Author's Notes: Ok, I read on the wikia that there's a character named Jun in the Sleeping Knight Guild seen in Volume 07. *sigh* I'm gonna have to find a new name for one of the original characters in Kirito's harem. What a pain. And also, no one got the Matrix reference in the summary? No one? It was a clue, which you will all soon find out later. Also, I'll be adding in mechanics from other games like from the Tales series and Final Fantasy series.

Also, I've learned about Accel World and how it's in the same universe as Sword Art Online, so this story's now officially a Naruto x Sword Art Online x Accel World story. The Accel World arc will take place in the timeskip between the events of the Alfheim Online Arc and the Gun Gale Online arc. No 20 year timeskip or more, because this is my story, and I can rearrange whatever events I want *evil laugh*.

-Review Responses

Haremlover13 – Sorry, Argo won't be in the harem. I didn't even know she was a girl.

Soutrick: You'll find out soon enough.

xxBlademaster79xx – That's the plan.

Unlimited Lulz Works – LOL

Meow114 – She won't be in the game yet, but she'll play a different role.

JuMiKu – I haven't even fully explain what a hacker does lol

ken lim – Yep.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Sword Art Online, or any other crossover that'll appear.

Last time on Uzumaki Gamer Online

"Naruto-kun! Kazuha-chan!"

Naruto froze, hoping that he heard the voice wrong. But his hopes went unanswered as a girl with indigo blue princess hair, pupil-less white eyes with a lavender-tint, and wearing basic gear ran up to Naruto and Kiriko and hugged them.

"Hinata-chan! What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you!" she cried, "I came here against orders to tell you about players dying in the real world!"

"And now you're stuck here with us." Kiriko said, shaking her head, "And Hinata, here my name is Kiriko."

"Gomen…" Hinata stuttered a bit.

"Naruto-sensei!"

Naruto looked over to see a familiar face with a recent Yu-Gi-Oh tournament; a young girl with brown hair and the one who originally dropped her mirror. Another young girl with brown hair follows her.

"Oh, my fellow Duel Monsters rival Keiko-chan! You're here too?"

"Hai, and my name here is Silica. This is Lisbeth." she said, motioning to her friend, "So is it true? Are we really stuck here?"

"Do you see a logout button yet?" Naruto deadpanned, making the girls shake their heads, "Question answered."

"So what do we do?" Lisbeth asked, "What can we do?"

"Let's stick together for now." Kiriko said, "Become stronger together, so that together we can survive and dominate Sword Art Online."

"Well, if we're going to do that, it isn't going to happened while we're standing around here." Naruto said, "This is our new life for who knows how long, so let's make the most of it, because we're going to survive this is world!"

Chapter 02: Two Beaters and a Hacker

"One month has passed since the game began. During that time, two thousand people have died. Yet not a single person has managed to clear the 1st Floor. Even though Kiriko and me are beta-testers, we still haven't found the boss room, leading to the conclusion that the location has changed from the beta. Today, we're finally holding a meeting on how to defeat Floor 1's Boss. Hopefully, everyone will finally learn how to organize and work together to survive. Then again, it's just wistful thinking."

(Floor 01: Village; December 02, 2022)

"Do you think the others will be okay?" Kiriko asked Naruto as they arrived at the meeting point in black hooded cloaks, thinking about Hinata, Silica, and Lisbeth, who all decided to stay behind and raise their levels by killing monsters and doing quests.

"I'm sure they'll be fine." Naruto assured her, "Luckily, there's no condition about player-killing to free themselves quicker or I would've never let them out of my sight."

"Well, it was dumb luck we managed to get to an inn before they disconnected us to move us to the nearest hospital." Kiriko shuttered, "I honestly thought we died, seriously."

Naruto laughed, "That didn't stop the other girls from freaking out before they were disconnected."

"Not funny, Naruto-kun." Kiriko scolded him, slapping him on his shoulder as they sat down on the stepping, noticing that the meeting place looked like an old theatre, "Who made this meeting anyway?"

"I'm guessing that guy." Naruto said, pointing to the blue-haired, blue-eyed young man wearing blue clothes, and bronze armor on his chest, shoulder, arms, shins, and with a large longsword on his left waist and a shield on his back, standing in the center of the stage, "Wait, I think I've seen that guy before…"

"We met him a few days ago." Kiriko said, "He tried to buy our Anneal Blades we've got from the Secret Medicine of the Forest quest, remember?"

"Oh yeah. Only his hair wasn't blue like it is now." Naruto said as he and Kiriko sat down, "He must've customized it. Still, I know we're seen him before. As for the quests, it's a lucky feature that players can do the same quest when it respawns after another player completes it, at the cost of only doing the quest at least two times."

"Which it why we should never fail a quest." Kiriko agreed, "Let's just be careful who we let join in on our quests. We don't need a player like that beta-tester when he tried to kill my brother after he managed to obtain the sword. That bastard Coper got what he deserved after triggering that trap. Death by a mob of plant monsters; epic fail."

"Hear hear." Naruto said as he looked around, checking out the players, "And speak of the devil."

He motioned over to the side, directing Kiriko's attention to a just arriving Kirito.

"Not surprised here." Kiriko said as Naruto noticed someone else covering himself or herself with a cloak that's reddish-brown, "Wondered how he heard about this meeting?"

"Okay!" the blue-haired man called for attention, "Thank you for coming today at my behest. Let's get this meeting started!"

"Good, because I'm dying of boredom here!" called out a player who just arrived.

