AN: New story from me, Naruto/SAO crossover. I truly hope to receive from positive feedback from this prologue, as it will give me the motivation I need to write this story. I will be honest I am busy but this story has consumed me for awhile and I want to share it. This prologue wont make a lot of sense at first as it takes place close to the very end. Should i choose to continue this story all will be explained, please enjoy and I await your comments and critique.

Darksbre110

Rice Country:

Ten days until the end of the world.

It was one of the few forests in a country of rolling plains. Her opponents were waiting for her somewhere within the thick foliage, the slight wind hid their scent from anyone who did not specialize in tracking. Eyes the color of chestnuts scanned the surroundings, seeing the slight sway of the bushes and the leaves floating past as they should in the autumn months. Her hair, only a shade lighter then her eyes, whipped around her as she took more steps, cautious of where she was walking. She feared what plans the enemy may hold. A slight shuddering breath escaped her lips and she closed her eyes, trying to hone in on their chakra signatures. This was not a hard feat considering the massive size of one of the signatures. That single chakra presence filled her with an unmistakable dread. It was not fear, no she would never be afraid of it. It could undoubtedly take her life at this moment and no trace of fear would cross her heart, only an unparalleled sadness and regret.

Her steps crunched through a particularly thick clump of leaves and she reached out and put her hand against a tree, leaning around it. When she saw nothing she decided to jump to the trees, landing on the first thick branch with ease as she began to quickly move toward the chakra signature she knew so well. She squashed the dread that grew within her heart as she approached closer and closer. Slashing her fist across her eyes abruptly she removed the tears before they could fall down her cheeks. She did not want this fight but she had no choice. She and Naruto had spoken about it at length and this was the only way, she had to go in and meet the pair alone.

They were just ahead now and she could not help but release a shuddering gasp as her heart raced in her chest. Clenching her fist until her fingernails began to bite into her palms, she dropped back down to the forest floor. She landed with ease and instantly stood to her full height, making slow, painfully slow, steps toward the small clearing in front of her. Giving one last look at the forest around her, she could not help but feel a wave of pity and guilt at all the life this fight would literally tear asunder. Swiping at her eyes again she walked into the clearing and realized no amount of preparing and steeling herself could prepare her for seeing him again.

He was on one knee in front of 'her', his head lowered and his eyes closed. She could not hear 'her' words but could tell that she was speaking to him, calm eyes roving over his body with a want only she herself had ever matched.

"We have no choice Asuna-sensei! I do not want to do this either!" She remembered the words of her one time student, the conversation had only taken place an hour ago but Asuna could not help but remember it. Taking cautious steps further and further, she took a single glance away from the pair to look at her trembling hands. Next her eyes glanced back, seeing the thin straight sword there. It was so like the rapier she had used in Sword Art Online, though in this world it held no crossguard. Seeing the sheathed blade she wanted to break down and cry. Her beloved had made it for her four years earlier and she had cherished it every single day without fail. She thought about the smile he had on his face just after she had pulled it from the wooden box that was its resting place. She did not want to draw the blade in this fight. She would not use it on the very person who had given her the beloved weapon.

Her treasured weapon would not be drawn against the person that had stolen her heart all those years earlier.

Neither opponent had yet to move from their position, choosing instead to exchange quite words. 'Her' eyes, Asuna could see, did not even glance in Asuna's direction, choosing instead to gaze lovingly at 'him'.

"It seems they have come my Knight." 'She' said to him. His head rose to look at 'Her', not even looking to Asuna. Her heart cracked a little more at the coldness of those eyes. "Remove them so that we may be free." Even to Asuna those words sounded like the sweetest melody, even if they were of the darkest intent.

"As my Empress commands." He replied, rising from his feet. He was now looking down at the woman he had called his empress, standing a whole head taller then both of the woman in the field. His black war coat swayed in the wind. After he stood, Asuna could not help but notice how much he had changed recently.

It was the chakra corruption.

His eyes had become a bright glowing yellow and his skin had paled to the point of becoming translucent. beneath that skin one could see his chakra pathways as sickly black lines that streaked across his face like a terrifying set of tattoos. It was the price he paid when he used his greatest ability. The ability that had defeated the most powerful of enemies, though Asuna firmly believed the price was to great. Looking at her now, his eyes framed in black, he came to a stop about fifteen yards from her.

