Chapter 10: New member

"Sasuke"- Speech

'Sasuke'- Thoughts

"Sasuke"- Flashbacks

"Chidori"- Sword skill/Location/player abilities

A/N: Heeeyyooooo. What's up everyone? I'm glad I could bring this next chapter out. To be honest, I kinda couldn't wait to start this ;))

Now for reviews:

Guest 1.) Yes Sasuke's cursor would've turned orange but only for a short amount of time and I felt like there really wouldn't be a reason to put it in there unless it had something to do with how future situations would turn out for him.

Guest 2.) Thank you, I'm glad you liked it :)

So I went to the bookstore and bought the first and second book of the 5 Wave series and I must say, it is a really good read!

Reviews are welcomed :)

And I hope you all enjoy this read :)

Last Chapter:

"Sasuke, this should be pretty obvious on what they're trying to do."

"Bait," the Uchiha replied in simpler terms. Sasuke started to make his way through the door but paused and turned his head slightly.

"I'm going to put an end to this." His tone changed, almost darkly. Kirito frowned slightly at this.

"Let's go!"

Location: Unknown Forest

The sound of bark tearing and branches squeaking, echoed throughout the forested area. Blurs of the two players moved swiftly throughout the vegetated region, crushing the branches from the sheer force of their steps. Sasuke, and Kirito moved as fast as they could to get to their friends, and hopefully, put a stop to Laughing Coffin.

"ROOAAA-"

"Chidori" Sasuke muttered before a ball of electricity struck the level 28 wolf monster as if it were nothing but a joke. The two disappeared before it could even disperse polygons. From above the forest, the trees looked like they were swaying in a constant moving narrow line.

"Fifteen minutes until we arrive, Kirito," Sasuke calmly informed as he rapidly jumped on the tree branches with Kirito doing the same. Kirito nodded his head. At that moment, he felt something in his body, his stomach felt as if it were being twisted into a knot, setting an uneasy feeling in him about Sasuke. The beater couldn't put his tongue on it but he just knew.

"Take this!" Klein shouted before he smoothly sliced through a giant wolf. He looked over and saw his other members of his guild take out the other wolves and smiled at their accomplishments.

"Alright! Another job well done fellas. Say, I'm pretty hungry so let's all get-" He was interrupted by the sight of the trees unusually swaying. He smirked as his other guild members readied for another battle.

"Looks like It's not over yet guys," Klein said as he slowly prepared himself after he unsheathed his sword.

"Alright, come ou- Whoa!"

Klein flinched when he saw two players zip past the group, leaving some leaves falling to the group below who had their mouths open.

"Yo Klein, what the heck was that!?" One of his members, Dynamm, asked. Still not making eye contact, Klein began to scratch his little beard.

"I-I don't know man." Knowing he wouldn't be able catch up to their speeds, he decided to stay back.

"Well...about that lunch!"

"Hey, I think that was Klein," Kirito informed. "Maybe we could get him to help us." Sasuke only replied with silence making Kirito frown once more.

"I don't have time for him, and besides," he gave Kirito a glance, "he's not strong enough for the likes of these people, He'd only get in the way, and he only ones who even have a chance of getting the girls back, is us two." Kirito then blinked at Sasuke who randomly flinched to nothing, he then saw a hand reaching for his shoulder and widened his eyes.

Sasuke's neck suddenly began to spontaneously pulsate with pain causing him to lose his footing on an upcoming branch. His body flipped as he crashed through a couple of branches before he crashed to the grass floor.

"Sasuke!" Kirito shouted. Kirito stopped himself by grabbing a branch and swung around to the ground. After Kirito landed besides Sasuke, nearly crushing the ground beneath him, he kneeled down to Sasuke who was squirming on the dirt floor. Grunts became louder and turned into yells which finally climaxed into screams of pain. Kirito felt completely helpless seeing that the slightest touch would hurt the boy.

When the screams died down, till it was a constant huff and puff, Sasuke stumbled for a bit before he forced his aching body up from the ground. The Uchiha raised his head up and made eye contact with Kirito.

"Who's there!?" Sasuke shouted after he swiveled his head behind him which was were a large tree stood. Kirito widened his eyes at how Sasuke was able to sense anything.

Sasuke had no reply as an answer and frowned. "This will be the last time I ask, I know you're there, show yourself." His tone now getting more serious. Both of them squinted their eyes at the site of a player cautiously coming from behind the tree. The player wore a white hood with a purple long sleeve jacket under it and a purple and white skirt. The darkness of the night shadowed her face behind the hood with her long brown hair pouring out from it.

A chuckle was made before she spoke.

"How could you not remember me, Sasuke?" She raised her hands up to her head and pulled off her hood revealing more of her long dark brown hair and her navy blue eyes. She also appeared to be taller than Sasuke and Kirito and older because of her maturity in her facial features. Kirito had a raised eyebrow while Sasuke is left a little surprised. He recognized the face of the girl when he stumbled in a clothing store on floor 18.

"It's you," Sasuke paused and squinted his eyes at her character's name ",Sort-iliena," he sounded out.

"Correct, Sortiliena." She smiled.

"How did you find us?" Kirito asked.

