Chapter 10: What Caused an Effect
A/N: Hope you enjoy this next chapter. Please continue to comment and let me know what I can do better.
Floor: 19
Town: Ralburg
Time: 5:30 P.M.
Sasuke, Sakura, Kiba, and two new members of the party Hebi materialized through the teleportation gate. The man standing to Kiba's left was named Suigetsu. A lean-built young man of average height, straight white hair, wearing a purple shirt, cut off at the sleeves and white pants. Strapped to his back was a large buster sword, a steel blade with a black hilt. The other in Sakura's opinion, who was standing a little too close to Sasuke, was a woman named Karin. Her outfit consisted of a lavender uniform that exposes her navel, short black shorts, and long black thigh high stockings with black sandals. On her side was a small dagger with a red blade, the same color as her unkempt hair.
Hebi, having just defeated the 18th floor boss, were the first players to appear on floor 19. The captives of Sword Art Online had now been stuck inside the game for eight months. In the last three months Hebi had grown to be one of the strongest small guilds in the game. This newly five-man team were known for defeating dungeons and boss raids by themselves. The town of Ralburg was a small one with very minimum shops. The town square was half of the size of the square on the first floor. The town's buildings were set up around the square. The party stepped of the Teleportation platform, scanning the town with their eyes. Karin grabbed Sasuke by his arm, pulling him closer to her.
"Where to now Sasuke-kun?" she said sweetly, rubbing his arm.
"Let go of him right now" Sakura unsheathed her axe, pointing the blade at Karin. "I keep telling you to stay away from him Karin."
"I like to think Sasuke likes the attention and besides," a sly smile crept onto Karin's face "He is single."
That comment really set Sakura off. The two girls began to argue back and forth about who was better for Sasuke. Suigetsu closed his left ear with his hand in annoyance. Kiba simply snickered, enjoying the cat-fight. Sasuke removed himself from the situation and turned his head to Suigetsu.
"Suigetsu, go search for a comfortable lodge for the night."Sasuke then turned to Kiba, "And Kiba go replenish our supplies. We will be taking down the one of the dungeons in the area to sell the map data."
The two swordsmen left as quickly as they could, urging to get away from the two bickering women. Sasuke heard a light ping in his ear, signaling he had just received a message. Sasuke opened the screen and noticed a small blinking tab with a flashing unopened letter icon. He pressed his finger to the tab, the letter opening. Sasuke noticed it was from Shikamaru.
"Hey, we just received intel that you and your group made it to the next floor. Job well done. However there is an urgent situation that we need your help with. Dark guilds have teamed up in the recent months and have planned large scale attacks upon the smaller guilds, forcing their captives to join their cause. It's mostly happening in the lower levels of the game. The larger guilds will meet this evening to discuss the problem. Please attend.
Shikamaru, leader of Anbu.
p.s.- Naruto would like to see you as well. We all miss you guys.
Sasuke closed the letter and sighed. He hasn't seen his friends in about 3 months, since the holiday party. He decided this was of importance, protecting the lower level members of the game, as well as his group Hebi. If these dark guilds are beginning to attack larger guilds, because of Hebi's fame in the game, they might be target as well. Sasuke turned to Sakura and Karin only to find their argument had escalated to hair pulling. Both girls, with a fistful of the others hair, screaming at each other to let go.
"Sakura. Karin." Sasuke said cooly.
"Yes?" they said in unison, almost immediately stopping their assault of each other.
"When Kiba and Suigetsu return, we head for the Anbu Guild Headquarters tomorrow. We have major business to attend to." Sasuke turned away from the females and began to walk towards a small café.
"Roger!"
As he walked to the door of the café, Sasuke stopped before placing his hand on the handle. He noticed a player lurking in the shadows on the side of another building. Sasuke casually opened the door and walked inside, Sakura and Karin following him. He decided it was not the time to confront their stalker just yet. The café had small round tables with seven stools around them. This café was still operated by NPC's or non-playable characters until other players make it to this floor to obtain shops of their own. After they ordered their food, Sasuke's ordering a plate of curry and rice, Suigetsu and Kiba walk into the café. They both sat down at the table ordering their food as well.
"Have you noticed?" Suigetsu looked at Sasuke.
"Noticed what fish-face?" Karin spoke up, earning a rude look from the swordsman.
