Hello all Storm here with another chapter! Yep it's a triple update with the original first chapter being broken down into three smaller ones. So this'll be picking up where first one left off, with Naruto arriving at You Show and meeting his future classmates. Also before we begin, I'm letting you all know that this story will be using Fem!Yuya, or Yuko as she'll be called here. If no one likes that, sorry but it's happening and you're free to not continue reading if you don't like it. Now with that out of the way. So, without further ado.
I own nothing
'So this is the You Show Duel School.' Naruto thought as he stood outside of the Duel School, seeing it certainly had a unique look to it.
Not being that big compared to what one would expect from a Duel School. It wasn't built on the ground, instead being up in the air while having an elevator going up into one part of the building and a spiral staircase going into another part. Which also had the You Show Duel School sign on it, along with what looked like a rock-climbing wall at the back of it and on the sides.
'It definitely stands out.' Thought Naruto before he went inside the elevator, going up.
Arriving in what he guessed was the administration's office, the whiskered blonde looked around for anyone he could talk.
"Hello! Is anyone here? I wanted to see about enrolling into You Show!" Naruto said before someone came rushing through a door, getting his attention.
With it being an adult man with tanned skin, dark blue eyes and spiky brown/orange hair. He was wearing a red/orange jumpsuit with a green trim and red fire design, a dark blue shirt with another fire design underneath and black and orange shoes that also had a fire design on them. He also had a white whistle around his neck.
"A new student?! You want to enroll into You Show?!" The man asked while running up to Naruto, making the Uzumaki lean back when it looked like fire appeared in the man's eyes.
"Uh…yeah. I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I was hoping to enroll. Are you a teacher here?" Naruto asked.
"Oh happy day! Two new prospective students wanting to enroll! I'm Skip Boyle, teacher and principal here at You Show! If you're here to enroll then you're in luck, we've just started a demonstration duel for another potential student. We can go to the Duel Arena right now if you're interested in seeing it, or would you want to tour the school first?" Said Skip, overjoyed that they were getting two potential students enrolling today.
"A tour would be good, so I can get to see where everything is here." Replied Naruto while he'd like to see the duel and who he'd guess would be his classmates dueling, he wanted to get a look around the school first.
"Right! Well I'm sure you can tell this is the administration's office, where new students start out to enroll and get signed up. Follow me and I'll show you the rest of the school." Said Skip, eager to show Naruto around the school.
With the Uzumaki following after the principal as they headed to the next room, seeing it was a classroom while also finding it wasn't that big.
"Here we have the classroom, where I'll be teaching you and your classmates everything you'll need to know about dueling and Action Duels." Skip said, with Naruto nodding at his words.
"Does that include teaching us about Xyz, Synchro and Fusion Summoning?" Questioned Naruto, curious if they'll also be taught the different summoning methods.
Though granted, he did have Fusion Monsters, Synchro Monsters and Xyz Monsters in his deck and knew how to summon them. But he was curious to learn more about them, especially since with everything he's heard, all three summoning methods were incredibly rare. Only being taught at one place.
The Leo Institute of Dueling, which was also located in Maiami City.
"Oh uh…well…th-those are…very advanced forms of dueling, which we will…learn about after finishing up with the basics. Since it wouldn't do to get ahead of yourselves in a duel without knowing all the rules and basic cards first." Skip said, not revealing the fact he didn't even know how to Xyz Summon, Synchro Summon or Fusion Summon since he didn't want Naruto to change his mind about enrolling if he knew.
"That makes sense." Naruto said, though he could tell Skip was lying but didn't call him out on it, figuring he just didn't want to reveal he didn't know about the summoning methods.
"Yes, of course! Now let's continue the tour with-" Said Skip, taking the chance to get back to the tour.
Only to be cut off as their attention to turn towards what sounded like an explosion, much to their worry and Skip's panic when he realized it came from the control room for the ARC System. Before Skip took off running to find out what happened, with Naruto following to make sure no one got hurt. With them soon running into a room where they saw a sparking and smoking computer system, along with a girl the same age as Naruto standing in front of it.
