The truth was, Haruno Sakura always had a dark side to her—a side that she tried to stifle so her femininity and cuteness could shine.

After a while, she started to refer to the darker side of her as "inner Sakura."

Inner Sakura wasn't cute at all. Rather, she was ambitious, violent, greedy, and forceful.

Inner Sakura wanted to take and keep to herself everything that she wanted. Inner Sakura wanted to crush everyone who opposed her.

...She still remembered the nights that she spent bent over her desk, cutting the photos of those she hated with scissors.

It wasn't a memory that she was proud of. Even just thinking about it now made her shudder at how twisted she could be.

Inner Sakura wasn't the person that she tried to present.

But at the same time, only Inner Sakura truly represented her as a person.

And she hated that part of herself.

When their teacher hit them with the revised rules, it was as if an unspoken order for silence had passed. All of a sudden, they could hear clearly the chirps of passing birds.

Finally, Naruto spoke up. "Kakashi-sensei, regarding the rules that you proposed…"

"Ah yes." The jonin turned to explaining. "This means I have decided that I'm only going to be accepting one pupil this year. So go ahead and bury the dreams of your teammates with your own hands!"

Kakashi turned towards Sakura. "Go on, Sakura. I believe it is your turn. I, of course, won't accept anything but the best from you. This means, if I suspect that you're just phoning this in, then I will just fail you outright."

Sakura paled considerably. "That's horrible…"

"Yeah!" Naruto jumped in in agreement. "This has to be a violation of some sort of rule!"

Kakashi shrugged nonchalantly. "It is my squad, so we will be following my rules. Sakura, start your turn."

Helplessly, Sakura turned to face her fellow graduates. To think she would be forced to try and send both of them back to the academy.

More worryingly, in order to survive she would have to turn on Sasuke. But if she refused to do so, then she would be the one sent packing instead.

Her family wasn't particularly wealthy and couldn't use the extra income from her mission money.

But—

"Sakura-chan—"

Naruto's voice interrupted her thoughts. She looked towards him, half expecting him to make another stupid comment to try and impress her. To her surprise, he gave her a thumbs up and a bright smile that looked to be absolutely brilliant.

"Don't worry about it Sakura-chan. Just do what you do best."

"The idiot is right." Sasuke agreed, his hands tucked in his pants pocket cooly. "If we're too weak, then we deserve to be sent to the academy. If you don't want things too end too quickly, I would suggest you to pick me as your opponent over that idiot over there."

The Uchiha's words might sound rough in the ears of someone else. But Sakura couldn't help but take it as the Uchiha's own prideful way of covering for his teammate.

Sasuke had always done excellently in the academy in all areas of study. It was this same excellence that made Sakura confident that Sasuke would somehow manage to lead them out of this mess.

T5 Sakura LP:4000 H:5→6

Sakura drew her card with some hesitation. If Naruto and Sasuke both wanted her to do this, then she supposed somehow everything would be okay.

"I will begin my turn by summoning Fluffal Mouse to my field."

[Fluffal Mouse LEVEL 1 ATK: 100]

The moment the card hit the rose-colored blades of Sakura's duel disk, a brown portal of light opened up in front of Sakura. From the depths of the portal, rose a blue and white mouse who nibbled cutely and uncaringly on its donut. The angel-wings attached on the mouse's back seemed to hint at a form of purity.

"Once per turn, during my main phase, I can Special Summon up to two additional copies of Fluffal Mouse from my deck to my field! I will summon both!"

The Fluffal Mouse on Sakura's field quickly divided into two additional mice. They were now lined up as a team of three.

"Next, I will activate the Spell Card, Polymerization from my hand."

Naruto's eyes lit up with joy. "Sakura-chan is using the same summoning method as me!"

Sakura had to stop herself from cringing from Naruto's observation.

"A-anyways, I will be fusing the three Fluffal Mouse on my field and the Edge Imp Scissors in my hand to perform a Fusion Summon!"

A pair of demonic scissors briefly emerged alongside the group of mice. A moment later, all of them were drawn into the twisting gravity of a sudden rift that appeared in the air.