"Yeah, that player over there. He's using a concealment skill." Kiba shifted his eyes in the direction of the unknown player.
"Yes I have. He's probably watching us to make sure we don't leave this floor anytime soon." Sasuke watched as his food was brought to the table.
"Shall we take him now?" Suigetsu grabbed the hilt of the very large buster sword that was strapped to his back.
"No, not yet. Let's see what will happen before we act." Sasuke began to eat his food, slowly keeping an eye on the player.
As the night progressed, players began to materialize onto the level. Players began to explore the new town, checking out the shops and vacant lots where they could either start or expand their business. Suigetsu mumbled under his breath about his deep dislike for crowds. Sakura and Karin caught each other staring at Sasuke, rekindling the argument from before. Kiba and his familiar, the wolf pup Akamaru, watched as people filed into the pub. Sasuke noticed the player he was watching disappear from his radar.
"Let's head to the inn for the night. We will head to Anbu HQ tomorrow morning" Sasuke rose from the table, starting toward the door.
"Right" the others said in unison, walking behind their fearless leader.
After a heated argument on who decided to sleep in Sasuke's room, the party agreed on Kiba for Sasuke's safety. Having either Sakura or Karin stay with him was definitely a bad idea. Sasuke laid down on the bed, cycling through his gear, checking the status of his weapons and armor. Kiba allowed Akamaru to play around for a while, watching as the pup trot around the room. Kiba looked over to the ever so solemn Uchiha. Kiba could almost visualize the gears turning in the male's head.
"Kiba?"
"I know what you're thinking about and the answer is yes. We will make it through."
Saskue nodding at his friend and went back to his inventory. No one knew of this side of him but his three best friends- Kiba, Shikamaru, and Naruto. The four of them were tight since elementary days and they all understood each other to the fullest. Kiba knew about the front Sasuke puts on to stay focused in battle and stay cool under pressure. He understood when the Uchiha was alone he worried about everything. This side of him was something he would never let anyone see but his three best friends.
"The higher the floor we ascend to, the worse it seems to be. I'm worried for her Kiba. If something ever happened I wouldn't know what to do."Sasuke ran a hand through his hair, closing the inventory tab.
"I know, trust me I understand that feeling. But in order for us to return to the real world, we need to keep pushing."Kiba snapped his fingers ordering Akamaru to return to his side. The small pup jumped next to the swordsman and curled up into a ball.
"For now let's get some sleep and worry about our every growing problems tomorrow," Kiba smirked at his friend and rolled over. Snoring soon followed about five minutes later.
Sasuke nodded, closing his eyes allowed sleep take over his worn body.
Later that night a group for 70 players all dressed in black hoods emerged from the gate one by one. One of the players walked over to the side of the teleportation gate, pressing an invisible button on the side of the panel. A small screen appears and the player entered a code into the screen. The gate began to change color from blue to a bright red.
"Everything is set. No one should be able to leave this floor using a crystal." The player reported to a woman. "Also the no-PK zone has been deactivated."
That woman was none other than the dark guild leader, Anko. Anko smiled, her plan was moving without a hitch. She would not fail the master this time. Anko grabbed the player by his neck, sending her sword through his stomach. The player gasped in surprised, shattering into fragments. She waited for the server to respond, but nothing happened. The remaining hooded players stared at Anko with a mix of fear and surprise.
"Someone had to be the test dummy" Anko smirked devilishly at the group. "Now get to work."
Naruto walked into the Hyuga HQ, greeting some of the members he recognized from previous boss fights. Naruto eyes searched the place for a certain member of the guild. When he was unable to find her, he sat down at a nearby table and waited. After about 30 minutes a passing member, a girl with dark brown hair, told him Hinata and Neji left about an hour ago to handle guild business. A disappointed Naruto decided to just come back later, began to get up and leave when he heard a voice speak up from behind him.
"Naruto-kun?
Turning around, the swordsman noticed the person he was searching for. Hinata stood before him with a surprised look on her face. Neji nodded to Naruto, patting him on the shoulder as he walked past.
"Hey there Hinata"
"W-what are you doing here?"
"I came to see you, if that's okay?"
"Y-you came to s-see me?" Hinata felt her face heat up. She swallowed hard, nervous of his answer to her next question. "What for?"
