Hey all, this is your friendly neighbourhood Malicious hero here, with a brand new story. Wow, feels like ages since I did that. Anyhow, a shout out to star eyes pendulum dragon, whose work is AWESOME can I just say. Without them, this fic would not exist, since I doubt that I would have thought of it. Hope you enjoy it!

Normal text/thoughts

Tailed beast text/thoughts

Duel Spirit text/thoughts

Yugioh Arc-V: Rise of the Red Dragon Emperor

Prologue

To say that Naruto Uzumaki was confused right now would be an understatement. He had just recently awoken to find himself in what appeared to be an endless white void, entirely empty for nought but himself.

"Where on earth am I?!" He uttered in slight disbelief as he continued to look around himself. It was then that he noticed, that although he felt like he was standing on something solid, the void continued on underneath him. That realisation gave him a slight sense of vertigo.

Kneeling down with eyes closed, he steadied his breathing and tried to figure out what had happened.

Ok, calm down. The last thing I remember was grabbing that insane rabbit chick, along with Sasuke, to complete the sealing jutsu. Next there was this strange pain in my gut, then nothing. That doesn't tell me where I am or why I'm here.

"Then perhaps you will allow me to explain."

Naruto's eyes snapped open and his head turned to the left so fast, it was a surprise he didn't get whiplash. Hovering a few feet away from him, with his legs crossed was an old man with reddish grey hair, with two bangs lifted upwards like horns. His eyes were showing and active Rinnegan, but on the centre of his forehead was a third eye socket containing an functioning Rinne-Sharingan. He was wearing a monks robe, and carried a shakujo staff in one hand, laying it across his lap.

He was a man long thought to be a myth to the shinobi world. A man Naruto knew all too well. His name was Hagoromo Otsutsuki; the Sage of Six paths.

"Old man sage,... what's going on? Where's Sasuke and the others?" He asked, concerned for his teammates.

Hagoromo let out a long sigh. "I'm afraid there's no easy way to put this..."

Naruto blinked in confusion. What was he talking about?

"..., you're dead."

Naruto blinked again, then raised a hand to his ears.

"I'm sorry, I think I misheard you. Did you just say that...?" He trailed off, unable to finish the question.

"That you're dead? Yes, I did." Was the solemn reply.

Naruto gave it a moment for that fact to sink in.

"How?" He asked quietly, not really sure how to process this fact.

Hagoromo raised an eyebrow at this reaction, having expected the knucklehead shinobi to break out in a fit of panic.

"It appears the reversion process is proceeding more quickly than I imagined. To answer your questions, just as you and Indra's successor completed the sealing jutsu to bind my mother Kaguya, she made one last attempt to hurt you. She skewered both you and Sasuke on a pair of all-killing ash bones. Your other friends are quite safe, given that the Infinite Tsyukomi is no longer in effect. Your sacrifices will never be forgotten."

Whilst this did explain how he died, which saddened the now former jinchuriki, the Sages first statement caught his attention.

"Reversion process?" He asked, now even more confused than he had been earlier. "What are you talking about?" His eyes narrowing, his look becoming a tad annoyed.

The sage merely looked at him with... a look of remorse.

"I do apologise for my actions, Menma, but you will understand what has happened soon enough."

Naruto's face lost that look near instantly. "Menma? That isn't my name." As soon as he said that though, he felt as if he had said something wrong, as if he had just lied to the Sage.

Hagoromo shook his head sadly. "Yes, it is. Or rather it was your original name."

Naruto was starting to get annoyed and angry. "Would you stop talking in riddles and tell me what you mean?" He grit out.

"To explain that," the sage replied, "I need to explain a bit more about the past of the shinobi world, and your true origins." Naruto raised any eyebrow, but nodded at him to continue.

"As you no doubt already know, my sons Indra and Ashura's fighting left several scars upon the world, more so when I chose Ashura to be my successor. Though looking back, I should have realised that both their ideals; that both power and love were needed for long lasting peace. As time went on, after their deaths, the shinobi clan era began. For a time, I hoped that people would eventually realise that fighting each other served no real purpose." He began, with Naruto listening intently, not wanting to miss anything.

"As you can imagine, I was later shocked to see that my sons chakra had transmigrated, into Hashirama Senju for Ashura, and Madara Uchiha for Indra." At the second last name, our blonde shinobi let out a small growl. He was not a fan of that man at all.

"I had hoped my sons would have stopped fighting with the creation of Konoha, but alas, my hopes were left quashed when Madara left the village, and the fighting resumed. I was left horrified by the damage their fight caused, despite it ending in Ashura's victory. Madara did not die as everyone thought however. It was then that a more troubling situation arose. Madara managed to find the Gedo Mazo, and then awakened the Rinnegan, at the manipulation of my mothers spawn, Black Zetsu."

Naruto was slowly beginning to lose patience with the sage.

