Not many people read this, but I feel the need to put this out there, since I'm uploading this anyway.

About a week ago, my Nan died. One day she was in hospital, the next she had a stroke, the next she was gone. It's been a real rough time, and it's shot my motivation a fair bit. It happened just after I finshed writing this snippet, and it's taken me a while to come back to it.

Anyone who follows this story and still reads my stuff, you'll likely hear this message a few times, depending on how much of my stuff you read. But I wanted to explain any decrease in motivation in the future any chance I could get, because it's not for a lack of passion for my writing.

This is a deleted scene from the new Naruto/GX story I'm working on. This was going to go at the front of the first chapter, but then looking at stuff I've written already, I realised that this opening would kind of take away from the point I'm going for with Naruto in the new story. I started re-reading Naruto to help me figure out what I'm doing with the new story, and this deleted stuff feels like I'm copying Naruto canon a little too much, other issues aside.

I decided to upload this to the Crossover Side Deck in case anyone else wants to use it. It might be a little too close to Naruto canon for my taste, but maybe someone else won't mind. I dunno. It just feels like a shame to delete it outright.

Domino Middle School. The most famous middle school in Domino City. It has one claim to fame; the middle school that Muto Yugi, the Duel King, once attended. This single factoid is one the school takes great pride in, and the board pooled their funds together to make their school's pride and joy: a statue of the Duel King himself.

This noble statue stood in the entrance hall to let everyone who entered the building know just who the school had educated. It was the first thing students saw at the start of the day, and the last they saw at the end. It was a sight that filled any young, aspiring duelist with awe and respect.

It was a sacred symbol, one that nobody would ever dare to mess wi—

"EHHH! SOMEONE DREW ON THE KING OF DUELISTS STATUE!"

"WHAT?" A teacher screeched, running down the halls to the entrance. Kicking up a trail of dust, Umino Iruka skidded into the scene of the crime. He gaped at the statue.

Yugi's face had been covered in white face paint, lips smeared with red lipstick, and false goofy eyes drawn over his pupil-less gaze. Blue lines ran down his cheeks, and an orange swirl sat dead centre on his forehead. All in all, the King of Duelists had been made to look like quite the clown.

Iruka's temple twitched. He could feel his blood pressure rising. He knew only one individual who would do such a thing. He took a deep breath. "UZUMAKI NARUTO!"

The scream bounced down the halls, rattling the windows. Around the corner, Naruto snickered into his hand. "Hah, suckers. Nobody else could do something as low as that!" His snickering ceased as a shadow fell over him.

"Uzumaki…" Iruka said, grinding his teeth as he glared down at Naruto.

"Er, hey there, Iruka-sensei. You okay there? Looking a little red."

"AND WHOSE FAULT IS THAT, EXACTLY? COME HERE!"

"W-WOAH, HEY!"

Iruka dragged Naruto into the homeroom by the ear, ignoring the yelps and indignance of his student. Other classmates either laughed at the blonde's antics, or glared at his sheer nerve for what he did. Letting go of Naruto's ear, Iruka crossed his arms and glared at Naruto.

"Alright, you've done it this time, Uzumaki. If you keep up these kinds of antics, you'll never get into high school. If you spent more time applying yourself, and less time playing these childish pranks, then I know you'd succeed in life."

Naruto put his hands in his pockets, looking out the window. "Yeah, yeah," he said, clearly not listening.

Iruka's blood pressure rose once again. "Alright, everyone, as soon as class starts, you're all having a nice pop quiz covering last week's material." Iruka closed his eyes, ignoring the mass outcry. "I suggest you take this homeroom time to make any last minute preparations." He opened his eyes and picked up his stack of notes. He faltered at the extra weight that hadn't been there earlier. Something slipped off the top and landed on the floor.

One of his female students glanced down, and she shrieked, her face bright red. "EEK! SENSEI'S A PERVERT!"

"What?" Iruka looked down, and his face burned. He saw a magazine, with a half naked and very busty woman on the front, covering her naughty bits with her arms, winking up at him. A drop of red landed on her cleavage, and, when he brought a hand to his nose, it came away red.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!" Naruto fell on his back. His legs kicked as he clutched his stomach and pointed at Iruka, tears of mirth trailing down his face. "Didn't take you for such a pervert, Iruka-sensei! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

If Iruka was red before, now he was approaching, quite frankly, concerning levels of crimson. He took a deep, shaky breath. "NARUTOOOOOOOOOO!"

Naruto grumbled as he brought the rag to Statue Yugi's face, rubbing away at the paint. The sun was starting to set, an orange glow heralding the end of another school day. As soon as the final bell rang, Iruka had dragged him out of class and shoved a rag and a bucket into his arms.