The girl had pale skin, blue eyes and dark pink midback-length hair, which she wears tied up in pigtails, clipped down by blue, spherical hair clips. Her hair also features two lighter pink bangs that fall to the side of her face. Her outfit consisted of a sleeveless light-blue and white shirt with a green musical note on the right collar, along with a pink tie, which she wears with a maroon skirt, dark stockings, and pink sneakers. As well as a bracelet on the wrist of her right arm.
"What's going on, Yuzu?!" Skip asked, seeing his daughter in front of the smoking system, wondering what could've happen to damage the ARC System.
"Oh, I just had a wee mishap…" Yuzu trailed off, not mentioning how she slammed her fists down on the keyboard after getting frustrated with Yuko for not taking her duel against Gong seriously.
Especially with how the duel was also meant to be a demonstration for a potential new student.
"I told you to treat this equipment with TLC! Our Duel School depends on this ARC System!" Said Skip, panicking as he ran up while hoping to try and salvage the system, that the damage wasn't too bad or could be repaired.
Only for his worry to grow as he looked into the Duel Arena, seeing the Action Field began glitching out before completely vanishing.
"Ouch…" Someone muttered in the Duel Arena, with Naruto looking to see who was dueling.
The first duelist, Naruto wasn't sure if they were an adult or just a really big teenager, being incredibly tall and very stocky. With him having fair skin, a fairly rounded faces with his nose being a more red color, dark-colored eyes and black hair styled in a pompadour held back by a red sash. With him wearing a white uniform-style outfit with gold trimming, a red vest over his white coat and what looked like metal sandals.
And the second duelist was a fourteen-year-old girl with pale skin, crimson red eyes, long dual-colored hair that green on top and red underneath with a few strands sticking out an ahoge on top of her head. She was wearing a pendant on a simple string around her neck, a buckled choker, and a pair of golden goggles with orange lenses on his forehead with a blue star obscuring the right lens. With her outfit consisting of a simple orange t-shirt with a thick, silver-buckled brown belt over it, green pants with what appear to be pockets big enough to hold a deck on each leg, and magenta shoes, as well as crimson wristbands. She also wore a gold and red lined white jacket over her shoulders like a cape.
"Yuko… What do you have to say for yourself?!" Yuzu demanded, annoyed at her friends antics when she should've been focused on dueling.
Before sighing in annoyance when all Yuko did was then try to make a funny face, not even surprised at this point.
"Figures…" Yuzu muttered, knowing she should've expected that, before turning towards Naruto when she heard him laughing.
"I think she's got the right idea in trying to improvise." Said Naruto, figuring it's better than doing nothing when something goes wrong.
"Uh, who are you?" Questioned Yuzu, wondering who he is and what he's doing here.
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, I came here to enroll into You Show. Skip was just giving me a tour when we heard the explosion coming from here." Naruto replied, holding out his hand, while Yuzu now blushed in embarrassment that he was here to enroll.
"Oh uh…n-nice to meet you, I'm Yuzu Boyle, you can probably guess that Skip is my Tou-san. And uh…I'm really sorry for…all this, I swear it's normally like this around here!" Said Yuzu while shaking his hand, feeling embarrassed and worried that he had to arrive just to see Yuko goofing off and her breaking the ARC System.
Making the pinkette worried he'll change his mind about wanting to enroll in You Show, if he thought they weren't professional.
"Don't worry about it, accidents happen." Naruto said, waving it off, much to Yuzu's relief he wasn't changing his mind.
"Though…how bad is it?" Questioned Naruto, glancing over at Skip slumped over the busted Solid Vision System before turning back to Yuzu.
"Let's just hope it can be fixed. Since without the ARC System, then we may end up having to shut down the school." Yuzu replied, looking worried, knowing without the ARC System then there'd really be no hope at them attracting new students.
With Naruto now looking worried as well, not wanting the Duel School he planned to attend to be shut down before he even got the chance to sign the application form.
