SAO

Fuurinkazan

A/N

Hello, welcome to my humble abode, this is obviously an Au fic, with what would happen if a differently acting Kirito would have accepted the request Klein made him to let him take his friends to the village after the starting city.

Any mistakes made regarding to bosses, and some other minor details are purely intentional, as I have done a good deal of research…

Disclaimer:

I do not own Sword Art Online it is owned by Reki Kawahara

"A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work."- Colin Powell

As Kirito ran through the streets, he still felt the deep sense of wonder that accompanied being in this world, as this was more than a game Kirito decided with finality.

"Hey, you there!"

Yelled someone from behind Kirito, as he stopped and turned a red headed man with a gold and red head band, 'Gryffindor?' Kirito thought, came running towards him.

"Me?" Kirito asked with a raised brow

"You move like you've been here before," the man said as he gasped for air, "You were in the beta test, right?" The man asked

"Y-yeah." Kirito said slightly interested now

"Today's my first day," the man explained, "Show me the basics, okay?" clasping a hand onto Kirito's shoulder.

"Uh…" Kirito said

"I'm begging you!" he shouted "My name's Klein. Nice to meet you."

Kirito smirked, finding the brashness of Klein amusing

"I'm Kirito." He said confidently

"So, will you teach me?" Klein asked

"Yeah sure why not." Kirito shrugged,

"So where are we headed?"

"The plains just outside of the city," Kirito said with a shrug, "It's the easiest area in the game."

"Oh ok, then let's go!" Klein yelled and rushed ahead leaving a slightly bemused Kirito to catch up.

-0-

Klein was knocked back by the Blue boar, which snorted as it started to move away, "Right in the crotch…"he wheezed

"Give me a break," Kirito said with a roll of his eyes, "You don't feel any pain, right?"

Klein's eyes widened,

"Oh yeah." He said "Just a habit, I guess" Klein Smiled

"I told you, what's important is the initial motion input." Kirito said patiently

"Sure, I get that…" Klein said, "But he keeps moving around"

"If you do the motion input right, and activate a sword skill" with that Kirito hurled the pebble that was now glowing a brilliant shade of pink, it shot through the air and impacted on the boars backside with a crack,

"The system will ensure that the technique connects," Kirito finished with a smile

"Motion input… motion input…" Kline murmured

"How should I put it?" Kirito asked himself neatly sidestepping the boar's charge and blocking it's second with the flat of his blade,

"Add a slight pause, and when you feel the skill begin to activate, let it explode."

"Explode?" Klein said thoughtfully then with a sudden moment off clarity Klein moved his feet and settled into a new stance, he raised his sword and smiled as it began to glow. Kirito nodded and thrust forward knocking the boar back, and with a sharp kick into its side sent it towards Klein, as the beast ran at Klein, who let out a roar and flew towards it activating a sword skill. Klein's sword left a deep furrow in the side of the boar which tottered for a moment before exploding into numerous blue polygons, a small window appeared notifying Klein of his success and reward, "All right!" Klein yelled getting into a victorious pose.

"Congrats." Kirito smiled hi-fiving Klein, "However," he continued flicking his sword and arcing it into its sheath, "The boar's about as weak as slimes in other games."

"Seriously?" Klein said "I thought it was a mid-level boss or something."

"Of course not," Kirito said looking over at a hill and watching a few more of the mobs appearing Kirito looked at Klein who was activating a sword skill,

"Pretty exciting, isn't it?"

"Yeah!" Klein responded enthusiastically "There are lots of skills, right?" Klein asked thoughtfully as he practised attacking with his sword, "Like blacksmithing and stuff?"

"Yeah, I've heard there are an unlimited number of skills. However, there's no magic,"

"An RPG without magic?" Klein smirked activating his sword skill again "That's a pretty bold decision." Klein squealed as he saw the skill discharge causing a flash of red lightning.