"Well, I just happened to be near this area and I heard someone screaming in pain, so I thought I'd check it out."

"That's taken care of already. Anyways, we have something to get to," Sasuke said as he went in his inventory to change get his clothes. He now wore his usual style which was a grey head wrap, black cloak with some light upper body armour on the inside of it, and pants which were tucked in his boots.

"Sorry, Sortiliena, but we're fine. Thanks for your concern," Kirito chimed in. Sasuke hopped up towards a tree branch above and waited for Kirito to do the same.

"Wait!" The girl blurted out. She quickly put her hands over her mouth as if it were a total accident. The two boys paused and waited for what Sortiliena had to say. When she saw this, she slowly removed her hands from her mouth and spoke.

"Well, um, well...I was wondering if I can accompany you," she asked, finishing her sentence boldly.

"Like I told Kirito, I-"

"Sasuke hold on," Krito interrupted before he jumped up the the branch were Sasuke stood and got close to him. Sortiliena stood there and watched as Krito was Whispering something to Sasuke.

"I say we take her, we need all the help we can get." Sasuke looked at her before he spoke.

"Kirito, I'm not responsible for what happens to her and I don't know how strong she is." Sasuke paused before he looked at her. "But, I will get her to do something for me."

"Ok."

Sasuke hopped down from and landed to where Sortiliena was. "I will let you join, but first, demonstrate your skill. I don't want see you to die on me." When Sasuke finished, he backed away and allowed her to show him what she's got. Sortiliena closed her eyes and turned around before pulling out her sword. She held her sword out to the side with two hands like she was about to swing at something, and it started to glow a bright white. She forced her eyes opened as the winds swirled around her sword.

"Slicing wave!" Sortiliena swung her sword and released a linear shockwave in front of her. The wave caused many trees within the vicinity to fall to the ground as well releasing blades of wind which seemed to cut cleanly through everything it came into contact with.

"How long until we reach them?" Sortiliena asked the Uchiha.

Sasuke, without making contact, said, "We're almost there, about five minutes." The group arrived to the open field where Sasuke battles the black dragon. They even ran past a large circle of grass that was scorched. Sasuke saw it but didn't think anything of it. When Sasuke realized they were getting closer, his face scrunched in anger and ran faster. Kirito did the same with Sortiliena close behind.

'Wow, they're so.."fast",' she thought. She may have not been as fast as the two but she was a little close behind them. Probably even as fast as Asuna.

Location: Laughing Coffin's Cave

PoH was seated behind his large desk in his dim lighted room, giving his attention to the swinging pendulum of a grandfather clock about ten feet away. His eyes focused attentively on the rod allowing them to match the movement of its never ending swaying. Silence was only but a moment as it was constantly interrupted by the sounds of the second hand ticking.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

His hands were folded together and was brought up to his mouth, his breathing, which was once calm and controlled, started to quicken up a fraction; now matching the pace of the swinging pendulum. Without notice his body became in sync with it. Breathing, eye movement, blinking, all was pure concentration of some sort. A sudden knock was heard from the door about five feet to his right. Still not breaking eye contact with the clock, he cleared his throat before talking.

(Add music: Fate Stay Night OST- Dark Glow)

"Come in," he said. His voice was deep and gravelly, almost monstrous, very intimidating indeed. The doorknob twisted and the door slowly crept open. He finally broke his focus from the clock and blinked a couple of times before he centered his attention to the masked man. The tall figure came to a steady halt in front of PoH's desk and waited to be seated. PoH stuck his hand out and gestured him to sit.

"Nice to see you, Tera."

"Likewise. Everything is going to according to plan. He won't know what'll hit him." He smiled widely behind the mask that he was wearing. PoH let out a puff of air when he smirked.

"You do remember our little...plan...correct?"

"Why, of course. Also, about that boy, Sasuke."

"Oh? Please, go on." PoH urged as if he were eager for him to ask that question.

"I have known that you had once been looking for Sasuke with the hope of being able to capture him. But that is also not what I want to tell you, I know that eventually, Sasuke and Kirito will approach our location to try to get their little friends back. What I want...is for you to leave him to me. He had gotten lucky when we once trapped him in the alleyway and police arrived. Thankfully you and I escaped without notice." Tera paused to make sure PoH was getting all of this.

"I'm going to finish what we started. As for the other kid, he is of little concern to me, only a mild annoyance, but the Uchiha...is mine alone!"

A short laugh came from PoH when he noted on how Terra was expressive with his claim to the Rijin.

"Very well, and were the others notified about this?"

"Yes, all except that fool Orochimaru," Tera said. PoH scoffed at this. He recalled the day that he threatened him.

(Flashback)

"Did you have to kill him? I mean he was apart of our guild?" PoH asked. Orochimaru purposely ignored his questions and proceeded to walk to Sasuke.

"You know, PoH, the only reason why you are still alive, is because you gave me the title for leader of the Laughing Coffin. I wouldn't push it if I were you."

(Flashback End)

'Tch, the ONLY reason why I let you have the position is because YOU knew Sasuke's whereabouts.' He mentally Snarled. The hooded man rose from from his chair and headed to a large window, gazing at the sea of storm clouds that lay in the expanse of grey. However, the calming sight did nothing to ease the storm of thoughts that raged in his mind.

