I do not own Naruto or Digimon.

"Spirit Fusion!" normal speech

"Spirit Fusion!" thought/mind speech

"Spirit Fusion!" demon/Inner/possession speech

Chapter 16

*Forest of Death*

The Rookies traveled through the forest with Choji and Kiba carrying Naruto while Shikamaru and Shino were carrying Sasuke as they traveled by the numerous and ominous trees.

"Think we could travel a little bit faster?" Ino asked as she looked around with slight nervousness, "We really stick out…"

"You're not the one who has to carry two unconscious colleagues!" Shikamaru slightly growled out as he was wishing that the unconscious Uchiha would wake up soon, "But we should be safe considering that Hinata, Kiba, and Shino are from clans that have abilities the are quite beneficial in preventing ambushes; They'd alert us if anything's different!"

"While I agree with Shikamaru," Shino said as he continued his sluggish pace in tandem with the Nara, "it would be better if we got to the tower as quickly as possible and see if we could get someone to look at Sasuke's and Naruto-san's seals; I'd rather much avoid an incident similar to yesterday's."

"Wait!" Hinata said as everyone stopped in their tracks while she flashed through some seals, "Byakugan!"

Veins bulged at the side of Hinata's face as she carefully looked around the area.

"You smell anything off, Akamaru?" Kiba asked as his canine partner sniffed around the area.

Hinata then drew out a kunai while the small dog growled threateningly, both causing everyone to get ready for a fight.

"Wait a minute!" a voice called out as a young man with grey hair wearing glasses stepped out from behind a tree, "It's just me and my team!"

"Kabuto?" Sakura said as she remembered the young man from before the written portion of the exam, "Thank goodness we found someone from our village! Look, we need help!"

After filling Kabuto in on what had happened, while omitting a few important details on Naruto and Sasuke, the older ninja nodded before blowing out a bird call that summoned his teammates.

"Set them on the ground." Kabuto said as Naruto and Sasuke were placed near him, "I really don't have an expert's skills when it comes to seals, but I do know enough to decipher what some seals are supposed to do and try to tweak them."

After removing the unconscious blond's shirt, Kabuto started to examine the series of seals on Naruto's body.

"My god…" Kabuto said as he tried to study the mess of seals, "I'm honestly surprised that this kid hasn't died or worse."

"What do you mean?" Kiba asked with slight concern in his voice.

"Okay, allow me to explain," Kabuto began as he began with the large swirl and writings leading out from it, "These two seals are meant to hold something powerful inside whatever, or in this case whomever, is attached to this seal. The spacing between these two seals actually allows whatever power is sealed inside of Naruto to become a part of his own power; it's recycling that power as Naruto's own!"

The young man then pointed to the ten kanji seal that overlapped it and continued, "This seal here actually helps enforce the other seal's power, making it stronger. I'm not sure what it is, but I'm sensing power from each of the ten surrounding kanji; Whether or not it they do anything else has to be deciphered by the one who originally placed this seal as I've never seen one like this."

"Then there are these ones." Kabuto said as he motioned towards the five kanji that had an ominous purple glow to them, "Whoever had placed this seal had probably had the original intentions of disrupting the first seal, but this second one had taken most of the seal; The first seal is still affected, but the second seal took the brunt of this attempt. This actually causes a disruption within Naruto's body."

"Imagine a water system designed to transfer water to different houses with the main building being at the center." Kabuto then said as he carefully edged himself away from the unconscious blond, "That main building, when working properly, successfully gives not only the houses the water that they need, but also provides itself its own water. Now if something similar to these seals were to happen to that main water building, it would then continue building water within itself until the problem's fixed…or the pressure from all of that collected water causes it to explode from excess."

This caused everyone to pale at the idea of Naruto's body exploding from excess chakra building up inside of his body.

"Can you do anything?" Sakura asked as she pleadingly looked at the young man.