Naruto froze when he heard the voice. It sounded so familiar, and it was a voice Naruto never wanted to hear again, especially in this situation. Making machine-like noises, he turned to the entryway of the theatre and his heart seemed to fail, recognizing the speaker and the features of the ones following him.

The speaker had hair that looks like a duck's butt.

One of his group members has pink hair and a large forehead.

The other has feral marking on his face and smelled.

And the final member has white eyes almost exactly like Hinata's.

"No no no!" Naruto thought fanatically, "They can't be here, they can't be here! Why the hell are they here?!"

"Naruto-kun." Kiriko whispered, noticing his change in demeanor, "What's wrong? Is everything all right?"

"Kiriko-chan, from now on, whenever that group is near us, call me by my Display Name, Arashi. That group is dangerous, and with them here, this game's got a whole lot dangerous." Naruto whispered back, "They're from that school, and the one who spoke is from that family."

Kiriko's eyes widened in understanding, then narrowed, "I understand, Arashi-kun. We should message Kirito, Silica, Lisbeth, Hinata, and Klein and his friends after the meeting, just to be safe."

"Welcome, and thank you for coming. Please sit." the blue-haired man said, gesturing to the seats, which the group took, thankfully far away from Naruto and Kiriko, who quietly sighed in relief.

"My name is Diabel." the blue-haired man introduced himself, "I like to think of myself as a knight." he said with a laugh, with the other players laughing with him.

"There's no job system in this game yet!"

"A knight? You should take this more seriously!"

"Is this whole meeting a joke too?"

Then the laughter died down, as Diabel turned serious, "Today, our party found the Boss at the top of the tower." he said, getting everyone's undivided attention, "We need to defeat the boss, reach the 2nd Floor, and tell everyone waiting in the Town of Beginnings that it's possible to beat this game. That is the duty of everyone here today! Don't you all agree?!"

"I can think of one person who disagrees and is in this for himself." Naruto muttered, glaring at the group he has a problem with.

"While some of the rest…" Kiriko glanced over the crowd, noticing her nervous looks, but soon smiled and began to clap and whistle, showing their reaction with Diabel's plan.

"Okay, let's start working this out. First, divide up into parties of six."

Naruto and Kiriko heard a small gasp and turned around to see Kirito sweating bullets while the others around them started discussing who they'll be with up as Diabel continued.

"A single party has no chance against a Floor Boss. We need to form a raid group composed of multiple parties." Diabel explained as groups started partying up.

"Hey, Arashi-kun." Kiriko muttered, "The more the merrier, right? Let's joined up with them."

She motioned over to the cloaked individual, who was joined by a purple-haired girl with a greatsword strapped to her back. Naruto gave a nod, as he and Kiriko got up and joined them.

"Are you two solo players joining up?" Naruto asked, "If so, can we combine our parties for this mission?"

The cloaked swordsman and purple-haired girl looked at each other for a moment turning back to Naruto and Kiriko.

"That guy Diabel said that we can't beat the boss on our own." Kiriko said, "We can all party just for this fight."

After a moment, the two unknown players agreed.

"Can I join in as well?" asked a voice behind Naruto and Kiriko. They turned to see Kirito with a sheepish expression.

"Do you mind?" Naruto asked the other two players, who shook their heads.

Naruto scrolled through the menu, sending out friend invites to the others around him except Kiriko, who already in his party. Kirito instantly accepted, with the other two unknowns following shortly after. Naruto checked the added health bars under his and Kiriko's name.

Kirito of course, then Strea, and lastly, Asuna.

A few minutes later, Diabel called for attention.

"Okay, has everyone formed their parties?" he asked, receiving nods, "Then-"

"Hold on a moment there!" a voice with a Kansai dialect accent shouted from the top of the theatre. He jumped down, skipping several before jumping directly to the stage.

"Now what?!" Naruto groaned.

"Who's this guy?" Kiriko wondered as the man landed on the stage. He has spiky, brown hair, brown eyes, a small brown goatee, and wearing basic clothes and armor.

"My name's Kibaou." the man introduced himself, "I wanna say something before we take on the boss. Some of you here need to apologize to the two thousand people who've died!" he declared, pointing to the gathering players.

"What the hell's he talking about." the purple-haired girl asked when Kirito tensed up a bit, "What's this about?"

In response, Naruto leaned his head on his arm, glaring at Kibaou while Kiriko yawned.

"Kibaou-san," Diabel addressed him, "Could you perhaps be referring to the beta-testers?"

"Of course!" Kibaou confirmed, "The beta guys ditched us beginnings and disappeared the day this stupid game started! They took all the good hunting spots and easy quests for themselves, so only they could get stronger. They couldn't care less about the rest of us."

"Is he serious?" Kiriko muttered, "Didn't this guy read the manual, or the latest, updated guidebook that just came out?"

"Obviously not." Naruto said while trying to stifle a yawn himself while Kibaou started ranting again.

"I'm damn sure some of you here were in the beta!" he accused everyone, "They should get on their knees, apologize, and give up all the items and money they're hoarded! Otherwise, we can't trust these party members without lives, and they shouldn't trust us!"

"Is his idiot for real?" Kiriko grumbled before looking at Kirito, who was shaking, "Don't tell me you're giving cold feet bro."

Naruto just narrowed his eyes, "Just ignore that spiky-haired moron. We don't do politics."

"May I speak?" a deep voice asked. Everyone looked to see a massive and bulky bald man of African heritage with a brown goatee, brown eyes, two earrings on his left ear, and wearing a woodcutter outfit with armor and an axe on his back stand up and walk over to Kibaou, shadowing him.

