Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or Naruto, don't rub it in.

For those that didn't know or need a reminder, episodes 1-3 took place in the same day, meaning this is Day 2 of their stay in the Digital World. Also, I can say that I can honestly not change the plot all that much for these early episodes as they were crucial in the introduction of the Digimon partners in the series and how and why they Digivolve, though some episodes will be skipped or rather I'll have something else going as Naruto is still the central character of this story. Deviations and changes to the original series will occur, though.

Oh, I'm using the Digimon World games money system, Bits, instead of Digi-Dollars. Not relevant, but thought you should know.

~Chapter 3~

Of Reunions and Flames

Dragon's Eye Lake ~ Derelict Streetcar

It was now morning, or what could be considered as morning in a world created from data information.

"Aaaaaaa…" With a yawn, Sora was the first to wake.

Slowly blinking the sleep out of her eyes, Sora noticed that she wasn't the only one to have woken either. Apparently the old saying 'The early bird catches the worm' proved true when Biyomon was already wide awake, staring at her from her lap.

"Good morning Sora," the pink bird spoke quietly to her helmet/hat wearing friend.

"Er, morning Biyo…" Sora greeted back in kind, wondering briefly how long they had been sleeping for.

"Well, let's go outside and wash up, but be sure to be quiet so we don't wake anybody," Sora said, bringing her finger up in the universal 'shush' gesture for emphasis.

Quietly, the two of them exited out the entrance of the streetcar that led away from the campfire. Sora wondered why the streetcar was on an island in the middle of the lake in the first place, but she was not going to complain.

"...zzzzzz."

"Hm? What was that?"

Having just finished washing up, Sora and Biyomon walked around the trolley car to find the source of the noise, both hoping it wasn't the Seadramon again, unlikely as it was…

"…*snort*…"

"There it is again! Come on Biyo!" And without waiting for a response, or waiting to call for help, Sora ran towards the noise, forgoing warnings her mind sent her, leaving a momentarily startled pink bird chasing after her.

Finally caught up with her friend, Biyomon saw that she was staring at two figures, one a furry purple creature and the other a blond-haired human who was using the purple creatures fur as a pillow.

Deciding to voice her question, the pink bird asked, "Sora…do you know who they are?"

Her answer was not what the Digimon expected.

"Naruto!"

"Wahhh!" the figure yelped out in fright, limbs flailing in the air.

"Who, what, where…?" the figure sputtered out.

Finally noticing her, Naruto relaxed and let a sheepish grin spread across his face. "Uh, hey Sora!"

Sora honestly didn't know how to react to Naruto grinning and giving a small wave at her like everything was all right in the world. She had been worried to near insomnia last night because she was too concerned about his safety! So, naturally, she did the first thing that came to mind.

SMACK!

…Which entailed to smacking the blond upside his head, consequently causing him to hold his head in pain.

"Ahh! What the hell Sora? What I do?"

SMACK!

"Ack! Sora!"

While Naruto was experiencing the dreaded Righteous Female Fury™, Meanwhile, Dorumon had just been woken up by a slight tapping.

"Huh? Who are you?" Dorumon asked groggily, eyeing the pink bird in front of him warily.

"It's me Yokomon, Dorimon, but I Digivolved so now I'm Biyomon," the pink bird explained awkwardly after guessing that the purple Digimon in front of her was her old purple friend.(1)

"Cool! I Digivolved too, I'm Dorumon now!" Stating the obvious, a skill Dorumon had been perfecting ever since becoming an In-Training.

Laughing lightly, Biyomon could only shake her head in amusement.

"Hey! What's going on out here!"

Temporarily stopping her beating on her blonde friend, Sora turned to see who had shouted at them and was surprised to see most of the group was awake and staring at her and Naruto.

"Huh, Naruto? Naruto!" That was Joe, going from tired, to confused, to relieved in the span of ten seconds. Tears of joy forming at the edge of his eyes, he looked about ready to give the blond a hug.

"Joe! Help! Sora's trying to kill me again! And I didn't do anything this time!"

"What do you mean 'I didn't do anything this time'! You had us worried! We thought that something had happened to you!"

"…But didn't we already dis-" The death glare from Sora was enough to silence the ever-talkative Tentomon.

