Swordsmen of Twilight

by Oturan Namikaze

Naruto Uzumaki Kayaba, the adopted younger brother of Akihiko Kayaba and the one of the first Beta Testers of Sword Art Online. Watch as he journeys through the 100 Floors of Aincrad with his friends and allies to defeat his older brother and put an end to this death game. Naruto's pairing is undecided, but there is a poll on my profile.

2. Beaters of SAO

Disclaimer: I do not own either Naruto or Sword Art Online. Those rights belong to both Masashi Kishimoto and Reki Kawahara respectively. I also don't own any other anime or video games, its characters, names, abilities, or and other references that might appear in this story. And so, without delay… Sit back, relax and enjoy the story.

People speaking: "I refuse to turn a blind eye."

People thinking: 'If I die in the game, I die for real.'

Creatures/Admin speaking: "Welcome to my world."

Notices/Messages/Pop-ups: 'This message will now self-destruct.'

Techniques/Items/Floor Titles: "Spiraling Overdrive!"

Chapter 2 – The Beaters of SAO

"One month has already passed and we're still no close to finding the Boss room." Kirito muttered as he and Naruto stood against a wall as they walked multiple player walk around the park square. "And to make things worse 2,000 people have already died."

Naruto turned to his partner with a grin before giving him a pat on the shoulder, "Cheer up Kirito! That's why we're here in Tolbana, there was announced about an important Boss meeting, remember?"

"Yeah but still, we were in the Beta Testing so we should have had some idea on where it could have been. That's the reason we are even going to the meeting, to see what information they may have gotten that was so important." Kirito replied quietly as he noticed a lot of players were starting to gather around the fountain.

Well you can't expect everything to be the exact same. Every official release is going to be different from its Beta Testing version, whether it is the small details or the bigger ones." Naruto let out a sigh as he scratched the back of his head, "We've been really lucky so far that most of Floor 1 is the same to when we were in the Beta Test."

"I suppose you're right about that… It looks like it's about to get started, we should join the others before they get started." Kirito said before kicking off the walk, turning back to Naruto in time to see him do the same. Like Naruto had said, most of the game had been the same as when they were in the Beta Test, but there were a few quests that were different than when they had took them the first time. Some involved the types of monsters they fought being a little stronger than the originals, while other differences involved extra treasure and rewards for quests. As Naruto took his first step he came to a halt as a message alert caught his attention, and quickly summoned his menu in order to view it. Kirito watched quietly as Naruto skimmed the message, before dismissing it with a swipe of his hand. "Is something wrong?"

"Nope, not really." Naruto shook his head a few times and flashed Kirito a smile, "I had sent a message to Klein to let him and his friends know about the meeting, but apparently they are on a quest right now in the town before this one."

"You talked to Klein?" Kirito's gaze went the floor with a sad expression, which caused Naruto to release a heavy sigh before smacking his hand into Kirito's back. "Ouch! Hey!"

"You really need to let that go, Klein and his friends are doing just fine. I'm sure we'll see them again."

Kirito raised his head a little to look at Naruto, rubbing the area where Naruto had smacked him. "Sometimes I wonder how you can be so positive about things."

"Believe me, I know that things can turn out ugly. But I like to think that no matter how bad something gets, they could have always turned out worse." Naruto continued to smile as he noticed that many of the players were starting to move to a new location, and gave Kirito a light push. "Let's get going, we don't want to miss the meeting."

"… Right." Kirito replied with a nod before he and Naruto started to follow after the crowd.

It didn't take long for Naruto, Kirito and the other players that gathered for the meeting to make their way to the actual meeting spot, which was actually an old Amphitheatre. Everyone quickly made their way to sit down just as a blue haired man wearing blue armor walked onto the stage. Naruto and Kirito sat at the upper levels of the Amphitheatre seats, much higher than the other players who were mostly sitting in the bottom six levels. Though as Naruto sat down next to Kirito he noticed that there was another person sitting as high as they were, though he wasn't able to see much of the person due to the large reddish-brown cloak they had over their body with the hood covering their face. Naruto studied the cloaked figure for a few seconds before hearing the sounds of someone clapping made his look down at the stage.

That person turned out to be the man standing at the center of the stage, "Okay people, now that you're all here let's get this meeting started! First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for coming today. For those that want to know, my name is Diabel." The newly named Diabel pounded his fist against his armored chest with a smile, "And in this game I take the job as Knight!"

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

"Is this meeting some kind of joke?"

"You should take this seriously!"

Naruto and Kirito silently watched as Diabel attempt to calm down the laughing crowd with a wave of his hands, the cheerful smile on his face doing a reversal as he stared out at the crowd with a serious expression. After a few seconds everyone's chatter slowly died down and he started to speak, "Now onto why I called you all here… Today, my party and I discovered the Boss Room at the top of the tower."

Whatever attention Diabel didn't receive from the crowd previously was now completely on the blue haired man. Naruto shifted his seated position and leaned his arms on his knees, 'They managed to find it…'

"We all know the in order to reach the second floor we need to beat the Boss. If everyone here works together then we can defeat him and once we do that we will tell everyone at The Town of Beginnings, that it is possible to beat this game!" Diabel raised his fist, clenching it tightly as his eyes scanned the crowd sitting in front of him. "This duty is something everyone here shares! Don't you all agree with me?"

Every stared quietly at the man before them, processing his words for what seemed like hours. Until the sound of clapping could be heard from one of the many players there and before long almost everyone had joined in, Kirito and Naruto only watched with small smiles on their faces. Naruto turned his head slightly to give Kirito a grin, "This guy must've practiced that motivational speech quite a bit, huh?" Kirito let out a chuckle but didn't reply as he continued to listen to the blue-haired man officially start the Boss meeting.