"Kirito-kun." She said to him quietly. She noticed he had yet to call forth his weapons, hoping to use the chance to talk to her beloved. "She's controlling you, Kirito-kun. Please...don't let her do this." Asuna began to plead. She saw immediately that his face did not even seem to register her words. His glowing yellow eyes glared holes into her, that look hurt her deeply. Mentally screaming at herself not to cry, Asuna called up every ounce of strength to meet and hold that gaze.

"You should not have come here." Was all he said. The Empress smiled only slightly behind him, and Asuna could not help her lips from quivering at those words. Abruptly, he slapped his hands together and his chakra flared. Throwing his hands apart, two longsword like blades appeared, one in each hand. She knew immediately that he had no intention of holding back on her, it would be pointless. They knew each other so well, she was sure she could read most of his abilities before he could finish them. Both of their strikes would be anticipated before they could even get them off. It would be a battle off attrition, they would wear the other down until one or the other faltered. She had prepared for this fight but that did not mean she was ready nor did she even want to raise a defense.

"This is where you will die, Asuna." He said quietly, his words barely holding any lilt of emotion. But it was there, she knew him well enough to hear it. She could hear a sadness there that she knew that even he did not notice. The Empress did not notice. It gave her a hope that she did not have before. Could she free him from the self proclaimed Empress's grasp? So it was with his next words that she finally found the determination to fight back, to beat him for the first time and save him from himself and his puppet master.

"No, Kirito-kun." She replied. She let the tears fall down her face and she gave him a watery smile that had her eyes closing. It was the most sincere smile she had been able to give in a long time. "I will live." A small gasp escaped from her lips as she broke over the next words. She opened her eyes again and nodded as more hot tears spilled down her face. "I will live, and so will you. Then we will go home. I will hold you, and tell you that everything will be alright. We will see Yui-chan, our precious daughter, and we will be happy again." She said her words with immense conviction, the passion poured from her lips. The Empress looked away, but not before Asuna saw the shame there in her eyes. Kirito's own face looked stormy and he seemed to be having a mental battle with himself.

"Kill them, Kirito-kun." The Empress whispered over the wind. It happened instantly. The trees, grass, wildlife, died around her and Kirito's chakra spiked violently. She only had time to dive away as earth behind her erupted from an explosive impact.

"I love Kirito-kun." She said to herself as she looked at the dirt and trees fly in all directions from the point she had been only moments before. Gripping her sword on her back, she tore it from its sheath and allowed herself to prepare for the hardest fight of her life. The fight against her hero, her lover, her best friend, her partner, her husband, her soulmate. Chakra exploded around her and down her blade, sheathing her in a cloak of lightning chakra, her unparalleled affinity. The storm like chakra burst from her body in a maelstrom of destruction. It had trees combusting and deep gouges forming into the earth. The impact Kirito had caused was just now settling and she finally landed on the ground a hundred yards away on the edge of the crater he had created. There was no need to protect her face from the dust and debris, her cloak of lightning took care of it. Her body temperature rose and her hair whipped around her as if she were in a hurricane, coming undone from the thick braid she kept it in during missions. Her eyes fell into a calculating coldness as her jaw set into a tight clench. Falling into her sword stance, she held her blade in one hand. She held it eye level, pointing forward and ready for a thrust. She scanned the settling dust and saw two yellow points of light looking right at her. It was his eyes.

He approached rapidly and she gripped her blade tighter. She was ready for it and with a cry she spun in place, throwing her blade above her head just as his impacted. She had not seen him do it, only knew it would happen. The strike was like a clap of thunder and Asuna sucked in her breath. She held against both his blades as he was suspended above her. She slashed at him with a yell and he flew backwards, flipping around and landing unaffected on his knees. Asuna flared her lightning chakra and got into her fighting stance.

"Lightning Style:" She yelled. Kirito's eyes narrowed. "Strike Of A Thousand Storms Jutsu!" The chakra around her blade coalesced and she thrust it forward with a war cry. Lightning shot out of the tip of her blade, and with a crack of thunder raced toward Kirito. He slashed at the bolt with his left sword, dissipating the chakra based strike. Asuna was not done. Her cry got louder and she pulled her arm back. Faster then the eye could follow, she repeatedly began to jab forward, a bolt of lightning flying from the tip with each thrust. Kirito went into a frezy, his blades flying around him. The weapons themselves were only flashes of light as the lightning bent around and disappeared into him. Asuna did not let up, firing one after another into the raging storm of bladed defense in front of her.

