin, Gaara.]

Naruto nodded. "Do you have any info on Gaara of the Desert? He's a sand-nin."

Kabuto rolled his eyes. "With a name like that, he'd have to be. Hang on a sec, lemme check my cards." He shuffled through the deck, and pulled out a card. "Gaara of the Desert: being from out of town, I don't have much info on him, but he's completed eight c-ranks, and-" He paused for a moment, faking surprise, "Wow, a b-rank, as a genin... that's heavy stuff. Apparently, he's returned from all of his missions without a scratch."

Naruto began to sweat. Not even a scratch?

With a lood 'poof' of smoke, the proctors appeared; at their head was a scarred man who wore a trench coat, and a bandanna-like headband.. "Thanks for waiting. I am Ibiki Morino, the proctor for the chunin exams." His lips turned up briefly. Well, time to do what I do best.

A/N: Well, there it is. I think I did pretty well in fleshing out this one – tried to give it a little more character, y'know?

On another note, I need some help, and I'm hoping that one (Or, y'know, more than one) can give it to me. You see... When I was originally writing this story, I had a best friend that I'd talk about it with, and we'd bounce ideas off of each other. This is a vital part of the creative process. Unfortunately, he and I have long since gone our separate ways, and so I find myself in need of someone new to talk with, someone who knows the fandoms (Or at least, who knows Naruto), who I can collaborate with to make the story fresher and more interesting, and when I get to the point where I've caught up with my old chapters, to finish the damn thing. If this at all interests you, please let me know.