"Demonic claws, sharp fangs! Become one in the mystic vortex and show us a new form and power! Fusion summon! Show yourself! Mystical jungle beast that rips everything to shreds!"

Sakura clasped her hands together forcefully. "Appear, Level 6, Frightfur Tiger!"

There it was, the side of her that she didn't want others to find out. The more violent side of her that she kept hidden to make herself seem more feminine.

Strangely enough, as the possessed stuffed tiger's abdomen was ripped through by a pair of satanic scissors, Sakura couldn't help but feel a bit relieved.

[Frightfur Tiger Level 6 ATK: 1900]

"When Frightfur Tiger is Fusion Summoned, I can target cards on the field up to the number of materials I used for its Fusion Summon and destroy them!"

"WHAT!" Naruto yelled as he stumbled backwards in shock. First, his beloved Sakura summoned forth something creepy. The next thing he knew, his entire field was in jeopardy of being blown up.

Frightfur Tiger leapt into the air, the blade of his stomach-scissors lengthening and whipping down on the duel field like a pair of metal tentacles.

"Since I used four materials to Fusion Summon Frightfur Tiger, I will be destroying Salamangreat Heatleo, Salamangreat Sanctuary, Invoked Purgatrio and Naruto's face-down card!"

A crimson barrier rose on Sasuke's field to deflect Frightfur Tiger's effect.

"I have activated Salamangreat Balelynx's effect in my Graveyard." Sasuke revealed. "If one or more Salamangreat cards on my field would be destroyed, I can banish Balelynx to prevent their destruction!"

Sakura turned towards Naruto. "But, that won't stop me from destroying your field, Naruto!"

Naruto flinched as both his Purgatrio and face-down card was minced to shreds.

"It is a shame that Purgatrio got destroyed, but you have activated the trap that I set!"

Sakura was confused. "H-how? Didn't I destroy it?"

"Yup." Naruto smirked. "It is exactly because of you destroying it that I was able to activate it. Per the effect of my Fake Bottom trap card, when it is destroyed by my opponent's card effect, I can select one trap card from my Deck and set it on my field. I will be setting Summoning Meltdown from my Deck to my field."

Sakura countered. "But your field is still wide open! I will then activate Frightfur Fusion from my hand to my field. By banishing Edge Imp Scissors, and three copies of Fluffal Mouse from my Graveyard, I will perform a second Fusion Summon!"

Naruto was back to panicking again. "There's more?"

"Demonic claws, rending fangs. Become one in the mystic vortex and be born with a new power! Appear, the manic predator of the jungle, Frightfur Wolf!"

[Frightfur Wolf Level 6 ATK: 2000]

The possessed wolf-toy leapt right next to Sakura, its large cerulean eyes rolled about disjointly and distracted others from the evil crimson gaze peeking out from inside its mouth. Similar to Frightfur Tiger, its midsection was marked by a pair of open scissors.

"What's the point of you summoning two monsters with weak attack points?" Sasuke questioned as he pointed pridefully at Salamangreat Heatleo. "None of your two creatures can match my Heatleo in might."

"Sasuke-kun, you should wait for me to explain." Sakura smiled. "Per Frightfur Tiger's effect, all Frightfur monsters on my field gain 300 attack points for each Frightfur or Fluffal monster that's on my field. Since, I have two, both Wolf and Tiger receive a 600 points boost in attack. Furthermore, Wolf can attack up to the amount of materials I used for its summoning."

[Frightfur Wolf ATK: 2000→2600]

[Frightfur Tiger ATK: 1900→2500]

Knowing that he had been mistaken, Sasuke could only admit his fault silently.

"W-wait." Naruto cut in as he realized something. "Since you used four materials for Wolf, that means…" His eyes almost popped out of his socket once he finished doing the math. "You can attack four times with Frightfur Wolf!"

Kakashi smiled underneath his mask before he leapt away to search for Action Cards. It seemed that the Sakura girl wasn't holding back after all. If everything went her way, then she very well could wipe all of them out this turn.