"In order for us to create a successful plan of attack, we will have to discard the typical party numbers and have everyone pair up into groups of at least six." Diabel's eyes scanned the crowds as many had already started to form party groups before continuing, "I am saying this to use the raid group tactic, which the best option when fighting Bosses."

Naruto and Kirito looked at each other before bumping the back of their fists, before looking back down at the other players. They both had a feeling that it would be something like this, which is why they were glad that there was someone at this meeting that they trusted. As they watched several parties being formed Naruto took notice to the cloaked figure sitting away from them and saw that they hadn't moved from their spot. Giving Kirito a slight nudge to catch his attention the two looked at the cloaked player and then back to each other, nodding their heads at the same time before standing up.

"Hey there," The cloaked player headed turned a little so they could see who spoke, which had been a blond teenager with his hand up in greeting and a smile on his face while a black haired boy around the same age was standing to the side.

"… Hello." Naruto blinked a few times when he heard the cloaked figure speak with a melodious voice that definitely belonged to a girl, and for some reason he felt as if he had heard it before.

"So did you get left out?" Kirito spoke up as he crossed his arms.

The cloak wearing female shook her head as she turned back to the numerous parties below, "Not really, it just looks like everyone are already friends down there."

"So does that mean you're a solo player? Then how about joining our team, it's just the two of us and having a third member in our party would be perfect." Kirito offered, to which Naruto nodded his head in agreement as the girl turned in their direction. "It would only have to be for this battle."

"… Alright," She said with a nod, to which Naruto smiled before swiping his hand down to summon his menu. He pressed several buttons, before pausing for a quick second, his eyes widening a little before returning to normal, and sent the party invitation to the cloaked female. A pop-up soon appeared in front of her and she glanced down at to read its message, and as she did she let out a small gasp. 'Naruto sent you an invitation to join his party, do you wish to join?'

Kirito watched with curiosity as the girl looked up from the screen and just stared at Naruto, who grinned a little before speaking. "It's great to see that you're still doing fine, we'll have more time to talk after the meeting. Do you think you could wait till then?"

The cloak-wearing girl nodded her head in response and pressed the green confirmation button, joining Naruto and Kirito's party. Her health bar appeared under theirs in the party list at the top left corner of their sight. Kirito looked at her health bar and saw that the name next to it said Asuna. 'Asuna, huh? How does she and Naruto know each other?'

"Alright," Diabel spoke up a few minutes later when things finally started to quiet down, his words catching everyone's attention as they turned back to look at him. "It looks you all managed to find groups to team up with. Now then-"

"Hold up a sec!" A new voice shouted before the blue-haired man could finish. Everyone turned to look behind them at the very back of the amphitheater where they could see a male figure standing there with his arms crossed. Not even a second later he man there for long as he quickly made his way down to the stage by jumping on the stone seats. The man had strangely spiked sienna hair that looked very similar to a cactus and a small tuff of hair for a beard. His clothes didn't stand out much, the standard clothing used by regular players with a grey scale armor plated vest and a One-Handed Sword strapped to his back. "The name's Kibaou, got that?" Kibaou said rudely as he introduced himself before turning his attention from Diabel to the crowd of players sitting around the stage, pointing his finger accusingly at them as he continued to speak. "Before we leave to take on the Boss, I have something I want to get off my chest! There are some of you here that need to apologize to the 2,000 players who have died so far!"

"Kibaou, was it?" The spiky-haired man turned to look at Diabel, who had placed a hand on his hip. "When you say that, are you talking about the Beta-Testers?"

"Of course I mean them!" Kibaou answered angrily. "The day this stupid game started, the beta guys ditched us beginners and all disappeared." The cactus head accused. "They took all the good hunting spots and easy quests for themselves, so they alone could get stronger, and ignored the rest of us." Kibaou said, looking back at the gathered players. "Hell, I bet there are some of them here! They should get on their knees and apologize, and give up all the items and money that they've hoarded for themselves!" Kibaou demanded while crossing his arms as if there were no flaws in what he was saying. "That is the only real way there can be any trust within the parties!"

A frown quickly grew on Naruto's face as he stared down at man who interrupted the meeting for his own greed. It was obvious that this Kibaou didn't really care about the people who died, he only wanted the items that he didn't have. Naruto remembered his parents and brother warning him about people who assumed everything should be handed to them instead of them earning it, and that he should careful when dealing with them because they can be dangerous if he wasn't careful. The blond teen narrowed his eyes as he studied the cactus-haired man who definitely fell into that category before turning his head to glance at Kirito, who seemed to have been effected by his words.

But before Naruto could say anything to his friend, another voice spoke up. "Can I say something?"

Many heads turned to the source of the voice and saw that it had belonged to a tall male with dark skin, he had brown eyes and goatee. His outfit was a mix of white and brown with a white vest, two silver earrings on his left ear, and on his back was a Two-handed Battle Axe.

'… That guy's huge!' Naruto thought to himself as he watched the man walk onto the stage and stop right in front of Kibaou, showing the great difference in their heights as the man's large form towered over the cactus-haired player. Naruto couldn't help but grin as he saw how intimidated Kibaou was by the man's presence, though it was to be expected with the darker man's size.

"My name is Agil, Now just to make sure we're on the same page on this…" Agil said, drawing the teens' attention back to him. "You're saying that because the Beta-Testers didn't stick around to take care of the beginners, they're the ones responsible for all their deaths. And because of that they should take responsibility by apologizing and give up their winnings, is that right?"

"Y-Yeah, that's right." Kibaou replied with a nervous voice.

Agil nodded his head before pulling out a small brown book from his back pocket and holding it up for Kibaou to see, "You got one of these guide books, didn't you? They were handed out for free at all the Item Stores."

"Sure I got one." Kibaou said defensively "So, what about it?"