Kabuto let out a sigh as he said, "Like I said, while I do have some knowledge on tweaking some seals, I'm actually afraid to try anything as I'm not that skill alongside the fact that if I slip up…"

"But you have to try something!" Sakura pleaded as she stole a glance towards her blond teammate, "Please!"

Before another word was said, sparks began to dance around the seals on Naruto's body, sending everyone on high alert.

"EVERYONE GET BACK!" Kabuto said as he jumped across Naruto before pulling Sasuke to the side while everyone jumped back in fear of what might happen.

*Naruto's Mindscape*

Inside Naruto's mind, AncientSphinxmon and the other Legendary Warriors stood in the middle of the large room and focused his power while the other Legendary Warriors that were not chained up watched in anticipation.

"Please let this work!" AncientSphinxmon said as his eyes flashed while using a small portion of Naruto's chakra with some of his own powers.

Using a mighty leap, the Warrior of Darkness placed a claw on AncientWisetmon's shoulder before jumping toward AncientTroiamon.

"Metal pierces Wood!" AncientSphinxmon said as he jumped from the Warrior of Steel to the Warrior of Wood before jumping towards AncientVolcamon, "Wood splits Earth!"

Jumping from the Warrior of Earth to AncientMermaimon, the Warrior of Darkness then said, "Earth absorbs Water!"

"Hope this works…" AncientKazemon said with her hands clasped together as she watched her colleague jump from the Warrior of Water to AncientGreymon, "…for Naruto's sake!"

"Water douses Fire!" AncientSphinxmon said as he then jumped from the mighty dragon towards the Legendary Warrior he started from, "And Fire melts Metal!"

After the Warrior of Darkness jumped back onto the floor, the Legendary Warriors watched as each of their chained colleagues began to glow brightly before everyone had to cover their eyes.

Once the bright flash had vanished, AncientKazemon uncovered her eyes and slowly opened them as she asked, "Did…Did it work?"

Everyone soon followed as they uncovered their eyes to see…

"This seal is more troublesome than I had anticipated…" AncientSphinxmon said as he saw that his colleagues were still chained up until he noticed something, "At least my attempt was not without its fruits."

A small groan was heard as everyone saw AncientGreymon weakly moving his body before waking up.

"What…" the Warrior of Fire asked as he was still in a daze, "What has happened? And why am I chained up along with a few of the others?"

"It is good to see that you are now conscious, AncientGreymon," AncientGarurumon said as he took a few steps forward, "but we have a serious problem which answers both of your questions."

AncientSphinxmon turned towards AncientKazemon and AncientMegatheriumon as he said, "AncientGarurumon and I shall explain everything to AncientGreymon. So in the meantime, please go check on Naruto as I am sure that he even felt that in his dream."

The two Legendary Warriors nodded before they vanished into midair while the Warrior of Darkness turned towards AncientGreymon as he said, "Now then, where shall we start…"

*Forest of Death*

Everyone hid behind what thick trees they could find and waited for what might be a powerful explosion as the wait felt like hours.

"Is…" Sakura asked aloud as she was afraid of looking towards Naruto, "Is it…over?"

Using her Byuakugan, Hinata first observed the area before observing Naruto's chakra system.

After waiting for what felt like another hour, Hinata then said, "I-I think everything is okay at the moment…"

Using the utmost caution that they could, everyone slowly crept out of their hiding spots and walked towards the still unconscious blond.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked as she edged closer to said person, "Naruto, can you hear me?"

Everyone suddenly flinched back in fear when the blond suddenly turned on his side towards the pinkette before a few soft snores could be heard from Naruto.

"Still out cold…" Shino said as he tried to remain stoic despite a small drop of sweat rolled down the side of his face, "…typical Naruto."

Kabuto looked around the area as he then said, "I think it's best if we get out of here as I'm sure that little show had to have drawn some attention; I can look at Sasuke's seal later as we need to reach the tower as soon as possible."

Not wanting to argue, Shikamaru put the shirt and jacket back on Naruto before he and Choji hoisted the blond onto their shoulders while Kabuto had his teammates carry Sasuke.