"Isn't it fun to move your body as you fight?" Kirito asked with a smile,

"You're right!" Klein exclaimed

"Okay, lets head to the next one,"

"Yeah let's keep going!" Klein said with an evil look at the next boar.

-0-

The sun had already sunk lower bathing the land of Aincrad in a soft orange light, and several dragon type creatures flew through the sky. As Klein surveyed his surroundings he sighed,

"I still can't believe it no matter how many times I see it… That we're in a game, whoever made it is a genius, it's really amazing… Seriously, I'm glad I was born in this time."

"You make a big deal out of everything." Kirito smiled though he agreed with the red headed man,

"It's my first full dive!" Klein protested,

"Then is it your first time playing a game with NerveGear?" Kirito asked as he stared out over the water beneath the cliff they were sitting on

"I rushed out a bought the hardware to play SAO" Klein said with a nod "I was really lucky to get one of the ten thousand copies. But, you were ten times more lucky, getting into the Beta test, only a thousand people got to do it." Kirito broke his vigil of the water and turned to Klein,

"I guess so." Kirito rubbed the back of his head

"How far did you get in the beta?" Klein smiled

"Over a couple of months, only to floor 8. Though this time, it'll only take a month." Kirito said vigorously

"You're really into this." Klein noted

"To be honest, during the Beta test," Kirito said drawing his sword, "SAO was all I thought about, day and night. In this world, a single blade can take you anywhere you want to go." Kirito said passionately, "It's a virtual world, but I still feel more alive here than I do in the real one." He smiled and sheathed his sword

"Now then want to go hunt some more?"

"Of course! I'd love to" Klein said enthusiastically "But I'm really hungry…" He said with a wry smile "I'm logging out"

"Eating food here only makes you think you're not hungry." Kirito nodded

"I already ordered a hot pizza for five- thirty." Klein said triumphantly

"You're prepared." Kirito said starting to feel vaguely hungry himself.

"Yup. Well once I've eaten, I'll be back. Klein said happily

"I see." Kirito said

"Hey, after this, I'm meeting up with some other people I know from another game. Want to friend them too?" Klein asked with a grin, Kirito's face fell "Of course if you don't want to, that's okay." Klein said waving his hand dismissively "I'll introduce you another time,"

"Yeah, sorry… Thanks" Kirito said mentally kicking himself for probably ruining any possible friend ship,

"Hey, that's my line." Klein grinned "I'll repay you some time… Mentally," he said clasping Kirito's shoulder again "Thanks so much man, I'll see you around." Klein said reaching out his hand for a shake,

"If there's anything you want to know, just tell me." Kirito replied, shaking Klein's hand,

"Yeah I'll do that." Klein promised, with a wave he turned round and opened his menu,

"Huh?" Klein said "There's no button to log out."

"Look closer." Kirito said rolling his eyes,

"No, it's not there."

"At the bottom of the main menu…" Kirito suggested opening his own menu and narrowing his eyes when he realised Klein was right,

"See not there." Klein said,

"No it isn't." Agreed Kirito

"Well, it's the first day out of beta, Klein said forcing joviality into his voice, "There are bound to be some bugs. I'm sure the server people are freaking out…" Klein said weakly,

"In a second you will be too," Kirito said with a smile "It's five- twenty five." Klein's face went slack, "My Teriyaki mayo pizza and ginger ale!" Klein yelled clutching his head,

"Just hurry and call the game master." Kirito said exasperatedly,

"I tried, but nothing's happening." Klein said changing into a neutral expression so fast it made Kirito blink,

"Is there any other way to log out?" Klein asked, Kirito thought for a second,

"No, if a player wants to log themselves out, they have to go through the menu."

"That's nuts, there's gotta be some way," he paused for a second, "Return, Log out, Escape!" Klein shouted jumping into various poses, as the clouds drifted over the sun, it seemed to reflect the darkening mood,

"I told you… There wasn't an emergency logout button in the manual either." Kirito said grimly

"You're kidding right?" Klein said a hint of panic creeping into his voice, "I know I'll just rip the NerveGear off my head…" as he made motions that looked like he was trying to take off an invisible hat,

"You can't." Kirito said "We can't move our real bodies. The NerveGear intercepts anything we tell our bodies to do here," Kirito said pointing to his head as a trickle of perspiration rolled slowly down his face.