"It was compiled from information given by the Beta-Testers." Agil informed him, surprising both him and many of the other players who were listening in on the conversation. Agil spun around on his feet until he was facing everyone seated around the stage. "Listen up! Everyone that's trapped in this game had equal access to this information. Even so, lots of players still died. The reason we are all here is to not point fingers, but so we can learn from their deaths and defeat the Floor Boss."

Agil's words seemed to reach everyone as they nodded their heads in understanding and agreement. Naruto watched Kirito let out a sigh of relief before patting his friend on the shoulder with a smile, which didn't miss Asuna's noticed. After he finished speaking Agil turned back to look at Kibaou with an even look, to which the smaller man reluctantly, but quickly, backed down from and moved to sit down with an angry grunt. Agil nodded to himself before following Kibaou to the lower seats and sat himself a few feet away.

One everyone was seated Diabel reached into his pocket and pulled out his own guide book, "Now that that is taken care of, how about we get back to the meeting. In my hand here is the latest issue of the guide book, and it contains information on the Floor Boss." Diabel opened the book and started reading the information within it involving the first Boss. "According to it, the Boss's name is Illfang the Kabold Lord. He is guarded by several minions known as the Ruin Kabold Sentinels. Illfang himself is armed with an Axe and a Buckler, he has 4 life bars, and when the last hit red, he switch to a curved sword type of weapon called a Talwar. He also has the ability to change his attack pattern any time he wants."

"Whoa…"

"Amazing."

"None of the other monsters on this floor have that ability."

After finishing the briefing on the upcoming battle, Diabel close the book and looked back up at the large group in front of him. "This concludes our Boss Meeting. Money will be automatically distributed, the EXP goes to the party that defeat the monster, and whoever gets an item keeps it. Any objections?" No one said anything as they all silently agree with the terms of their raid. "Alright, we'll head out tomorrow at 10 in the morning to head to the Boss Room. Make sure you're all prepared and I'll see you all tomorrow!"

Once he said those words everyone began to move, whether it was to leave the area or go head to the stage where Diabel was. Kirito watched as Kibaou apologize to the man for interrupting the meeting, though he had the feeling the man wasn't complete behind his words. As Kirito turned to look at his friend, he was surprised to see that Naruto was already on his feet with Asuna and about to walk out of the amphitheater. Naruto stopped for a second and turned to him before motioning him to follow, to which Kirito nodded in response before standing up himself. As the three were walking out of the area, they didn't noticed Diabel turning his head to look at them, his eyes narrowing a little as he stared at their backs.

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"It's great to see you're still alive Asuna," Naruto said to the girl sitting across from him and Kirito. The three players had found a small bakery that had tables outside and were relaxing as they ate some of the bakery's special breads… well Naruto and Kirito were relaxing, Asuna was still wearing her cloak and sitting straight the entire time. "I was a little worried at first because you were only staying in one place for a while."

"So how exactly do you know each other? I don't think we crossed paths with her since we've been stuck in this game." Kirito asked in curiosity as he looked between Naruto and the mysterious Asuna.

"We actually met on the first day." Naruto answered with a smile, "She was the one I was telling you about, the one I had bumped into while heading to our rendezvous point. We haven't seen each other since then but before we became friends before parting, so I was able to keep an eye on her from time to time thanks to the friend's list options. But like I said before, it's nice to see you again Asuna. You've gotten a lot stronger."

Asuna nodded her head as she took a bite of one of the breads, chewing it slowly before swallowing it. "…These are pretty good."

"Yeah, Kirito and I have been eating these once a day since we came to this town. And if you think that its good now you should try it with one of these." Naruto smiled as he reached into his pockets before pulling out two jars, one was golden-yellow and the other was a reddish-purple. "The breads in this town are tasty, but having them over and over again can get boring unless you spice things up."

"Spice things up?" Asuna repeated before reaching out and tapped the top of the golden-yellow jar, causing the finger she used to start glowing. She looked up from her finger at Naruto and Kirito.

"Just move your finger over the bread and enjoy." Kirito said before taping the other jar causing his finger to glow as well before he swiped it over his loaf of bread. A second later the top of his bread was covered the reddish-purple liquid, which looked suspiciously like…

"Jelly?" Asuna tilted her head before looking down at her finger and swiped her finger over the bread, a second later her bread was also covered with a topping, except this one wasn't jelly. "This is… cream?" She stared down at the bread wearily for a few seconds before hesitantly bringing it to her mouth and biting down on the cream covered pastry, and not even a second later she scarfed down the bread as fast as she could. Still feeling the wonderful taste in her mouth, Asuna grabbed another bread before reaching out and taping the jelly jar before swiping it over her bread.

Naruto and Kirito watched in amusement as the cloaked girl finished her bread in an instant before finishing their own, "There is a quest one village back called The Heifer Strikes Back, which is where you get the original cream."

"Original cream?"

"Yeah, once you get the cream you can either get it for free anytime you go to the town or you can learn to create your own by raising your cooking level. I created these two jars thanks to Kirito and I completing the quest." Naruto explained as they finished the breads quickly, "If you want I can show you how to make them."

Asuna was silent for a few seconds before shaking her head, "Thank you… but I didn't come to this town to eat good food."

"Then why did you come to this town?" Kirito asked with a raised eyebrow.

"So I can still be me, I'd rather stay the way I am than rot away at an inn back at the first town." Naruto and Kirito look at her, the former's eyes narrowing a bit when he realized why her position had not changed in the beginning. "Even if I get killed by a monster, I don't want to lose to this game... To this world... no matter what."

Kirito and Naruto glanced at each other before the black-haired swordsman looked down at his last piece of bread, tossing it into his mouth to finish it. "… I don't really want any party members to die on me while we are fighting the boss, so make sure not to die tomorrow."

