Alright, here's chapter 10 of "A Fox Among Tamers" and before any homicidal thoughts wander through your heads, there are a couple of reasons why I took so long. Number 1: College...good Lord, COLLEGE. I had apparently selected classes in which the professors' favorite thing to do was assign massive projects. Repeatedly. At the same time. Needless to say when I wasn't doing those I was most likely trying to cool down my brain before it became molten and leaked out my ears. Number 2: I wasn't working on the next chapter for this story during that time; I was working on the one for my Harry Potter story, which if you will notice has been updated quite recently. On top of annoying ass projects it was the chapter in that story that held the training arc...and I HATE TRAINING ARCS!...however they need to be done to lend credibility to the story itself. The problem arose with me trying to balance between making sure the arc wasn't too long, yet long enough to give credibility...not fun for me. Eventually I finished the chapter, posted it and have since been working on this one at a fair rate faster than my previous one, mainly because I am far past any 'training ark' in this story and it's on a roll.

READ PLEASE! Before we begin I need to say something about this chapter; the main event in this chapter and one of the events in an upcoming chapter have been reversed from the original anime in order of happening...then again I'm obviously not going exactly by the anime now am I? :P Just wanted to state this so people don't have conniption fits over it; if you do and rant in a review about it, you will simply be ignored because I stated it here already.

"You want me to talk into what?" – Kyuubi/kitsune speaking, jutsus/digimon attacks

"Get that thing out of my face!" – Normal speaking

'What the hell was that thing?' – Thoughts/thinking

'Hello?' 'Hello?' – Thought-speak

~~~Scene Change~~~ : Obviously denotes a scene change.

-(Location)- : place of current scene.

Disclaimer : I do not own anything belonging to Naruto or Digimon. However, I DO own this story.

-And the gears begin to turn-

Naruto and Renamon had barely began heading in the direction of the powerful digital reading when both nearly stumbled at the obvious cause of the emergence of such a powerful digimon. Above the city, and directly above a large two-towered building, a giant rip seemed to shimmer into existence from the sky itself. So caught up in the sight of what appeared to be a dimensional rip, Naruto didn't notice Renamon's state.

"Naruto!"

Snapping his head in the direction of her voice, his eyes nearly boggled as he found her in the air desperately trying to grab onto anything as she was seemingly pulled towards the rip. Instantaneously Naruto dropped both of their henges, he returning to his 'human' form with armor and she to back to her form with her own armor. Immediately after he body flickered to her position in midair, grabbed onto her and flickered into the forest in Shinjuku Park, where Renamon immediately wrapped her arms around the trunk while he made sure she was secure. Oddly enough, though the portal was obviously some type of vortex, it did not affect him.

'Father, you have any idea what's going on here?'

'...I have a theory son, but you're not going to like it.'

'Out with it father! Renamon nearly got sucked into that thing, I don't care if I don't like it!'

Heaving a sigh, Kyuubi internally braced himself while he spoke. '-Sigh- Alright kit, but don't say you weren't warned. You remember me giving you my theory about what enabled that IceDevimon to mask itself so well? That signal that was attempting to disrupt the signals of digimon?' Getting a mental nod, he continued. 'Well, from what I'm feeling it's that same signal, only made into a final product of some sort. Last, I don't think it's coincidence that the rip is right above that large building; I'll bet whatever is making it is there.'

It took Naruto only moments to find out what his father was saying, and when he did he lost his hold on his human form, immediately shifting into his hybrid ashe snarled out one word.

"Yamaki."

Hearing the demonic, rage-filled snarl of her mate's voice, Renamon dragged her attention away from the vortex and to him.

"What? What's wrong Naruto?"

"Yamaki. You remember that man I told you about that wants to destroy all digimon here?" A nod. "I'll give you one guess as to who's behind that vortex's appearance."

Renamon's eyes widened at the implications, but before she could say anything their attention was once more brought to the portal as small digimon could be seen flying towards it, their forms beginning to break up like a bad signal as they neared. Thankfully, Naruto with his superior eyesight could tell none of them were ones he knew, yet the confused voice of his mate drew him back once more.

"Wait...we felt what was supposedly a powerful digimon emerging...not this vortex. So that begs the question; where is it?"

Not long after her statement, both felt the pull on her begin to decrease at a fast rate, and looking up it was confirmed as the digimon whom had once been ascending to their demise were now falling...possibly to their demise anyways from that height. Yet the answer to her question came in the form of the vortex widening and actually depositing a large feline digimon onto the top of one of the towers, where said digimon let out a triumphal roar of victory.

"...Never-mind."

"From what I'm feeling and from what you've informed me of, that digimon is a high-ultimate to low-mega...but that can wait a moment, we need to find Rika first, followed by the other tamers."

Nodding in agreement, Renamon quickly led Naruto in the direction she could feel her connection with Rika pulling her to, and soon both saw her small figure running down a street in the direction of the anomaly. Rolling his eyes at the girl's reckless yet brave nature, Naruto proceeded to retrieve her in the quickest manner possible.

"Keep heading towards that digimon, I'll be right back."

Mid-leap in-between two rooftops, Naruto's form disappeared in a flash of flames before reappearing via another flash right behind Rika, still in his lunging position midair.

Before Rika could even turn around at the sound, she felt two very furry, very warm arms wrap around her before her vision was enveloped by flames. When she could see again, her eyes widened and a very un-Rika like shriek erupted out of her mouth when she found herself careening over the gaping chasm between two very high buildings. However she quickly calmed down when she heard chuckling coming from her right and from whoever was holding her and discovered upon looking that it was Renamon to her right, which meant she could only be in the paws of Naruto. While still not exactly comfortable careening over dizzying heights, she still managed a scowl/pout as she remembered her shriek, eliciting chuckles once more.