"Seriously?" Klein asked the worry now clearly written on his face, "So, we have to wait for them to fix the bug?"

"Or for someone in the real world to remove the NerveGear from us." Kirito told him, noticing a Boar walk slowly passed, but the cheerful hunting they did less than ten minutes ago seemed like a distant memory.

"But I live alone." Protested Klein, "What about you?" Kirito debated for a second about lying but saw no point,

"I have a Mom and a sister, so I think they'll notice by dinnertime…" Suddenly Klein lurched forward,

"H-How old's your little sister?" Klein demanded a grin on his face,

"She's on a sports team, and she hates games, she has nothing to do with people like us."

"That doesn't ma-" Klein started, as Kirito kneed him in the balls, Kirito realised what Klein was trying to do, lighten the, atmosphere that had passed over them, once again Klein went to clutch has balls, before realising that he was in no pain, "Right it doesn't hurt." Klein noted again,

"More importantly," Kirito said trying to break focus back to the fact that they were stuck in a videogame, "Don't you find this weird?" Kirito asked,

"Sure I do." Klein said raising a brow "It's a bug."

"It isn't just a bug." Kirito growled "If we can't log out, that'll pose a serious problem for the game's future."

"Come to think of it, you're right." Klein said thoughtfully

"If they wanted to, they could just shut down the server and log everyone out. But there isn't even an announcement…" Kirito finished, Klein nodded, and they both froze when an ominous sounding bell started ringing, then the world slowly blurred out. A forced teleport realised Kirito, it had happened to him a few times when he got stuck in the scenery during the beta test. Kirito and Klein gazed around at the slowly filling plaza, as more and more players were teleported,

"What's going on, a youngish looking girl said as she clutched the arm of a taller male,

"I don't know," Said male said,

"A forced teleport?" murmured Kirito, as the bell stopped ringing the hole plaza went silent, waiting for something, anything to happen

"Up there." Everyone looked up and saw a crimson Hexagon appear in the sky

"That's…" Kirito began as the hexagons spread rapidly across the sky, once the whole space above the starting city had been filled a thick viscous liquid dripped from the sky, looking, a bit too much like blood for Kirito's liking. However the stream then worsened into a torrent until a huge man shaped figure appeared, garbed in a game master's robe. However, the figure in the robe had no face, and the lining in the hood could be seen,

"What is that?" Klein muttered to himself

"A game master?" someone in the crowd muttered

"Why doesn't he have a face?"

"Is this an event?" as the murmur of voices increased

"I'm scared," the girl from earlier said holding onto the man's arm tighter than before,

"It's fine," He responded reassuringly "It's just part of the opening ceremony."

"Attention players," The robe said with a calm voice "welcome to my world."

"My world?" Kirito said questioningly

"My name is Kayaba Akihiko, as of this moment I am the sole person who can control this world."

"Is that really him?" A person in the crowd asked

"He must have spent a lot of time on this."

"I'm sure you've already noticed, but the logout button is missing from the main menu," to punctuate his point he opened his own menu and scrolled down to the empty logout space, Kirito filed that away for later.

"But this is not a defect in the game, I repeat; this is not a fault in the game. It is a feature of Sword Art Online."

"A-A Feature?" Klein said incredulously

"You cannot log out of SAO yourselves, and no one on the outside can shut down or remove the NerveGear. Should this be attempted…" Kayaba paused ominously "The transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit a powerful microwave, destroying your brain and thus ending your life."

"What?"

"Come on enough already."

"Let's go." The male from earlier said taking the pink garbed girl with him. However as he attempted to leave the plaza he hit an invisible barrier face first.