"As long as you do the same Kirito." Naruto replied with a nod of his head while Asuna just sat silently in her seat. The blond crossed his arms as he leaned back in his chair, a calculative look on her face. "And about tomorrow… with the number of members in our party, we will most likely have to be a support team. A back-up to take care of the minions while the others fight the Boss."

"What, but we can handle ourselves just fine." Asuna said in response, obviously against the thought of being on the sidelines.

"No, he's right. Even though we have three members, it is still half of the number that many of the other groups have." Kirito replied, "Putting us as back-ups is a good strategic move for the battle tomorrow, so we should come up with tactics for the battle tomorrow."

Looking back and forth between the two, Asuna let out a sigh as she realized that the two were right. "Alright, so what do you guys have in mind?"

With that said, the three started to converse and plan for the battle that was to come the next day. During their planning Kirito and Naruto had found out that Asuna had no idea about a few things when it came being in a party, such as switching. So they spent a few minutes explaining it to her and that in turn expanded more on the best tactics for the three of them to handle the minions. Before any of them knew it the skies of Aincrad's sky had already gone from day to afternoon and then quickly to night, and the town's lights were on and shining brightly.

Naruto looked up at the night sky before glancing at the system's clock, "Wow, we've been talking for a while. We should get some rest for tomorrow, if we stay up to long it will come back to bite us."

"Yeah you're right about that." Kirito nodded before turning to look at Asuna, "Do you have a place to stay for the night?"

"Not really, I've been fighting in the dungeons and resting in the safe zones within them. I don't see any reason to go into town unless I need equipment, and even then I usually get 5 rapiers in my inventory since their durability has its limits." Asuna replied, before finding that Naruto had grabbed onto her hand and pulled her body off of her seat, pulling off in a direction. "H-Hey, what are you doing?!"

Naruto flashed her a look before he continued to pull her along, "It's stupid for you to have been so reckless, you're going to spend the night at our place. We got a large room at a farmer's house as a reward for completing a quest."

"W-What!? H-Hold on, don't I get a say in this?" The cloaked girl cried out, though her words didn't seem to reach the blond. She turned her head to look at Kirito who was a few feet away behind them, and saw he was shaking his head with a sigh.

"I wouldn't even try, this was exactly how he was when we first met. He won't stop helping a person once he's determined." Kirito rubbed the back of his head as he remembered how pushy Naruto was on them becoming partners even though they were both strong as Solo-Players, the guy followed him through two towns and three dungeons before Kirito agreed to at least work with his fellow teen once. It was after that that the two became really good friends.

"B-But!" Asuna tried in vain to free her arm from her blonde acquaintance's grasp.

"Oh come on, the place is great! It has an amazing view, really comfortable beds, and a relaxing bath." Naruto said as they turned a corner, passing by the town center where Diabel, Kibaou and a few others were conversing.

"I don't care abo…" All of a sudden Asuna's movements went completely still as she registered what Naruto had said before somehow tugging him back, freeing her hand and grabbing the blonde's shoulders to give him a hard stare. "Did you just say that you guys have a bath?"

"Uuummmm, yes?" Naruto answered hesitantly at the look she seemed to be giving him, though it was hard to tell with the cloak's hood covering the upper part of her face. Kirito mentally laughed at the scene before him, knowing from personal experience with his sister that baths were very important to women.

(A Little While Later)

"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh~" A pleasure-filled sigh could be heard throughout the bathroom as Asuna sunk her naked body deeper into the bathtub, stretching a little as she felt the familiar tingling of her skin coming in contact with the heated water covering her body. "This feels so good, I can't remember the last time I could enjoy myself like this~"

Outside the bathroom, Naruto and Kirito had small red blushes on their cheeks as they heard yet another moan escape through the closed door leading to the bathroom where their newest companion was currently residing. The two were sitting and relaxing in the room with Kirito sitting crossed-legged on his bed with his head resting in his hand while Naruto was sitting by the windowsill, both looking away from the door with awkward looks.

"… You just had to mention the fact that we had a bath." Kirito grumbled in his hand as he used his other hand to scroll down his menu and checked his inventory.

"Well sorry, I didn't think she would this vocal about it." Naruto said before turning from the window to flash Kirito a grin, "But at least she finally relaxing, she was so stiff before. I thought she would finally loosen up a bit, especially since we're going into such an important battle tomorrow."

"About the battle tomorrow, with you be using that?" Kirito questioned as he looked up from his screen to the blonde, who silently looked down at the ground. "It's a powerful item you had gotten as a reward for that special quest."

"Yeah it is… but the way I got it could have been better." Naruto replied as he opened his menu and scrolled through his own inventory until he came to a specific item, "… The Sword of Moon, it doesn't even show a proper name or any info about it, usually there is a description of some sort but this time there isn't anything. There only thing it show is its stats, it could backfire on me if I just equip an unknown item like this."

"That's true, but you should keep an open mind about it. This item wasn't in the Beta Test and could come in handy against the Boss tomorrow." Kirito countered before dismissing his menu, "At least think about it before we get to the Boss Room."

"Don't worry, I will." After saying that Naruto went silent for a little bit before nodding his head and dismissing his own menu, "But since we're on the topic of questioning one another I have to ask. Why did you let that guy's words get to you? It's obvious he was only saying that stuff for his own gain, he doesn't give a crap about the other players that have suffered in this game as well."

"I figured that, but still… his words had some truth to them. As soon as Akihiko Kayaba started this death game I have only been concerned about how the both of us were going to survive. But you've been helping out everyone we've come across, pushing them forward and motivating them… meanwhile I haven't done that much in comparison." Kirito looked down at his open palm before clenching it tightly, "But seeing all those players at the meeting, deciding that they need to work together to complete this game. It is really something incredible."