"My name is Agil," the black man introduced himself, "Kibaou-san, let me get this straight. You're saying many beginnings died because the beta-testers didn't take care of them, and that they should take responsibility, apologize, and provide compensation. Is that it?"

"Y-Yeah." Kibaou stuttered, intimidated by the larger man's presence.

Agil dug in his pockets and pulled out a small brown book, "You got a copy of this guidebook, didn't you? The item shops were giving them away."

"I did, yeah." Kibaou nodded, "So what?"

"It was complied from data provided by the beta-testers willing to help us normal players out." Agil revealed, surprising almost everyone in the area and making Kibaou grit his teeth in anger.

"Listen up." Agil said, turning around and addressing everyone, "Everyone had equal access to this information, yet many players died, even some of the beta-testers themselves. I thought we would be discussing what we could learn from their deaths and how that can help us defeat the boss."

Naruto and Kiriko smiled at each other. They were part of the few beta-testers who contributed the information they're learned to make the guidebook for everyone. Most of the information the two gave was mostly information about all the current quests and the warnings about taking the quests.

"Looks like not all hope is lost with players like this guy." Naruto said, motioning to Agil, with Kiriko nodding happily.

"Yeah, but-" Kibaou protested.

"Hey, asshat!"

Everyone now looked up to see Naruto's party, with the purple-haired girl standing up and glaring at Kibaou.

"My name is Strea, and no, I'm not a beta-tester." she revealed, "I'm just a player, like everyone here. You're right, there are beta-testers who're in this of themselves, but the guidebook we all received shows that there are beta-testers so care for the our well-being. How dare you shift the blame of the two thousand players' deaths on them after what they did for us, you baka!"

Kibaou was at a loss for words as nearly everyone started clapping for Strea. She smiled and sat down, while Agil turned over his shoulder and glared at Kibaou, who gave up and sat on the bottom steps, folding his arms. Agil went back to his own seat, his job done, giving the floor to Diabel.

"All right, let's continue then." Diabel said, glad that the conflict had quelled, and held up his own guidebook, "The latest edition of that guidebook was just published, and it contains information on the boss. According to the guidebook, the boss's name is Illfang the Kobold Lord. He's guarded by underlings known as Ruin Kobold Sentinels. He is armed with an axe and a buckler. He has four HP bars, and when the last one enters the red, he switches to a curved sword-type weapon called a talwar. His attack pattern changes as well."

"Wow…"

"Amazing."

With the information delivered, Diabel closed his book, "This concludes the briefing. As for how the spoils will be distributes, money will be automatically shared amongst all players, EXP will go to the party that defeats the monsters, and whoever receives items gets to keep it. Any objections?"

There was nothing, but Naruto looked over to the duck-butt guy and saw the look at his face that said, "I deserve all the money. I deserve all the EXP. I deserve all the items. Because I am an Uchiha!"

Diabel gave everyone the once-over, "Okay, we leave at ten in the morning tomorrow. Dismissed!"

Everyone got up and some of them left. The others went down to Diabel for a discussion while Agil had Kibaou apologize to Diabel for his behavior. With all the smiling going on down there, it looks like everyone's getting along.

"Well guys, let's get moving and farm some stuff." Naruto declared, "Who's in?"

The cloaked one, Asuna, just got up and left. Kirito decided to meet up with the others tonight, so that left Naruto, Kiriko, and Strea.

"I guess it's just us." Strea said.

"Truer words have never been spoken." Naruto said, "Let's go, while the duck-butt and his crew are harassing the others with their so-called superiority."

Kiriko and Strea nodded as one and left with Naruto was Diabel frowning at them as they disappeared.

(Floor 01: Western Fields)

"So, who were those guys you didn't want to confront?" Strea asked as she defeated a Wild Wolf, "I swear, their leader looks like he want to rape someone."

"His name is Uchiha Sasuke, an arrogant toerag with a superiority and inferiority complex from the infamous Uchiha Family." Naruto said as he stepped on a Slime.

"Uchiha Family?!" Strea repeated, "Then, he and his friends are from that school, Konoha Academy?!"

"Right in one." Naruto said, slashing through another Wild Wolf, "If he and his buddies are here, then who knows how many other students from Konoha Academy are here. And even worse, what if some of them are beta-testers?"

"Even worse, what if some of them are-" Kiriko started.

"No doubt here may be some of them." Naruto groaned, "And if they become PKs, aka Player Killers, everyone's screwed."

"Oh joy. This game's got a whole lot dangerous." Kiriko said sarcastically, dodging a Wild Boar, "But never fear, for we have you, right?"

"Of course! I'll never let any of my friends, or anyone in my party die!" Naruto declared, killing another Wild Wolf.

"Keh! We only just met, but I'll hold you to that." Strea said, winking at her two teammates, swinging her greatsword around in a wide arc, and killing three monsters in one stroke.

"So who are the other guys with the Uchiha?" Kiriko asked.

"The one with pink hair is Haruno Sakura, a shrieking banshee of a fangirl who always put her foot in her mouth and doesn't know when to shut up. The one with the canine markings on his face is Inuzuka Kiba, who thinks all good-looking ladies are nothing but trophies to rut with. And then there's Hyuuga Neji, who thinks fate rules over all, and that destiny's always in his favor."

"What an unstable group, and they're going to be with us during the boss raid?" Kiriko moaned, "We're doomed."

Strea nodded, "I second that."

Naruto sighed, killing several more monsters, "Just keep your guard up around them and focus on the boss."

Both girls nodded, "Roger."