He was on the verge of killing Orochimaru that day then and there but he bit his tongue and went with it. He knew that Orochimaru was the only way to get to Sasuke so he had no choice. PoH came to a closing as he headed back to the chair behind his desk.

"It's almost time, get ready and prepare the rest," PoH ordered as he gathered some paralysis potions as well as poison potions. One method of their signature methods is inflicting paralysis on a player and then killing them slowly and painfully. Nearly all of the members had a general idea of potion mixing which was taught by the former ex leader, PoH. Terra nodded his head and exited himself from the room.

'The throne will be mine for the taking'

"It's just...up ahead!" Sasuke huffed when he shouted. Seeing that his stamina was short, he pulled out a stamina potion and drank it. Then he pulled out two more and tossed them both behind him to Krito and Sortiliena.

"Is that it up there?" Sortiliena asked as she pointed upwards on a mountain. On it was a large castle-like building.

"Yeah, that's it," Krito confirmed. "Sasuke, how do you want to approach this?"

The Laughing Coffin guild discussed with one another as they expectantly waited for the Uchiha to arrive on the main floor. They were all dressed in either a horned mask or in a black, ragged, hooded cloak with their faces hidden behind them. All ten members looked very intimidating just from the sheer amount of evil leaking off from their presence. PoH, with a longer hooded cloak, stood off to the side and was leaning on his long double edged sword like it was a cane.

Over in the middle was Terra, who was besides Orochimaru, had his long sword rested on his shoulder as he loosely gripped it. Rain was heard from the inside of the building making it sound like muffled white noise. The group's conversation amongst themselves were then drowned out by the sound of a rather loud boom. The guild became silent as the it echoed through the air.

The door to the guild was suddenly shattered leaving a giant gaping hole in the entrance. As the dust and wood cleared, PoH stood up straight and focused his vision at the hole. However, he was surprised when a lone boy emerged and walked up to the area where the destroyed door of the guild had once stood. His head was covered by a grey headwrap and a black cloak that billowed in the wind. His head was bent low with a shadow that fell across his face due to his bangs. The black haired boy stopped at the edge of where the door had once been with his head held low.

"Tch, the Laughing Coffin eh? You people are a joke." The boy said in monotone.

"You better be careful kid. Those words will come back at ya and bite you on the ass." Terra called out after he gripped his long sword.

"Where are the players Asuna, Lisbeth, Yuta." The boy slowly raised his head, revealing his red eyes. Some of the players widened their eyes at the sight of this. The tone of his voice was calm, but the amount of bloodlust the player had from his eyes threw them off guard.

'Hmm, so he traveled alone?' PoH thought. Meanwhile, Terra mockingly chuckled at Uchiha as of this were his form of intimidation to him.

"Uzumaki, come and bring the girls out," Orochimaru ordered. A masked figure with blonde spikes came out from one of the bunches of the other members with three bags in his hands. He pulled out his dagger and sliced the bags open revealing the three unconscious girls. Their arms and legs were secured by some rope and their mouths were fitted with tape. The player silently made his way back were the other players were.

Sasuke took a step forward but came to a halt, when he heard Terra talk.

*Tsk tsk tsk* "You fool, I'm not going to give them to you. I'll tell you what, I'll let let them go with a price…"

"And that would be?" Sasuke asked but scowled to the sound of maniacal laughter coming from the tall player which echoed throughout the entire building.

"YOUR LIFE!"

(Add Song: Naruto OST- Need to be Strong)

Terra rushed at Sasuke at immerse speeds with his sword reeled back ready. However, Sasuke simply leaned back, easily evading the shining sword. Terra followed the momentum of his swing and spun around with his leg stuck out. Sasuke raised his hands and blocked this incoming kick before grabbing his leg. Before Sasuke could do anything, Terra separated himself with the boy. Sasuke slid back and quickly unsheathed his Kusanagi and raced towards Terra. Both of them collided with each other with their swords which were releasing sparks around them. Fueled by rage, Sasuke yelled and paired Terra's sword, sending it flying away.

"It's over." Sasuke snarled. Terra smirked behind his mask before evading Sasuke's sword. He smoothly took out a needle as he spun around and stabbed it in Sasuke's arm. Sasuke's eyes widened as Terra steadily backed away to watch his work unfold before him. The Raijin's punctured arm started to tremble before it mindlessly fell to its side. Terra laughed before he shoved his foot in Sasuke's stomach making him cough out saliva as he was sent flipping back to the gaping hole in the wall. The red guild's members start to chuckle to themselves seeing how easy Terra took him out.

Sasuke crawled out of the crater and fell to the ground. With the loss of some of his health, Sasuke pulled out an HP potion and drank it, restoring his health to full again.

'Yes, that's it Sasuke. Let your anger and lust for revenge give you power...the power I granted YOU.'

After his wheezing subsided, Sasuke stood himself up and examined his limp arm.'So this is what happens when paralysis is injected in you. Luckily it was just my right arm that was effected or else I probably would be dead by now,' Sasuke thought while he looked at his hand. Just then, his eyes widened.