"Yeah it is pretty amazing. But you shouldn't let it get to you, helping people is just something I like to do." While it wasn't a large number, during the small break periods he and Kirito had, Naruto would help out the younger, inexperienced players as much as he could. After living the life he had before the Kayaba family had took him in, Naruto could never stand by while a children was suffering and crying. "The fact is that we need to have people focus on beating all 100 Floors of Aincrad and get everyone out of SAO, otherwise a lot more people will die."

Kirito nodded his head as he looked away from Naruto to his hands, neither he nor Naruto said anything for a while as they thought about the situation everyone was in. Their thoughts were interrupted when they heard the door open and turned to see their last companion was walking out of the bathroom with a peaceful look on her face. "That was so relaxing, I almost forgot how nice baths could be." Asuna opened her eyes and noticed her teammates were staring at her, "…What is it?"

Naruto and Kirito didn't say anything as they studied her appearance, which was fully revealed to them as she had discarded the cloak she was wearing before. Asuna was a beautiful girl with long orange-brownish chestnut hair that reached passed her lower back and was braided in the back, and her eyes were a bright hazel. Naruto was the first one to speak as he met her gaze, "Besides the slight facial change and hair color, there isn't much of a difference between your appearance when we met the first time and what you really look like."

"That's because I wanted to have an appearance I was familiar with, this was the first time I played a game like this." Asuna replied while rubbing her arm with a slightly embarrassed look, before giving Naruto an annoyed look. "And speaking of which, the Avatar you had looked a lot different from what you do now."

"Well I just went with the first thing that came to mind," Naruto said with a grin before bringing a hand up to his spiky hair. "To be honest I've always wondered what I'd look like with straight hair rather that all these spikes, never went away no matter what anyone did." He shivered a little when he remembered his mother working on his hair for almost an hour, trying anything she could think of to smooth it out before Akihiko and their father stopped her from shaving it completely… she had been a very scary woman when annoyed.

"What we looked like back then doesn't make much of a difference now, especially after that day." Kirito spoke up, reminding them all about how Akihiko Kayaba had revealed everyone's true selves after trapping them within the game. The silent between the three of them went on for a while before the black-haired teen spoke up once again, "So anyways, I think we should go over our strategy one more time before we go to bed. We have to meet up with the others tomorrow so we should make sure we are all ready."

The other two players nodded their heads in agreement as they moved to the bed Kirito was sitting on. The three of them continued their planning and confirmed that Kirito would parry the attacks of the minions they would be fighting while Asuna would switch in and go for the kill, and Naruto would be alternating between parrying with Kirito and attacking with Asuna. They came up with several other tactics in case the first didn't work out, and soon they all went to bed, lucky for all of them the room they were in came with up to four beds so everyone had their own bed to sleep in… well almost everyone.

Naruto was once again sitting on the windowsill, staring out through the open window to Aincrad's night sky above him where thousands of stars could be seen. The whisker faced player raised his hand up to the sky as if to reach out and touch one of the many stars overhead. 'It won't be long now Akihiko, tomorrow will mark the first step to completing this game and freeing everyone that has been trapped here…' Naruto frowned as he clenched the raised hand into a fist. "I won't lose anyone I care about to this game Brother, I will protect them… that is my promise of a lifetime."

As he was cut up on his thoughts, he didn't noticed that one of his two teammates wasn't exactly asleep just yet. They had heard what Naruto had said, remaining still as they heard Naruto close the window and made his way to his bed before going to sleep. They closed their eyes to fall asleep as well, one word echoing in their mind as their consciousness slipped into the peaceful state of sleep, 'Brother?'

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"Okay everyone, I only have thing to say so listen up." Diabel said as he stabbed his sword into the ground, looking at everyone that stood in front of him. The large group of players had gathered and made their way up the dungeon, coming to a stop as they made it in front of two large iron doors that led into the Boss Room. "Let's get in there and win!"

Diabel turned around and pushed the doors open, revealing a large dark room filled with pillars on the other side. At the very end of the room was a throne with a large red creature sitting in it with a shield on one arm and a large axe resting next to it. The creature opened its eyes as Diabel and the other players enter the room, revealing two glowing red eyes that stared menacingly at them. This large creature was known other than Illfang the Kobold Lord, the first Floor Boss of Aincrad. Once enough players entered through the door, the dark room instantly lit up and Illfang jumped from his throne to land in front of the players before unleashing a terrifying roar. A cursor soon appeared over its head with it identification and four health bars, and in a flash of light three monsters surrounded Illfang with maces in their hand. These were Illfang's minions known Ruin Kobold Sentinels, unlike Illfang only one heath bar appeared next to their name. The large Boss let out another roar, signaling for him and his minions to attack the players.

"Commence attack!" Diabel raised his sword high as he took command of the raid group, who rushed towards the charging enemy with their blades poised for attack. Digital sparks flew as enemy and player's weapons clashed, Diabel continued shouting out orders to everyone of ether keeping the enemy at bay or going on the offensive, "Squads A and C, switch! Here it comes! Squad B, block the incoming attack! Squad C, keep guarding and prepare to switch, now! Everyone else switch, draw, and prepare to attack from the side! Squads D, E and F, keep those minions off us!" Diabel turned towards the separate groups, specifically Kirito and Naruto.

"Yeah, you got it!" Kirito shouted back as he dashed towards one of the approaching Sentinels, swinging his sword and deflecting its attack before knocking it back. As soon as he did he signaled the other members of his party, "Now, Switch!"

"Right, let's go Asuna!" Naruto said as he rushed past Kirito with Asuna right by his side.

"This is the third one!" Asuna stated while raising her weapon up to strike, the blade glowing green as she reared her arm back.