"Alright, let's go." Shikamaru said as he adjusted his hold on Naruto, "Same positions as before with Kabuto and his team in between."

Everyone nodded and began to lightly rush through the forest while not trying to draw any more attention.

*Naruto's Mindscape*

AncientGreymon stared at AncientSphinxmon after letting the information he learned digest in his mind.

"I see…" the great dragon said with a guilty sigh at what had happened, "So this new seal is interfering with both seals, with ours being affected the most."

"Yes, and aside from finding someone with the proper knowledge of removing this particular seal," AncientSphinxmon said as he noticed that the others that were sealed like AncientGreymon were either barely conscious or not even at all, "we do not have any way of removing it without damaging Naruto or the seal that bounds the Kyuubi to him."

"I can also suspect that since Naruto was also using one of the powers we granted him when this new seal was placed," the Warrior of Darkness continued as his tail slowly swayed from one side to the other, "this seal could also allow the Beast Spirits to probably take control of Naruto the moment he uses which element he chooses; This is practically a disaster set in motion if not stopped."

AncientGreymon remained in contemplative silence before letting out another sigh as he then said, "I believe this might be a good time to tell Naruto about that other part of the seal and also let him be aware that we are going to restrict his power until this new seal has been removed. However…"

The mighty dragon carefully adjust his neck as he said, "…I want to tell Naruto this myself alone; He had trusted us so much and sees us as family and to lose his trust because of this secret that might damage this bond. That is why I, alone, shall tell him."

"I shall go retrieve him." AncientSphinxmon said before he vanished into thin air while Naruto soon replaced him.

"Jiji told me that you wanted to talk to me?" Naruto asked as he looked up towards the Warrior of Fire.

"Yes, Naruto." AncientGreymon answered with a slight nod, "There are a couple things that I must tell you. First off, due to the new seal that was recently placed on you, we are going to cut you off from our power as to help prevent any more damage that has already been done."

"What!?" Naruto said in disbelieving shock, "Why!? I've been working so hard with this power!"

"I know you have as your progress is worth the well-deserved praise." AncientGreymon said with a tone of guilt, "But please know that since this seal had cause the Beast Spirit of Light to control you, we only wish to prevent an incident like this from happening; This isn't easy on us as well, but we truly do want to help you."

Naruto remained silent as memories of killing a few ninjas as KendoGarurumon and the memory of BurningGreymon taking control of him soon flashed in his mind. He wanted to keep those memories as a reminder of to not take the power of the Beast Spirits so lightly as their power were just so frighteningly awesome.

Perhaps it was better to not have The Legendary Warriors' power until this seal was taken care of.

Seeing that Naruto wasn't going to argue back at the moment, AncientGreymon then said, "There is one last thing you must know as it also involves the seal that allows you to use our power…"

Seeing the question in the blond's eyes, the mighty dragon then said, "We have placed a defense mechanism within this seal to where should anyone try to force this power from you or try to control you into using this power…it is set to release all ten Beast Spirits out a once alongside of the Kyuubi…and…"

"…it'll kill me, won't it?" Naruto asked as he then saw frightened sadness in AncientGryemon's eyes as the dragon before him sadly nodded.

"I didn't want to tell you until you had gained control of your first Beast Spirit, but recent events had said otherwise." AncientGreymon said solemnly as he wish he could not fully look at the blond before him, "But please understand that we only done this to protect you from those who would use this gift for ill desires."

Naruto was silent for a moment as he let what was revealed to him digest. He knew that The Legendary Warriors wouldn't do something like this without viable reason, but he also wished that they would have told him about this defense mechanism. Ino had already entered his mind before when Naruto was possessed by KendoGarurumon and while the Legendary Warriors' seal might not have been acting right, still…

But then Naruto got to thinking: How would he have reacted if he was told of this defense mechanism? The blond silently admitting that he can be a bit hot-headed and brash at times, but AncientGreymon had told him it was to protect him from those who would try to use his powers for their own purposes. Naruto knew that he might have made a scene and probably do something that would have hurt both him and the Legendary Warriors.