"I already knew most of this already. What does all this have to do with me? Aside from me being Ashura's next transmigration."

The sage raised a hand to stop the blonde. "I'm getting too that. After Madara's death, I knew it was only a matter of time before my sons transmigrated again to finish their war with each other. And given how the jutsus of the shinobi would only get more and more dangerous as time went on... the possibility of the next incarnations destroying an entire country or even the world itself was not entirely unfounded. Knowing Indra's greed when it came to power, I knew that his next form would be even more focused on the power he obtained in the last few moments of his previous life. I knew I had to do something. I needed to give Ashura's next form a solid foundation, in order to possibly end my sons fight. But what was I to do? I could not interfere with a soul newly being brought into the world. I was stumped by the issue... until a solution finally presented itself."

"And what was that solution?" Naruto asked, feeling as if he wasn't going to like the answer.

"I stumbled across a young man, terribly injured inside the void between dimensions, where we are now. At first I attempted to heal him, but progress was slow, and his soul was fading. In order for him to survive, I had to remove the soul to keep it safe, until the body recovered. Once I had, I grew curious about who this man was and how he had gotten himself into this situation. So using his soul, I looked through the mans memories. After that, I did the most terrible thing I have ever done."

Naruto looked at him with narrowed eyes, still unsure where the sage was going with this.

"The man was practically everything I wanted Ashura's new form to be. So, in a moment of weakness, I bound Ashura's chakra to the soul, and sent it to be reincarnated in the shinobi world."

Naruto went pale, his eyes wide in disbelief at what he just heard. The disbelief then turned to anger.

"A-are you telling me, that you ripped me from a life I was already living, just to save the people of the shinobi world; just to give them a child of prophecy!?" He roared in righteous anger. Though part of him could understand Hagoromo's point of view, he was not pleased about him playing god with his life. He had liked his life as a Shinobi, but this new information made it leave a slight bitter taste in his mouth.

"To put it bluntly,... yes." The sage replied sadly. He looked at the blond in pity. He had often regretted that decision, but now he was determined to make up for it.

Naruto merely stared at the sage angrily, but forced himself to remain calm.

"What was my name? Where did I come from? You owe me those answers at least." He growled, his fists clenched so hard, he was surprised he had not yet drawn blood.

I'll give you more than that. The sage thought with a small smile.

"Your name was, or should I say is, Menma Atlas." The sage began, Naruto starting to calm down to pay attention. "You were born into a very different world to this one. Where shinobi use jutsu's to fight, the people of your world fought using a card game known as Duel Monsters."

As soon as those words were spoken, Naruto took a step back with a slight groan, placing a hand on his forehead as the mother of all headaches shot through him. As quickly as it began however, it ceased just as quickly.

"I-I remember it now. I remember my dad teaching me. I remember how enjoyable it was duelling with my friends." He whispered, slowly coming to accept the Sages words.

"In that case," the Sage remarked, smiling slightly, "you'll be needing this back. I looked after it for you." Slowly, he withdrew something from his robe sleeve. Naruto's eyes widened at the sight of a deck of cards, with the brown and dark brown vortex pattern on the back of each card.

"You kept my deck?" He asked, slightly incredulous.

"Of course. To my understanding, a duelists deck is his soul. I kept it in hopes of one day returning it to you, as penance for my sin. The spirits inside have waited a long time for you to return. That time is now. Take it."

Slowly, Naruto moved and reached forward to retrieve it. His hand was only a few inches away from the deck, when it suddenly flew out of Hagoromo's hand and into his own. As soon as he touched it, he felt a slight sense of warmth fill him. As if he had recovered something that was missing from his life. He felt whole again.

A small tear rolled down his whisker marked cheek, as he heard several joyful bugles and triumphant roars coming from the deck. Achingly, he flipped over the top card. The card showed a level 8 synchro monster. One he knew only too well.

"Red Dragon Archfiend..." he whispered, clutching the card to his chest. "I'm sorry it took so long to find you all again."

"It is not your fault, Master. You could not have predicted this occurring. We do not blame you." A deep reptilian voice echoed throughout the void. Naruto cried for a few moments as his dragon's words sunk in.

"Indeed. We blame this meddling old man." Another voice spoke up.

Naruto turned to see two semi-transparent men standing behind him. The man who spoke was a young brown haired man with a rather serious expression on his face. He was wearing a long sleeveless white coat, with a small silver KC attached to the collar. Under that was a black shirt and pants, with extra belts wrapped around his shins and his arms.

The other man was spiked blonde haired, around a similar age to the first. He was dressed mostly in white and grey, wearing a matching long coat, fingerless gloves and boots with dark blue pants. The top part of the jacket, from the middle of his chest to the collar was folded outward, showing a purple lining. Attached to his ears were monogram A earrings, with a similar emblem embedded on his belt buckle.