"Relax, Rika. We need to get to that digimon as quickly as we can, and you know we're a good deal faster than you are, no offense."

Rika nearly jumped out of her skin when Naruto spoke up; while the being holding her was no doubt Naruto, his voice could only be described as menacing, more a guttural growl than anything.

"W-What happened to your voice?"

While she did not outwardly express it, Renamon too was curious as to why his voice had taken suck a deep, nearly demonic tone. She had heard it a few times before when he was under either considerable stress or...pleasure, but never deemed it something to bring up.

Meanwhile, Naruto was mentally cursing his emotions. Renamon's sudden flight combined with his fury at who was behind said flight made for very powerful emotions and an overdose of adrenaline. All these factors caused him to essentially slip into his form most suitable for battle (and feasible considering the surroundings) while his voice took it one step further and went straight to his natural, full-kitsune voice, albeit not nearly as booming considering his size. Deciding on a half-truth for now, Naruto answered.

"As you know I am a kitsune, Rika. However, the voice you usually hear is not really my true voice. Yes it has the same nuances, but the tone and pitch are both far different. While I can and typically do use the voice you are used to, my vocal chords are far different from a humans and as thus I tend to slip back into my natural tenor under times of high emotions."

Rika seemed to accept this at face value, but the look Renamon shot him said that she did not. He quickly shot his own 'I'll tell you later' look back at her and focused his attention on the buildings in front of them once more.

Just as Rika was about to enquirer as to why he was experiencing such high emotions at the moment, Naruto finally caught sight of the other two tamers with their respective digimon and cut any questions off.

"I know you have more questions Rika, but right now is neither the time nor the place. I've found the other tamers amidst this chaos; Renamon follow close behind me."

Renamon followed his gaze and spotted the others as well, but her brows furrowed when she also noticed several other children with them as well; two boys and a girl to be precise.

"Naruto there are other children down there, are you sure you want to be seen?"

The way his own brows furrowed and how an annoyed growl emerged from his throat was all the answer she needed; she herself was quite annoyed by the fact that other children had been dragged into such an event.

"Of course I don't, but it seems we have little choice in the matter. Either one or both of the other tamers deemed it fit to expose their status and their digimon to these other children...and judging by how Takato is gesturing to the two boys, I'd wager it was most likely his idea. Hiding us within an illusion would be an exercise in futility at this point." Taking a moment to rub his forehead, his next words were nary a whisper that only Renamon could hear. "I suppose this is revenge for the times I would make a foolish decision and drive you to insanity, father?"

Only Naruto was able to hear the booming laughter in his head as he managed to regain his 'normal' voice.

Shaking his head in weary amusement, Naruto steadied himself on the ledge of the last building before leaping off of it and free-falling towards the other tamers. This of course caused Rika to cling to him like a tick as he landed silently behind the group with Renamon phasing in beside him.

"Making new friends, are we?"

The sudden sound of his voice so close behind the group caused a variety of responses. Takato made an impressive leap into the air, Terriermon nearly fell of Henry's head while said boy whipped around before calming, while Guilmon (much to his and Renamon's amusement) merely turned around and waved happily at them. However the actions of those he did not know were the best. The boy with the glasses turned around, fell and promptly scrambled backwards on his ass when he took in Naruto's visage. The girl merely turned around and froze in place, while the last boy with the spiky brown hair had the most amusing response; turning around, pointing at him and shouting out his elegant response.

"HOLY FUCK!"

Naruto's only response to that was to twitch at the brat's loud voice and raise an eye-ridge while mentally wondering at the child's rather colorful vocabulary. Dismissing the three he did not know, Naruto turned to the four he did while managing to pry off Rika and set her down.

"I thought we had already discussed multiple times what to do in case your partners were discovered, yet here I find myself looking at three children I have never seen before that quite obviously know of your partners' identities, judging by the fact I saw the girl talking to Terriermon before I arrived. It would seem my lessons did not sink in; we'll have to rectify that later. Before you or anyone else say anything in your defense, please speak quietly, lest we draw the attention of that rather large digimon."

At his second to last statement Takato paled while the other tamers shuddered, knowing exactly what that would entail.

"J-Just wait a second Naruto, it wasn't my fault! They bumped into us while we were running around a corner and happened to both hear and see Terriermon shout out in surprise before he assumed his 'doll' persona. I can explain away Guilmon as being my kid brother in a suit...but Terriermon is the size of a baby-" "Hey!" "-and I've never heard a baby speak, much less one dressed up to look like a digimon!"

Naruto stared at a now sweating Takato for a few moments before sighing and nodding his head in acceptance; he couldn't much blame the boy for that, it was just poor circumstances. During this time the other three children managed to snap out of their shock, and it was the most verbal the unsurprisingly spoke up.

"Hey! Takato you said that you, Henry and Rika were tamers and I recognize Renamon, but who is this guy? That would be four digimon to three tamers, and you said a tamer only had one!"

"Err...actually Kazu, Naruto isn't a-" -WHAP- "-gah!" Takato nearly ate asphalt as one of Naruto's tails smacked the backside of his head. Looking up at Naruto with a confused look, he was only met with a warning glare from the kitsune, which only served to confuse him further. About to voice his confusion, Henry thankfully beat him to the punch, having figured out Naruto's silent message.

"What Takato was trying to say is that Naruto isn't your regular digimon. As a matter of fact, he has been a...mentor of sorts for us while helping us adjust to our new roles as tamers." Looking out the corner of his eye at Naruto, he saw the kitsune give a minute nod at his answer.