"Youlooking for this?" Terra asked before he grabbed his Kusanagi. The tall player presented it before the Uchiha and teasingly waved it in front of him.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" Tera snarled out before he threw Sasuke's sword away and signaled two players to go after him. Two of the players sped away from the group and jumped in the air with their foot held out. As they approached Sasuke, they kicked upwards to launch their foot against Sasuke's jaw, but the Uchiha ducked and grabbed one of their legs and swung him into the other airborne player. Terra then signaled three more players to have at it with Sasuke.

"Now!" Sasuke shouted. Falling from the shadows of the ceiling was Kirito and Sortiliena. Two of the laugh Coffin members felt a tremendous force against their back from the kicks of Sasuke's group. A small crater was formed from after the bodies landed, leaving their health in the red. Sasuke flashed in front of the remaining player and slammed his fist in his face before breaking his mask. The player flew back towards before he was caught by Tera.

"Tch, YOU'RE SO USELESS!" He snarled before holding his glowing hand out. Everyone's eyes, except for Orochimaru and PoH, were widened at the site of Terra who killed off one of his teammates.

"Uzumaki, Take care of these two I'll handle the Uchiha," Terra barked out. One of the guild's strongest members quickly made his way towards where Terra was and in a flicker in movement, they were gone from view.

Sasuke was stunned, even with the Sharingan, he was hardly able to keep up with their speeds. Sasuke saw Terra coming and held his only good arm up to block his punch. However, even with the block made, it still blew Sasuke back, sending him tumbling across the ground before he quickly recovered himself.

Meanwhile, Kirito and Asuna was struggling against the lone blonde. Both of their attacks were easily blocked by the masked player as if he was playing a child's game with them. Sortiliena stepped back as Kirito ducked down to perform a sweeping kick. The boy saw through this and jumped in the air. Then, from the corner of his eye, he saw Sortiliena who had her glowing sword up, ready to strike. The blonde was upside down as he twisted around and skillfully evaded her swing. Sortiliena prepared another attack as her sword glowed now a bright white.

"Slicing Wave!" She Shouted as she swung her sword and released a wave of wind. The figure smirked as he cut through it with his sword and sped forth, crashing an elbow into her stomach. She coughed up blood from the force before the masked blonde twisted in midair and struck Sortiliena in the chest with another elbow strike. Suffering thirty-five percent health loss, She crashed into a nearby wall before her body slammed on the ground. Dust and rocks fell from the ceiling, seeing that two holes were made from when the boy split her wave in half.

"Sortiliena!" Kirito shouted.

"Stay away from her!" Kirito unexpectedly flashed beside the boy and forced his foot on the side of the blonde's face. Uzumaki was sent flipping in the air but quickly recovered by skidding on the ground.

As he recollected himself, he raised his head up revealing a cracked mask. Pieces were automatically chipping with each given second before the whole thing eventually broke apart. Kirito squinted his eyes at the boy to see his facial features. His blonde hair was mid length with a set of bangs hanging from one side of his forehead. His deep, cold, blue eyes matched his expressionless face as he gazed at Kirito. Finally, on either side of his cheeks were marked with whiskers.

"You'll pay for tha-"

"CHIDORI" "Sasuke snarled out. Kirito and the Uzumaki boy turned to see electricity coming from the left hand of Sasuke. His clothes were torn and his arm was still limp. Terra- whose clothes were also torn- stood there with a half broken mask and was seemingly out of breath.

'Oh no, Sasuke is down fifty percent of his health but that other guy isn't that far from him.'

(Add Song: Beyond Two Souls- The Party Revenge)

"You...you should be dead..." Terra muttered before he snapped his head up, "YOU SHOULD ALL BE DEAD BY NOW!" Terra screamed out before he finished with a pant. He couldn't understand how the Uchiha was almost a match with him...and he was using one arm. This drove him insane.

While the tall man had his breakdown, Sasuke used this advantage to charge at him with his Chidori. However, Terra vanished just when Sasuke was about to impale him. Sasuke looked around only to see what made his heart skipped a beat.

"No!" Sasuke shouted out. Terra stood behind one of the girls, Lisbeth, and held a knife to her esophagus. As he began to put pressure on her neck, a small red line appeared indicating a small cut. Sasuke grunted before he took a step but stopped when he heard his name faintly being called.

"S-Sasuke." The Uchiha turned around to see Kirito who was the on the ground like a thrown rag doll. Several needles were sticking out of him, one on each limb. He turned his head to the the blonde who just finished sticking paralysis needles in the unconscious Sortiliena. When he was finished, he had also pulled a knife and held it towards Sortiliena's throat.

"Well, well, Sasuke," a voice called out. "Now that your little friends are down, how will you save them?" He rhetorically asks.

To his left, was Sortiliena, and to his right was Lisbeth, no matter what he did, one of them would be killed. His breathing escalated, his eyes were constantly shifting back and forth before lowering his head.

'I-I...I don't know...what to do.' Sasuke thought. He went through numerous possibilities in his head but they all ended up in one of the two dying. He then felt movement in his right arm. Although not permanent, the paralysis potion did last

for 20 mins.

Meanwhile, Asuna's eyes tiredly opened themselves before seeing her HUD. 'where am I?' She blinked a couple of times before seeing that she was tied up. Asuna gasped, catching Terra's attention.