"Hey I can't get out!" The man yelled

"What's he talking about?" Klein said seriously, completely ignoring the man who was now rubbing his face, "He's gotta be nuts." Klein paused, "Right Kirito?" He said,

"He's right, the transmitters signals work just like microwaves… If the safety were disabled it could fry a brain." Kirito mused

"Then if we cut the power…" Klein suggested, Kirito gave Klein a grim smile,

"No the NerveGear has an internal battery."

"But this is crazy." Klein said shaking his head like he was trying to wake up from a nightmare, which Kirito supposed it kind of was,

"What's going on?!" Klein yelled

"Unfortunately, several player's friends and families, have ignored this warning, and have attempted to remove the NerveGear. As a result, two hundred and thirteen players are gone forever, from both Aincrad and the real world." Kayaba said emotionlessly,

"Two hundred and thirteen?" Kirito said, eyes widening

"I don't believe it…" Klein said stunned, "I don't believe it!" He shouted

"As you can see, news organizations across the world are reporting all of this including the deaths. Thus, you can assume that the danger of a NerveGear being removed is now minimal. I hope you will relax and attempt to clear the game." At this Kirito gritted his teeth and glared at Kayaba glaring at him, "But I want you to remember this clearly." He continued ignoring all of the looks he was getting from the crowd,

"There is no longer any method to revive someone within the game. If you HP drops to zero, your avatar will be forever lost. And simultaneously, the NerveGear will destroy your brain." He warned as the news screens that were flashing around him snapped shut, Kirito gave a sharp intake of breath as he realised exactly what that fact meant, it meant that if he was careless, or sloppy, he could be killed, his fists tightened, as everyone stared up at him shocked,

"There is only one means of escape." Kayaba paused briefly and then delivered the punch line, "To complete the game. You are presently on the lowest floor of Aincrad, Floor one, if you make your way through the dungeon and defeat the floor boss, you may advance to the next level. Defeat the floor boss on floor one hundred, and you will clear the game."

"Clear?" Was his response from the crowd

"What's he talking about?"

"Y-You're just making that up!" Yelled the man he took a force field to the face,

"Clear all hundred floors?" Klein mused "That's impossible." He said to himself, he then looked up sharply thinking of what Kirito had told him and yelled at Kayaba, "The beta testers never made it anywhere near that high!"

"Finally." Kayaba ignored him, "I've added a present from me to your item storage, please see for yourselves." With a puzzled look Kirito swiped open the menu, and saw an item stated as Mirror,

"Mirror?" Kirito frowned he didn't recognize it, so he sighed and selected it, after a second a plain steel mirror dropped into his hand, he gazed into it, and out of the corner of his eye he saw a glow similar to a teleport, soon more and more players were engulfed by the blue light, The light then surrounded Kirito, after a moment, he could see again, but instead have being warped to the light world, he was in the same place, but everyone looked different to before,

"You okay Kirito?" Klein said from behind him

"Y-yeah…" Kirito said still a little dizzy from whatever that was, he looked over at Klein and saw, someone else, they still looked a lot like Klein, but he had a slightly more hooked nose and a small workings of a beard,

"Who are you?" Kirito asked

"And who are you?" Klein asked, with a frown Kirito looked in the mirror and saw a face he was never expecting in a million years to be in SAO, his own, he gasped, and the people around him were having similar reactions,

"You're a guy?" The once tall man, now dumpy teenager said horrified,

"You were lying about being seventeen?" the once small girl turned bony male said.

"Which means…?" Kirito said, "You're Klein?"

"You're Kirito?" Klein and Kirito said at the same time,

"How?" Klein asked dumbfounded

"That scan…" He said remembering putting on the NerveGear earlier, "The NerveGear covers your entire head with a high-density signalling device. So it can see what your face looks like. But our height and body shape?" Kirito said with a frown,

"When we first used the NerveGear, it had us calibrate it, right? You had to touch your body all over."

"O-Oh, right… That must be where it got the data."

"But… But…" Klein began, "Why? Why do all this, anyway?"