Still, to have fusion monsters with DARK-attribute… he couldn't help but wonder if the child was all too right in the head.

"Well done, Sakura." Sasuke praised coolly. "Come at me with all you got and I will respond in kind." With that said, he began to leap between trees to look for Action Cards as well.

Sakura nodded. "I will attack Heatleo with Frightfur Wolf."

The Wolf chased after the escaping Heatleo, his speed proving too quick for the particular lion to match. It was only a matter of time before Wolf caught up to them and Sasuke was aware of this.

Spotting an Action Card snagged between the branches of a nearby tree, Sasuke leapt and took it into his hands.

Damage Draw… It wasn't what he hoped for, but he would make do for now.

As much as he hated to admit it, Naruto's words from before bothered him. It was time for him to prove that he, too, had plenty of skills to overcome adversity on his own.

"I activate Salamangreat Sanctuary's effect. By paying 1000 Life Points, I can reduce Heatleo's attack to 0 and gain the same number of attack points as my life point." (Sasuke LP: 1500→500→2800)

Just as the last syllable of Sasuke's command fell through the air, Wolf jumped onto of Heatleo and ripped it to shreds. The resulting explosion was enough to launch Sasuke several feets across the training field. (Sasuke LP: 2800→200)

"At this moment, I will activate the Action Card: Damage Draw! Since I took more than 2000 points of damage, I can draw 2 cards from my deck." Sasuke barked out as he slid two cards off his deck forcefully.

Salamangreat Gazelle and Salamangreat Possum….Sasuke noted as he looked at the new additions to his hands. Not what he hoped for, but he would use his skill to turn things around once more.

"Sasuke-kun, I have three more attacks with my Wolf. Are you ready?"

"Bring it on." Sasuke retorted defiantly.

"I will use Frightfur Wolf to attack Sasuke-kun directly!"

Frightfur Wolf charged from the disappearing corpse of Heatleo and headed straight towards the master of the slain lion.

"I activate Salamangreat Possum's effect from my hand. When I am targeted for a direct attack, I can reveal this card from my hand, negate the attack, and special summon Possum to my field in defense mode."

[Salamangreat Possum Level 4 DEF: 500]

A cylindrical wall of flames encircled the fiery possum as it laid on the floor. Frightfur Wolf, seeing that his prey seemed to be dead, circled back towards its master.

Sakura wasn't one to relent. "Frightfur Wolf, will now attack Salamangreat Possum!"

With one vicious swipe of its claws, Wolf ripped Possum to shreds. This was its third attack this turn.

"At the moment that Possum is destroyed, I can special summon Salamangreat Gazelle from my hand to the field. And when Salamangreat Gazelle is special summoned, I can send one Salamangreat card from my deck to the Graveyard. I will send the trap card, Salamangreat Reincarnation from my deck to the Graveyard!"

[Salamangreat Gazelle LEVEL 4 DEF: 1000]

"Wolf will now destroy Gazelle!" Sakura commanded in her battle frenzy. The gazelle, too, fell at the claws of her wolf.

Sasuke waved his hand forward excitedly.. "I activate the effect of Salamangreat Reincarnation from my Graveyard. By banishing it alongside one Salamangreat Link-Monster in my Graveyard, I can revive a Salamangreat Link Monster that shares the same name as the Link Monster that I banished. I will be banishing a copy of Salamangreat Heatleo to revive my other copy of Salamangreat Heatleo!"

The revived lion erupted from the ground in a column of fire, and stood protectively in front of its master.

"And per Salamangreat Reincarnation's effect, Heatleo's attack becomes double of its original attack until the end of this turn."

[Salamangreat Heatleo ATK: 2300→4600 LINK-3]

Sakura's back hunched slightly at this sudden turn of events. "But that's higher than both Frightfur Wolf and Frightfur Tiger." She pouted.

Sasuke grinned smugly. "Yes. Now even if you want to finish me off with Frightfur Tiger, that's looking to be no longer an option."

Kakashi continued to observe the duel from a distance. As to be expected from the Uchiha prodigy, the boy's techniques were almost impeccable for a genin. He looked over to Sakura and smiled.