"Oh good, you've awakened just in time to see your friend die," said Terra.

"L-Lisbeth!" She shouted before for squirming her body. Tears start to fall from her face which kissed the ground below. She looked around and saw Kirito who was on the ground, still conscious but immobile. She also spotted a blonde who was standing next to an unconscious girl with a knife to her neck. Finally, she focused her sight on Sasuke who was standing there with his face shadowed.

"S-Sasuke?, w-what are you doing!?" She managed to shout out. "Why are you standing there?" Her eyebrows raised in concern at him. 'He's...crying?'

"Sasuke." A voice called out. Sasuke held his head up at the direction it was called from.

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you more about your brother…" Orochimaru pulled something from his pocket. It was a dagger which was oozing paralysis liquid from it. He snapped his head at the blonde boy and threw the dagger at him.

The blonde saw this but it was too late. When he went up to block it, he missed and it impaled his neck as a result. He grunted as his body fell limp on the cold hard floor. Rain water started to drip onto his head from the hole in the ceiling caused by Sortiliena's sword skill.

Orochimaru suddenly felt a presence appear next to him and everything felt like it was in slow motion.

"Die."

PoH had his sword glowing red before he sliced the man clean in half. Orochimaru's upper and lower body tumbled on the ground before bursting into blue polygons.

"That incompetent fool," Terra spat out. "All according to plan. Nice to have you back, PoH."

"Likewise," he responded before walking away. "Listen, I'm going to my office, do as you please to them," he said as he did a gesture with his hand.

"The only person left who personally knew about my brother...gone." Sasuke's tone of voice changed drastically.

PoH exponentially widened his eyes seeing what appeared on Sasuke's face. Red glowing markings stretched over from his neck, all the way to the other side of his body. When this was done, the red markings faded into black markings. The other Laughing Coffin members stood in shock with their mouths open. Fear had creeped upon their hearts, making them unable to move. A dark, evil, purple aura swiveled around his body, tearing up the ground around him.

Three tomoe spun around in his eye when he widened them. Sasuke took a few steps before opening his mouth again.

"I'll make you pay." And in an instant, he was gone from view and reappeared behind Terra. Before he could react, Sasuke simply raised his fist up and back fisted Terra on the head, sending him flipping in the air before crashing to the ground.

"Sasuke? W-what are you." Asuna quietly said to herself. Sasuke's eyes were angrily widened as he stared his prey down like his full intention was to bore a hole in his soul. Terra emerged through the smoke and yelled at the top of his lungs before he raced towards sasuke.

Terra took out out his sword with the intention to chop Sasuke's head off but missed after he ducked. Terra landed in front of Sasuke and prepared his sword skill.

"INFINITE SLASH!" At great speeds he rapidly swung his sword at Sasuke. Each strike was releasing a shock wave which raced towards the other Laughing Coffin members and crashed into nearby walls, killing the players in the process. Sasuke merely dodged his series of combos with tremendous ease making Terra huff in rage even more.

"Let. Me. Hit. YOU!" He slowed down as his swings matched his words. The Rijin then jumped back to gain a bit of distance. Sasuke made sure to line up with Terra before he charged up electricity in his hands, changing the color from blue to black.

"CHIDORI..." Sasuke zipped across the room and met face to face with Terra, "SPEAR!" Terra tried a final attempt to block Sasuke's lightning shaped blade with his sword but was cut through like butter and entered through the side of his body. With one fell swoop, Sasuke cleanly cut Terra's body in half and exploded into polygons which blissfully flowed past Sasuke. The whole guild were shocked, seeing Terra killed right in front of their faces.

"Hahahaha...HAHAHA." Sasuke began to maniacally laugh at the rest of the shaken players. Before Sasuke could do anything else, they all made a break for it to the hole where Sasuke first entered, leaving the cave silent and empty. He turned towards Kirito and saw that the paralysis was just wearing off of him. He then looked over to Asuna who was tending care to Lisbeth and Yuta. Kirito got up and ran up to Sortiliena and broke a healing potion and and restored her health back to one hundred percent.

Now, all that was left was...the blonde. Sasuke steadily made his way for to the immobile player who was staring through one of the large holes above him. His hair laid back from the rain dripping in and his face was relaxed, almost like he was deep in thought. The dagger that Orochimaru threw was still stabbed in his neck and his health-which was about eighteen percent-was decreasing at a snail's pace in addition to the paralysis. A shadow suddenly crept on his face before shifting eyes to the player above him.

Sasuke took a closer look at the player's name before reading it in his head. 'Naruto.' He eyed the dagger for a bit before bending down and removing it from his neck knowing that the paralysis effects would take time to subside.

"I have a couple of questions that I want to ask to. You can either choose not to answer or not. However, one of your choices will affect your chance of living." Sasuke paused to let Naruto think about his choice. He slightly moved his head upward to the hole where the rain was still falling through.

"First, why do you people kill other players for your enjoyment? Do you not know that this is also the equivalent to a death outside of the game?"

"I guess i have no choice, huh," he said before sighing. "Our real leader, PoH, you know, the guy who sliced Orochimaru in two. Anyways, PoH started spreading the belief that it was all right to kill other players. He told them that if the system didn't prevent this, then it was okay."