*Later*
"And this is the teacher's lounge, though with only my Tou-san here it's more of just a breakroom for students too." Yuzu said, leading Naruto into the breakroom, having offered to finish the tour for him while her father worked on trying to fix the ARC System.
Nodding as he looked around the room, seeing it was rather comfortable with couches and chairs. Until he saw a display case filled with trophies and awards.
"Whose are those? Is your Tou-san a Pro-Duelist?" Naruto asked, looking over all the trophies.
"Oh no, Tou-san isn't a Pro-Duelist. Those actually belong to the schools founder, Yūshō Sakaki." Said Yuzu, getting Naruto's attention at the name.
"Yūshō Sakaki…isn't he apparently the first Dueltainer?" Said Naruto, having read enough to know who Yūshō Sakaki was.
"Yeah, he is the first duelist to begin performing alongside his monsters during a duel, with it soon catching on. It helped when Action Duels became more widespread. He founded the You Show Duel School with Tou-san to help teach other duelists how to become Dueltainers and perform in Action Duels." Yuzu explained, making the Uzumaki smile slightly.
"Sounds pretty cool. And I take it you're a student here too, along with the two that were dueling?" Naruto said, with Yuzu nodding in response.
"I am a student here, along with Yuko, she's the girl with the green and red hair, and kept goofing off. But the boy, Gong, he's a friend that helps out here every now and then and goes with us to our regular school." Replied Yuzu as Naruto gave a nod at this.
"What about the rest of the students? Or is today like a day off for everyone?" Questioned Naruto, having noticed there wasn't anyone else here.
"Uh…well actually…there's only…two other students at You Show, two younger ones, Allie and Frederick. Aside from you, another boy showed up with his mom to see about enrolling, but after what happened…" Yuzu said, not liking admitting that there were only four students, hopefully five if Naruto still joins.
"Really?" Said Naruto, not expecting to hear there were only four students.
"Yeah, I know how it sounds. But well…most people are more interested in the Leo Institute." Said Yuzu, knowing how the Leo Institute offered a lot more classes on dueling than You Show.
Not to mention being much more high-end, making it a more appealing choice.
"I see… Well personally this place looks more fun, I wouldn't be interested in going to some fancy prep school that'd be filled with stuck-up duelists who think they're better than everyone." Naruto stated with a shrug, not knowing much about the Leo Institute but he knew enough to know that he wouldn't like being there at all.
While Yuzu looked at him in surprise at his words, before smiling that he really preferred You Show over the Leo Institute.
"Well, I'm glad to hear that and I'm sure everyone else will be too." Yuzu said, knowing that's the kind of students they needed, ones who wouldn't be swayed if they're given a better offer.
"So, what about you, Yuzu?" Naruto asked, looking at her curiously, getting a raised brow from the pinkette.
"What about me?" Questioned Yuzu, wondering what he meant.
"I figured since we're, hopefully, going to be classmates. Then we should get to know each other better." Naruto said while shrugging since if they can make sure to get the Solid Vision System fixed, then they'll be classmates.
"Oh yeah, that makes sense. Well, there's not much to say, I was raised by Tou-san my entire life, me and Yuko have been friends since we were little and we both entered You Show together when it was opened. I also make sure she doesn't do anything too crazy, along with trying to make sure she stays focused during a duel." Yuzu summarized with a shrug.
"Does it ever work?" Questioned Naruto, causing Yuzu's eye to start twitching in annoyance.
"…No..." Muttered Yuzu, knowing that no matter what she does, Yuko is always more focused on messing around and putting on a show over actually focusing on dueling.
"What about you, Naruto? What're you like?" Yuzu asked while looking at him, interested to learn more about her, hopefully, future classmate.
"I'm from a really remote village, really old-fashioned and traditional, no super advanced technology beyond street lights, security cameras, radios and other basic stuff. In fact, no one had even heard about dueling there. I only learned about it a year ago after leaving to travel around, where I ended up in Egypt. Wandering the desert, where someone helped me get back to the city." Replied Naruto, much to Yuzu's surprise.