"I know things have been a little crazy right now. And I wanted to see you, well I mean. You know. Like outside of a boss fight. I don't know. I didn't really think of what to say," Naruto rambled on, scratching the back of his head nervously.
Hinata smiled, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. She was excided he came to see her. Her heart felt like it would burst from her chest. She sat down next to him, enjoying the sound of his voice as he rambled on.
"I was wondering Hinata," Naruto let out a long sigh, as if to prepare himself. "Have you thought about what happened at the Christmas party?"
Hinata immediately blushed, remembering the scene from the party. Even though they kissed under the mistletoe, she was still unsure about their relationship. Hinata knew that she loved Naruto, and would sacrifice everything for him. What she was unsure of was his feelings. For all she knew, Naruto thought it was a customary kiss. Hinata studied the reaction on his face, knowing that was not the case.
"Yes I have. But, I did not want to bring it up until Naruto-kun wanted to talk about it." She looked down at the floor, fidgeting with her thumbs.
"I'm sorry I've kept you waiting. I just didn't know what to say about it." Naruto ran a hand through his hair.
"W-well tell me, please" Hinata looked up at the man, her eyes staring deep into his own.
Naruto wrecked his brain, searching for the words to say to her. Just when he found what he was looking for, a very worried Neji appeared at their table. Naruto cursed himself for not being prepared. Next time they have sometime alone, he promised himself he would finish this conversation.
"Neji-san?"
"We have a problem, I need both of you to come with me right now" Neji turned on his heel and quickly walked off.
Naruto and Hinata followed him into a small conference room on the opposite side of the guild building. Upon entering the room they noticed Shikamaru, Temari, and Kuradeel discussing a serious topic.
"Sasuke and his group are under attack on the 19th floor." Shikamaru scrolled through some screens.
"What are we waiting for then?" said Naruto turning to leave the room.
"We can't access the floor. No one has been able to reach that floor ever since last night. The teleportation gate has been cut off. Floor 19 is inaccessible by teleportation crystal unless you first use the gate to reach the floor." Kuradeel closed a screen on his HUD. "Apparently there have been reports of them being able to kill players within the city. The entire floor is in a panic."
"Oh no…" Hinata covered her mouth with her hand, worried for her friends.
"Teleporting through the gate is risky. There are guards who have been killing anyone as soon as they materialize onto the floor." Temari sighed and ran a hand through her hair.
"Wait, I thought killing with in the city was impossible. It goes against MMO parameters. Even the game creator understood that!" Naruto slammed a hand down on the table.
"We know Naruto!" Shikamaru obviously stressed out by the situation.
"Whats your deal Shikamaru! Im just asking a question!" offended Naruto glared back the swordsman.
"Calm down you two. I have a couple people that used to be programmers in the real world working on the problem. We will figure this out together." Temari placed and hand on Shikamaru's shoulder.
"Why can't those people use a crystal to leave the floor? They should be able to do that, right?" Hinata asked, comforting Naruto as well.
"The whole floor has been transformed into a crystal nullification zone," Kuradeel answered "Sasuke and his team have already tried."
"For now, we wait and hope Sasuke's group can handle this situation until we can help." Neji leaned against the wall.
Floor: 19
Town: Ralburg
Time: 6:00 A.M.
Screams filled the morning air as more dark hooded players emerged from the teleportation gate. Players or NPC's, it did not matter who they attacked but everyone one by one were being cut down. Sasuke blocked an attack from another hooded assailant, cutting him down with one swipe. The player shattered into fragments of data before his eyes, the small blip next to his name changed from green to red.
"This is insane!" Kiba growled from behind him. Sakura, Karin, and Suigetsu followed closely behind, watching their surroundings for more attackers.
"I've already informed Shikmaru and the rest of the front line guilds. Sakura, Karin I need both of you to get the lower level players back to the inn and set up a defense. Suigetsu, Kiba, and I will head to the town square to see if we can help more players." Sasuke stared down the alley toward the square where players battled for their lives.
"But Sasuke!" the two females exclaimed, in fear for their teammates.
"No buts girls. This is not the time. Follow his orders." Kiba barked at them.
Sasuke nodded at his friend. He knew what Sasuke was trying to do. Keep the girls safe from danger. He didn't know how this happened but they were about to find the people responsible for it and make them pay. The three swordsmen charged in the direction of the town square, readying their blades for battle.