Unfortunately for Naruto, his attempt to hide his true nature from those he didn't trust had an adverse effect that he did not foresee. The now named Kazu, upon hearing Henry's explanation, had a surprising amount of brain activity for one such as him. A: The seven foot tall, blood red kitsune in front of him that looked awesome, wore ninja armor, and had a huge sword strapped onto said armor was a digimon. B: Said digimon apparently taught these other digimon, including the tamers how to fight, so he had to be good. C. This digimon does not have a tamer. And finally D: Kazu does not have a digimon. What does this equal in Kazu's mind? Get that digimon.

While Kazu was having a minor epiphany, Naruto was now paying full attention to the large digimon on top of the building before them. During the entire conversation he was continuously paying attention to the creature, only paying some attention to the actual conversation when needed, and now it appeared the digimon had stopped it's rather pointless roaring and was now fully taking in it's surroundings, which would undoubtedly lead it to them quite soon. Naruto tensed at this and could see Renamon do the same from his peripheral; good to see at least his mate was taking the situation seriously. 'I've only got a minute, maybe two at most before things get heated around here...a fight of this scale will undoubtedly cause some destruction, so I've got to get the tamers to a defendable posi-'

"Sweet! I call dibs on big red here!"

Naruto's tactical thoughts were derailed as Kazu attempted to grab his arm, which he easily evaded with a warning glare that the brat didn't even notice. The boy with the glasses apparently realized what Kazu was trying to do and decided that he too wanted Naruto for himself.

"No way Kazu! I saw him first!"

"I call bs! I was the first to turn around, and even if I wasn't I was the first to call dibs!"

"That doesn't count in a situation like this! We're talking about a REAL digimon here, and who gets to tame him!"

"In that case, calling dibs should matter even more than usual!"

"No way!"

"Yes way!"

This sudden fight had varying reactions from everyone else. The new girl looked embarrassed, yet was now giving Naruto her own appraising gaze until she shrunk back, eyes scared once more. The tamers and other digimon sans Renamon were watching the fight with amused gazes and outright snickering in the case of Terriermon. Renamon was looking quite annoyed and on the verge of being pissed at the horrible timing. And Naruto...well his reaction was the reason the girl became frightened once more, and only because she was actually looking at him. At first he could only stare incredulously at what was happening, but that quickly turned into a very pissed glare with his lips curling back into a snarl, revealing his array of razor sharp fangs. This was only accentuated by his father's identical reaction inside his head.

'They're...they're fighting over something that has NOTHING to do with the situation at hand while managing to completely derail my thoughts on the scenario before us! Not only that, they've successfully drawn the tamer's attention AWAY from the threat and their shouting is like a beacon to lead that digimon right to us after I specifically told everyone to be quiet!'

'I agree, but you don't have time for any further contemplation on these idiot's actions, son! You only have seconds before that digimon locks in on your current position!'

Being in complete agreement with his father and also being completely pissed at the situation made his next comment very mood-changing.

"Be silent."

While it was only spoken loud enough for the group to hear, the demonic, guttural voice that was practically a growl due to his icy rage was enough to quell any further fighting or amusement at the situation. Even Renamon turned wide eyes to her mate, surprised at just HOW pissed off he was.

"Both of you will listen to me and follow everything I say. You will both, with the girl as well, go into the building behind us and if it has a basement, enter it. If it does not, you will find the most structurally-sound area and go underneath it until I come for you. After this is over I will continue this conversation. Go."

As the three now terrified children quickly did as he said, Naruto whipped around to the stunned tamers, and while his ire was not directed at them, his voice did not ease.

"Because of those fools we are now mere seconds away from being spotted by that digimon. Rika, what does your device read on him?"

With somewhat shaky fingers, Rika turned her d-power to the digimon and read off the information only a second later.

"Mihiramon. Holy-Beast type digimon. Data attribute, level: ultimate. That's it though."

Naruto scowled at the utter lack of knowledge on their foe but didn't waste any time stewing over it. "Right. I want all of you to-" the rest of the sentence was cut off by Henry who received a very impatient glare from the kitsune, but nevertheless spoke up.

"Naruto-sensei, I'm sorry for interrupting but this would be a perfect opportunity to let us truly work together as tamers for the first time. You said so yourself that we need some experience, and what better than an ultimate?"

Whatever retort Naruto was about to say what ripped from his throat when he felt Mihiramon's energy suddenly spike and speed towards their position. 'Fast!'

"Fuck! Doton: Gizagiza no monorisu !" (Earth Style: Jagged monolith)

The street not even 15 feet from the group exploded outwards as a massive chunk of what appeared to be granite jutted out from the ground, striking the tiger-like digimon and eliciting a roar of rage and pain from said digimon as it careened into a nearby building from the impact. Turning to the now-gaping group, Naruto spoke quickly.

"Even for my training methods this battle would be considered a bit much for a true first team-battle, but if you all think you can take this digimon then I'll grant it. However! If you all even so much as seem like you are in mortal danger I will interfere. Henry, as we've discussed you're the tactician; get to it. You have two minutes before I let that tiger loose."

Without any further words, Naruto's form blurred and another roar from Mihiramon was heard before Henry started instructing the team on the plan.

While Henry was making a plan and informing the tamers of it, Naruto was in the meantime waiting just outside the smoke and debris from where Mihiramon made a new door...a very large one. Keeping his senses on full alert, he kept his eyes on the smoke but his other senses focused on everything but the front; rarely does an experienced enemy perform a frontal assault. Sure enough, not even five seconds later he ducked as what appeared to be a segmented staff whipped over his head, before deflecting it with his sword as it came around again. Jumping away to gain some distance, Naruto turned around and was a little surprised to see that the segmented staff was actually Mihiramon's tail.