(Floor 01: Village, Nighttime)

All the players in the village participating in the campaign were enjoying themselves as much as they since tomorrow is not promising. They ate, drank, shared stories, and laughed with each other.

Meanwhile, Asuna was sitting alone at a bench try to eat a stale piece of bread.

"Taste bland doesn't it?" asked a voice behind Asuna, who turned around to see Naruto, Kirito, Kiriko, and Strea.

"You don't mind if we sit there do you?" Naruto asked.

Asuna shook her head, letting her party members next to her. Each of them took out the same kind of bread she has and began to eat.

"It does taste bland, but this is all we have until we reach the next floor." Asuna said quietly, "I'm sure one eating the same bread every day for a month can get used to the taste."

"Yeah, but it doesn't hurt to change up every once in a while." Naruto said as he dug in his pocket.

"Change it up?" Asuna repeated when Naruto took out a jar and set it on the bench.

"Yep. Try putting some of this on the bread." Naruto offered, putting his finger on the jar and drawing on a semi-transparent blue ball of light to swipe on his bread, followed by the twins, and a curious Strea and Asuna.

"Cream?" asked a surprised Asuna as jar of cream shattered from losing it's durability.

"Custard cream to be exact." Kiriko said as she began eating her bread with custard cream at a fast pace while Kirito shook his head at his sister's eating habits as he took a bite of his bread.

"…"

"…"

Asuna and Strea looked at each other before they both bit into their bread and froze.

"Are they lagging?" Kirito wondered when they didn't move for a few seconds.

Suddenly, they devoured the rest of their bread at a faster pace than Kiriko, and then let out a sigh of content.

"Where exactly did you get this cream from?" asked a curious Strea.

"Along was the recipe, it's a reward for a quest called "The Heifer Strikes Back" at the village before this town." Naruto answered as he finished his bread, "If you'd like, we can lead you to the quest so that you can complete it."

Asuna shook her head, "Thank you, but good food isn't the reason I came to this town."

"Why did you, then?" Kirito asked.

"So I can still be me." Asuna said, playing her hands, "I'd rather remain myself until the very end than sit and rot away at some inn in the first town. Even if I get killed by a monster, I don't want to lose to this game–to this world, no matter what. I'm sure you feel the same, Strea-san."

All eye turned to Strea, who looked surprised.

"How can you tell?" she asked quietly, her hair shadowing her eyes.

"You have the same eyes I do." Asuna said simply, "Eyes that show the refusal to kneel over and die while everyone else is fighting."

"…"

Kirito sighed, "I wouldn't want a party member to die on me."

Naruto finished the last piece of his bread before standing up, "You all have my word that none of you will die while you partying with me. You can trust me when I tell you that you will all live to see the end of the boss fight."

(Floor 01: Forest Field, December 3, 2022)

The raiding group composed of multiple parties trekked their way through the forest with the tower as their destination, with Naruto's party bringing up the rear.

"Alright team, let's go over the plan. Our dear leader Diabel assigned us as Group H and gave us the job of targeting the boss's underlings, the Ruin Kobold Sentinels, as well as providing support for the other groups if they need it." Naruto told his team.

"What are the group's jobs?" Strea asked, looked over her greatsword.

"Groups A and B are heavy armored Tank parties. Groups C-E, with Diabel the leader of Group C and the Konoha party being Group D, are high movement Assault parties. Groups F-G are long weapon support parties. Luckily, the group we're assigned to help the most is Kibaou's group, Group E." Kiriko explained.

"Use sword skills to knock away their poleaxes and regular attacks to damage them. The moment they're inflicted with the Stagger effect, use Tag Team and Unison attacks to defeat them." Naruto instructed.

"Tag Team and Unison attacks?" Asuna and Strea asked, with question marks appearing on their heads.

"Is this the first time you two have been in a party?" Kirito asked.

"Hai."

Kirito groaned, making Kiriko slap him in the back of his head.

"Mmm. Basically, Tag Team attacks is when you attack together with another player, and Unison attacks when you attack with two or more players in a party. Depending on the attack used, they target one, two, or more enemies. Savvy?"

"Just watch me and Arashi." Kiriko said, wary of the listening skills of certain players, "We're the masters of team attacks."

"Anything else we should know?" Strea asked, "Like the overall strategy?"

Naruto was about to answer when Kirito answered instead, "The two Tank parties will keep the attention and sustain the pressure on the boss. Assault Parties C and D will concentrate on the dealing damage to the boss, while the Assault Party E will focus their attention on the sentinels. The Support parties would primarily use the Delay skill to interrupt either the boss's or guards' attacks, and relieve pressure whenever possible."

"They should've sent a scouting party." Asuna muttered, "The information from the boss battle is from the Closed Beta. What if things are different?"

Kirito shrugged, "Then we'll just have warn them."

"Not to mention save the others' asses." Naruto added.

(Floor 01: Tower, December 3, 2022)

After fighting through the dungeon, the raiding party finally made it to the entrance to the boss room. Diabel stood behind them, looking over the players he gathered for this fight.

"What are we waiting for!" shouted the pink haired girl Naruto identified as Haruno Sakura, "Let's get that weakling so Sasuke-kun can advance to the next floor!"

Almost everyone shook her head after releasing their ears from the confines of their hands.

"You heard her." Sasuke said arrogantly, "Let's do this."

"Well, I just have one thing to say." Diabel said, "Let win this!"

Everyone nodded as Diabel shouted, "Let's go!"