…and after they had done so much for him for so long.

The Legendary Warriors had become the family that Naruto had always wanted. AncientKazemon was always there and caring for him as if she was his own mother. AncientSphinxmon was like the Sandaime as he was willing to provide wisdom should the blond seek it while AncientWisetmon was the knowledgeable uncle that would teach Naruto what he could and even try to help the blond solve a few problems that should appear. AncientGarurumon was the distant, yet protective uncle that would be willing to scold Naruto on what he did wrong while teaching him how to be a better fighter, and AncientMermaimon was the bubbly sister that would support the blond from the sidelines with her energy alone. AncientBeetlemon and AncientMegatheriumon were like the older brothers that would protect him and provide what wisdom they could while AncientVolcamon was the cool older brother that would inspire Naruto to be great. AncientTroiamon was the one uncle that would teach Naruto about how to not let things get to him while occasionally just lending an ear to be heard. As for AncientGreymon, Naruto saw that the mighty dragon would protect, care, and love him while also working either just as hard, or even harder than Naruto would to ensure the safety and future for the smaller blond.

Naruto smiled as he looked at AncientGreymon as he said, "While I wish you guys could have told me about this defense mechanism, but I can understand that you only done it to protect me from those who would abuse this gift; You've done it out of love and that shows how our bond affects us. I can't lose this family, nor do I want to risk losing it at well as you guys have done so much for me not only to help me, but to show that you do care about me. Thank you…Tou-san."

AncientGreymon smiled as he could feel pride at how mature Naruto was about this; The dragon honestly thought the blond before him might throw a fit about them holding information about the seal from them, but this surprised him in a good way.

"You are welcome…my son." the dragon said with pride in his voice as he then said, "I do believe that we have kept you long enough, but just think of us if you ever want to talk."

Naruto nodded as he vanished before AncientGreymon as the Warrior of Fire then said, "You can come out now…AncientKazemon."

Out from the shadows, said Legendary Warrior stepped out with a guilty look on her eyes as she knew that this was supposed to be a private matter.

"I know you wanted to talk to him alone, but I couldn't just let him face whatever you might tell him alone." AncientKazemon said as she approached the dragon before her, "I…wanted to be there for him…as a mother should be."

"I do not blame you for I would have done the same," AncientGreymon said with understanding, "but there are times that we need to let Naruto walk on his own two feet and face problems on his own…even if he's already been doing so before we had met him."

"His life was already traded away the moment the Kyuubi was sealed into him." the Warrior of Wind said as she approached the stone slab that blocked their view of the Demon Fox, "I can only imagine just why the Yondaime would do such a thing while also wondering about just who Naruto's real parents were and how they could leave him like this."

"True…" AncientGreymon said as he had a few ideas of how to answer those inquiries, "but we can only guess until we learn the truth from either the Sandaime…or from another source."

"What do you mean?" AncientKazemon asked as she looked at the dragon in confusion.

"I'm sure that AncientWisetmon and AncientSphinxmon had noticed, but I sense something within the Kyuubi's seal." AncientGreymon said as the Warrior of Wind fly up towards him, "I cannot say just what it is, but somehow…I can sense a fraction of Naruto within the seal; Whether this is Naruto or not, I'm sure that those presences are somewhat familiar to him…I just can't put my claw on it."

"Whatever it is," AncientKazemon said with matured curiosity on her face as she looked back towards the stone slab, "I'm sure that we can handle it."

"Seems like our son had rubbed off of you." AncientGreymon said with a chuckle in his voice, causing AncientKazemon to shrug towards him.

"What can I say?" the Warrior of Wind said with a smile behind her mask, "He's my baby boy and a mother should protect their child."

The two smiled, knowing that they would be ready to help Naruto whenever he would need them.

*Forest of Death*

The Konoha Group had managed to travel deeper into the forest as they still had to be cautious of some of the other ninja that could be waiting for them.