'Huh...interesting adaptation, there. He's fast too, at least mid-jounin in speed...it's a pity I can't reveal my 'human' form or else I'd actually have a decent challenge on my hands.'

When the rather large winged-tiger ended up pausing, Naruto assumed it was observing him as well. He didn't mind; whatever conclusions it could draw from what little interaction they had was absolutely nothing compared to his true arsenal.

"And what manner of digimon are you, hmm? A subspecies of a Renamon, perhaps? Regardless, why are you protecting these pathetic humans and their pet digimon? We already know you don't have a 'tamer', so why are you doing this? Trying to find one, maybe...pathetic, though I admit that being able to deflect my attack was no small feat."

In all honesty, had this digimon spoken to him just after Naruto arrived in this world, his words would have most likely been met with a hearty agreement. While Naruto still held a rather large dislike for humans in general, he now no longer had any desire to actively pursue the harm of them, mainly due to his interaction with the tamers. Granted, the initial interactions were shaky at best, but over time they proved to him that not all humans were as he thought; at least some had honor and morals. So with this in mind, while Naruto was not particularly perturbed by the disgust Mihiramon obviously had for humans, he did take offense to the disgust directed at his humans, and especially the hatred when he referred to their digimon partners. As he answered, he had to hold back from smirking as Mihiramon flinched ever so slightly from his rather demonic voice.

"Quite a few questions you have...very well, the reason I'm doing this is because I can be considered their sensei; each and every one of them, both tamer and digimon." This drew a snarl from the tiger. "Tsk-tsk, you haven't even let me finish yet! Now you know my reasons, as for what I am...pay very close attention to this, Mihiramon."

With that last statement, Naruto slowly reached his left arm to his right, with Mihiramon watching his every move with tense muscles. Once there, he simply grabbed a tuft of fur and pulled it out (dead fur, people) and after holding his hand out, dropped it. His actions left Mihiramon baffled at how this could answer his question as to what the fox was...until he noticed the fur was now lying on the ground. Not dissipating into code. Not digital. With wide eyes Mihiramon whipped his head up and stared into the now smirking visage of Naruto.

"What is the meaning of this? You're not a digimon but you're not any species I know of either, and I have access to every single species discovered on this planet! I highly doubt a race such as yours could hide from these rampant humans for so long, so where did you come from?"

Naruto let out a laugh at this, but with his voice the was it was it might as well have been a snarl. "Ahhhhh...the fear of the unknown, how refreshing; for me that is. I really don't see any advantage in me telling you where I came from or just how I came to be, so I simply won't."

This garnered another snarl from Mihiramon before he tensed up once more; obviously the time for words were soon drawing to a close.

"Very well, I'll just have to rip the answers out of your tortured cries after I'm done with the other insects; remember creature, the Deva are not to be trifled with ."

'Deva huh? I'll remember that.' "You're rather confident, aren't you? I've got two words for you:" Here Naruto's smirk grew rather big as he said the last part so everyone could hear. "Two minutes!"

Mihiramon had just enough time to utter an intelligent "Huh?" before he was pelted with a storm of bullets, nine blue fireballs, and one hell of a huge fireball, sending him once more into the building he just exited.

'Now that's odd...the blue fireballs I can get and the bullets too...but I don't recall Guilmon ever putting out a fireball that big. Nice combo though.'

As Naruto scratched under his chin absently while staring at the larger hole in the wall, the tamers walked up to where he was standing, along with a very large fox and an apparently now-in-control Gargomon...however when the sun was suddenly blotted out, his curiosity was piqued. Looking up while still scratching his chin, Naruto raised his eyebrows in surprise at the towering form of what appeared to be an overgrown Guilmon with horns and a mane of white hair who was currently looking back down at him with a mightily pleased expression upon his face.

"...My what big teeth you have." Ignoring the muffled snorts in response, Naruto looked back at the tamers and allowed a proud smirk to adorn his features. "You all have been training/practicing on your own free time while keeping your abilities hidden...how shinobi of you. However, don't think this will be easy in any way, this guy's fast; very fast. As in me going full speed without my seals in human form fast, Rena-chan." That garnered open shock from Kyuubimon while the others looked worried at the open show of expression from her; it was rare for her to ever show so much around them. "Lastly, watch out for his tail; turns out it's a rather nasty weapon I'd suggest you avoid. Everything else can be gathered from his appearance...be careful and don't blink."

As if on cue, Mihiramon was barely a blur as he rammed into Growlmon, throwing him away from the group as Kyuubimon and Gargomon took off after the two, and the fight officially commenced.

Growlmon struggled to get the even larger form of Mihiramon off of him as said tiger tried to take a bite out of his hide, just barely being held back by Growlmon's straining arms. Thankfully for him, Mihiramon was forced to jump back to avoid a spray of bullets, yet took a direct hit from Kyuubimon's Dragon Wheel which had been aimed in the hopes of him doing just that.

Growling at the annoying yet surprisingly painful attack, Mihiramon retaliated by swinging his staff-tail and scoring a glancing blow to Kyuubimon's flank, sending her skidding back while eliciting a yelp of pain from her. Frustratingly, before he could pursue her to continue his assault, he had to avoid a Gargo Laser. Now pissed at the constant interruptions, Mihiramon turned his sights on Gargomon as he clubbed Growlmon with his tail, set on taking out the long-range annoyance. Now ignoring the other two, he quickly covered the distance between the two and with a cry of "Tiger Wing Blades!" sent the far smaller digimon careening into a nearby building and out of commission.