"Really? That's…pretty surprising that there's someplace that hasn't heard about dueling, but if it's old-fashioned then I guess it makes sense. And you just left at, what, thirteen-years-old? Wouldn't your family be worried about you?" Said Yuzu, guessing he must be the same age as her, making her even more surprised he'd leave his home at such a young age by himself.
"I'm an orphan, so…no one to really worry about where I am." Naruto said, causing the pinkette to wince.
"Oh…uh…I'm really sorry to hear that." Yuzu said, figuring that should've at least been obvious with how he left at such a young age and came to enroll himself in You Show.
"Don't worry about it, I never even knew my parents, so yeah it sucks. But…you can't really be upset about people you never met or even know what they look like. Besides, I didn't have…the best childhood growing up, so it was honestly a relief to leave. Getting the chance to see more of the world and learn about dueling." Said Naruto, knowing it's hard being upset when he knew next to nothing of who his parents are.
Leaving him to either wallow in self-pity and sadness or try and move on to make things better for himself.
"Still…I'm sorry you had to go through everything alone… I never knew my mom, it's always just been me and Tou-san. I don't know who she is, what she looked like, not even a name." Yuzu said while frowning, having used to want to know why she never had a mother or knew anything about her, but whenever she tried asking her father he always changed the subject.
"Yeah…it's not easy. But even if we just met, I think your Tou-san did a pretty good job on his own." Naruto said while smiling at the pinkette, which she returned.
"Yeah, he might be pretty goofy and dramatic a lot of the time, but he's still the best Tou-san I could ask for." Said Yuzu since even if her father's behavior could drive her crazy sometimes, she still loves him.
"Hey Yuzu! There you are!"
Hearing the voice, Naruto and Yuzu looked to see Yuko and Gong entering the room. Having gone searching for her after their duel ended and tried helping Skip with the ARC System.
"Where'd you run off to, like that? And who's this?" Yuko asked while looking between Yuzu and Naruto curiously.
"I was showing a new potential student around, provided the school stays open if we can get the ARC System working. This is Naruto Uzumaki." Yuzu introduced, surprising Yuko and Gong before the dual-haired girl grinned.
"A new student?! Awesome! I'm the future Dueltainer Extraordinaire, Yuko Sakaki, nice to meet you!" Said Yuko, doing a small pose before holding out her hand, making the whiskered blonde chuckle for a moment before shaking her hand.
"Nice to meet you Yuko, and you too Gong. Yuzu told me a little about you both after giving me the tour." Naruto said shaking Gong's hand next.
"Nice to meet you as well. The name is Gongenzaka Noboru, though my friends just call me Gong, practitioner of the Steadfast Dueling Style." Gong said while crossing his arms with a nod.
"Steadfast Dueling Style?" Questioned Naruto while blinking in confusion.
"It's the Action Duel Style that his family's Dojo specializes in. Where he stays completely still in a duel, never moving from his spot, even to pick up an Action Card during an Action Duel." Yuzu replied, getting a nod from the Uzumaki.
"Gong doesn't waste time with any Action Cards. They'll just mess up Gong's entire strategy." Stated Gong, knowing Action Cards would mess up his entire deck.
"Even though it's half the fun not knowing what you'll get." Yuko said, folding her hands behind her head, but couldn't deny it worked for Gong to not use Action Cards.
"Well everyone's got their own style of dueling I suppose. I hope I'll be able to see what you three can do in a duel." Said Naruto, interested in the chance to duel against Yuko, Yuzu and Gong.
"Definitely! We'll put on the performance of a lifetime!" Yuko said, liking the chance to duel Naruto and see what kind of deck he uses.
"Yeah, that sounds fun." Said Yuzu while smiling, also interested to see Naruto's deck.
"Gong will take on any challenge, any time, any place you want to challenge Gong." Gong stated, willing to duel Naruto whenever he's ready.
