His heart raced as he surged through the sky.
Then the world seemed to rip like fabric, and Kaguya fled into the gaping abyss that followed.
"Sasuke!" Naruto called for the Uchiha male to follow as he chased after the ashen Otsutsuki.
He wasn't planning on letting her get away, not after everything that they went through.
Naruto chased after the Otsutsuki until they were racing amongst the clouds. Although the massive billows of white around him compromised his vision, he could sense that Sasuke was flying somewhere in front of him in his big purple Susanoo.
Then, from out of nowhere, a roar resounded through the air. In an instant, Naruto found his body frozen, as if bound by billions of metal threads. His chakra destabilized.
Was this yet another trick of Kaguya?
Sasuke's scream came next. But Naruto was too far away to see what happened.
After a bit of struggle, he managed to force his body ahead. He caught up to Kaguya just in time to see what appeared to be a wad of scattered paper drop to the gallows down below.
"I scattered his soul. " Kaguya explained casually.
Naruto's eyes widened. W-what. She scattered Sasuke's soul?
He couldn't quite comprehend the meaning of those words at that moment.
"Sasuke Uchiha is dead."
That explanation was something that even he could understand. The moment those words hit the air, Naruto felt something within him sink. His fist clenched tightly beside him. An anguished cry left his body as he rushed towards Kaguya.
He raised his fist and threw it at Kaguya's face. Perhaps that was what the Otsutsuki was after all along— for him to lose his cool.
She blocked his fist casually with her hand, but from the way that she wheezed, Naruto could tell that even someone like Kaguya had reached her limits.
At that moment, the sky seemed to have been covered in an inky blanket, and hundreds of disjointed eyes peeked at him from within the darkness.
Naruto grunted as a strange rune crawled up his arm and constricted his body.
Yet, eclipsing all of his worries, was the instinctual fear that he appeared to now be in the presence of an incomprehensible deity.
The blonde Uzumaki gulped nervously. His eyes swam wildly around him, fully taking in each and every pair of unblinking eyes that stared him down.
In front of him, Kaguya's smirked. At that moment, his rage returned and his fears were pushed to the side.
Naruto willed his free arm to move, and pushed Kaguya in the face with all of his might.
She must have not been expecting it as she was sent plummeting down the same gallows that the scattered remains of Sasuke had drifted off to.
Yet, at that moment, Naruto's power gave out, his vision blurred and he too descended after the fallen Otsutsuki.
As his body descended, he fell past a swarm of flying dragons, a group of flying witches, a flock of avian beast.
Just what is this world?
His consciousness left him soon after.
He awoke to a world vastly different than the one that he had been in previously. A world with four-wheeled metal carriages that people called "cars." A world of tall buildings that had large plastered on its surface. A world that seemed dominated by a game called Duel Monsters.
It didn't take him long to figure out that he was no longer in a world of ninjas. No longer in the desolate wasteland where the Fourth Great Ninja War took place.
And no longer in the world with flying dragons, and soaring witches.
He stumbled out on the streets, his head was dizzy and disoriented. More worryingly, he could no longer hear the voice of Kurama.
"Watch out!"
Naruto heard someone call out to him. The blonde tilted his head just in time to see a car speeding towards him. He reached a hand outward to block it, and was shocked when he was hit and launched 30 feet up in the air.
As he rolled back onto his feet, with everything hurting way more than he expected it to, he realized something daunting—he was having trouble molding his chakra.
"Woah! Are you ok?" One of the bystanders asked him as he rushed to his side.
The driver of the car, however, seemed to be more furious than sympathetic, and called Naruto a dumbass before speeding away.
"You're not supposed to cross the street when the light is red." The bystander informed him as he pointed at the triad of lights fixed upon a metal pole on the opposite side of the street.
"Oh. Thanks for letting me know." Naruto responded before he staggered off. His head was still so dizzy.
A familiar voice slid into his head as he walked past a park later that evening.
That voice sounded like a certain Uchiha.
Naruto looked wildly around him. "Sasuke? Where are you?"
『I'm in the trash can...』
In the trash can?
Naruto tipped over the nearest trash can and rummaged through the content. Boxes of cigarettes, cans of soda, bags of animal poop, half-eaten cones of ice cream, and then …. A discarded deck of cards...
"Sasuke?" He asked, puzzled. "I don't see you anywhere."
『...I'm the deck of cards.』
Naruto tilted his head to the side, like a confused puppy. "Are you pulling a trick on me?"
『No. Idiot! Do I seem like the type to joke about things like that?』
There was no rebuttal on Naruto's part. Sasuke had always been dead serious about everything.