It turned out the girl wasn't as much as a useless fangirl like he presumed her to be. Though, a part of him should have known better. Her academia test scores had always been top notch. From her ability to excel in these tests, it was only natural for her to strive in the strategic sport of dueling.

"Then, Naruto!" Sakura declared as she directed her attention to her last teammate. "I will be coming for you now."

Naruto gave her a thumbs up. "Bring it on, Sakura-chan!"

"Frightfur Tiger will attack Uzumaki Naruto directly!"

The blonde braced himself for the impact. If his instincts were correct up to this point, then Kakashi-sensei likely wanted to manufacture a situation for them to fight amongst each other. In that case, the only way to beat his challenge was to end this duel for everyone in one fell swoop.

As the Tiger charged towards Naruto, the duelist flipped open his trap card. "The card I set with Fake Bottom can be activated the turn that it is set! I activate Summoning Meltdown! When my opponent declares a direct attack when I control no other cards on my field, I can destroy all Special Summoned monsters on the field, and then inflict damage to all players equal to the total attack values of the monsters destroyed by this effect."

Sasuke let out a small ghost of a smile as he caught on. "I see. That's not bad coming from an idiot from you."

Frightfur Tiger, Frightfur Wolf and Salamangreat Heatleo all started glowing with a golden light, before exploding violently, the dome-shaped explosion expanding quickly enough to cover the entire training field.

Hatake Kakashi managed to snag an action card just before he was caught up in the incoming flames, but decided to toss it aside. "Well done, Naruto."

Naruto LP: 0

Sakura LP:0

Sasuke LP: 0

Kakashi LP: 0

All three of the genins were now lying face-down on the training ground, their sweats dripping profusely off their skin. The monsters that once fought alongside them were now nowhere to be seen. Having just fought their hearts out a moment before, these children were absolutely exhausted.

Kakashi approached them from the other side of the dissipating blanket of smoke, a round of appreciative claps following him. "Well…" He started lazily. "I set the rules that you guys would fail if you didn't eliminate your teammates first, and you guys decided to spite me by forcing the duel into a draw."

The jonin looked upon his pupils sternly. "That's really got me feeling a certain kind of way…"

Naruto sat up from his spot fearfully. "Kakashi-sensei…don't tell me…"

Perhaps his instincts were wrong?

The jonin smiled, a bit too creepily for his students. "100,000 ryo for anyone who can guess what I'm thinking."

"D-don't tell me…" This time, it was Sakura who was starting to feel afraid. She too sat up weakly on the ground. Like her teammates, she was also drained heavily from the scuffle with her instructor. "You're going to fail us all?"

"W-wait. Wait! Wait!" Naruto called out desperately. "Isn't the point of the test to see whether or not we will betray each other? Since I ended the duel in a draw then…"

"You think because of that, I should pass you?" Kakashi questioned.

"W-well, yeah?" Naruto replied weakly.

"In that case...you're correct!" Kakashi smiled suddenly, both of his eyes morphing into happy crescents.

"Huh…" Was all Naruto could say in his stupor. He thought he was going to fail for real.

"I said, you guys have all passed your test and become an official member of my squad!"

Naruto's eyes lit up with unbridled excitement. "Really?!"

"Yes." Kakashi squatted down and gave Naruto a pat on the head. "You, especially, have impressed me. You and your ability to see through my test and guide your teammates are quite admirable. So, much so that I think I will name you to be my vice-captain for this team."

The Uzumaki child's eyes went even wider. "Are you talking about me?" He pointed an unsure finger at himself. This was one of the rare times that he ever received a compliment from a stranger.

Kakashi nodded patiently. "Yes, you."

At the sound of that confirmation, Naruto quickly spun to Sasuke and began gloating. "You hear that Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei named me to be his second-in-command. Me! Not you! That means I'm officially better than you!"

"Now. Now. We should all calm down." Kakashi stepped in between the two rivals before things could turn ugly, a placating hand held out to each side. "This position is only temporary, which means any of you three could be promoted and demoted depending on the day. Besides, all of you have to listen to me anyway."