"Look, Sora, I'm fine! Really! I've gone camping before with my mom and her friends(2)! I'm pretty sure I could survive a night alone! Besides, it is not like anything happened that was dangerous….asides for the incident with that Snimon, but that was totally Dorumon's fault!" Naruto tried to reassure his best friend, ignoring the indignant 'Hey!' from the peeved Dorumon.

Sora was already calming down but when she heard Naruto comment about the Snimon they encountered she immediately jumped on the subject.

"See! You get yourself in trouble all the time! How can you expect me not to worr-"

"QUIET!" The ear piercing yell scared everyone present witless, T.K. opted to hold onto Patamon more tightly than the winged Digimon felt comfortable with.

"Mimi! What's wrong!"

"You woke me up, that's what's wrong!" The brunette in pink yelled.

"Mimi?" Turning towards the voice addressing her, she saw a familiar face, one that she knew for quite the while and considered him one of her few male friends. She had not known that the Naruto Sora and Joe kept talking about was the one she knew, she must of missed when they were talking about it (Re: Not paying attention, complaining/whining).

"Naruto?"

"You two know each other?" The goggle wearing Tai asked.

"Yeah, I live right below her apartment and tutor her with her homework. My mom is good friends with her mom," Naruto explained while inwardly wondering who was able to convince her to go along with the camp thing. Mimi was not one for outdoor activities unless it was the beach or shopping.

"Hey, Naruto!" Matt called out, gaining the sun-kissed blonds attention.

"Matt? T.K. too? Who else is here?"

"Hello," greeted Izzy.

"Izzy? I thought you were going to that computer camp?"

"I applied too late; they were packed with other kids." Sounding slightly put off, the red headed boy started back towards the derelict streetcar to gather his laptop.

"Heh, the great outdoors will do you good!" Naruto called after him.

"I find that improbable considering what has occurred so far…" Izzy mumbled to himself.

Turning towards Tai, Naruto tried to see if he recognized him.

"…Well?"

"You're the guy who stole my bunk yesterday when we came to camp, I think Sora mentioned you a couple of times…"

"Eh…?"

Sora was getting angrier by the second, most people would when they get ignored during the middle of an argument they were winning, in her opinion.

SMACK! Sora's fist plus the back of Naruto's head equals a K.O.-ed blonde.

"…Wow…"

x-X-x-X-x

After Naruto recovered from his fall (he refused to admit he had been knocked out), the group filled in what had happened when they arrived in the Digital World, Naruto sharing his own little misadventure as well.

Eventually the group decided it would be for the best if they kept searching for people, despite Naruto saying that if they hadn't found someone yet, there was probably no one else on the island, human-wise at least.

*Fwish*

"Well, hey," Sora said while looking around the surrounding scenery.

"Did you hear that?" Tai asked the rest of the group.

*Fwish*

"It seems to be some sort of aircraft," Matt figured.

"It looks like a big flying gear," Sora said, having caught a glimpse of a small object overhead.

"Admit it, my alien theory is becoming more plausible," Izzy stated.

"Yeah, they hit us with an anti-gravity ray to make us all crooked!" Joe added, referencing to the signs nearby that more or less made no since at all.

Currently, they were walking through a forest that Matt would aptly dub 'The Forest of Irrelevant Road Signs'.

"Or they could have been set up that way, Joe," Naruto reasoned, "Though I really want to know why these signs are here in the first place, it doesn't make sense at all."

"Nothing makes sense in the DigiWorld!" Tentomon stated pointedly.

"'Don't Go Up'? What hell kind of sign is that suppose to be?" Naruto wondered aloud.

SMACK!

"Ow! What was that for Sora?" Naruto asked, rubbing his head. To his left, Dorumon held in a chuckle.

"Watch what you say!" Sora said in a hushed whisper, gesturing subtly at T.K., who had just slipped down the small hill they were climbing, Tai managing to grab hold of him before he fell, "T.K.!"

"Whoa! That was scary!" T.K. exclaimed.

"Watch it! That could've been a snake, or worse!"

"Oh boy, I'm sorry. Hey Biyomon, are there really snakes here?" T.K. asked.

"No, just giant flying killer bugs and other unpleasant Digimon," Biyomon answered honestly.

After Patamon's reassurance that he would protect him, the group continued on, though a slight outburst from Matt, and Mimi recommending Joe buy new shoes.