Seeing their companion taken out with a single well-placed hit from the ultimate, Growlmon and Kyuubimon exchanged worried glances before settling into defensive positions to cover the their weak-spots. They had just seen first-hand what Naruto meant when he said Mihiramon was fast; they could barely see his form blur before Gargomon was put out of commission.

Back with the tamers and Naruto, the tamers were looking on with a worried expression while Naruto had only a frown; it wasn't that he was upset at their performance, quite the opposite in fact. The problem was they were simply outclassed and outgunned. This digimon was a borderline mega and quite obviously an elite; no matter how good, three champion level digimon would be hard pressed to defeat such a foe. Worse yet was the sheer size of Mihiramon; even with Guilmon's massive growth-spurt into Growlmon, the tiger still dwarfed him and simply towered over Kyuubimon and Gargomon. That combined with Mihiramon's sheer speed, and it all came down to simple facts; his massive girth combined with blinding speed made him into a nigh-unstoppable force when in motion. Hell, if Naruto himself didn't use his youki to remain in place, he would have been sent flying if he tried to parry that tail like he did.

Snapping out of his musings, he took stock of the situation and, just like he thought, it was getting worse. Henry had just returned with an out-cold Terriermon in his arms, while Growlmon and Kyuubimon were simply having their defenses battered down. While they were defending each other admirably, they were once again simply underpowered compared to the speeding train that was Mihiramon. All to soon, the massive tiger finally landed a direct hit with his Samurai Tiger Tail onto Growlmon's flank, sending him skidding while simultaneously rendering his legs useless for the moment. Their defenses broken, Mihiramon quickly took advantage of this by using his sheer speed to get behind Kyuubimon – a position that was formerly protected by Growlmon – and once more used his Samurai Tiger Tail, but this time directly onto her spine, eliciting a howl of pain as she crumpled like a bag of bricks.

Seeing these events occur, Naruto formed the sign to Kawarimi with Kyuubimon and take her place, but the reactions of the tamers made him pause. While Takato was looking exceedingly worried at Growlmon's state and sending Naruto expectant glances, Rika was looking as if she was in actual pain, holding a spot on her back that coincided with the exact spot Kyuubimon was struck. That, combined with the glow her d-power was giving off and the determined look in her eyes were what ultimately stayed his hand, though he was still ready to switch at the slightest sign of trouble.

None of this was on the mind of Renamon nor Rika at the moment; both were completely focused on what they would lose should they be defeated. For Rika, she would her very first friend, and the one who stayed by her side even when she treated Renamon worse than one would a tool.

'Come on Renamon, get up! Don't let this guy bring you down...why isn't Naruto jumping in? If this doesn't describe a dire situation then I don't know what does! Dammit, Renamon I won't let you die, LIVE!'

For Renamon, once more she found herself in danger of losing not only her friendship with Rika, but the love of her life as well. However, unlike last time where they could have possibly taken out their adversary in their rookie forms, they didn't even stand a chance in their champion forms against Mihiramon, who was currently preparing to end her life.

'No! Not again, not like this! I refuse to come all this way just to die at the paws of this brute! I will LIVE!'

Unbeknownst to both Rika and Renamon but suspected by an observing Naruto, their willpower merged due to both of their thoughts; the all-encompassing simple need to live. It is this that unlocked the next evolutionary stage for Renamon...well that and a certain tiny white digimon named Calumon shooting a red beam from his forehead, much to Naruto's surprise.

'Well now, isn't that interesting? Seems there's more to Calumon than meets the eye, eh father?'

'Indeed my son, however shouldn't you be paying attention to the matter at hand, and more importantly, your mate?'

Giving a mental 'nod' of agreement, Naruto turned back to Renamon to see exactly what he expected; her entire form glowing a brilliant white as she digivolved to the next tier while Rika was holding an odd blue card.

DIGIVOLUTION

Unlike her transition to Kyuubimon wherein her form literally shed itself until nothing but a wireframe remained, this time she launched herself into the air, appearing as if she were to launch a Fox Tail Inferno. It was at the apex of her jump when her glowing form shifted into a considerably larger form, which soon after landed, creating a small dust cloud. Aforementioned dust cloud was soon swept away a long sleeve, after which her new form was both seen and proclaimed.

"Taomon!"

(I really don't see a point in describing Taomon...simply google "Taomon" and you'll get a far better picture than I can describe: the same goes for any digimon unless I feel a need to do otherwise)

Naruto smirked at the name, figuring he should have seen this coming due to the yin-yang symbols that littered her rookie form. He was quite glad to see that her size was now far more evenly matched against Mihiramon than before; no longer could the brute simply bulldoze her down. However he was quite shocked with what she did next.

Taking no time to revel in her newfound strength, Taomon flung her sleeves forward and with a cry of "Thousand Spells!" launched what had to be...well...thousands of red paper tags at Mihiramon. While the tiger was extremely fast, his size finally came back to bite him in the ass, as he found he could not maneuver his massive body through all the tags, and as a consequence was hit with a good amount of them which exploded upon impact.

This scene stunned Naruto into silence, for while it was a very nice wide-area barrage move, it was the actual tags that caught him off guard.

'What the hell? They may be red and they may be 'spell tags', but they act and resemble watered-down explosive tags waaay too much to be a coincidence!'

Back with Taomon, she let the slightest of smirks work it's way onto her visage as she heard the roar of agony and fury, but stayed alert nonetheless; she may be stronger in this form but her new body proportions were throwing off her balance slightly. However her smirk grew upon remembering that this form wasn't meant for physical limberness, but for long-range tactics. Both hearing and feeling the air displace around her, Taomon jumped up in time to avoid Mihiramon's attack, yet to the surprise and shock of the onlookers...the didn't fall back to the ground.