Before any of them could say anything else, Skip walked into the room slumped forward as he slowly dragged himself over to a chair and fell into it.
"Uh…Tou-san, did yo-" Yuzu asked, worried about his behavior and what it could mean.
"Our Duel School is going down the tubes! We can't teach Action Dueling without our ARC System! Soon all our You Show students will turn into no-shows!" Skip cried out while holding his head, having been unable to salvage the ARC System.
"What? Aww man, and I had been about to get to my most Dueltaining moves when the system went down." Groaned Yuko, having been ready to really put on a show before the system went down.
"Your Dueltaining is the reason the system went down!" Yuzu said in annoyance that she's missing the point.
"Wha?! No way, I didn't do anything! You're the one that kept yelling and distracting me from the duel!" Said Yuko, wondering how it's her fault.
"You were barely dueling at all! It was only the fourth turn and you were focused more on putting on a dancing show!" Retorted Yuzu, having been trying to get Yuko to focus more on the duel than a performance.
"But that's what Action Dueling is all about! Putting on a show for the audience! Maybe if you cared about that, then you wouldn't have gotten so angry and broke the system!" Yuko huffed, only to yelp when Yuzu began smacking her with her paper fan.
"I care about making sure we get new students to keep the school open! Maybe if you took things more seriously, I wouldn't be annoyed so much and then you wouldn't have made me break the system!" Said Yuzu while moving smacking her friend in annoyance, only for the dual-haired girl to quickly jump away from the attack before crashing into Gong.
"Is that you, Gong? Or did someone just put a boulder in here?" Yuko asked, rubbing her face, while the large teen gave her an unamused look.
"Why do you have to turn everything into a joke, Yuko?" Questioned Gong, wondering why is it that no matter the situation, Yuko always found a way to turn it into a joke or excuse to try putting on a show.
"Well…there's nothing wrong with giving the fans a good laugh." Stated Yuko, waving her hand with a lighthearted smile.
"When fans watch your duels they're not laughing with you, they're all laughing at you!" Gong retorted, with Yuko unable to stop herself from wincing a little.
Something Naruto noticed as he looked at Yuko more closely, as he was starting to get a familiar feeling from her.
'Something seems…off about her, something familiar too.' Thought Naruto, watching Yuko while glancing at Yuzu and Gong as well, feeling like he's seen something like this before.
"When your dad was on the field, he had all the fans smiling. He made Dueltaining entertaining. Your duels are usually just embarrassing!" Said Gong, wanting to get it through Yuko's head that if she really wanted to be a Dueltainer that made fans smile and laugh, then she needed to actually try winning duels too.
"Well, if you ask me, my Tou-san's last duel was pretty embarrassing, too!" Yuko said while still smiling, despite what had happened during her father's last duel.
"Yuko!" Yuzu and Gong exclaimed at the same time, not believing she really said that.
"Hehe, relax!" Said Yuko, not seeing what the big deal was.
"Afternoon, all!" Someone said, getting everyone's attention when they saw someone enter the room.
Seeing a skinny man with rather pasty skin, black hair with combed to the side and two bangs framing his face that pointed upwards, a black mustache and beady black eyes behind a pair of pink-rimmed glasses with orange lenses. With him wearing a black and yellow striped suit, a pink shirt underneath with a high ruffled collar, a large red bowtie and two rings on both his hands on index and middle fingers. Along with a wide grin on his face.
"I do hope I'm not intruding!" Said the stranger while rubbing his hands together.
"Who are you?" Questioned Skip, wondering who this was and why they were here.
"I'm Nico Smiley, dueling manager and promoter. Currently I represent the reigning Action Duel Champion, Strong Ishijima or, as I'm sure you all known him, The Sledgehammer." Nice introduced, shocking everyone, aside from Naruto who hadn't heard of The Sledgehammer.
Instead he noticed how Yuko seemed to tense at The Sledgehammer's name, making him even more curious and the feeling he had continued to grow.