"I'm sure he'll tell us." Kirito said with a frown and pointed at Kayaba.

As if answering to Kirito, Kayaba started talking again "Right now, you're probably wandering, 'Why'", why would Kayaba Akihiko, developer of Sword Art Online, do all this? My goal has already been achieved," He said sounding a lot like a Bond villain, "I created Sword Art Online for one reason… To create this world and intervene in it."

Well someone's got a God complex Kirito thought to himself, "Kayaba…" He said

"And it is now complete." Kayaba said, "This ends the tutorial for the official Sword Art Online launch. Good luck players." And with that Kayaba started to fade into smoke and pixels. For a minute silence reigned. Kirito to stayed silent, feeling or perhaps imagining his paper cut appearing he was not sure himself anymore,

"This is real…" he muttered clenching his fist. The genius who created the NerveGear, and a completely virtual space, Kayaba Akihiko, I admired him, so I can tell… Everything he just said is true. If I die in the game, I will die in real life! Kirito thought to himself, at that moment a mirror was dropped,

"No!" Screamed a young girl bumping into the player beside her at this moment it was shown that, that long moment of silence was just the calm before the storm,

"Let me out! Let me out of here!" Screamed the crowd, suddenly the force field dropped, Kirito narrowed his eyes and grabbed Klein,

"Come with me" he hissed pulling Klein along,

"Listen to me." Kirito said seriously to Klein as they finally stopped in an alley on the outskirts of town, "I'm heading to the next village, right now. Come with me." If what he said is true," Kirito said opening his menu "The only way to survive in this world is by making yourself as strong as possible. The resources within a virtual MMORPG, in other words, the money and EXP we can earn, are limited. The fields surrounding the Town of beginnings will soon be hunted clean." Kirito showed Klein the path on his map,

"To do this efficiently, we should head to the next village now, I know all of the paths and dangerous areas. Even at level 1, I can get us there safely." Kirito said,

"But… But you know… I spent a whole night in line with me friends from the other game. They're out there in the plaza, I can't just leave them.

If it were just Klein… Kirito thought. But more…

"Sorry. I can hardly ask you for anything else, can I? So don't worry about it, Go to the next village, I used to run a guild in my last game. I can use what you taught me to get by!" Klein said with a grin, Kirito screwed up his eyes, thinking of the pros and cons, on the bad side, protecting and leading a group may be difficult and there was a chance that blood could be on his hands. However, Klein had learnt bloody fast and was at a decent level, probably better than Kirito had beam at the point in the beta, and if his friends were as good, also company and someone to watch his back would be brilliant, I'm going to regret this…

"Klein," Kirito growled. "You have five minutes to get your friend meet me in the field. Don't be late." Kirito warned walking away leaving a dumbstruck Klein.

-0-

Five minutes later, Klein and his friends were standing in front of Kirito,

"All right introductions," Klein said happily "Guys meet Kirito, the beta tester who showed me the ropes, Kirito meet Dale," he said pointing at a large man, with a rounded stomach, who nodded and gave a friendly smile,

"Kunimittz" Klein said pointing at a tall man with black hair, who shook his hand to shake it, Kirito took it and nodded,

"Dynamm" Klein said pointing at a mischievous looking man with stubble,

"Issin" A medium sized man with pointy brown hair,

"Harry One" Klein said with a roll of his eyes indicating a shorter man in his twenty's,

"So shall we be off?" Klein asked Kirito,

"Yeah First place I want to go is Horunka Village, there is a quest I need to do to make sure I'm ready for this little jaunt."

A/N

If you're still here by the end I'm a banana, no but seriously thanks, for reading, as you can tell if you've watched SAO, a LOT of dialog was copied directly, if not all, but as you could probably tell, we got some Au-ness at the end, so hopefully that's enough to convince you that I'm writing a FanFiction and not just plagiarizing a brilliant Anime/Light novel/ Manga.

But I hope for reviews and plenty of constructive criticism.

SirSquirtle Signing off.