He pushed the doors opened and everyone walked into the room with weapons in hand cautiously. Naruto took note that the room is twenty meters wide by 100 meters deep.

As soon as everyone was in, a light spread all over, illuminating the room, as a figure landed in front of the raiding party.

He is over two meters tall, muscular, covered in red and blue-grey fur, and its eyes are golden-red. In its hands is a bone axe and a leather shield. Behind its waist is the supposed Talwar weapon.

When it touched down, it roared, the force blowing over all the players as it's name is revealed along with four HP bears.

[Illfang the Kobold Lord]

Along with it's roar, three demi-human monsters spawned in front of Illfang with one HP bar.

[Ruin Kobold Sentinel]

All four monsters started charging at the raiding party, signaling the beginning of the boss fight.

"Here they come!" Strea shouted.

"Commence the attack!" Diabel ordered, with players running at their only obstacles to the 2nd Floor and charged their sword skills to clash with the Kobolds.

Groups A to C engage Illfang at the front while Groups E and G engage the sentinels. After a few minutes, Illfangs first HP gauge is depleted, with Group D rotating out with Group C and engages Illfang for the second HP gauge. Around that time, the Tank groups HP were in the yellow region. Five minutes later, The second HP gauge is depleted. Group G changes targets and moves to engage Illfang while Groups F and G deplete Illfang's third HP gauage out of four. After half of it's fourth HP is depleted, Groups A, B, and D moved to attack Illfang while Group C disrupted it's attacks.

All of this happened in a span of fifteen minutes, and so far so good, no one died yet.

"Group C, keeping guarding and prepare to switch on my mark." Diabel ordered, "Group D, draw back and flank it! Group H, continue to keep Sentinels away from us!"

"Roger!" Naruto shouted as he and his party were on the verge of defeating the last two Sentinels.

"Here!" Kirito shouted as he disrupted and knocked back a Sentinel.

"Ikuzo, Asuna-san!" Strea shouted as she rushed in with her.

"Hai, Strea-san!"

"Multi Impact Cross!" they yelled with Asuna attacking with multiple Linear thrusts with Strea attacking with a multiple slash attacks at the same time.

"Heh, calling them beginning won't cut it with those two." Naruto muttered as he watched Asuna and Strea in action, "They so fast I doubt Kirito and Kiriko-chan can follow their blades."

Smirking, he focused on the last Sentinel and attacked with a few quick slashes, staggering it, "The last one! Kirito! Kiriko-chan!"

"We got him!" Kiriko shouted, charging in.

"Let's go Kiriko!"

"Cross Thrust!" the twins shouted, attacking with simultaneous Thrusts, eliminating the last of the Sentinels.

"All right!" Naruto cheered, then turned back to Illfang to find that the giant boss's HP is finally in the red, "It's time team. Get ready!"

Naruto's party and some of the other players prepared themselves as Illfang tossed away his axe and shield.

"Looks like that guidebook was right on the money!" Kibaou said with a victorious grin.

"Stand back!"

Everyone looked at Diabel, confused as he rushed in, "I'll finish him!"

"What?" Kirito said, dumbfounded, "But this where the whole group is supposed to surround the boss and same with multiple Unison attacks."

Kiriko's eyes widened, "Wait a minute…!"

It was then Naruto realized what Diabel's interior motive was, "Motherfucker! He's going after the Last Attack Bonus!"

As Diabel overcharged his sword skill to finished off the boss and moved in to attack, Illfang reach behind himself to pull out his secondary weapons, and it was not curved as described in the guidebook, to Naruto, Kirito, and Kiriko's horror.

"Oh no!" Kiriko cried.

"Son of a bitch!" Naruto cursed, "Asuna was right!"

"What?" Strea asked, "What's wrong?"

"That's not a talwar! It's a nodachi!" Kirito revealed, "It's different from what it was in the beta test!"

"You idiot! That's not a talwar!" Naruto roared, drawing everyone's attention except Diabel's, "We need to regroup before it targets you!"

But it was too late, as Illfang targeted Diabel and suddenly jumped up and hopped around from pillar to pillar at an awfully fast pace, shocking the hell out of Diabel before it landed back on the ground while delivering a vicious slash in the form of a Critical Hit to Diabel, inflicting him with the Stun status effect. Diabel was knocked into the air, screaming in pain from the huge gash he received, but Illfang was not done. Illfang delivered a brutal hit to Diabel, knocking him further into the air and staggering him, and then hit him with a four-hit combo with the last hit slamming him back into the ground.

"Diabel!" Kibaou cried, as Illfang landed in front of the rest of the raiding party and roared, scaring the crap out of them.

"Diabel-san!" Kiriko shouted she and her party members ran to his aid.

"He's losing HP, fast." Strea said, horrified.

"Why the hell did you try and face it alone you idiot." Naruto snapped as he pulled out a potion, "I know you saw that wasn't a talwar Illfang whipped out."

Naruto was about to heal Diabel when the latter stopped him.

"Baka! What are you doing?" Naruto growled as he tried to heal Diabel.

"It's okay." Diabel said weakly, "But you'd know why I tried to do what I did, if you were also a beta-tester, right?"

Kiriko gasped, "So that's where me, my brother, and Arashi-kun saw you."

"You wanted the rare item from the Last Attack Bonus." Kirito realized, "So you were a beta-tester."

Diabel smiled as he started to glow, "Please…Defeat…Defeat the boss and save everyone. For their sake…It's up to you guys now…"

With that, Diabel closed his eyes as he shattered into blue data fragment, signifying his death to everyone's horror.