'Incredible, she's was a beginner and yet her speed and skills are amazing.' Kirito thought to himself as he watched Naruto flip over the Sentinel and swung his blade across it's back sending it closer to Asuna, who delivered the final blows to the minion's chest and destroyed it. 'She was so fast I could barely keep up.' Kirito quickly spun around and parried an attack from another Sentinel, "Alright, if we continue at this rate we'll win for sure."

As Kirito said this Naruto glanced at Illfang, whose health bar finally reach the red zone, and the large beast discarded his weapon and shield. '… Something doesn't seem right, what's this feeling I'm getting?'

"Looks like the information from the book was right after all…" Kibao said as he and the other players in his group prepared themselves to finish the Boss once and for all.

"Stand back!" Diabel called out as he rushed passed the players towards the boss with his weapon drawn. "I'll finish this myself!"

Kirito turned his head and looked at the running Diabel with a confused look, 'Weren't we suppose to surround it with an entire group... So why...?!' The black haired Beta-Tester stopped his thoughts when he noticed Diabel look back at him with a small smile. Diabel stopped in front of the Boss and charge his weapon, preparing his blade to finish off the Boss with one more attack. But his chances for success came to a halt as Illfang reached behind its back and pulled out its final weapon, a large blade with a V shape edge.

"That isn't a Talwar..." Kirito said to himself as his eyes widened. "That's a No-Dachi!" Knocking away a Sentinel that tried to attack him, Kirito turned to the main battle. 'Naruto and I were right, this is different from the Beta-Test.'

Hearing what Kirito had said, Naruto quickly cut down the Sentinel before shouting at the blue-haired player facing the Boss. "Stop Diabel, get away as fast as you can!"

Neither noticed that a certain cactus-haired individual had managed to hear their words over the chaos.

But their warnings was too late however as Illfang already began his attack and leaped up toward a nearby pillar and jump wall to wall at a speed too fast for Diabel to track, before stopping directly over the leader and slashed downwards. The powerful attack made contact and sent Diabel flying, but Illfang wasn't done as he charged again and unleashed another attack that Diabel crashing into a pillar before landing on his back.

"Diabel!" Kibao cried out as he watched the man land hard on his back after taking that insane attack, but he didn't even get a chance to move Illfang landed in front of him and his party, letting out a bloodcurdling roar before continuing his attack on the players.

Naruto and Kirito made their way to where Diabel had landed, and could see that his health bar was already in the red as it continued to rapidly drop down to zero. Kirito was already on the move as he pulled out a health potion in order to heal the knight. "Just what the hell were you thinking?"

But before Kirito could use it, Diabel raised a hand and pushed the potion away, shocking both of them as he shook his head. "You both know what I was trying to do… after all, the two of you were Beta-Testers as well, weren't you?"

The two were silent for a few seconds before Kirito nodded his head gravely in confirmation. "You were after the last attack bonus rare item. You were a Beta-Tester too."

"… Are you an idiot, ignoring the plan just to get one rare item?" Naruto question as he tried to figure the blue-haired man out, wondering how someone could be so selfish at a time like this. His actions could have not only put his life in danger but the lives of everyone else both here in the Boss Room and in the towns. "Nothing is worth the lives of everyone else here."

"I know what it must look like… with how greedy I look… but still…" Diabel had a hard time speaking as the pain from the Boss's critical attack was getting to him. His form becoming unfocused and transparent as his health bar reached zero. "You two… have to defeat the Boss… for everyone trapped in this game." As he spoke those final words, Diabel's form was covered in a blue light and he exploded into thousands of digital shards.

'Diabel… despite how things turned out in the end you still care about everyone else here.' Kirito thought to himself as he thought back to when he and Naruto said goodbye to Klein, and moments that happened during the first month. 'We're Beta-Testers, but unlike me who only thought about surviving, you were like Naruto and never abandoned other players… you led everyone to this battle and you fought brilliantly.' Kirito looked over at Naruto, who stood up silently with his spiky hair covering his eyes from view.

"… Kirito, we've already lost one player in this battle today. I refuse to lose anymore." The blond snapped his head up to look at the remaining players fighting Illfang, raising the hand holding his sword. With a strong throw, Naruto discarded his sword before opening up his menu, scrolling down quickly until he came upon The Sword of Moon and selected it. A flash of light appeared in Naruto's hand as a new sword appeared with a twist of his arm until it rested on his shoulders. It looked like a large, oversized katana with a rectangular bronze tsuba with gently inward-curved edges, a stylized flame pattern on the long sides, and a simple decorative slit on the short sides. The hilt's handle had a red wrapping and two light blue tassels attached to the handle's base, which was decorated with a flame design on its short sides. "Let's finish this."

"Right," Kirito nodded his head in agreement as he gripped the hilt of his sword tightly.

Asuna moved until she was standing next to them with her own sword readied for attack, "I'll go too."

"Okay," Naruto said with a determined smirk as he lifted the large sword off his shoulders. "We're going with the tactic we used against the Sentinels."

Kirito nodded his head in understanding, "Got it."

"We'll follow your lead." Asuna replied.

"Alright…Let's go you two!" Naruto exclaimed before dashing at Illfang with Asuna and Kirito right at his sides. The large Boss took notice to the three running towards him before bringing his sword down in a ready position and activating its skill, unleashing it at them with a powerful swing. "I don't think so!" Naruto shouted before spinning his new sword until it was pointing towards the ceiling and activated his own skill to counter Illfang's. The recoil of the two large blades clashing caught Illfang off-guard and opened him up for Kirito to commence his attack with an upward swing skill, knocking Illfang off his feet. Asuna was the next one to attack as she brought her arm back, her sword glowing brightly as she got close to the falling monster. But before her attack could hit Illfang the beast recovered and swung its sword at Asuna, causing Kirito and Naruto's eyes to widen as the large blade drew closer to her head. "Asuna!"