"We shouldn't be too far from the tower," Kiba said as he and Akamaru jumped from one of the nearby trees and landed near the group, "I could see the tower not halfway from the top of that tree."

"Still we must exercise caution," Shino said as he adjusted his glasses, "Who knows what sort of opposition we may run into on our journey."

"Engh…"

Shikamaru and Choji felt Naruto stirring as they saw the blond slowly open his eyes.

"Welcome back." Shikamaru said as he and Choji carefully let Naruto regain his balance before stepping away from him.

Naruto chuckled a bit as something donned on him before he asked, "So…you guys saw that, didn't ya?"

"Yeah," Shikamaru admitted as everyone, save for Kabuto's team and the still unconscious Sasuke, nodded, "but you can tell us later if you want to; While we do want answers, we're not going to force them from you."

Shino approached the blond as he carefully placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and said, "We are glad that you are alright, Naruto-san."

Naruto smiled as he looked to see his friends looking at him with joy on their faces while noting the caution in their eyes. He couldn't blame them though as he was a wild beast before becoming a mighty warrior, and that they had saw a little bit of his power.

"How are you feeling?" Sakura asked as she soon approached her blond teammate, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, just a little tired." Naruto answered as he saw a familiar face, "Oh, hey…Kabuto, right?"

Kabuto nodded as he then said, "While it is nice that you remembered me, we must keep moving if we want to beat the competition…or keep them from killing us."

Before the group could move, Sasuke then began to stir awake as Kabuto's teammates carefully let go of the Uchiha to allow him to regain his balance.

"Let go of me!" Sasuke weakly growled out as he pushed himself away from Kabuto's teammates, "I don't need your help."

Sasuke then approached his two teammates and stared at Naruto, studying him.

"Where have you been?" the Uchiha asked as he continued to stare the blond down.

"I got caught up with something and I had gotten lost in this place with how thick these trees are." Naruto answered as he carefully studied Sasuke while trying to not reveal too much.

The tension in the air created by the two was too thick as even a real knife couldn't cut or even slightly mar the thickness in the air.

"Come on you two," Sakura said as she carefully got in between the two, "we're almost to the tower and we don't need the both of you to be at each other's throats; You can settle this when we get there."

Naruto and Sasuke gave each other one last stare down before turning away from each other while Sakura couldn't help but let out a sigh as while she was glad that her two teammates were up and about…she just wished that they'd at least get along.

"While it's great to see that your friends are okay," Kabuto said as he gave the area a quick look over, "but my team and I should be going if we want a chance of becoming Chunin. Ja ne."

The young man and his teammates soon vanished into the trees and leaving the large group with their now conscious, and silently quarrelling duo, along with the numerous questions that were on their minds.

"I think Kabuto's team have a good idea," Shikamaru said as he turned his attention to everyone, "but we should all stay together as with numbers such as ours, no one wouldn't just attempt to try anything if they saw what they were up against; We need to reach the tower before any other team makes it."

"But do we have our scrolls?" Naruto asked as he wasn't sure if his team had the scrolls they needed.

"You can have an extra of ours." Ino said as she tossed a scroll that Naruto's team needed, "Now let's get going!"

Sakura caught the scroll and pocketed it before she and the others headed off on their quest towards their destination.

*Tower*

The Sandaime waited inside with hidden anxiety as the Jonin of the remaining teams were also waiting for their students. But how could he relax if not only his once former student was out on the loose, but an out of control beast by the name of Naruto was out there as well.

I don't know what's worse though…the elderly man thought as his mind was going miles a minute at either force, I can only pray that Orochimaru was responsible for Naruto's powers going out of control.

The Sandaime was able to let out a sigh of relief to see not only a large group of Genin walking into the area, but Naruto entering as himself and not as that KendoGarurumon beast.