Naruto gathered the pieces of cards into his hands and fanned it through to look at the content. They depicted images of knights, birds, and dragons.
These seemed to be the Duel Monster cards that were heavily advertised on the big television screens on those tall buildings.
"How did you end up like this?" Naruto asked.
『Don't bother asking questions that I can't answer.』 The voice came from the cards. 『When I regained consciousness, I was already in the trash can.』
Naruto could only hypothesize that when Kaguya supposedly scattered Sasuke's soul, it fell into this realm and somehow managed to find a home within these papers. Almost like a strange form of reincarnation.
But if both Sasuke and Naruto wound up in the same place, then it was possible that Kaguya was in this world as well.
『That is likely.』 Sasuke agreed when he brought up that possibility. 『But for now that's beyond our control』
Naruto knew Sasuke wasn't lying—he hadn't been able to sense the Otsutsuki woman at all.
Naruto ended up taking up a job to sustain himself and rented out a cheap apartment in a dirtier part of the city.
It couldn't be helped. After all, he had no way of making it back home, and the people back home had no way of coming to him. As for Sasuke, he was a card-bound spirit whose voice only he could hear.
He failed in his mission.
The fate of the people back home was a dreadful unknown that constantly gnawed at the back of his mind.
The days that he spent living were ones filled with grief. He thought there was no hope in his future.
Then one day, while he was sorting through the inventory of a dingy warehouse, he saw a beam of light from a distance. Even though it was small, the chill that went through his body was unmistakable.
That presence, without a doubt, belonged to Kaguya. He would never forget it, that chilling chakra that reminded of frosty winter air.
Naruto's face brightened. For the first time in a while, he could almost see a light at the end of the tunnel.
Out of excitement, he dropped the metal can in his hand.
Naruto rushed onto the streets without saying anything to anyone. Behind him, his supervisor yelled at him angrily to get back to his job.
He eventually stopped by the edge of a harbor, huffing and puffing as he tried to catch his breath. His body had gotten a lot weaker since his encounter with Kaguya.
Though a tiny portion of his strength had returned since then, he was still no way as strong as he used to be.
"Hey." Naruto asked a nearby citizen and pointed his finger towards the endless expanse of blue in front of him. "Do you know what is up ahead?"
"Huh?" The passerby seemed to think for a bit. "I think Duel Academia is somewhere in that direction."
"Duel Academia?"
"You don't know what Duel Academia is?"
"No." Naruto shook his head. "Can you tell me?"
"Hah!" The stranger laughed and walked off. "Why don't you look it up yourself, idiot!"
Naruto stared blankly, dumbfounded by the man's rudeness. What an douche...
He ended up looking it up on the Internet just like the man told him to. Apparently, Duel Academia was one of the leading academies in training aspiring professional duelists.
Naruto's eyes landed on the pile of cards that Sasuke had been reduced to. He picked a piece up and examined it closer, he'd never thought that something like this would be so important in this world.
"I think it is time that we pay the island a visit." Naruto said as he stood from his seat.
『You got a plan?』
"Yup!" Naruto shouted as he lifted the deck of cards up in the air. "And you're going to help me do it!"
『...Put me down, now.』
Naruto did as he was told. "I'm going to infiltrate the Academy and then investigate the source of the energy."
『And how do you plan on doing that?』
"Well, the island is too far for me to walk to...and I doubt that I will be able to roam around on that island without being spotted and kicked out for trespassing."
He decided to not mention being concerned about the weapons that the people of this strange world liked to carry around.
"In order to investigate thoroughly, I will have to be accepted as a student for sure!" Naruto clenched his fist with renewed resolve.
Somehow he had a feeling that if he bumped into Kaguya again, he would be able to force her into giving him an answer for how to fix the mess that she made.
Naruto quickly read over the enrollment information on the Duel Academy website. The next deadline to get in the academy appeared to be roughly a week from now, which gave him a week's time to get good enough at the game to be accepted.
It just happened that there was a popular card shop just down the streets of his apartment.
"Tomorrow, our training begins, Sasuke!"
『….』
Something told him that Sasuke was a lot less enthused about it.
As Naruto lost his fifth duel in a row, he realized that the Duel Monster game was a lot more complicated than he imagined.
Unlike what he thought originally, simply relying on monster attack points wasn't going to be enough.
To win, he needed to perfectly mingle monster effects as well as Spell and Trap card support.
The blonde munched on his bread as he familiarized himself with the birds, dragons, and knights that Sasuke had turned into.
When the bread crumbs fell onto the cards, he could hear Sasuke hiss in annoyance.