"Diabel, even though you were one of those selfish beta-testers, you never abandoned the other players. Despite you wanting the Last Attack Bonus from the boss, you led everyone and fought alongside them brilliantly. For that, you have my respect." Naruto muttered, "Requiemscat in pace, Diabel."

"So what now, Naruto-san?" Strea asked, severely shaken but not closing her grip on her greatsword.

Naruto looked over at Illfang who roared at the players, and twirled his sword around, "We fight, to live tomorrow. Who's with me?"

Kirito nodded, Kirito gave a cheesy thumbs-up, and Strea also nodded hesitantly. Asuna however, went next to Naruto's side.

"I'll go to." she said.

"Thanks. Now let's do this. We'll do it just like we did with the Sentinels. Let's go!"

Naruto and his group charged at Illfang, who sent the other players in full retreat. He saw Naruto's party running at him and targeted them.

"Surround and stagger him! Disrupt the first hit of his sword combos to stop his attacks!" Naruto ordered, "Once he's staggered, time your Tag Team and Unison attacks so he won't attack. We'll try to finish him within one stagger cycle!"

Kirito charged his sword skill and parried Illfang's attack. Next, Strea knocked Illfang back as Naruto, Kiriko, and Asuna rushed in to attack before it's Stagger Gauge depletes, as Illfang quickly recovered.

"Arashi! Asuna! Sis!" Kirito cried out.

"Look out!" Strea screamed.

Thanks to their warning, they managed to dodge Illfang's attack at the last second, but lost their cloaks in the process as the one formerly in the reddish-brown cloak counter attack with a Linear, finally Staggering Illfang and sending him flying.

Naruto, Kirito, Kiriko, and Strea looked in awe at their finally unmasked comrade. She has orange-brownish chestnut hair, hazel eyes and wearing a dark red vest over a white sweater, a red skirt, white leggings, and brown boots.

"So this is Asuna." Naruto smiled, "She's quite the babe. She should keep the cloak off."

Naruto suddenly paled when he saw that he and Kiriko's cloaks were off, "Uh-oh…"

"Dobe?!"

"Naruto-baka? What are you doing here?!"

Naruto sighed, "Fuck."

"Ignore them." Kiriko said, " We can't lose our momentum, specially since the enemy's still staggered!"

"Hai, hai." Naruto said he rushed in to attack.

Illfang was having a really bad day as his attacks were repeatedly interrupted and he was hit with multiple team attacks. Roaring, he lashed out, catching Naruto and Kirito. They both flew back with gashes on their bodies from the attack as the girls caught them. They were terrified to see both their HP drop to half. Illfang then overshadowed the group and charged up his weapon, intent on ending their lives. The girls closed their eyes and bought up their weapons to block, but a sudden attack interrupted Illfang's attack. The girls opened their eyes to find Agil saving them as he knocked back Illfang.

"We'll hold them off until you recover!" Agil said as the other players charged in.

"Thanks man." Naruto responded as he and his party bought out potions.

The raiding party overwhelmed Illfang, but Illfang finally recovered from the Stagger infliction and counterattack, knocking back most the players.

"I won't let you stop me!"

"Shannaro!"

Sasuke sword suddenly was engulfed in flames as he tried to attack Illfang. Sakura also trued to attack Illfang with her hammer, while Kiba's spun around with his sword with Neji's eyes suddenly had veins around them. But Illfang knocked them back and floored them comically. Illfang then jumped up, about to use a devastating sword skills on all the downed players with it's nodachi.

It was at this point that Naruto and his team finally recovered.

"Watch out!"

Naruto and Kirito rushed in to intercept Illfang's intentions.

"We'll get you first!" Kirito roared as he parried Illfang's attack and slashed it down.

"Eat this! Kenatsu!" Naruto's blade glow an eerie color and swung it at Illfang, damaging him and knocking him to the other side of the room.

"Kirito! Kiriko! Asuna! Strea!" Naruto shouted as he and Kirito charged at the downed Illfang, with the girls catching up, "Time to end this once and for all! Attack, and don't let up!"

"Got it!"

They all roared battle cried as they ran straight forward to a recovering Illfang.

"I don't think so!" Strea yelled as she parried Illfang's attack away from her party.

Asuna then rushed forward and with multiple lightning-quick Linears. Naruto then came forward and gave Illfang a slash across it's chest, triggering a Critical Hit and making it roar in pain.

"Kirito! Kiriko-chan! Finish it!" Naruto yelled as, Asuna, and Strea drew back.

Kitito and Kiriko charged their sword skills and delivered the last blow together.

"Cross Slash!"

They completely slashed through the giant boss's body and face with an upwards slash, depleting it's HP. Illfang roared for one last time until it shattered into blue data fragments and left behind a message in mid-air.

[Congratulations!]

"We…we did it!" shouted a random player.

Everyone cheered and celebrated as notices appeared around them; now believing that it's possible to complete the game and get back to the real world.

"Nice." Strea said, looking Kirito and Kiriko, who both have the same unique notices.

[Congratulations] – [You got the last attacking bonus!]

[*BONUS ITEM*] – [COAT OF MIDNIGHT]

"Good work." Asuna praised.

"That was splendid swordsmanship." Agil added, coming up to the group, "Congratulations. We owe this victory to you all."

"We're just doing our part to save everyone from this eternal nightmare." Naruto shrugged as every clapped for Group H. Well, almost everyone, as some undesirables starting coming up to Naruto and his group.

"Here we go." Naruto whispered.

"Will you be okay?" Kiriko asked, holding his wrist.