"Welcome, Genin teams." the elderly man said with a smile on his face, "You are all fortunate to have made it this far in the Chunin Exams and while you have passed this part of the test, we must still wait a few days for any other teams to make it. For now, you all deserve a much needed rest."

"Hey Jiji!" Naruto said as he waved towards the elderly man, who sighed happily at the nickname as he walked towards the blond, "I have something to ask you…alone."

"Actually…" Sakura said as she felt nervous, "there's something we all want to talk to both you and Naruto about as well."

"I'm not going to waste my time with this." Sasuke said as he walked off towards a different area, hoping to find a training area that he can have to himself.

The Sandaime watched the lone Uchiha walk by and he couldn't help but sense something…dark about him.

Perhaps I should have a few ANBU or maybe Kakashi keep an eye on Sasuke, the elderly man thought as he lead Naruto and Sakura, along with Teams 8 and 6, through a hallway until they had reached a room.

The Sandaime turned to face the other Genin and was about to speak when Sakura suddenly said, "We need you to look at Naruto, Hokage-sama; Something is wrong with him as he has all these weird seals on him."

"And do not worry about us revealing some of Naruto-san's secret," Shino said as he adjusted his sunglasses, "we all have agreed to keep whatever we learn a secret."

The elderly man was surprised by what was revealed to him as a new question formed in his mind: Did Naruto tell them about the Legendary Warriors…or perhaps even about the Kyuubi?

After looking at each face of the Genin before him, the Sandaime let out a guarded sigh as he motioned everyone to enter and said, "Nothing leaves this room."

Everyone entered with the elderly man closing the door behind him and placing a few quick seals on the room.

"Alright Naruto," the Sandaime said as he approached said person, I need you to remove your shirt so that I can examine the seal."

Without argument, Naruto removed both his shirt and jacket with a slight blush on his face as the seals on his body were revealed.

After a quick examination, the Sandaime then said, "I know how to remove this recent seal…but I need you to hold your arms straight up and remain absolutely still."

The blond did what was instructed as the tips of the elderly man's right hand began to glow an ominous purple like one of the seals on Naruto before he said, "I'm now going to release that nasty seal on you, Naruto, and as a small heads up…this might hurt."

Before another word was said, the Sandaime rammed his glowing hand into Naruto's stomach. The blond doubled over as soon as the elderly man removed his hand while Shino and Sakura rushed over towards the blond.

"You okay?" Sakura asked as she helped her teammate onto his feet.

"Yeah…" Naruto said as he looked down to see that the purple seal could no longer be seen, "…least that seal messing with me is gone."

"Indeed," AncientGreymon said from inside Naruto's mind, slightly startling the blond, "I and the others can no longer feel that seal's presence."

Naruto smirked in victory, unknowingly sending a message to everyone that things were going to be alright.

"Now then," the Sandaime said with a serious tone that hid his own victorious smirk, "since all of you had seen the seals on Naruto, you are probably wanting answers."

Seeing everyone nod, the Sandaime glanced over towards Naruto as he then said, "I think it is best that they hear from you first since we are talking about your secret while I shall help fill in what details I can."

Naruto nodded as he then let out a sigh to relieve some tension as he then said, "You all…know about the Kyuubi…right?"

Seeing his friends nod in confirmation, Naruto then asked, "You know how the Yondaime had sacrificed himself to defeat it…right?"

There were a few hesitant nods as Sakura then spoke up, "But the Yondaime couldn't exactly defeat a being like the Kyuubi since it's living chakra."

"That is correct." the Sandaime said since this was a good time to jump in, "The Yondaime had actually used a forbidden jutsu on the Kyuubi…at the cost of his life."

Everyone was silenced at the idea of using your own life to use just one jutsu. While all jutsus required chakra, which could be counted as someone's life force, but this was something that TOOK a person's LIFE which would result in killing the user.

"The Yondaime had killed himself…" Naruto said with a nervous tension on his face, "…in order to seal the Kyuubi inside…of me."

Most of the Genin had slapped looks on their faces, with the exception of Shikamaru and Shino, as they looked at the elderly man who nodded in confirmation.