It wasn't too long before the road signs began to become sparse that telephone poles started to take their place. In the middle of a burning hot savanna. None of them connected in any way. Tentomon, the bug-like Digimon that Naruto flying around Izzy, called the place the Gear Savannah.

After some idle chatter, the group took a short break, meanwhile, Izzy took the time to check the weather.

"I've taken a soil sample, measured the barometric pressure and analyzed the relative humidity."

"And what did you find out?" Sora asked, honestly believing that it had to be forty degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).

"It's really, really hot."

"…"

"Don't worry Sora, we'll find some shade for you to rest at!" Biyomon chirped.

There was no place to rest in the shade for what seemed like miles around…

"Uh, Biyomon?"

"Yes, Sora?"

"Could you give me some room? Your feathers are really hot…"

"Oh, okay!"

Naruto, hanging back towards the rear of the mismatched group of kids, was thinking about what they were going to do for food and water. It was common sense that being out in the heat that a person had to stay hydrated or they could collapse from the heat.

The others had obviously never spent much time alone without an adult's supervision for very long, Mimi being a blaringly obvious example.

Only he had some actual training for this type of situation, sort of, his mother forcing him to go with her and her friends 'camping' last year. HA! 'Camping,' more like wilderness survival training from what they had to endure during the monsoon. The worst part of those two weeks of hell was when they said he couldn't eat his ramen because it was not recommended for survival, er, camping trips because of its lack of nutrition it provided! He argued that it was used in military rations but was smacked upside his head by his mother, saying that he was giving her a headache.

His mother was a real sadist; it was a wonder how she even had the job she had in the first place.

"Naruto! Look! I found something!" Yelled Dorumon, knocking said blue-eyed blond out of his thoughts.

Looking around, Naruto noticed that the group had just stopped a short distance ahead to take a break, probably do to Mimi's complaining, Naruto thought. Looking towards where Dorumon was calling his attention to, he saw his fuzzy pal standing next to one of the defunct telephone poles.

Walking towards his Digimon friend, Naruto asked, "What did you find?"

"Watch!" And watch he did as Dorumon placed a clawed paw on the telephone poles surface, the limb passing through it as if made of liquid, visible ripples surrounding the area the fur appendage was at.

"Cool, huh?"

"How did you even know how to do that?" Naruto asked, putting his own hand through pole, earning him a tingling feeling he likened to static cling.

The sudden embarrassed look Dorumon now sported made Naruto not want to learn the answer to that question.

Hesitantly, Naruto removed his hand from the strange pole. Turning around, he noticed that the group had continued on without him, earning the blond a annoyed tick. "Bastards couldn't even wait up for us. Come on, fuzz ball, we have to catch up with the others."

Not receiving a response, Naruto turned to see half of Dorumon's body was inside the pole.

Shaking his head, Naruto yanked on Dorumon's fur, "Come on, we're falling behind."

"Whoa! You have to see this! The inside is all silvery and numbers and goes straight down!"

"We don't have time for this."

Despite his protests, Dorumon had pulled his friend back towards the pole, practically shoving his head through the liquid-like pole.

"Ow! Cut it out, fuzz ball; your claws are really sharp!"

"Just look!" Dorumon commanded.

Seeing as he knew that the purple fuzz ball was not going to leave him alone, Naruto turned his attention to what Dorumon had been trying to show him. The inside was indeed colored silver that seemed to light the hollow poles interior, and the numbers were just 0's and 1's that were randomly flickering from one spot to another. Tilting his head down slight, he noticed that the inside went down quite a ways down if the lack of visibility at the bottom was any indication.

Feeling Dorumon remove his clawed paw from the sleeve of his shirt, Naruto pulled his head out from the strange phenomenon. Turning to face a grinning miniature dragon, his hand halfway to its destination.

WHACK!

"Gha!"

Feeling satisfied, Naruto started at a jog to catch up with the others, leaving a fuming Dorumon to chase after him, threats of pain prominently heard by all.

x-X-x-X-x

"This is not what I expected." Naruto admitted, having caught up with the group just as they took off racing towards a village some distance away. The village in question was a lot smaller than was thought before and instead of finding any humans to help them they had instead found little pink Digimon, Yokomon, if what he heard Tentomon call them, Biyomon's In-Training form.

Earning himself an elbow to the ribs, he heard Sora mutter, "Hush."