"Hmph." Sasuke sneered. "Have fun with your pathetic title of zero actual authority. Something you will lose to me soon, anyway."

"What was that?" Naruto's rage boiled.

"Like I said, we should all calm down." Kakashi once again interjected, before trying to change the subject. "Anyway, I think this is a good time for us to head for our separate ways. Let's meet again tomorrow."

The jonin walked a couple of strides before he turned back to leave a few final words of wisdom. "Remember that in this world, the ones who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash."

"Wait!" Naruto called out to their instructor. "What about the lunch that you promised us?"

"Oh that?" Kakashi smiled. "I lied. You guys are on our own." He then drew forth a smoke screen that he used to make his escape.

Naruto stomped the ground angrily in protest. "Damn you, Kakashi-sensei!"

It was late in the night that he was able to return to his dormitory. When he did, he put on his pajamas, brushed his teeth, set his deck to the side and hopped onto his bed.

Without a doubt with an instructor like Kakashi leading them, they would be put through the ringers again tomorrow.

As he fell asleep, his deck shone with a bright light and Naruto found himself waking up in a dreamscape that he didn't recognize.

In front of him was a blonde magician who was prettier than anyone else that he had laid his eyes on.

"Please help us, chosen child."

Shy from the praise, Naruto could only giggle dumbly with a bright red face. It was only when the pretty girl continued to look at him with sincere pleading eyes did it occur to him that the girl could be serious.

Still, first he got named as Kakashi-sensei's second in command, and now a pretty girl was begging him for a favor in his dream…

...This day was shaping up to be one of the best days of his life.

"Hehe. What do you need help with." Naruto asked as he rubbed his palms submissively. He wasn't used to speaking with girls as pretty as this in his life.

"The truth is, our world is in danger."

"Your world is in danger?"

"Yes." The girl nodded and placed a hand on her chest—her rather large, well-endowed bosom. "I'm a duel spirit from the duel monster world. My name is Dark Magician Girl."

Dark Magician Girl? He didn't remember seeing such a card in his deck before.

More importantly, he was having a bit of trouble taking his eyes off of the girl's chest.

Hehehehehehehehhehehe….Naruto chuckled internally as his perversion festered.

Dark Magician Girl seemed to have noticed it and shied away from him ever so slightly. "Can you not look at me like that? You're getting me flustered."

"Anyways…" Naruto shook himself out of his trance and tried to refocus on a "What were you saying about...uh...your world being in trouble?"

"Oh yes. My world. The duel monster world is currently experiencing instability."

"Instability?"

"A long time ago, your ancestors and the elders of our world worked together to stop a great calamity from occurring. Ever since then, the duel monsters and the humans have shared a close relationship— like those of best friends. The product of their friendship is the duel monster cards that you humans are using right now."

"I see."

Naruto didn't remember these sort of things being taught at the Academy. Not that he remembered much of anything from his time at the academy anyway. For the longest time, he simply viewed the monsters as simple lifeless tools. But now, it seemed like that viewpoint was about to be challenged.

"But then what was originally supposed to commemorate a relationship of trust and friendship, ended up being used for war and destruction. For decades, the humans have been calling on our strength and forced us to fight against our kins. And now the belligerence of your world has tainted ours."

"Huh?" Naruto tilted his head to the side in confusion. All these big words that were being thrown around were getting him quite confused.

Dark Magician Girl stared blankly at the teen in front of her, seemingly baffled by his apparently dimwittedness. She pushed herself to continue as it was her duty. "Those in charge are now planning on—"

Naruto didn't hear the rest of the sentence as his eyes snapped open when he rolled off his bed and crashed onto the ground.

"Ouch…" He groaned. Why did something so stupid have to happen right now? He was just having an amazing and long conversation with a pretty girl too.

Now that he was awake, he had an urge to pee. Perhaps he shouldn't have added so much water when he heated up his ramen.

A/N: Thanks for the kind words, MasenkoKidd. And yes, I plan on having their decks evolve alongside their owner. It seems like we're on the same wavelength. Lol