"And you believed him? Just like that?" Sasuke's tone grew louder.

I on the other hand, never killed anyone, because I knew the truth. Most Player Killers in Laughing Coffin failed to understand that PKing is equal to actual murder in the real world. However, PoH knew damn straight that his wasn't true in the first place."

"How did you find out?"

"Before I went out to go on a quest, I overheard PoH talking to Terra about this whole messed up thing. As time passed he brought in the player Orochimaru who said he knew about you and your whereabouts and so, we used him to get to you. However, he wouldn't agree to it it unless PoH stepped down from his leadership. It was an unusual request, but he went with it. Naruto paused for a moment before he grunted.

"I only joined because PoH had rescued me from an enemy on the lower floors, but it was only because I didn't have any other choice. Live...or die." Naruto finished. Sasuke gazed upon the boy with his cold eyes, the person who harmed his friends. Sasuke raised his right hand up and did a motion gesture to open up his inventory. He went to his potions and pulled out a full heal crystal.

"Heal," he commanded and healed Naruto's health up to one hundred percent. Naruto snapped his head towards Sasuke in confusion as well as Krito and Asuna. With a twitch in his arm, Naruto had felt movement and eventually stood up.

"What's this about? Naruto asks. Sasuke smirks as he turns away to put Yuta on his back.

"Hmph, you're joining us, we need someone like you on our team." Naruto was speechless for a second, he would've expected for them to just leave him to die.

"Sasuke." Kirito called out as his voice echoed around the destroyed building. "Are you sure about this? I mean, he did try to kill Sortiliena."

"I guess you have a point, but she's the one who wanted to come knowing what she was going to get herself into." Sasuke faced Naruto and gazed in his cerulean eyes, he knew he was different.

Seeing that Naruto was still in his indecisively state, Sasuke proceeded to head out of the cave.

"I'll do it," Naruto said. Sasuke gave him a smirk in return and told him to help out with Lisbeth. After Naruto picked her up and set her on his back, the group made their way back to Sasuke's house.

Five months later

June, 25th 2023. Location: Forest of Wandering on floor 35

"S-Someone...help...me!" A girl panted as she shouted throughout the forested region. Roars of a wild ferocious animal were loud indicating that it was gaining on her. She cut corners around bushes, slithered past near by trees, and swiftly ducked under low branches. As her heart beats fast she focused on her HUD and noticed that her stamina bar was rapidly draining. 'That's just great!' She mentally shouted before she slid to a halt when she saw another monster running her direction.

The beast was a huge ape with red eyes with vertical slits for pupils. It's body was very tone showing off its muscles while its sharp teeth flashed into view. It roared before pouncing at the girl. Without hesitation, she pulled out her sword and began to vertically slice at the bear. However, the ape grabbed it with its sharp teeth and crushed the blade of the sword before it burst into blue polygons. The girl yelped and ran off in another direction.

'Oh man, I'm so dead!'

Multiple sounds of the large apes were made audible behind her as she ran through a patch of bush but skidded to another stop when a single large ape came into view. She grunted before she pulled out a dagger and threw it at it but got knocked by its partner. She widened her eyes to this. Her stamina was already low from the almost twenty five minute run and she had no weapons or any type of potion at her disposal. As the four Drunken Apes surround her, she lowered her shoulders and breathed out a sigh.

'I...I guess this is it huh. Never would've thought that I'd get killed by a pack of animals,' she thought before she closed her eyes and accepted her fate.

A second later, her eyes shot open to the sight of an enemy that was crushed under another player's feet. The ape that was previously were the player was disappeared into blue shards with the sound of breaking glass to accompany its death along with a small crater from his feet up, the girl examined the blonde player before her. The girl's mouth was open as her eyes were set on her savior.

"Well? You guys wanna play?" The blond playfully teased, his eyes full of confidence and also determination as his lips moved up in a half-smirk.

The first ape jumped at him but missed as he merely stepped out of the way before it threw its fist on the ground. The ape forced his fist out of the ground before attempting to hit the boy once more but instead caught a foot to the side of the face and was sent tumbling on the grass floor. The blonde let out an uncontrolled chuckle before speaking.

"You overgrown apes. C'mon, is that the best you can do?" Naruto did hand gesture signaling for the other apes to come get some. The Drunken Apes pounded their chest in all out rage before charging at the boy.

He shook his head. "Tsk tsk tsk." The blonde raised his right hand before it glowed white.

"Scatter!" A ball of blue wind had formed in his hand before shooting it towards the giant running apes and bursted into polygons after they were sent flying. Mangled Trees, and a long dirt path was a result of the destruction the the blonde had produced. A cheeky smile creeped its way on his face before scratching the back of his head and said, "M-Maybe I've might have overdone it, hehe."

After the smoke and dust was cleared she finally got a good look at him. He had spiky blonde hair with a long set of bangs hanging down on one side of his face to his forehead and a set of three whisker lines on both sides of his face. He wore a black shirt with an unbuttoned long coat with a high collar over it. He had black pants on which were tucked in his boots. His hair glistened in the pure-

"Uh, hello? Is anybody in there?" Naruto asked while he snapped his fingers in front of the hypnotized girl. She shook her head before quickly getting up and dusted herself off.