While the group decided what they would preferred to eat to the confused looking Yokomon, Naruto followed after Dorumon who had once again separated from the group to go out on his on again. Watching the digital dragon reach his head into the water well, he was surprised when his friend immediately pulled back away from the now steaming water source in apparent pain.

"Hot!"

Dorumon's cries of pain drew the attention of the rest group and Yokomon. Rushing towards the purple Digimon, they could only watch as Naruto tried to put out the now slightly singed dragon.

"What happened?"

"Ai bern mai tung!" Dorumon's answer earned him confuse looks till Naruto decided to clear up what Dorumon was trying to say. "He said he burned his tongue."

"Tha wah ai thed!"

"Fuzz ball, your speaking gibberish."

"Sha ah!"

While the two partners bickered with one another the rest of the group were worrying as the Mt. Mihirashi had begun to rumble, a sign that it was soon to erupt. A whooshing sound was hear followed by a geyser of flames rising straight up out of the well, scaring the kids and Digimon alike.

A plan was soon formed for the kids to go and check the lake to see if the water was still present, all went except for Naruto and Dorumon, the later due to the pain and the former due trying keep the Yokomon populace calm.

"Alright, everyone listen! If that volcano erupts, we have to be out of here before it does!" Simple and to the obvious point.

Back at the well, the group had just returned disappointed that the lake had dried up the same as the water well.

"Hey!" Tai called out from where he was using his pocket telescope to observe the volcano. "You say this character Meramon is a firey Digimon? What does he look like? Never mind, there he is! He's coming! He's coming our way!"

The faint sounds of sobbing could be heard from the rampaging Digimon.

"This is weird! He's crying!"

"Burning!"

"Guys," Naruto voiced, "shouldn't we start running now before the living Bar-B-Q gets here?"

"Burning, burning, burning!"

"Yeah, he's getting closer to us!"

"Don't move a muscle!" Sora tells everyone.

"Agh! Burn, burn, burn!"

"Run!"

After the failure of plan, one that Naruto would remember to use against Sora if they did indeed survive through the ordeal, the group was chased around by the Meramon for a short while, leading him all around the village, small fires spreading but dying soon after from lack of material to consume. In the end, the children had herded the entire village of Yokomon into the hull of a wrecked cruise ship lying dead in the desert.

It was only when Joe had come in with another group of Yokomon that Naruto realized that Sora and Biyomon were missing.

"Sora!"

Running out of the crack in the hull, he had just made it outside in time to watch Biyomon take a large ball of fire to her mid-section before folding and falling to the ground. Rushing towards the swiftly following bird, and ignoring Sora's cry, he went into a slide just in time to catch the hurt Digimon.

"You okay Biyomon?" Naruto asked the burnt pink bird. Instead of responding, the Digimon ignored him and tried to get back up despite her injuries. "Hey, take it easy! Your in no condition to fight!"

Looking up weakly, Biyomon watches as the other Digimon attack Meramon to no effect.

"Sora? We're all in trouble now. Meramon cannot be allowed to win. My friends need my help now!" Biyomon spoke determinedly.

Pushing away from Naruto, Biyomon gained altitude.

"Biyomon Digivolve to…. Birdramon!(3)"

The now huge phoenix-like Digimon swoops in from under Meramon and grabs hold of him with her talons just as he was about to reach the group below. Slamming onto the cliff above, she dodges another fireball from the currently psychotic Digimon.

"What's wrong Birdramon? Afraid of me? Let's fight! Here, have a ball!"

The fireball strikes against the back of Birdramon, causing the flaming bird Digimon to wobble slightly in the air before she righted herself. Glittering wings are the only tell-tale signs of Birdramon gathering her strength before she releases it into her attack with a shout of, "Meteor Wing!"

The attack slams into Meramon, the force of the hits causing Meramon to shrink down into his normal size. From his back a black gear is expelled before bursting into data fragments.

"It was a gear!" Izzy exclaimed as he watched the data fragments disappear. "It made him crazy!"

"I suppose if you had a big black gear stuck inside of you, you'd act a little crazy, too. The poor guy." Matt sympathizes.

Overhead, Birdramon returns to being Biyomon before gliding down to Sora who watched from below admiringly.

"Are you alright? Oh, Sora!" Biyomon questions before she is engulfed in a hug by her partner.

"Oh, B! I was so worried about you! You were great you know! I can't even begin to explain how proud I am of you!"