While the tamers were gaping at the sight and Taomon continued her fight with Mihiramon, Naruto had a grin on his face as he went through all the tactical advantages this offered her.

"Well damn, that's a neat trick."

Mentally however, his thoughts were entirely different.

'Hmm...father, humor me for a second here. During youki control drills, the tree walking was easiest because I was walking against a solid surface, correct?'

'Although there are a few youki control drills that are even more basic than that, yes, it was easiest because you were walking upon an already solid surface; you didn't need to mold the surface using your youki to make it solid.'

'Right, and water walking was more difficult because I was taking a liquid and not only making my youki repel me from the surface just enough to stand on it, but I was having to form a solid surface of water with my youki at the same time, right?' Getting an affirmative, he continued. 'Ok, so here's my idea; I've already done waterfall walking as you know, and that was even more difficult because the surface was far more violent and dispersed...why not take it to the next level...air? Gas is a liquid, just an incredibly spread-out one, so theoretically all it would take to air-walk would be an even greater youki-control and an increased use of youki to actually bring together enough air to walk on it. The last one isn't a problem as you know; youki capacity has never, and will never be a problem.'

Kyuubi was momentarily stunned at Naruto's theory; no one had ever really given any thought to walking on air, yet here his son comes up with a sound theory just after watching his mate float for a bit. Due to most, if not all of their opponents being on the ground (or water) back in their world, there wasn't really a point to do such, and as such no one ever even though about it. But looking through his son's eyes at Taomon, he could definitely see the advantages one would gain if they mastered this ability.

'Ha! Leave it to you to come up with a groundbreaking discovery like that just from observing someone essentially float. But as to your theory...yes it should be possible, though as you said the amount of control needed for it would be even greater than your current control. We'll ponder this later though, for now pay attention; I think it's just about done.'

Turning back to the fight, the tides had turned. Whereas once Mihiramon had a massive advantage with his large size and speed compared to Kyuubimon's small stature and somewhat slower speed, he was now facing the worst possible match he could have. Taomon, while somewhat frail in stature, specializes in long-range attacks, and reinforced this position by her ability to essentially float wherever she pleased. While Mihiramon had to perform sharp turns and aerial maneuvers with his wings to even attempt at reaching her, she could float whichever direction she pleased regardless of her orientation; he couldn't. Lastly, was the fact that his attacks were all close-range...all of them. If he couldn't get in close to her, he couldn't hurt her, and judging by the smirk she was wearing, she knew it.

Naruto had to fight back the snort that wanted to escape at the irony; Mihiramon toyed around with them at first, and now Taomon was toying with him in a deadly game of attrition; a game she was clearly winning. However, any and all traces of composure left Naruto when Mihiramon, having finally been wore out, tripped up on a landing and smacked into the side of a building in exhaustion, which Taomon was quick to take advantage of. Completely oblivious to her mate's bugged-out eyes, Taomon withdrew a massive brush from one of her sleeves (though how she fit it in there remains a mystery; it's nearly as big as she is) and drew a kanji in the air with her energy alone.

"Talisman of Light!"

The effects were immediate and, although not flashy, devastating. The symbol she drew in the air superimposed itself on Mihiramon, who before he could even utter a word of protest, utterly shattered into thousands upon thousands of red data, which Taomon promptly absorbed. The incredibly anticlimactic ending to such an epic fight left everyone who witnessed the sight blinking dumbly...well everyone except Naruto that is, who still had his eyes locked onto Taomon's brush like it was God himself.

Said digimon finally calmed down after the vortex above lost it's anchor (Mihiramon) and collapsed in on itself, leaving a clear blue sky behind. Turning around after returning to solid ground, she finally took notice of the gaping expressions on the others' faces, and actually took a step back when her eyes found Naruto's form gazing at her brush with a fanatical gleam in his eyes. She managed to take one step back towards the group before a wave of exhaustion hit her, no doubt from not only digivolving twice in one battle, but from fighting a high-ultimate class digimon whilst doing so. De-digivolving back into Renamon, she put her paws out to brace herself but soon found no need to, considering the red furry arms that suddenly wrapped around her midsection.

"Whoa there Rena-chan, that fight really tired you out hmm? You did good...better than good my mate, and now you can rest."

Renamon was just about to do just that before he spoke up once more; the mirth in his voice sending a small shiver down her spine.

"Oh, and love? We'll talk about that neat little brush and allll the things I'll teach you to use in conjunction with it later."

Waiting only a moment to see if he was done talking, Renamon quickly passed out in his arms bridal-style, leaving a thoroughly content Naruto to bring her back to the tamers. Rika, upon seeing her partner out cold ran up to Naruto with the others trailing behind, but before she could say anything Naruto beat her to it.

"Before you ask Rika, Renamon's fine, she's just a bit tired. To the rest of you; all of you did a good job. I know what you're thinking...'How did we do a good job when we were beaten?'. First off, you technically weren't beaten; Taomon finished him off remember? Second, there wasn't much you could do with the time frame you were given. Mihiramon was simply too fast, large, and experienced for champions to take him down. If you were given enough time to set traps and plan contingency plans...maybe, but the fact is you didn't and had a severe disadvantage from the start. The fact that you were able to hold him off for so long despite all the glaring disadvantages speaks very well of you. That being said, all of you are coming with me to the underground training complex until I can be certain that no more of these 'devas' are around. Before we do that though, I have a few brats I need to pick up along the way."