"I'll be fine." Naruto assured her as he stood up and faced his former classmates from Konoha Academy.

"It's been a long time, dobe." Sasuke said, sneering.

"Too long, Uchiha. How're things at Konoha Academy?"

"Crap, thanks to you and your family." Kiba growled.

"Hey mutt. I see you're attracting fleas as usual, even in the game." Naruto taunted, angering the Inuzuka, "As for my leaving the school, you should blame the administration for being crooked."

"My parents were only doing what was right!" Sakura shrieked, "They were only stopping you and your sister from cheating!"

"Delusional as usual, Haruno." Naruto sighed, shaking his head, "Too bad they couldn't convince the jury since there were cameras in all the rooms and areas of the Academy."

"Your parents bribed the jury!" Sakura screamed as she tried to punch Naruto, but failed when he parried her punch by activating a skill on his arm, knocking her back.

"Video footage never lies, so the jury doesn't need bribing to see the facts." Naruto stated flatly.

"It doesn't matter, because it's fate that'll bring our Academy back to it's former glory." Neji replied, "And it's your destiny to be bought back to the school to be the scapegoat you and your family are."

"My ass, you fate loving bitch." Naruto snarled.

"Why you-"

"Why?!"

Kibaou's voice echoes through the room, interrupting Naruto and his former classmates' tirade against each other.

"Never mind those idiots! Why did you let Diabel die?!" Kibaou cried.

"Let him die? What exactly do you mean by that?!" Naruto snapped, not in the mood for more negativity.

"That right! You and your group knew the techniques that the boss used! If you had given us that information from the get-go, Diabel wouldn't have died!" Kibaou yelled at him.

"So what are you implying?!" Kiriko asked angrily.

"They must've been beta-testers!" a random player accused, "That's how some of them knew all the boss's attack patterns! They knew, but didn't tell us!"

"Uh-oh." Kirito muttered, "Then isn't good."

"There are other beta-testers here too, right? Show yourselves!" the random player shouted, causing murmurs along the crowd as they looked at each other.

"Not good." Naruto muttered, "At this rate, there'll be distrust along all the players, and they'll never get out of this game."

"So what do we do?" Kiriko asked.

Naruto, Kirito, and Kiriko looked at each other, smiled, and nodded.

"Hey, come on." Agil said, trying to calm Kibaou and the other players down.

"Yeah, there no prove that my teammates are-" Strea started before three evil, trolling laughter echoed throughout the boss room, making everyone turn to the source.

Naruto, Kirito, and Kiriko.

"Wha-What are you all laughing about?" Sasuke asked, scared like the others at the outburst.

"A beta-tester you say?" Kiriko asked with an evil glint in her eyes, "You got balls the size of bowling balls to compare us to those fucking newbies. In fact, we rather you didn't, you Kasnai-yarou."

"Wh-What?!" Kibaou stuttered.

"Guys…" Strea started slowly, "What's going on with you?"

"You want to know an interesting truth?" Kirito smirked, "We find out that Diabel was a beta-tester when we tried to heal him." he revealed, drawing shocked looks from the others, "But out of all the beta-testers we've met, he's gained our respect, not to mention he helped us all."

"There's another fact." Naruto spoke up as he and the twins walked forward, with the other players stepping back, "Most of the thousand SAO beta-testers were beginners like you who didn't even know how to level up. Hell, by the time this game came out, most of them were still stuck at Level 1. We'll give credit where credit's due, you guys are better than they are. But we are not like them, right guys?"

Kirito and Kiriko both nodded, smirking as they stopped in the middle of the crowd.

"Here's something some of you numbnuts should know. While the other beta-testers were stuck on Floor 02, me, my brother, and Arashi-kun here has made it further up than anyone else during the beta test!" Kiriko declared.

"And to clarify, we only knew about the boss's katana skills because we've fought many katana-wielding monsters on floors far above here and there!" Naruto snarled, mostly directly at the random player.

"We know a lot more than that." Kirito added smugly, "Way more than any information broker out there."

"To sum to up, Kibaou-san, we're the best damn beta-testers SAO's ever produced!" Naruto declared, straight in Kibaou's face.

"Wh-what?" Kibaou took a step back, "That's way worse than a beta-tester! You three are cheating! You're cheaters!"

"Yeah, cheaters!"

"Beta-testers and cheaters…"

"They're Beaters!"

Asuna and Strea sweatdropped and looked at their party members who are now coined Beaters.

"Wow, there's an awful lot of butt-hurt here." Naruto laughed.

"Beaters eh?" Kiriko gave an evil smirk, "What do you think, bro?"

"I like the sound of that." Kirito agreed, "How about you, Arashi?"

"Keh, I like it too, but you two know I'm much more than that."

At everyone's confused looks except Kirito and Kiriko, Naruto proceeded to explain.

"I'm one of those players like these Konoha guys with a special ability not everyone else have." Naruto said as he raised his sword, "Let me show you what I mean."

He targeted a pillar and focused energy into his blade, making his sword glow a blue light different from a sword skill.

"Getsuga…TENSHO!" Naruto roared, bringing his sword down and firing off a wave of energy in the shape of a Crescent Moon and destroyed the pillar. Naruto was sure that some of the players just pissed their pants at what they just saw.

Before Kibaou could stutter again, Naruto explained, "There are players out there that can bring their abilities and powers like telekinesis and mind-reading from the real world and into the virtual world via their own Source Code that they unintentionally gain when they first enter a virtual environment. Some of them don't even know that they have it."

"What are players called?" Strea asked, curious.