"Stop grumbling and get on with it," Iruka said, crossing his arms. He watched Naruto work with narrowed eyes. "You're not leaving until that statue is as clean as a whistle."

"So what?" Naruto said, snapping over his shoulder. He glared into Statue Yugi's sightless eyes as he rubbed at them. "Not like anyone back at the orphanage is going to wait up for me."

Unnoticed by Naruto, Iruka's eyes softened. He watched Naruto's face as he worked. Iruka sighed. "Hey, Naruto."

"What?"

"Er, after this...Well, how about…" Naruto glanced over his shoulder, brows furrowed. Iruka looked away, scratching his cheek. "I'll treat you to a bowl of ramen." Iruka finally looked back, and he blinked at the excited look now on Naruto's face.

"Alright! Talk about motivation!" Naruto went at his cleaning like a man possessed. "I'll make this guy shine."

Iruka stifled a laugh, shaking his head and pulling out some papers. He might as well do some marking while he waited.

Iruka took Naruto to a cheap ramen stand in the shopping district. Naruto didn't seem to mind as he shovelled ramen down his gullet. Iruka watched him, chewing with a thoughtful look. "Hey, Naruto?"

"Hm?" Naruto looked back, a noodle hanging from his lips.

"Of all the things you could have done, why'd you choose to deface that statue? You know who Muto Yugi is, right?"

Naruto slurped the noodle in and swallowed. "'Course I do. He's the King of Duelists, the Duel King. He's the best Duel Monsters player in the world, and he's one of the main reasons it's gotten so popular. He's a super celebrity."

"Ok then...why?"

"Because one of these days, they're going to be calling me the Duel King!" Naruto pointed his chopsticks at Iruka, a determined grin taking up half his face. "I'm going to surpass him and every other duelist out there! And when that day comes, everyone will have to give me respect!"

Iruka blinked, chewing on some noodles with raised brows. He swallowed. "I didn't know you played Duel Monsters, Naruto."

Naruto reached into his pocket and pulled out a Duel Monsters deck, holding it up with pride. "Heck yeah. I spent years saving up pocket money to get this deck. It's awesome!"

"I'll take your word for it," Iruka said, holding up a hand. "I'm not a duelist myself, so I wouldn't really know." Naruto shrugged and put his deck away, going back to his noodles. Iruka watched him for a minute. "Say, Naruto, what plans do you have for high school?"

Naruto swallowed, and looked away. "Well...I wasn't really planning on anything…"

Iruka frowned. While it was an option to opt out of high school, he wasn't sure he wanted to see it happen while he could prevent it. The beginnings of a thought transformed into an idea. "You know, if you want to be the Duel King one day, then going to a dueling school for high school might be an idea."

Naruto looked up, eyes wide. "Wait, there's schools for Duel Monsters?"

Iruka nodded, pulling out his phone and typing on it. "Yeah, and there's one that stands out above the rest. Here, take a look."

Naruto took Iruka's phone and looked at it. "Duel Academia…" he whispered, eyes roving over the screen.

"It's a boarding school located on an island a few hours off the coast of Domino City. If I recall correctly, the entrance exam is going to be soon," Iruka said, watching Naruto take it all in. "You need to pass a written test, and a practical exam, which involves a duel. Lots of kids from Domino Middle apply there, hoping to follow in Yugi's footsteps." He held his hand out, and Naruto gave him his phone back. "The biggest draw to the school is that the top three students of each graduating class get a special commendation, and the number one student even gets a chance to enter straight into the Pro Duelist scene."

Naruto stared into his broth, his murky reflection staring back at him.

Iruka finished his ramen with one last slurp. He put some money on the counter, and patted Naruto on the shoulder. "Think about it," he said, leaving the stand. He gave Naruto one last glance before walking away.

"Why do you care?"

Iruka stopped. He looked over his shoulder. Naruto was still staring into his bowl, and if not for his tense posture, Iruka would have assumed he'd heard things. Iruka sighed and scratched his nose. "Well, I guess I've just seen enough kids lost to the system, even when I was getting out of it myself, to let it happen in front of me while I'm in a position to help."

Naruto finally looked at him, eyes wide. Iruka smiled, nodded, and carried on his way.

And if Naruto's eyes were a little too bright and damp, then neither made mention of it.

It's the ending that I feel takes away from what I'm going for with the new story. I want Naruto to be an attention seeker, but in canon, once Naruto has Iruka on his side that part of him is lessened considerably. So, I felt this deleted scene would take away from parts of chapter one that I liked more.

I hope people are looking forward to the new story. I am, it's letting me try things with a GX fic that I've not done since Get Your Game On, only with even more freedom of creative choice.

Ciao!