"Sorry. Sorry." Naruto apologized as he wiped the crumbs off. Yet, despite his frequent losses, he felt like he was starting to get a steady grasp of the deck's strategy.
"Hehe…"
Naruto could hear a woman chuckle. He lifted his head up from his cards and caught sight of the blonde in front of him. Even Naruto could tell that this woman was very pretty.
"You wouldn't mind if I join you for a game, would you?" The woman asked as she took a seat.
"Not at all!" Naruto smiled. "Have a seat."
Apparently the woman had a terrible day and was looking to unwind with some dueling, but all the other tables were too busy.
It didn't matter to Naruto why the woman decided to challenge him. All he cared about was another chance to see if he truly learned something from his past hour of failure.
They drew their opening hands at the same time and started their duel.
….
…
…
...
...
The strange woman's eyes shone with a strange, mischievous glint. "Well, now that your field is completely empty, I will attack you directly with Harpie Lady Sisters."
"AGGGH!" Naruto yelled in frustration as his Life Point counter dropped to zero again.
He buried his head into the table and screamed in frustration. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't win.
It was so frustrating that he wanted to rip his hair out.
"I can't keep losing like this…." He groaned against the table wood. "…I need to get stronger..."
"If you want to get stronger then I can help you."
Naruto's head perked up, surprised by the generous offer from the woman who just defeated him. In response, the woman simply smiled, looking more pretty than before.
"Would you mind if I take a look at your Deck?"
"Huh. Yeah, sure." Naruto handed his deck over. As he did so, he could hear Sasuke cursing him from the depths of the haunted cardboards.
"Hmmmmm….." The blonde woman mused as she fanned the cards out between her hands. "This is not a bad deck. It seems that you just lack an understanding of the game. But that can be easily fixed."
"Oh really?" Naruto was happy to hear that. For a second there, he had given up completely.
"Well, it could be fixed at least, if you had my help." The woman amended her statement. "But let me warn you, I will be expecting a fee for my time."
A fee?! Naruto's face slacked a little from disappointment. It turned out no one in this world was truly kind.
The woman laughed at his strange expression. "Here is my business card." She slid a white card over as she got up to leave. "Give me a call if you want to. The name is Mai Valentine."
With that, the woman left, leaving Naruto alone to ponder over his options.
The next day, Naruto ended up right in front of the woman's doorstep. With a sigh, he swallowed his pride, tightened his grip around his wallet and knocked to be let in.
The woman answered with a big bright smile as if she knew all along that he'd wound up here.
It wasn't like he had any other choices.
"Welcome in."
The woman stated as she stepped aside. Naruto followed her as she guided him to the living room.
They sat across each other on the sofa, where Naruto explained his intention of getting into Duel Academy.
"I'm afraid that you won't be able to enroll in Duel Academy."
"Huh?" Naruto almost leapt out of the sofa in shock. "Why not?"
"Well. For one thing, the examination that will take place a week from now is the practical exam. All applicants must have taken the written examination first. Secondly, the written exam took place over a month ago."
"No...it can't be…" Naruto felt his heart sink. "I have to get on that island."
Perhaps he should risk it and sneak on that island after all.
No.
Of course that was what he should do.
Being overly careful was never his style.
Did he foolishly allow his past failures to change him?
"...But I suppose I could help you get your foot in the door through a recommendation."
Naruto piqued up again. "You can?!"
"Yes." Mai gave a coy grin. "Don't you feel lucky that out of the billions of people in this world, it was I, the person with the right connections who decided to take you under their wings?"
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Naruto nodded his head furiously. "You're my savior!
"Though, of course. As payment for that favor, my hourly rate will be going up."
Naruto gulped nervously. Like he thought, this woman didn't seem to enjoy doing anything for free.
"I appreciate the help."
It looked like he just needed to cut back a little more on his living expenses now.
Suddenly, the door to the house opened. A deep baritone voice floated its way into the living room.
"Ms. Valentine, I brought over some cake."
A man with spiked green and blonde hair made his entrance into the living room. At first glance, Naruto could tell that the man was tall, and looked to be a casanova somewhere in his late teens or early twenties.
He dressed well, wearing a light pink dress shirt and stylish brown pants.
After a brief introduction, Naruto learned that the man's name was Kite Tenjo—a man who always seemed to have a perpetual scowl on his face.
A/N: I decided to have Mai Valentine as Naruto's mentor as he will be playing a predominantly Winged-Beast Deck. The one that I have in mind should capture both Naruto's personality as well as Sasuke's edginess. Lol