"I…I don't believe it…" Kiba said with widened eyes, "…Naruto…is…is…"

Naruto closed his eyes with expected anticipation, knowing how some of the villagers would act towards him.

"… A FREAKING HERO!"

That, however, he was not expecting.

Kiba suddenly wrapped an arm around the blond with a few victorious hollers and gave Naruto a light rub on his head with his knuckles before jumping around a little bit while everyone else slowly smiled at what was happening before them.

Once he was done, Kiba looked towards Naruto and the Sandaime as he asked, "How come no one knows about our Legendary Hero? We need to catch up on some celebrations!"

"If you consider beating me up a part of those celebrations, then let's." Naruto said with a sudden dark tone that stopped Kiba's celebration dead cold while replacing everyone's faces with horrified looks.

"What…" Kiba said he couldn't believe his ears, "What are you talking about man? Why should we beat you up just for saving the village?"

"That, unfortunately, is what the villagers do not see." the Sandaime said with a regretful sigh, "When I had revealed that the Yondaime had sealed the Kyuubi inside of Naruto…the villagers had demanded for his blood so that they could finish off the Kyuubi for the Yondamie."

"WHAT!?" Kiba roared out in anger while a few shocked gasps were heard, "THAT'S TOTAL BULLSHIT! EVEN I KNOW THAT NARUTO ISN'T THE DAMNED FOX THAT'S SEALED INSIDE OF HIM; THAT'S LIKE SAYING SHINO IS A BUG! No offense 'bout that."

Shino looked at his teammate and said, "None taken as the villagers, including some of our own ninja, are too ignorant about the seal on Naruto."

"After that incident," the Sandaime then said as everyone's attention was turned towards him, "I had placed a law stating that no one could reveal this piece of information about Naruto in hopes that he would have a peaceful life…Sadly that might have made things worse. I have done everything that I can to help Naruto get the life that he deserves, but even then it wasn't much."

No one said anything as they couldn't help but feel guilty about how they had treated the blond before them; it was as if they had made kicking stray dogs that were down on their luck into a sport.

"Now that that's out of the way," Naruto said as he didn't feel comfortable about this topic, "I think I should tell them about the other seal…the seal that allows me to transform into Lobomon…and KendoGarurumon."

The elderly man nodded in agreement as Naruto looked towards everyone and said, "When Squad 7 started, I was left tied to a training post right after passing Kakashi-sensei's test."

Sakura couldn't help but shrink a little as she saw the other Genin looking at her with disappointment and slight disgust.

"From there," Naruto said as he regained everyone's attention, "a ball of light had engulfed me and next thing I knew, I was inside of my mind where I met the Legendary Warriors."

The blond was silent for a moment before he then said, "I think we should meet them in person. Just hold on to me and they'll pull us into my mind."

Shrugging in acceptance, everyone placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and arms before darkness flashed into their eyes.

*Naruto's Mindscape*

Once the dizzying sensation was over, everyone looked around to find themselves in a dark sewer.

"EW!" Ino said as she jumped onto Choji's shoulder, "This place is a dump!"

"A life like Naruto's can do that to a person's mind." said a mysterious voice as everyone looked to see a giant cat with a human-like face and wings wearing black armor approaching them.

"Hey Jiji!" Naruto said as he approached the large cat, much to everyone's slight confusion, "How's everyone doing?"

"They are doing alright and they are waiting to meet everyone." the large cat said as he looked at everyone, "I am AncientSphinxmon, one of the Legendary Warriors that represent one of the ten elements of our world; I govern the Power of Darkness. If you would, please follow me and my grandson so that you can meet the others."

After Ino reluctantly got off of Choji, everyone followed AncientSphinxmon and Naruto through the blond's mind until they reached a large room where nine other creatures were waiting for them…one of them included a dragon with red armor and fiery wings.

"Whoa…" Kiba said in awe as he and everyone studied the other creatures before them.