She stopped abruptly and threw her head forward. Her target had disappeared from her line of sight. Suddenly, his right sword sundered the air her head had been a moment before in a vicious horizontal chop. She lurched forward, her right foot coming down hard as she slashed for his waist in an upward diagonal. His left blade smacked against her own and his foot shot forward, planting solidly in the center of her chest. She hacked up blood as the foot sent her flying back into the crater he had created. Landing abruptly on the ground, she rolled down the steep hill the crater had made, holding her blade close to her body as she was unable to slow her self. Finally slowing, she stood up quickly and looked above her. Kirito was upon her like a dark angel descending from the heavens. His eyes a fury of yellow as his blades were above him ready to cleave her in two. She dove to the side effectively out of his way and came up facing him just in time to go into a flurry of sword strikes with him.

Parrying two strikes, one at her right shoulder, the other at her left hip, she flared her lightning cloak around her body. Kirito hopped back from it and Asuna, seeing an opportunity, went on the offensive. She moved through an abrupt series of slashes and thrusts faster then even her opponent could hope to do. Relying on his superior reflexes, Kirito desperately dodged and parried the strikes. His eyes never left Asuna's. After throwing back a quick double thrust, Kirito struck out with his face, his forehead impacting Asuna's own. Giving a cry of pain, Asuna stumbled away from him.

He was on her like a snake on a mouse. His powerful chakra flared and his sword was cloaked in the thick black energy. The overhead chop that he brought down slashed through the air, breaking the sound barrier with its speed. Putting her blade up, Asuna angled the tip down. Kirito's blade slammed into hers with the force of an explosion. Her right leg buckled and Kirito's right sword slid down her blade and hit the ground next to her. This impact threw her away from him and put another smaller hole within the crater.

She was losing, it was obvious to her. Landing on her back hard, she cracked one eye open to look at Kirito, who stalked to her with barely a care. Exhaling loudly she sat up with a groan and clutched her sword tighter. She could not do this anymore, not at the level she was going. She knew from the start that she would need to go all out, fight harder then ever before. Could she do it? Could she go at the man she loved with the intent to kill? Clenching her teeth tightly, she allowed her eyes to set in a hard glare.

"Second gate open." She whispered. Her chakra spiked and her lightning cloak exploded around her with the power to light a city. "Third gate open." She growled out Another spike turned rocks and debris to dust, almost as if they had been struck by lightening. She'd never pushed herself like this, she never needed to. She truly knew what to expect from herself in theory. Kirito had stopped and was looking at her intently now, a single brow cocked in silent surprise. Her hair was directly above her as the chakra cloak was large enough to fit a handful of people. Lightning danced around her limbs and blades with random regularity. She took one step forward, the ground an inch ahead cracked and combusted.

Kirito grinned widely, the first show of an expression on his face. It was the same look he had given his enemies when he was ready to go all out on an enemy that he was prepared to die against. He was loving it.

Asuna was crying, her tears disintegrating into the cloak. Staring at her beloved through the electric blue light, she prepared herself emotionally for what she was about to do. When she committed she leaned forward, her blade at her side.

The bolt of lightning that shot toward Kirito was the size of a person. Swinging his left sword forward, his blade slammed into the bolt. The impact caused a deafening boom. The bolt halted with a crackling strobe of light and Kirito's eyes squinted painfully as it fell to the ground in front of him. Abruptly it shot to the side, stopped, then appeared behind and above his head. With a slight shift of his head, he barely dodged the bolt that scorched by.

Spinning, he struck at nothing but air as it was already on the move again. Around and around it went, his gaze barely able to track the sporadic flashes between each strike. After a successful dodge, he glanced to where Asuna had been moments before. His eyes only fell on the place for the briefest of instants, yet she was not there. The bolt stopped just in front of him and within that electric blue light, he saw Asuna's face. She moved so fast she had become the element she wielded, and in the next instant she was gone. She attacked from all sides, making a counter attack impossible.