"Huh?! The Sledgehammer?!" Said Yuko while trying to stop herself from freaking out at the guy who took her father's title, after he failed to show up for their duel.
"The very same! You see, The Sledgehammer is hosting a fan appreciation day at the Leo Institute and as part of the festivities he's issuing a one-on-one dueling challenge to Yuko." Revealed Nico, which only made Yuko tense further.
"You're inviting me…to duel The Sledgehammer?" Yuko asked while gripping her knees tightly at the idea of dueling The Sledgehammer.
"Well, I'm not inviting you to duel his grandma! Seriously, though, it's your chance make up for your father's disappearing act. You remember what happened, don't you?" Nico asked, with Yuko sitting frozen since she could never forget that day.
"What're you even talking about? What does Yuko have to make up for against this Hammer guy?" Naruto asked while frowning, seeing the affect this was having on Yuko and didn't like it.
"Oh my, I didn't think there was anyone who didn't know what happened. Well, my dear boy, it happened three years ago when The Sledgehammer challenged Yūshō Sakaki to an Action Duel Championship title match. Hundreds of fans had all shown up to watch Yūshō defend his title or see a new king be crowned. Everyone waited for over an hour, but Yūshō never showed up. Much to everyone's anger as they believed Yūshō was too scared to face The Sledgehammer and was labeled a coward as a result. Except brave little Yuko here, she didn't believe her father was scared and even offered to duel The Sledgehammer in his place." Explained Nico with Naruto's frown growing as he looked at Yuko, only to see her head lowered.
With the Uzumaki now realizing just why he got a familiar feeling from Yuko with the way she acted, along with seeing the way Yuzu and Gong chewed her out for how carefree she was acting.
'She's like me.' Thought Naruto in realization that Yuko was wearing a mask, hiding what she was truly feeling.
Doubting it couldn't have been easy for everyone to believe her father was a coward that ran away from a duel, which likely didn't reflect any better on her either. But instead she hid how it made her feel, how it all affected her, instead putting on the mask of a joker and performer.
"And now you're finally old enough to get your wish! We'll publicize it as the duel of a decade! The daughter of Yūshō Sakaki tries to clear up her father's name!" Said Nico while turning back to Yuko, with the girl gulping at just the idea.
"Forget it!" Skip said before Yuko could even think of a response.
"I will never let Yuko take part in this match!" Said Skip, refusing to put Yuko up on stage to duel a seasoned pro that everyone thought her father was scared of.
He might not know why exactly Yūshō never showed up or even where he's been the past three years. But if there's one thing Skip knew about his friend, it's that he's no coward. And there's no way he's going to have Yuko be used as some spectacle.
"Why not? It's what all the fans want to see, plus it'll mean tons of free publicity for your dueling school. Not to mention Yūshō's fans would love it for his daughter to show up and redeem him." Said Nico, wondering why he'd want to pass on such an opportunity.
"I won't let Yuko be humiliated by you making her into your show pony!" Skip retorted, making Yuko look at him in disbelief, that he believed she'd only be humiliated.
"The girl's suffered enough since her father disappeared. Now get out of here, Nico!" Said Skip, wanting Nico out of his school.
"Oh hey, I understand, Boyle! It's a real shame though, cause if you had agreed the Leo Corp would've donated the newest Augmented Reality Combat System to your dueling school for no charge. As in free." Said Nico, knowing he now had them with such an offer.
'He certainly changed his mind quickly.' Naruto thought sweatdropping when Skip immediately agreed only to be smacked by his daughter's paper fan as Yuzu proceeded to chew him out, but supposed it was understandable, without an ARC System then You Show would end up shutting down.
Thought Naruto glanced at Yuko when she quickly and quietly slipped away as everyone was talking, seeing her run out the door before he followed after her.
*Later*
Sitting on the railing of a bridge, Yuko looked at her pendant as she swung it in front of her, watching it swing back and forth like a pendulum. Her mind racing at the offer Nico gave her, the chance to duel The Sledgehammer. Something she'd been more than willing to do three years ago, but it had been in the heat of the moment when everyone thought her father was a coward that ran away. But now, realistically, Yuko knew her chances of winning against The Sledgehammer were slim to none. That the only thing she would succeed in doing is failing while also proving everyone who believed Yūshō was a coward that ran away right.
