-"The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Prologue

"Hey! You!"

Impmon jumped, startled out of his muse and nearly fell off the tree branch he was resting on when he heard somebody yell right underneath him.

He looked down and scowled at what he saw.

It was one of those pesky humans again. A kid to be exact, one who seemed to be just a year or two younger than the tamers he usually bothered.

"What do you want, brat!"

The kid had blond spiky hair and blue eyes. He was short, probably shorter than a kid his age should be. He had three whisker marks on each cheek that looked more like scars than anything. And he was wearing the brightest orange clothes Impmon had ever seen. He even felt his cornea being damaged just staring at them.

That wasn't what bothered him the most though. No. The most annoying thing in the kid's feature was that damn vibrant smile that threatened to split the kid's face in half.

The kid didn't seem to be bothered by the tone of voice Impmon used on him. Instead, his smile seemed to grow impossibly wider now that he had Impmon's attention.

"You're a digimon aren't you? 'Impmon'?"

Impmon raised a brow. He jumped off the tree and landed on the ground just a few feet in front of the kid, who's eyes Impmon swore were sparkling like stars.

"So what if I am? What do you want with the Great Me?" He spewed arrogantly.

"Sugoi! You're real! And you can talk! Are you like Takato-nii's Guilmon?"

'Takato-nii?'

Impmon scoffed.

"I'll have you know that I am a hundred times better than that sad excuse for a digimon who lets himself be treated like a pet by a human! Unlike him I don't need a partner to be strong!" he crossed his arms and straightened himself up to appear taller.

"Sugoi!" His eyes seemed to sparkle brighter. "So you can digivolve without a partner?" the kid asked.

Impmon coughed and spluttered. He tightened his gloved hands into fists and glared at the blond kid, "Why are you asking so many damn questions, kid? That's none of your business!"

The kid frowned. "My name's not kid! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and one day I'm going to become the greatest Digimon Tamer to ever exist, dattebayo!" he exclaimed, puffing his chest out which in Impmon's opinion, made him look like an idiot.

Impmon scoffed, "Good luck with that, shrimp. You can't do that unless you have a digimon partner and from the looks of things, you don't have one," he smirked evilly at the kid who's motivation and enthusiasm seemed to deflate at Impmon's words.

He chuckled evilly and turned around to walk away, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have more important things to do than to talk to some wannabe tamer like you."

Impmon began to walk away. Leaving the small, sad child behind.

He was smirking in victory from the outside, but on the inside, he was fuming. Who did that kid think he was?Asking all those questions and then claiming that he will become the greatest Digimon Tamer in the world? The kid's naivety was hilarious, really. And a perfect example as to why he disliked humans so strongly. And how did he even know what a Digimon Tamer was? He seemed to be too young for that and he had never seen him hang out with the crew of digimon tamers before.

He shivered remembering what it was like to have two awfully young partners. The way they would pull at his arms when they fought over him making him fear that they might end up tearing them right off his body. Those two had been the perfect example of the selfishness humans were capable of and Impmon would be lying if he said that he missed being around those two.

Hopefully this kid would not find any digimon to partner up with him. Because seriously, Impmon would feel for that poor sap-

"Be my partner!"

Impmon felt a small hand grip his wrist from behind, stopping him in his tracks. He turned in shock to stare at the same kid from before holding onto him, this time with a determined look on his face.

"W-what?" he sked unsure of what he just heard.

"Be my Digimon Partner!" He said in the same volume from before.

Impmon froze, his eyes widened, and his mind went blank, something which would frustrate him in the future because he had so many things he could say against that. So many words he should've said to the damn kid just for suggesting such a thing. But he didn't. He just stood there and gaped like an idiot.

"You don't have a tamer, right? So I'll be yours! We can both be strong together. We can become the strongest there is and beat a bunch of digimon! And help you digivolve!"

'Strong together.' Those words repeated over and over in his head. Impmon wasn't going to lie to himself. It did pain him to see Digimon such as Renamon and Guilmon each have their own partners, while he remained alone. It hurt to see them digivolve while he hasn't even defeated at least one Digimon since his arrival to the Human World. There were times when his mind wandered into that hidden part of his brain where he thought that maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to find a tamer. One who could help him Digivolve.

But Impmon wasn't weak. Impmon didn't need a partner. Really, no self-respecting digimon should ally themselves with a human. That's what he believed. Impmon knew that as long as he defeated a bunch of digimon on his own and absorbed their data, he could become stronger and digivolve.

'But how many have you defeated till now?' a traitorous part of his brain uttered.

Impmon shook his head, breaking out of his stupor and he stared at the kid with the most heated glare he could muster. He brusquely tore his hand off from the kid's grip who stumbled back, and furiously turned to him.

"Where do you get off saying things like that, you idiot!" He directed a finger at himself and said "I don't need a partner! And I definetely don't need a spoiled, idiotic brat like you as my tamer! So-"

A bright orange flame appeared on his finger and he flicked it at the kid, hitting him square in the chest where a small flame manifested. The kid squealed, chanted 'hot hot, hot,' and furiously patted his clothes in an effort to put out the small flame.

"-get lost!"

And so, Impmon sprinted away. Away from the kid calling his name while trying to extinguish the flame of the digimon he just asked to be his partner. Away from the idea of having a tamer. Away from an annoying brat who interrupted his rest.

Away from the only person who had ever offered to be his partner...

Little did he know, this wouldn't be the last time he'd see the boy.

A/N: So this is just an idea I had while watching the entire season of Digimon Tamers on Netflix and I just had to write it out. I don't know if anybody has already written a fanfic with this concept, but I thought it would be an interesting story and fun to play around with.

Some may think that Impmon and Naruto wouldn't fit together since they have nothing in common. But they do have a few similarities. Both love to play pranks (though Impmon's are more intense), both are misunderstood by others, and... well that's all I could come up with and even then they are really different.

But I liked the idea and though I don't know if I'll continue it, maybe if I get enough feedback I will. It isn't my best writing and I don't think I did such a good job with this Prologue, but oh well.

Also, yes, I am very well aware of the fact that Impmon already has a tamer. Two to be exact. I'm not an idiot, it's not like I started this story without thinking and doing some research. I did plan this story out after all.

And though Naruto isn't a jinchuuriki in this story since this isn't the Naruto from the Elemental Nations, he is still something rather special in this story that will be revealed later on.

Well thank you for reading, and if you enjoyed it please review, or at least to give me a few tips on how I can improve my writing. :D