T-Thanks for saving me...eh..uh," She paused and looked at Naruto's name, "N-Naruto?"

"Yup, that's right," he said with a smile. "Say, why are you out here at this time of Night Silica?" He asked as he read her name. She immediately saddened with her shoulders slumped.

"We'll it's just that...my stupid guild leader, Rosalina, was being a jerk about how they were using me, so I got mad and ran off with Pina."

"Who's Pina?" Naruto asks before he starts walking with Silica close behind.

"Pina was my rare tamed beast, Feathered Little Dragon." Naruto widened his eyes.

"Whoa you tamed a rare beast?" That's awesome! But wait a minute, where is he?" Naruto asked before he started to look around.

"He was trying to save my life b-but he was killed by the apes." Silica was almost in tears. She had grown so close to the creature and she hated to see it go.

Maybe if she would've kept her mouth shut, this whole thing would have never happened but she had enough of them teasing her.

"Your leader sounds like a jerk," growled Naruto. "What are you doing with people like them?"

"I don't know, I guess I thought they liked me, but it's really because I was popular." Naruto saw her. She wanted to cry but she didn't want to do it in front of the blonde.

"Hey cheer up, I actually know a way to get him back," he said pridfully after he pointed his thumb to his chest. Silica's eyes lit up as she put her hands together.

"W-What!? Tell me! How?!" With every question asked she moved closer to the boy, her face near his. Naruto was a foot or two taller than her so she stood on her toes to be face to face with him. The sadness seemed to be completely washed away with the hope that Naruto gave her. Naruto unnoticingly blushed to this and corrected his throat.

"E-Erm yes, we can get the flower in the Hill of Memories and that will revive your friend," Naruto confirmed as he pulled out his map and made a navigation to the nearest town.

Um, Silica? What's with everyone giving us that look," Naruto huffed while his squinted eyes switched back and forth looking at both sides of the street. Most of the players, especially the male players, were frowning at him. Silica, on the other hand, scoffed at this and grabbed a hold of Naruto's hand before she quickened her pace. She spots an opened bar and made her way to it.

"Silica, w-what's this about?" Naruto stuttered after he sat at a table with her.

"All these guys are creeps and they try to hit on me. Plus, they all recognized me as the first player to tame a rare beast."

"What can I get ya?" An NPC asked the two. Silica ordered a sandwich as well as Naruto. After their food had arrived, Naruto noticed that Silica started to slowly nibble her sandwich. He squinted his eyes before looking around him.

All the players eyes were locked on the two, mainly at Silica, but some were also gazing at Naruto with jealousy in their eyes. Naruto huffed and ate his sandwiches as if he was giving the "finger" at them with his body expression.

'I see what she means now...these guys are weirdos!'

*SLAM!*

Their thoughts were interrupted by a loud thud from a player's hands that were slammed on the table. Without making eye contact, Naruto calmly put his sandwich down before observing the player with his now cold eyes.

The guy was wearing heavy armour which was stained from the chicken wings he had been eating. The sauce of the wings were greasy and the guy seemed drunk. The guy started to lick his fingers teasingly at the blonde while making eye contact with him. But the best bar-room etiquette doesn't let you linger on such a sight, and the guy caught Naruto staring.

"Who are you looking at?" he said.

It was said low and aggressively, but Naruto ignored it and resumed back to his sandwich

"Who you looking at?" The guy said again with his voice slightly raised.

Naruto's experience when he was in Laughing Coffin was, they say it once, maybe nothing's going to happen. But they say it twice, then trouble's on the way. Fundamental problem is, they take a lack of response as evidence that you're worried. That they're winning. But then, they won't let you answer, anyway.

"You looking at me?" the guy said.

"No," Naruto answered. Inside, he questioned this slobs stupidity. It was very clear that he was looking at him.

"Don't you be looking at me, boy. So, how my Silica doing?" The player asked before he made his way to Silica.

The way the player was dressed made him look like he was from a guild or something. He was dressed in white and red armour with a large sword rested in a sheath behind him. His armor was quite heavy looking indicating that he must be a higher up in the guild. Naruto angrily snapped his eyes at the guy who had his hand on Silica's shoulder.

"Don't you look at me," the guy said.

"Hey, don't touch her." Naruto growled. The player released her grip from the girl and made his way over to Naruto and bent to his level. Then the guy jabbed him with his finger.

"I thought I told you to not look at me. Don't you idiots ever listen?" He said, and jabbed again.

"And I thought I told you to leave Silica alone," Naruto said, now getting up from his chair. Silica's eyes widened at Naruto's act of bravery. The player was a good four inches taller than him but that didn't seem to bother the blonde.

The guy jabbed again.

"Can you stop?"

"Or what?" he said. "You want to make something out of it?"

Naruto looked at the dents in his long sleeved cloak. Now there were two marks. The guy jabbed again. Three jabs, three marks. Naruto clamped his teeth. Then the guy jabbed again.

"Are you deaf?" Naruto said. "I told you not to do that. I told you twice already and it won't be pretty the third time.

"You want to take this outside?" the guy asked.