Yet if she does duel then her school will get a new ARC System, ensuring that it can stay open. Though if she ends up losing, then what are the chances anyone would be interested in enrolling at all?
'What do I do?' Thought Yuko, having no idea what she's supposed to do.
"Mind if I join you?" Naruto asked, snapping Yuko out of her thoughts as she looked at him in surprise.
"Naruto? What're you doing here?" Questioned Yuko, pulling her goggles up, wondering how he found her.
"I followed you, sorry for that. But I figured you wouldn't want to be alone right now, not with what happened and the memories it no doubt brought up." Said Naruto, with the dual-haired girl looking down, unsure what to say or do.
"…The others can't see it, because they don't understand what you're feeling…but I do." Naruto said as he leaned against the railing beside her, making her look at him.
"What're you talking about?" Yuko asked, not sure what he meant.
"How you've been pretending, hiding how you really feel about what happened three years ago behind a mask." Said Naruto, causing Yuko to freeze for a moment until he continued.
"I know because I've done the same thing for most of my life. I'm an orphan, I've been one for my entire life, I never knew who my parents were. What they looked like, not even their names, or anything about what happened to them. And…because of something I had no control over, the majority of the people in the village where I grew up…they didn't like me, they hated me in fact. I didn't even know why they hated me until around two years ago. But before that, I was left wondering why they hated me, why they even went out of their way to treat me like I didn't exist." Naruto explained with a frown, while Yuko looked at him with wide eyes.
"So, I started acting out, putting on the mask of the village idiot by pulling pranks, being loud and obnoxious, as well as overall a nuisance to everyone. Since even if they looked at me with disdain, annoyance and hatred…at least they were acknowledging I existed." Said Naruto while thinking back on all the pranks he pulled to get attention.
*Flashback*
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You losers will never catch me!" An eight-year-old Naruto laughed as he ran down a street holding a paintbrush and can of paint, while a group of villagers were chasing after him.
"You little shit!"
"Damn brat!"
"Get back here and clean up this mess!"
"Nothing but a no-good troublemaker!"
"You're gonna pay for this boy!"
"You're all just jealous you didn't think of it first!" Taunted Naruto as he kept running before turning and swinging the paint can splashing paint all over his pursuers, temporarily blinding them for a moment.
This being all Naruto needed to make his escape, grinning the entire time at the prank he pulled. How angry everyone was after seeing all the paintings covering the shops and homes.
But as he ran, the adrenaline and dopamine he felt from his actions began wearing off before vanishing completely as the whiskered blonde came to a stop. Looking around when he noticed several children being tended to by their parents and older siblings. Watching as some parents comforted their kids if they were scratched or bruised, bought them food, along with older siblings playing with them, sharing snacks together.
Feeling like no matter where he looked he saw the same thing, all kids his age smiling and having fun with their families. With Naruto's smile fading away as he frowned sadly at the sight, at something he never had, that he'll never have.
"Look it's that kid."
"He's nothing but trouble."
"Just stay away from him, he's dangerous."
"Don't go near that boy."
"Ignore him."
"Just don't pay attention to him."
"Avoid him, he's no one important."
Dropping the paint and brush, Naruto looked around as he felt like everyone around him was disappearing until all he saw was a wall of people. All with their backs turned to him, not even so much as giving him a glance, acting like he wasn't even there, like he didn't exist.
Looking down, Naruto sniffled before wiping his eyes as he began grinning and laughing with a smile that didn't really reach his eyes.
"Yeah, well all of you just wait and see. One day, I'm gonna become Hokage and then you'll have no choice but to acknowledge that I exist!" Naruto exclaimed as he pointed to himself while continuing his boisterous laughter, before running back to his apartment when he felt his mask starting to slip.