Naruto's eyes widened at the sight of the two men. Partially in disbelief, partially in happiness.

"Kaiba... Jack... you're here..." he said, utterly overwhelmed by seeing his spiritual teachers again.

"Where else would we be?" Jack said with a small laugh. He crossed his arms. Then smiled again. "I may not have been the same Jack Atlas that helped bring you into our world, but I've seen enough to know that I'd be proud of you regardless. You do the Atlas name proud." Naruto gave a small smile at his words.

"That's enough reunion time." Kaiba cut in, before he could break down completely. He then turned to look at Hagoromo. "Have you told him what else is happening?"

"Thank you for reminding me." The Sage remarked, before turning back to Naruto. "Naruto, you now have a choice. You can return to your former life, with your deck, and your old body now healed, but only if you want to."

Naruto was silent for a moment as he processed the offer. "What will happen to my friends?"

"If you choose to return to your previous life, I will explain the situation to them. Life will return to normal for them. You on the other hand would die truly, and enter the Shinigami's realm. Now what is your choice?"

"Are you kidding me? Of course I'll go back." He said. "Sure I'll miss my friends and family here, but I can finally live how I was meant to again. I lived too long under that prophecy. I would like a chance to live."

Both Kaiba and Jack gave triumphant smirks toward the Sage, who merely nodded in understanding.

"Bear in mind that I did make some changes to your old body. You'll still be able to use chakra, but your reserves will be nowhere near as high as your shinobi self."

"Thank you, old man sage."

Hagoromo raised a hand to stop him. "Do not thank me. I cannot take back what I did to you. I merely hope this will make it so that we can be at least civil with one another."

"I understand." Naruto nodded. The sage then snapped his fingers.

"I almost forgot. Someone else will also be accompanying you."

"Who would-?"

Before Naruto could finish asking who he meant, A small head popped out of Hagoromo's robe. A small fox head with rabbit-like ears. Naruto gave a small gasp as the small creature darted out and raced up so that it was now perched on Naruto's left shoulder.

"Who else, Kit?" Chuckled a much smaller Kurama, his nine tails flowing out behind him.

"Kurama? That you, buddy?"

"All nine tails of me! I couldn't just let you go like that. The old man fixed me up, so I'm whole again! Well, that and he shrunk me down a bit..." Kurama trailed off at that, a little embarrassed at his current size compared to his previous one.

"He wouldn't dream of leaving you." Hagoromo remarked, happy that his creation, once so full of hate, finally had found someone to call a friend. "Take care of each other, you two."

"You got it, old man!" Naruto exclaimed, his fox-like grin on his face.

"I'll be sure to keep this idiot out of trouble!"

"You keep me out of trouble?! Just who exactly had to keep your furry self out of the Akatsuki's hands?!"

Just like that the pair began friendly bickering.

"When your done, we'll see you on the other side." Said Kaiba, having quite enough of the minor argument, raising a hand in farewell at the group. Jack gave a small nod, before the pair faded away.

"One last thing before you go," The sage said quickly, "your old life's memories may still be a little fragmented from the restoration process, but they should restore themselves in time."

A large blue glowing elipse shape began forming not too far from where the pair were talking. Naruto turned to look at it, as the Sage gestured toward it.

"It is time, Naruto Uzumaki. Go forth and live."

Naruto turned and began walking toward the now fully formed portal.

"So what will you do now? I don't think you can become Hokage in this place." Kurama asked curiously, wondering what his former container had planned.

Naruto paused in his step, the fact hitting him a little close to home. He had wanted to be Hokage for so long. Now that dream was forever beyond his reach. What would he do with his new life? What would his dream be? After a moment of thought, he smirked.

"I may not be able to become hokage, but I'll be the best damn duelist this world has ever seen. And I never go back on my word, that is my nindo, my ninja way."

Kurama gave a fanged grin at the blond's words. "Then let's show them what we're made of, Kit!"

With that, he resumed his walk to the portal, only to pause again as he was about to step through. The reason being that the Sage had spoke his final words to him.

"Good luck, Naruto Uzumaki."

Hagoromo could not see Naruto's face, was was uncertain to his reaction. He got his answer when Naruto lifted his left arm, and gave a thumbs up. And with that arm still raised, he stepped through, both he and Kurama never to be seen by the shinobi world again.

The Sage watched the portal as it closed.

"Yes, good luck indeed,... Ultimaya Tzolkin, the Crimson Dragon..."

With that, he faded away, leaving the void empty once more.

Hope you guys like the prologue! I'm going to try and update this one regularly. For those who want to know what's happening with my other fic, Terminator 5d's, I am still writing the second chapter. I do apologise, but due to other commitments, I haven't been able to devote as much time to writing as I would like.

So anyway, please drop a review. FLAMERS WILL BE FED TO RED DRAGON ARCHFIEND'S FLAMES!