"I had to protect you and my friends, Sora." Biyomon spoke quietly.

x-X-x-X-x

"Does anyone know what this stuff is?" Tai asks as he pokes at the strange food in front of him given to him by the Yokomon.

Smacking Tai, Mimi chastised, "Be polite and just eat it! A gracious guest never insults his host's cooking."

"Hm."

"Eat as much as you want!" Biyomon spoke. "We have more than enough for seconds!"

Most of the kids looked decidedly green at that announcement.

"May I have seconds please?" Naruto asks, raising his now empty platter in the air, ignoring the looks he was receiving from his friends.

"Yeah! Seconds please!" Dorumon agreed, bits of food on his muzzle.

"Uh, I'm not that hungry anymore…" Sora spoke as she pushed her plate further away from herself.

"I'm skipping this one too." Joe said, mimicking Sora's actions, "I just don't like to eat on an empty stomach. Besides, I don't even know what that stuff is, but I'm sure I'm allergic to it!"(4)

x-X-x-X-x

"What are you gonna do know Meramon? Return to Mt. Mihirashi?" Naruto asks of the firey Digimon. After noticing that the tall Digimon was leaving the festivities that were just about to end, Naruto followed after the living firewall.

"Yes, I shall continue to safe guard the mountain and the Yokomon Village. It is my duty to watch over all the Gears Savannah and all those reside in in it.," Meramon stated. "This incident has opened my eyes, I've become to lax in my responsibilities

"Why is it your responsibility?"

"…The Gears Savannah was not always gone by that name. You had probably noticed the small patches of grasses that are only know growing in what once was a desolate land," the Digimon began. "The lands true name has been lost to time. What we do know is who was responsible for it to be such."

Now quite curious about what could cause such changes to the land itself, Naruto sat on the rock nearby to pay closer attention.

"AncientVolcamon, one of the Ten Ancient Warriors told of in legends." Meramon spoke. "It is not none why he did what he did, all that is known is that the Meramon tribe of the time that followed him helped him cause this."

Taking some time to digest what he had been told, questions began appearing in his mind.

"Why do you think they did what they did?" the blue-eyed teen asks.

Not receiving a response, he bids Meramon goodbye and walks towards the rest of the group who were saying their goodbyes to the Yokomon.

"Wait."

Turning back towards the Flame Digimon, Naruto barely managed to catch whatever the Champion Level Digimon had suddenly thrown at him.

"Wh-wha? Hey, watch it! You could've poked my eye out, you bastard!" The blond yelled indignantly. Meramon ignored him and turned to leave for his home on Mt. Mihirashi.

"Hey!" Getting no response from the Digimon, Naruto looked to his hands to see what exactly was it that he had been given. The object that the Champion had thrown to him was roughly the same size as the screen of the device that had brought him to the Digital World, a Digivice, if he remembered from what Tentomon had said before. It was rectangular in shape, about the width of a toothpick, and was colored dark-gray, it had desert tan and grassy green mixing together in an endless spiral in its center, an image of a boulder with a crack beginning to form at the top encompassed by to crossed rings of a darker shade.

"What the hell am I suppose to do with this!" Naruto called after to Meramon. Staying at the thing in his palm, a stray thought made itself know, "Where did he even get this from? He is a walking blowtorch! He has no pockets!" (5)

x-X-x-X-x

"Where to next?"

"The Yokomon said that they saw some buildings that way when they went scavenging for food, so that is our best bet."

Looking towards the direction indicated, Naruto thought it was better than staying where they were now. Besides, he was getting a sunburn.

"Is everyone all ready?" Getting various acknowledgments from the mixed group of Digimon and kids.

The group headed off, though Dorumon was reluctant to leave the food behind, Naruto had to physically drag the purple Rookie away from the village, making everyone laugh as Dorumon shed tears and as his claws left small trenches in the ground.

Chapter End

(1) I would imagine that it would get confusing introducing themselves to each other especially seeing as each form has its own name as the Digivolve.

(2) Yeah, 'camping'.

(3) I find it disturbing that the spellchecker for Birdramon is Bird Ramen…

(4) Actually lines were used directly from the story, in one form or another.

(5) Something new, something old, something that some may know what it is.

Factorial Town is next, otherwise known as the place where Tentomon Evolves and Andromon attacks.