Ignoring the dubious looks the tamers and digimon sent to each-other, Naruto turned in the direction of a particular building and marched towards it, either not noticing or, considering it was Naruto, simply ignoring the civilians that were beginning to trickle in the area. Upon entering the building he immediately headed down to the basement, where in a corner under support beams three children huddled, all looking quite frightened, though whether that was from his entrance or the battle that just took place, he couldn't tell. Naruto didn't say anything as he approached, nor did he let any expression adorn his muzzle as he approached and finally stood in front of them, looking down at them with an apathetic expression. Motioning to the tamers and digimon behind them, who all came and rested either a hand on Naruto or someone who was, Naruto turned back around and before they could do anything, put one paw on them before they all disappeared in a flash of fire.

-(Underground training complex)-

They all appeared once more inside the massive cavern, which by this time has it's small lake completely filled. Most stumbled around, still not entirely used to Naruto's method of transportation, while the three newcomers outright heaved; Renamon only grumbled in her sleep. Waiting until they were done, Naruto moved them to rest against one of the massive support columns as he incinerated their mess with a small katon (fire) jutsu. Once done, he made his way back over to them and again simply stared at them with an apathetic expression upon his muzzle. This continued for a minute before he spoke, yet it was not with the demonic voice they remembered him speaking with. Instead, it was a soothing baritone with a solemn tone to it.

"War, fighting, battle...it sounds exciting when you hear of it, play games about it, even more so when you're told tales about it, doesn't it? I'll admit, there are those out there that take great pleasure from such things, I myself can become excited in the heat of battle...but this is no game, and there are no second chances in a war; you either kill or you are killed. I once thought like you three did, thinking such things were 'cool' and that I'd become some hero who would save the day."

Here he leaned forward as they slightly leaned back, all of their eyes locked onto his own piercing gaze. The tamers and digimon were now paying full attention to him as well, having barricaded the basement door so curious citizens couldn't eavesdrop. This was a rare chance to see a little into the past of their sensei, though why he was telling it to people he just met eluded them.

"Well let me tell you three something; a hero may be revered by the people he protects, but to the people he protected against, he's a mass-murderer." Ignoring their gasps he continued. "You're probably wondering what I mean, and you're also probably wondering why I don't sound as angry as I did before. I'm not angry at you three, what I'm angry at is your attitude towards the situation; you three think it's some game!...and I shared similar thoughts, at one time. You see before I came here I was a mercenary where I'm from, and I did jobs varying from escorting, sabotage, espionage, assassination, even downright war. It was during my third escort mission that I was stripped of such naïve thoughts; I had to simply escort a merchant to a village. The pay was rather mediocre because the danger was considered minimal; bandits at most. What my employer failed to inform me of is that he was transporting war materials within hidden compartments inside his caravan. Naturally, the faction that was opposed to the village getting the goods decided to send a small contingent of soldiers to either destroy or claim the goods as their own."

Here Naruto took a breath, not exactly looking forward to the next part.

"When they attacked I did not take the time to observe them, I simply acted; kill or be killed. It was only after the battle was done that the true face of war reared it's ugly head. Looting the bodies, as is custom for the victors, imagine my surprise when I came across one that was still alive, especially considering the fact that the entire contents of his intestinal tract were spilled out on the ground around him due to a rather nasty abdominal slash wound. I made the mistake of looking at his face, and was horrified to find the face of a child staring back; he couldn't have been more than twelve years old. Even worse was the look in his eyes; the same look I shared at that moment. 'This is real, I'm actually dying./This is real, I actually just killed a kid.' He didn't say anything and he didn't have to, he simply stared back at me with the eyes of a scared child; eyes that didn't belong on a battlefield. Then, he reached into a pocket, withdrew a piece of paper, looked at it, let one tear slip down his face, and died. When I looked at the paper he had, the last part of what innocence I had left withered and died, for it was a picture of him, surrounded by his smiling parents. Upon entering the village, the merchant spread the word and I was soon regarded as a hero" here Naruto spat the word like a vile poison "for protecting the resources needed to possibly win their war. And yet, somewhere in that other village, a father and mother were waiting for a son to come home that never would. Undoubtedly they eventually learned of what happened, and I have no doubts that I was, and still am considered a monster to that village; and I don't blame them in the slightest. The moral of the story? War isn't fun. Fighting isn't fun. Battle isn't fun. The adrenaline rush you get while fighting, the excitement you feel being able to push your limits against someone just as eager? You can enjoy that. The act of ending a life when it was either them or you? Never enjoy that. I understand you three didn't truly recognize the situation for what it was, but hopefully now you do. That being said my last requirement is this; never look so excited at the prospect of participating in a war in my presence ever again. Rika, Henry, Takato, you three fill them in on the rest of the situation. I have no doubts in my mind that they'll hound you until you do, but they will also keep quiet about the situation, won't they? (cue warning glare) When you're done filling them in just have Terriermon or Guilmon flare their digital energy and I'll transport you all out of here."

Without another word, Naruto flashed away with Renamon, leaving a stunned group behind.

Arriving back in the main rooms of his home, Naruto set his mate down gently into their bed with a gentle kiss on her forehead before heading into the washroom. Splashing some water onto his muzzle, Naruto rested his head against the wall and closed his eyes as he tried to remove those haunting, scared eyes from his mind.

'You're never going to forgive yourself for that, are you my son?'

Heaving a sigh, Naruto wearily rubbed the bridge of his snout as he replied.

'Can you blame me? Granted I don't like humans in general, but that was a kid that was simply fighting for what he thought was right. I know it was either me or him, but it still doesn't remove the memories or the faces.'

When silence was all that greeted him, Naruto decided he had enough of moping about for one day and abruptly dunked his entire head into the cold water of the pool.

"Damn I needed that! Enough self-pity, I've got better things to do..." Here Naruto let a sly smirk cross his muzzle. '...like finally reveal to you that gift I've been working on for you.'