"Hackers." Naruto revealed, "Players with a Source Code that also grant them manipulation of themselves and the virtual environment to a certain extent, and since SAO doesn't have magic, Hackers still can't use it, since the Source Code adapts their powers to whatever environment they're in. Also, hackers are ranked by numbers. The lower their number, the more powerful the Hacker is."

"Don't tell me…" Kibaou took a step back, "You're a…"

"That right, you moron. I'm a Hacker, and my rank SAO gave me…is #0." Naruto gave a fox-like grin, "I'm the Zero Hacker, and I don't give a fuck what you fools think of me."

"You? The Zero Hacker?! You lie!" Sasuke shouted.

"Do I even want to know your rank?" Naruto asked with an eyebrow raised as he looked at his HUD, "Oh wait, I see…"

"Sasuke-kun's the real Zero Hacker!" Sakura shrieked.

"No, he's not." Naruto stated flatly, "Even we Hackers can see each others ranks in case you forgot. And you four aren't even in the low double digits."

Smirking at their infuriated faces, Naruto turned back to the other players, "I'm a Hacker, and my two friends here are Beaters, so from now on, don't you dare put us with those other testers, or I will fuck you up."

As he said this, the twins opened their inventories and selected the Coat of Midnight, equipping them. Kirito and Kiriko now wore black trenchcoats over their basic gear and clothes.

As Naruto opened his own inventory, he noticed a gift box icon. Pressing it, a ton of items began flooding into his inventory. Items that are not native to the game, and some of them can only be open at a certain level.

"Looks like I'm giving support from the girls at Spiral Corp." he thought, "Must be Karin-chan."

Smiling, he randomly selected two items he's currently able to equip: Wesker's Trenchcoat, and Neo's Sunglasses. A moment later, Naruto's now dressed in a black leather trenchcoat and some awesome looking sunglasses. He looked at the players and simply said, "What? You mad? Trade secret. Plus, since we now know that the way bosses fight will be different from the Closed Beta, some of the information in the guidebook about the bosses should now be taken with a grain of salt, but don't let that stop you."

He turned the twins and said, "Let's roll."

As they reach the steps to the next floor, Asuna and Strea caught up to them.

"Wait."

They stopped and turned to their party members.

"That was one badass display." Strea smiled, "No doubt the heat's off the beta-testers, right?"

"It should." Kiriko shrugged, "Hope you weren't offended."

"Of course not." Strea said, shaking her head.

"There is something I want to address." Asuna spoke up, "You three called out my name when we were fighting, and I know told my name to Strea-san."

"Sorry if one of us referred to you impolitely." Naruto apologized, "Was I the one who messed up the pronunciation?"

"How did you all know it?" Asuna asked.

"What?" Naruto pointed to a spot in his HUD, "You can see other HP gauges below yours, around here, right? Do you see several other names?"

Asuna looked at her HUD and finally saw her teammates' names for the first time.

"Strea. A-ra-shi. Ki-ri-to. Ki-ri-ko." she read, "Oh…"

"So you can see them." Strea teased her.

Asuna giggled, "Yeah. So they were there the whole time!"

Kirito and Strea facepalmed while Naruto and Kiriko did a comedic faceplant before getting back up.

"Geez, you gonna pay more attention." Naruto grumbled, "But you and Strea will go far."

"What?" Asuna and Strea were surprised.

"What she means that you'll soon become really powerful." Kirito clarified, "So if someone you trust ever invites you to join a guild, don't turn them down."

"There's a big limit to what you can do as a solo player." Kiriko added.

"But what about you guys?" Asuna asked.

Kirito just took himself out of the party and walked through the open doors.

"Guess he'll be soloing." Naruto sighed, "As for me, I'll just take myself wherever the wind goes I guess."

"Then I hope you don't mind me tagging along for the ride." Kiriko said.

"Just keep your Ethics Code on." Naruto teased.

That comment got an embarrassed Kiriko with her sword out chasing after Naruto to the 2nd Floor.

"What will you do, Strea-san?" Asuna asked as Strea took them both out of the party.

"Me? Well, I'll get stronger first before joining up with Naruto and Kiriko in the future. You?"

"I'll get stronger and join a guild so that my skills will get put to good use."

Strea nodded as she disbanded the party, "Good luck."

"You too." Asuna nodded back.

Asuna went ahead to the second floor as Strea walked past the raiding group and back to the first floor to deliver the news that the raiding was successful and it is possible to clear the game. Along the way, he bro-fisted Agil and dodged the Konoha group's attempts to question her.

"Hard to tell if things are really looking up…"

END OF CHAPTER TWO

Next time – Chapter 03: Black Cats of the Full Moon

-Several months have passed since the clearing of Floor 01, and the duo of Naruto and Kiriko reunite with Kirito when they joined the Black Cats of the Full Moon Guild after rescuing them from certain doom to help it's members get to the front lines. But problems ensue when the duo finds out that Kirito hid his true level from the rest of the guild, unlike them. And when things come to a head that endangers the lives of the rest of the guild, will Naruto and Kiriko be able to save them, while avoiding the annoying interferences of the Konoha Guild?

READER INTERACTION: You guys get to choose the fate of the Black Cats of the Full Moon Guild. It's simple: Do you want them to live to enter the front-lines, or do you want them to die, causing a strain in the relationship between Naruto/Kiriko and Kirito? Put down your choice in the review section and the votes will be tallied. Keep in mind that whatever happens won't change Sachi's fate. Happy voting!

Released: Friday, January 03, 2013

Edited: Tuesday, January 08, 2013