Naruto's warning caught Asuna's attention as she ducked her head down and dodged Illfang's swing completely, quickly shifting her rapier to the side before activating another skill. "HYAH!" The longhaired swordswoman exclaimed as she thrusting her rapier at Illfang's large gut sending it flying. Naruto and Kirito watched in amazement as Asuna as she swung she sword back to her side with a determined look on her face before looking back at the red monster, who was already back on his feet with a roar.

"He's coming back!" Kirito shouted as he started running forward and blocked Illfang's attack, to which Naruto and Asuna attacked the parried monster at the same time and made its health bar drop even further. This strategy continued several times as Illfang's health was nearly gone now with only a few more hits remaining. But as Kirito raised his sword to parry the large Boss's No-Dachi, the beast changed the direction of his sword just as they were about to connect and swung it at Kirito's side. 'Damn it!'

"Kirito!" Naruto shouted as he saw Illfang's blade get closer to his friend, time seemed to slow down as he raised his sword with both hands and ran in front of Kirito to block the incoming attack. The two large blades met and the force of the blow sent Naruto and Kirito flying back until they collided with Asuna, sending all three of them onto the floor.

"Naruto, are you okay?!" Kirito question with a scared look as he and Asuna sat up to look at the blond, who shook his head a bit as his health bar dropped a little. The small drop relieved them both as they were glad to see that their friend didn't get too much damage.

"I'm fine," Naruto replied while turning his head to look down at his sword, and he was surprised to see that it had a soft glow covering its blade 'What is tha-' Naruto halted his thoughts as he and others noticed a shadow on top of them, looking up to see Illfang standing over them with its sword raised above its head. With no time to think in their minds, Asuna and Kirito held their swords up to protected the three of them from llfang's attack. But just as Illfang was about to bring his No-Daichi down a beam of green light slammed into the large weapon and Agil appeared over them with his axe in front of him full swing, his parry had successfully send the Kobold Lord back.

Members of Agil's party let out battle cries as they ran passed the dark-skinned man, who turned his head to look at them. "We'll hold this asshole back until you get your health back up."

"You got it, thanks." Naruto replied with a smile before taking an offered potion from Kirito and drank most its contents, restoring his health completely. Standing up with a bit of a stain Naruto swung his sword a few times, 'What's this feeling I'm getting from my sword? It feels like a sword skill but it's different…'

"Are you okay Naruto? How could you do something so stupid?" Kirito asked as he stood up with his friend.

Asuna stared at Naruto for a second before nodding her head, "I agree with Kirito… I'm glad you're alright."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head with his other hand, "Don't worry guys I'm fine. Anyway, let's finish that thing once and for all." As they turned back to the battle, they saw that Illfang had knocked all of the players away before jumping into the air with its sword over its back. The glow around Naruto's sword grew brighter as he ran towards the battlefield and leaped into the air, "I DON'T THINK SO!" With a front flip Naruto dodged Illfang's attack and sliced down from above, striking it in the back and sending the Boss crashing into the ground. Naruto soon landed on his feet before once again running at Illfang's downed form.

"This thing is on its last legs, we're beating this thing once and for all!" Kirito shouted as he and Asuna made it to either side of Naruto with their swords ready.

"You got it!" Asuna nodded her head as she brought her arm back.

"Let's end this in one last attack!" Naruto exclaimed while raising his sword over his shoulder as he continued to run.

The three let out a unified shout as they charged at Illfang, who got back onto its feet and had the No-Dachi high in the air. With a powerful swing Kirito knocked the blade away and out of Illfang's hand, but the beast didn't have any time to react as Asuna unleashed a skill that sent multiple jabs into its stomach. Taking a step back Illfang tried to gain its bearings and reached for its blade that was still in the air, but Naruto jumped up and swung his sword across Illfang's arm before its hand could grab the sword, cutting it off completely. The Boss let out a pain-filled roar, which was all Kirito and Naruto needed before they went in for the kill and used the strongest sword skills they could. Kirito's attack started from the bottom while Naruto's sword made contact from above and the two slashes continued until a diagonal cross formed from their attacks and sent Illfang flying. The two cuts glowed brightly before the glow covered Illfang's entire body and seconds later the First Floor Boss of Aincrad exploded into millions of data shards. As first no one said anything, all of them needing a moment to comprehend what they just saw. But soon time caught up to them and they started to cheer. High above the players, the large word CONGRATULATIONS shined brightly as many of the players received their rewards of either leveling up, items they won, or the Col distribution.

A little away from the crowd Naruto and Kirito were panting hard from the exhausting battle, the former using his large blade to hold himself up from falling to his knees like his companion had. Opening his eyes, Naruto noticed that the room had gotten darker to symbolize the defeat of the boss, but his attention was on two screens that suddenly appeared in front of him. The first seemed to be a level up chart, but this one was different from his, 'Congratulations on awakening Zangetsu Lv.1, this sword will get stronger as you do and change once you've obtained certain requirements.' Naruto was surprised at that, a sword that actually leveled up and would continue to get stronger?! The blond shook his head before looking at the other screen, 'You got one of the two attack bonuses. Bonus Item: Coat of Dawn.' Looking to the side he could see that Kirito had also acquired a last attack bonus, and from what he could see, the item Kirito had gotten was called the Coat of Midnight. Kirito turned to look at him and the two stared at each other for a few seconds, before they both grinned and bumped the back of their fists.

"Good job you two." The two turned to see that it had been Asuna who had congratulated them and nodded back in thanks.