That got Kyuubi's attention.

'About time! You don't know how much you've been torturing me by blocking me out whenever you worked on whatever it is...speaking of which, what is it? More importantly, how can it affect me when I'm sealed in you?'

Chuckling at his father's eagerness, Naruto headed out into the central living area and over to a large pile of rags near the wall as he responded.

'You'll find out very soon, father, and I think you'll be pleased at the results.'

Bending down, Naruto removed the top fur to reveal not more furs like Kyuubi expected, but...blood bags? Peering intently through his son's eyes, he noticed that underneath the bags was a rather complicated seal painted onto the stone.

'Son? What is thi-'

'Shhh...just watch, father.'

Naruto stepped back, and after making sure there were no furs within the seal, started blazing through an incredibly long sequence of hand seals, after which he slammed his paws down on the seal itself while he proclaimed his jutsu.

"Ketsueki āto: Gōremu no kokoro shoji!" (Blood art: Golem mind possession)

Immediately upon his proclamation, the seal on the ground lit up a brilliant blue while the blood bags simultaneously burst open; their contents merging into one massive glob of blood. Within the seal, Kyuubi looked on with wonder until he felt a tug and without further warning, blacked out.

Naruto looked on with excited expectation as the blood began to form a very recognizable shape, after which the blood congealed and began to change. Within a minute, a replica of Naruto was standing where the blood used to be with one sole exception; this one had blood-red eyes instead of glacier-blue.

Just a soon as he blacked out, Kyuubi soon found himself looking into the excited eyes of his son...not in the mindscape.

"Welcome back, father."

Ending notes: There you have it, chapter 10 complete with yet another cliffhanger! -cackles maniacally- Anyways, I would once more like to apologize for the rather extreme time period between the last update for this story, but that's life for you. Also, considering this is the first chapter with a fight of considerable importance...how'd I do? Please feel free to share your opinion; it's the first large-scale battle scene I've written thus far, though it certainly won't be my last. I know in my Harry Potter story I stated I would post review answers at the beginning of new chapters now...but a reviewer brought up a good point; why torture those who don't read the review answers with pages of them when I can just post them at the end, where those who do want to read them can? (Shout out to mitremlap: thanks for the good point!) That being said, I present (to those whom are interested) the review answers!

Ignisha: A good point...if it was typical canon plot. If you recall earlier in the story he was only in Konoha until the age of 5, and before that he did not have anything that could be considered a decent meal. In his world up until the point he left, he was learning from his new father, the Kyuubi. A kitsune. Fox. Not human. His eating habits have reflected this in the story. But still, it tells me you're interested in the story, so that's good! :)

Shadow: A good question! One I'm not going to answer for now! :P Reason why should be self-explanatory; it would be paramount to watching a movie, coming out and telling those who are about to watch it what happened at the end; it ruins the entire thing :)

Magician Girl Mirani: That's honestly an avenue that I haven't thought of, giving the other digimon human forms...but I probably won't. Reasons why: the only reason Naruto did give her a human form, even if only temporarily is so they could enjoy their relationship in public without everyone screaming about humanoid foxes ^^;

paradox: They don't tip in Japan? Huh...learn something new every day...but hey, thanks for pointing that out, good attention to details!

Kiyomos: You mean his lapse of control with the food? Well, think of it this way: in the village up until he was five he was lucky if his food didn't come from the trash, and it was most certainly never fresh or cuisine. After that he ate animals raw while he was being trained by Kyuubi. Now considering that up until now he only knew the taste of old, rotten food or raw animal. Now factor in the fact that he's now being introduced to a restaurant that specializes in making high-quality food; food that must bring back high-class citizens with a very hard-to-please palette. Now factor in a good-food deprived kitsune-in-disguise...see where I'm going?

Vaughnd22: "i came up with the idea that naruto reveals his true form either battling the devas or the d-Reaper I dont care witch I just wanna see it."...ok, I'm not entirely sure if you're either staking a claim or requesting something...if its the first one? Mighty bold claim you have there, and I don't appreciate you trying to stake a claim on an idea I have hinted at multiple times throughout this story via review answers; I may have said I would give credit to a person who suggested an idea and I used it (like Magician Girl Mirani), but that does NOT mean you can try and claim an idea that has already been hinted at multiple times: you have been warned if this was your intention. If you were requesting something...I already have the story planned out, little things like armor for Renamon that won't drastically change the story I may or may not add...but don't ask for something that would obviously have a huge impact, such as when he unveils his true form, regardless of if it might happen that way or not.

Sgt. Nolisten: I know you didn't have a question but I'd just like to thank you for reading past the first three chapters...they were rough and I've fixed the dialogue so it's not so painful. As for Naruto...yeah, he's a demi-god and I won't deny it. However just like you claimed, while he IS the main character hands down, his involvement in the fights will be minimal unless circumstances deem otherwise. And while he may be a demi-god, he is still flesh and blood; he isn't made of steel, and mistakes can still be made given the enemy is clever enough.

Fearsome Shadow: -laughs- Believe me, it can be a pain making sure I have my facts right. It's been years since I've watched either Naruto or Digimon, so I have to continuously go back and either do some research or watch clips of episodes to refresh it. (You have NO idea how annoying it was to get an approximate size scale for Taomon...there are no height statistics for her. At all. Had to eyeball it via an episode clip.) Thanks for the support! :)

Tano Narhuine: Sorry that I didn't really inform everyone that I was still alive, but other than sending every single fan a personal email, I couldn't. Posting an update/chapter for the sole purpose of informing people of my status is against the contract I agreed to that enables me to submit stories on here. I'd rather not have my account shut down for something so trivial ^^;;