Asuna jumped around him. "Faster." She said to herself. She struck three more times all around his body. To the left, above, behind, in front, high, low. "Faster, Faster." She said with more force, again, and again. With each impact she made, more of the land was disintegrated within the crater. Each time, a boom of thunder would rock the area. Their ears were bleeding, their eardrums punctured from the overwhelming sound. "Fourth gate open." She said desperately. Her foot hit the ground and she was gone again. Kirito gave a roar of determination and spun around to meet her. Their blades clashed abruptly and they broke apart again.

A frenzy of slashes ensued, both master blade users swinging their weapons faster and faster. Their blades moved too quick for even light to visibly reflect. Gouts of flames shot off from their chakra, clashing through the blades. Their eyes never left the others, needing only to meet each others gaze to defend against the others attack. The enemy lovers fought with everything they had, yet neither were able to push through the others defense. The earth around them, no longer able to withstand the onslaught, tore away with every step and every movement. Within all of this chaos, they simply met each others gaze. So much understanding passing between them, their shared experiences, her emotions, her feelings reached out to him like her blade would never be able to. The blade he had made for her, the blade that was saving her, the blade that broke a piece of herself each time she swung it at him.

With a roar, Kirito swung his right sword in an upward slash that started from the ground. Asuna locked her weapon in place, unable to dodge the impact, and was lifted her feet and up into the sky. Flying clear out of the crater, she got her bearings and spun her lightning cloak, allowing her to shoot herself toward the earth like the bolt of lightning she had become. Her eyes widened when she landed, she could see it. Steady waves of chakra flowed into the crater, roiling across the ground like a dark mist. It was his ability, the corrupting chakra that had led him to this point. He was pulling it all into him. Whatever that remained of the forest quickly died as Asuna could only stare with wide eyes.

With a slow gate, he walked out of the crater. Dark miasma of chakra swirled around him like an embrace of death itself. His yellow eyes glowed like twin suns. He was going to finish this fight with her. With this much chakra he would only need one blow to finish her. She had been prepared for this, of course, it had been part of the plan. There was only one way to counter the strike.

"Naruto," She whispered, knowing that their blonde haired friend had been waiting for this moment. "Do it." She gave her friend a spiritual push to do what neither wanted to do.

Kirito abruptly stopped in his tracks, as an explosion went off in the distance behind Asuna. He looked toward it, feeling a chakra level more powerful then his own, more powerful then Asuna's, make its presence known. Through the debris cloud, a roar could be heard, the sound literally causing an earthquake. Two red-orange tails lashed out from the smoke and dust, an entire range of hills were leveled. The clouds above darkened and rain began to pour over the area, lightning flashing across the sky as the newest malevolent chakra washed over them like a tsunami. The smoke subsided only to reveal a thick mist, as the rain literally evaporated around the massive entity that glared right at Kirito with bright crimson eyes.

"So this was your plan?" Kirito asked, looking at the Asuna, Her cloak still whipped around her violently. She gave a single nod.

"I'm sorry Kirito-kun, there was no other way." She said, and he gave her a look that said that he agreed with that statement. He stared at the beast as it took massive strides toward them. Sitting atop the Kyuubi's head was a single human. His blonde hair was matted from the rain. He wore an orange and black battle cloak, not so different from Kirito's.

"Then he has fully mastered his power." Kirito said, just loud enough for Asuna to hear. An almost wicked grin split across Kirito's face as he looked at Naruto atop the nine tailed fox's head. "Good." He said.

Taking only a few steps, the nine tailed fox came to a stop. The earth rumbled in protest of every movement the creature made. The Bijuu, and it's container, stared down at the battling lovers. The blonde did little to hide his raging emotions. There were so many things wrong with this. What kind of twisted world would make two people, who loved each other so much, fight each other to the death like this? With his thoughts consuming him, he barely felt the Kyuubi lower its body, or notice the rise of its nine tails. Naruto closed his eyes, tears falling from them as he did. The specks of water evaporated instantly. When he opened them, he threw his right arm up abruptly, his fingers splayed out and clawed.

"BIJUU BOMB!" Naruto roared as loud as he could. The Kyuubi's chakra coalesced at its open mouth. Naruto allowed himself a moment to glance at Asuna. Her chakra cloak fell away and she dropped to her knees looking at Kirito, facing away from Naruto.

The blast fired and the world exploded in a bright light.

Kirito smiled, his blade swinging toward the blast.