Agil walked up next to Asuna with an impressed smile, looking down at the two who had defeated the Boss together. "All of you were great, that was some fine swordsmanship." His gaze shifting from the three players before resting his gaze on Naruto, who was breathing deeply while leaning on his incredibly large sword, and Kirito who was kneeling on the ground while panting. "Congratulations, today's victory is all thanks to you two." Behind Agil and Asuna many of the players applauded in agreement, but the celebratory mood was cut short by a certain cactus-haired man.

"STOP CHEERING!" Kibaou shout from his spot on the ground a ways back, sitting in the exact spot where Diabel had died with his party members standing around him. "Why did you do it…Why did you let Daibel die?!"

"Let him die?" Kirito repeated in confusion as he and Naruto stared back.

"That's what I said," Kibaou retorted with a few tears. "Admit it! You knew the techniques that Boss was gonna use. If you'd told us about that up front, he wouldn't have died!" After Kibaou said that, several whispers broke among the crowds as some players looked around suspiciously.

"They must've been Beta-Testers!" One of the players next to Kibaou shouted as he pointed at them accusingly, "That's why they knew all the boss attack patterns! They knew but didn't tell us! And that blond one also suddenly brought out that giant sword that defeated the Boss so easily! There are more of you Beta-Testers here too, right? Come out and reveal yourselves!" Once again the crowds began whispering and looking around suspiciously, but now they all were suspecting each other of Beta-Testers and losing all the trust that had been building up till now.

Kirito grits his teeth as he watched how everyone was acting, 'This is bad... At this rate…'

'Why did that guy have to start things now?! Just when everything was starting to go so well.' Naruto thought with a frown.

"You two… have to defeat the Boss… for everyone trapped in this game." Diabel's words rang through their minds before they looked at each other and then at the bonus item screens that were still open. Kirito swallowed hard as he reached up and closed his screen, coming to a decision as he stood up. But as he turned around he saw that Naruto was already walking towards the crowd.

"Calm down man-" Agil started to say as he stood in front of Kibaou, but the sound of laughter could be heard.

"Hehehe…HAHAHAHA!" Everyone turned to see Naruto walking towards them with an amused look on his face, "You must be stupid. Don't go comparing me to Beta-Testers, those guys were complete newbies that couldn't even level up right."

"W-What did you say?" Kibaou took a step back as Naruto's grin grew.

"You heard me, they were complete amateurs. All of you have done much better jobs than they did. But unlike those guys I made it to higher floors during the Beta-Testing… well, me and my partner Kirito." Naruto smirked as he motioned to the black-haired teen who moved until he was standing next to his best friend.

A dark expression grew on Kirito's face as he stared at the crowd, "Naruto's right, the reason that we know the Boss's skills is because we both fought monsters with similar skills on the Floors way beyond this one. There are a lot more that we know as well, more details and secrets than any information broker can give you."

"W-what... that's... That's way worse than a Beta-Tester! You're a fucking cheater!" Kibao shouted as he glared at Naruto and Kirito.

"Yeah! Cheaters!"

"Their Beta-Testers and cheaters!"

"Their Beaters!"

Kirito smile as he turned away from the crowd, "Huh... so we're Beaters now, huh? I actually like it."

Naruto let out a chuckle as he opened his menu before going to his equipment option, next to him Kirito was doing the same, "That's right... From now on the two of us are Beaters..."

"So don't compare us with the other Beta-Testers." Kirito said as he and Naruto equip their newly rewarded coats. Kirito's Coat of Midnight was completely black except for the shoulder blades which was a dark brown, while Naruto's Cloak of Dawn was a neon orange with crimson flames at the ends of his sleeves. Naruto and Kirito both smirked as they walk passed the stunned crowd of players and towards the stairs leading to the next floor.

As they neared the door leading to Floor 2, a familiar voice called out to them. "Wait, Kirito, Naruto!" The two turned around and saw that Asuna was standing several feet behind them, looking up at them with a serious expression.

"Asuna… Is something the matter?" Naruto said as he spun around to look at her fully.

"… Why did you two say all those things? I know you both are not as heartless as you acted."

It was Kirito who answered her as he turned his body in her direction, "As long as players suspect and discriminate Beta-Testers no one will ever be able to beat this game. Thanks to what Naruto and I said, the remaining Beta-Testers will be safe from harassment and keep their dignity. The two of us will shoulder all that hatred until Aincrad has been defeated."

Asuna looked down at the ground for a few seconds before looking up with a smile, surprising the two as she let out a giggle. "I figured as much, I guess that's just how you two are."

"You'll become really strong Asuna," Naruto said as he moved in front of her and patted her on her shoulders, before taking a step back and summoning the menu. "If someone you trust invite you to join a guild, don't turn them down. There's a big limit of what you can do as a solo players."

"But what about you and Kirito… it will only be the two of you." Asuna replied as she watched Naruto bring up the party option.

Naruto looked down at the selection before pressing the disband button, breaking up the three-man party before walking back up to Kirito. As he made it to Kirito's side he turned and flashed Asuna a smile. "We'll be fine, Kirito and I are used to it… See you later Asuna, don't hesitate to message me if you need anything."

"Yeah… See ya." Asuna muttered as she watched the two open the doors to Floor 2 and disappear into the next area… taking the first steps towards beating the game and escaping from Sword Art Online.

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Second Chapter of Swordsmen of Twilight is now complete. And like always with all my works be sure to leave some nice reviews, but remember that all flames and insults will be IGNORED, so don't bother writing them. I hope you enjoyed reading and I hope to see you again.

A/N: As a reminder I have put up a poll on my profile for who Naruto gets paired up with in this story, Suguha/Leafa or Asuna. Like I said before, I honestly work with either girl so I want to hear your opinions, though remember that the FINAL decision is up to me.

A/N 2: The next story I will be working on is either Golden Devil, The Fairy Flame Dragon or DWMA's Newest Meister.

Until Next Time!