"Allow me to introduce you to everyone!" Naruto said as he rushed up to the creatures, starting off with a woman with rainbow hair, "This is AncientKazemon, Warrior of Wind…"

AncientKazemon gave everyone a polite wave as everyone saw just how beautiful she was.

"AncientMermaimon, Warrior of Water…"

Said warrior gave the group a playful wave as Ino couldn't help but marvel at her sapphire-like scales.

"AncientMegatheriumon, Warrior of Ice…"

The giant ram nodded in a form of greeting the group before him.

"AncientBeetlemon, Warrior of Thunder…"

"What's up, Shino?" the giant beetle asked as he waved a claw in the air, "Nice to see you again!"

"It is nice to meet you too, Great Beetle-sama." Shino said as he bowed towards the Legendary Warrior.

Naruto chuckled a bit before he continued, "This is AncientVolcamon, Warrior of Earth…"

"Nice to meet ya!" AncientVolcamon said as he flexed his arms to show off his toughness.

"Here we have AncientWisetmon, Warrior of Steel…"

The mirror-like creature gave everyone a respectful bow as they could see the wisdom rolling off of him.

"AncientTroiamon, Warrior of Wood…"

The giant, wooden horse kneeled before everyone as they gave him a curious look over; he was somehow the oddest of the group next to AncientWisetmon.

"AncientGarurumon, Warrior of Light…"

Said warrior just gave the group a gruff nod, showing just how serious he was as Kiba and Akamaru couldn't help but be inspired by him.

"And last, but not least…" Naruto said as he stood in front of the great dragon, "AncientGreymon, Warrior of Fire and Leader of the Legendary Warriors."

"It is nice to meet you all in person," AncientGreymon said as he bowed his head towards everyone, "and we give you our gratitude for watching over our host…and my adoptive son."

Seeing everyone's surprise, AncientKazemon then said, "We've been watching over Naruto since we sealed ourselves inside of him and we've been like family ever since."

The Sandaime smiled with pride as he was quite glad that his surrogate grandson had been able to find a family through much of his hardship.

"Who would have thought Naruto could find such awesome guys like you!" Kiba said as he and Akamaru continued to observe AncientGarurumon, "This is just awesome!"

"Yeah, we are awesome like that." AncientVolcamon said as he posed in a cool fashion, causing the girls to giggle at him despite how intimidating he looked.

AncientWisetmon let out a sigh as he ignored his colleague and said, "We have also gifted Naruto with our power so that he may grow to not only be a great ninja and warrior, but a better person as well."

"We have placed some limitations on him," AncientTroiamon added as he laid down on his legs, "but even then he had made great progress with what elements we have granted him."

"But he is still not yet ready to handle the Beast Spirits of our power, as you have witnessed." AncientGarurumon said as he crossed his arms, "His mind hasn't been sharpened enough as even though he understands to not take them lightly, Naruto still isn't ready for the kind of power that a Beast Spirit possesses."

"Speaking of that power," Shikamaru said as a thought occurred to him, "Naruto can use this power at any time, right?"

"Sure he can, Sugar," AncientMermaimon said as she approached Naruto, "but we're restricting him for this part of the Chunin Exams."

"Originally it was to keep any of the Beast Spirits from trying to take control of him," AncientSphinxmon said as he was seated next to AncientGreymon, easily being dwarfed by the gigantic dragon, "but now it's more of a test to see just how well Naruto had grown."

"I believe that we have properly been introduced," AncientGreymon said as he looked at everyone, "I think that we shouldn't keep you too long as you all must make preparations for what is to come."

Everyone looked at the dragon and nodded before vanishing, leaving just the Legendary Warriors to themselves.

"So how do you think things will play out?" AncientKazemon asked as she turned towards the Warrior of Fire.

"We can only wait and see…" AncientGreymon said as he looked off into the distance, wondering himself how things will go for the blond as well.

How will everything play out from here? What challenges await our favorite blond? Don't forget to rate and review!

Ja ne.