Without saying anything, Naruto made his way out of the bar with the player behind him. All the players, including Silica, emptied the bar and followed Naruto and the player. The blue eyed boy had his face shadowed with his bangs along with an unnoticing smirk plastered on his lips.

Two minutes later, they made it to a dueling circle and prepared themselves. Silica and the other players soon gathered around forming a large circle.

"Step down now while you still have your pride," the big guy suggested. Naruto looked up and snickered at him.

*Zod would like to duel you*

Accept /Decline

*Pick your duel mode*

*Total Loss Mode*

*Half Loss Mode*

*First Strike Mode*

Naruto picked first strike mode since that was the most common choice. Total loss mode would go until one of them was killed, but it wouldn't affect their cursor. He knew that this was one of the methods that the Laughing Coffin used to kill players.

A timer for sixty seconds appeared between the two players as they both gain some distance between them. The player's stood and watch in anticipation as one of the players from the highest ranked guild in the game is about to face a random kid.

Ten seconds left and the blonde stood there calm as ever with no weapon of some sort equipped. Zod raised his eyebrow at this.

"Feeling cocky eh?" He said before pulling his weapon out.

Seven seconds.

"I don't have to use my sword to the likes of you," Naruto taunted.

Four seconds.

"I'm gonna wipe the floor with you!"

Two seconds.

"..."

*BEGIN*

Naruto dashed forward, meeting Zod in the middle. Zod swung down for a vertical but missed as Naruto evaded to the side. Zod continued doing a combo between a vertical strike and a horizontal strike. However, each swing was a miss for Naruto.

The blonde smirked as soon as Zod took one more swing with his orange glowing sword.

'Gotcha!' He thought as he seemingly sliced through the boy. Silica gasped in shock along with the crowd at the sight of the easy victory for the man in red and white. Just when he started to cheer, his facial expression changed into startled look. Zod saw that the image of Naruto had vanished into nothing before looking behind him were the real Naruto stood.

'I've attack his after image!? Just what the hell-'

The crowd focused their attention in the sky were a player was before he crashed onto the ground. Silica was astonished at Naruto seeing his speeds and how he fought with someone using his hands.

After Zod had finished skidding on the ground, he shamefully got up, with his head hung low, and sheathed his large sword behind him. The man walked up to Naruto and paused before moving past him and the silent crowd. When his footsteps grew faint, the crowd congratulated Naruto with good jobs and high fives.

"Hey Silica! Did you see how I handled that buffoon," Naruto said while he mixed in laughter with his words. As Silica ran towards Naruto, he put up his hand for a high five at her but was thrown off by a hug that she gave him.

"U-Um Silica?"

"Hey, Naruto, I just want to thank you for today. You are one of the nicest players on here...or at least, have been to me. It's not everyday you meet people like you. She squeezed one good time before releasing her grip around him. His blue orbs were then locked onto her red ones before a light tinge of pink faded onto his cheeks with Silica doing the same. The quickly turned their heads away from each other from embarrassment.

"Hey i-it's getting sort of late so I'm going to rent a place tonight."

"Y-yeah, I like that idea," Silica quickly replied.

THE LOCAL AINCRAD

We're proud to say that floor 49 has been cleared! All thanks to some members from the Knight of the Blood Oath and two very strong players! All of our thanks goes to them! Stay tuned for the next update.

Naruto chuckled before he threw the newsletter away and turned around in his bed.

'It's been quite a day,' Naruto thought as he rested in his bed with his arms behind his head and with his gaze focused outside of the window. The bright moonlight glistened through the window, hitting the blonde's cerulean eyes. He began to think about his new group Sasuke, Kirito, and Asuna. As for Sortiliena and Lisbeth, they both went back to the lower floors to chill out from all the fighting they endured. All that's left was Yuta whom Sasuke can feel comfortable with her staying at home by herself when they go on boss raids.

Naruto told the others he was going to check out the lower floors so he could take his time and site see since he was in a cave for most of the game. The blonde frowned in remembrance of the Laughing Coffin. He was glad that he left and made an oath to himself that he would take them down, one by one if he had to; and knew every trick they did to disguise themselves amongst crowds of local players.

Naruto's ear twitch to a sudden light knock on his bedroom door.

"Come in," he said before he sat up in bed.

The door crept open and a head popped from the Crack if the door.

"Oh, hey Silica, what's up?" Naruto asked but was puzzled to the faint blush on her face.

"U-Um I just wanted to say...thanks for that earlier." Naruto smiled before he told her to come in.

"Ah it's no biggie, that guy was a real jerk so somebody had to put him in his place." Silica snickered at that.

"Well, I'll get going, and thanks again," Silica said before walking out the room.

Naruto smiled as he laid back down onto his comfy bed.

End Chapter

A/N

Yessss I'm finally done with this chapter. How did you all like the addition of Naruto to the story ;)

I just want to say THANK YOU FOR THE POSITIVE FEED BACK on my story! So far all my reviews have been positive. That means sooooo much to me, you don't even know.

Do you want me to keep Silica in the story? Or no? Leave a review

Well anyways, I'm super tired so peace guys a day hope you enjoyed this read.

Closing:

Reviews and constructive criticism are welcomed.