Refusing to cry in front of the villagers and give them the satisfaction of seeing how much their isolation is actually affecting him.
*End Flashback*
Frowning, Naruto's grip on the railing began tightening the more he remembered the loneliness and isolation he experienced his entire childhood, until soon the railing broke beneath his grip. While Yuko looked at him with wide eyes before looking down, realizing he was telling the truth. That he did understand what it was like.
With Mana and Mahad both looking at their duelist sadly, having seen for themselves in his memories what he had gone through. Before the female Duel Spirit moved to try and comfort him only for her master to put a hand on her shoulder, shaking his head at her. Knowing now wasn't the time for them to do anything, not yet, right now Naruto is trying to help Yuko.
"I know it's not the same thing, but I can imagine what it must be like being the daughter of a disgraced champion. But could I at least give you some advice." Naruto said, getting Yuko's attention again as she looked at him curiously.
"If you accept the challenge, don't duel to redeem your father or anything like that. Duel because it's what you want to do. To show everyone that you're not just Yūshō Sakaki's daughter but you're Yuko Sakaki. That the only person that can define who you are is yourself, that only your own actions matter. And if people keep trying to knock you down, then get back up and prove them wrong for ever doubting you. Just believe in yourself and put your heart in your deck, and there's nothing you can't do. And as long as you have fun then that's what matters?" Said Naruto, causing Yuko's eyes to widen for a moment at his words.
Remembering something her father had told her once before when she was younger.
"Take your Tou-san's advice, Yuko. Try to laugh when you feel like crying. And when things get tough, respond with a smile, it will give you the strength to keep moving forward! It's kinda like a pendulum. If the pendulum swings one way, you know it will swing the other way too, like in a duel!"
"A duel?"
"The key to dueling is to believe in your deck and yourself. When you're falling behind, you can always make things swing your way again. So don't worry about anything. Just try to enjoy the ride. Try to remember what I've told you, Yuko. It may help you, someday…"
Looking at her pendant swinging in front of her, thinking of her father's words and Naruto's own, Yuko felt a determination filling her up.
"Well, what're we waiting for?! It's time to swing into action!" Yuko declared, hopping off the railing and putting her necklace back on as she made her decision.
"Good. Then we better get going." Said Naruto, smiling before the two headed off towards the arena.
So, what did you think, good. Yep we see Naruto arriving at You Show where he meets Skip and gets a tour of the school, while a demonstration duel is going on for another potential student. But before they can finish the tour, they hear an explosion from the control room for the ARC System and run over to check it out, where Naruto meets Yuzu next and learn what's happened.
As we then go to Yuzu having picked up and finished giving Naruto a tour of the school, with them also getting to know each other a little better too. Before Yuko and Gong arrive introducing themselves, with Naruto being interested in dueling all three which they share. Until Skip arrives, revealing the ARC System is damaged beyond repair, much to their worry You Show could be shut down. Which also leads into Yuko and Yuzu trying to pass the blame for the system breaking, as Yuzu and Gong begin chewing her out, leading to Naruto also beginning to get a familiar feeling from Yuko.
Until Mr. Smiley arrives with his offer of Yuko to duel The Sledgehammer, something that sets her on edge while Naruto learns about what happened thre years ago. With him also realizing Yuko is only wearing the mask of a clown, hiding what she's really feeling as a result of her father's supposed cowardice, just like he did in Konoha.
Finally we see Naruto follow after Yuko when she slips away, sharing some of his past growing up in Konoha as an orphan and hated for something out of his control. Resulting in him playing the part of a fool and prankster as a means to get attention. Getting a flashback to one of his pranks showing how he hid what he truly felt at the reminder he's alone and isolated. With Naruto giving Yuko some encouraging words, reminding her of when Yūshō told her something similar. Leading to Yuko making her decision of what she'll do next. So, for those that like the story, thanks for your support. For those that don't or at least don't like the direction taken, you're more than welcomed to drop the story. But thanks for giving the story a chance anyway.
Storm out