A/N: Welcome to chapter 2 of my SAO ff, I plan to have this up while my Natuto Uchiha one is on a small break, I'll keep writing it while I have that one up as well.

Naruto x Rika/Lisbeth

"Hello" - Talking

'Hello' - Thinking

'Hello' - Messaging

-4 months later June 1st 2024-

Naruto was walking into Lisbeth's blacksmith and tapped the bell "Oi Lisbeth" he called out and heard a yelp before she came out from the smithing area "Been busy lately?" he asked as she shook her head.

"Not really, just finishing off an order for Asuna and then I'm closing up shop, why?" Lisbeth asked as Naruto smiled.

"After you close up wanna go material hunting with me?" Naruto asked as she raised a brow "I'm 2 items away from being able to make an amazing weapon with my favorite blacksmiths help" Naruto said as Lisbeth smirked.

"Oh, why do you need my help for a project you have with Agil?" Lisbeth asked as Naruto gasped.

"You are joking right?" he asked and saw her not respond he sighed "Me and Agil are work mates, we both run his store, well I own a sharehold of the store he runs it but you know, you Ms Rika are my favorite blacksmith in the entirity of Aincrad" Naruto said as he sighed "But if you're going to be like that I guess Tensa-" as soon as the word Tensa got out Rika's eyes widened.

"You're close to making Tensa Zangetsu?!" Rika asked as he nodded and she squealed and nodded "I'll come as long as I get to forge it" she said and Naruto nodded with a smile.

"Of course, if you want I'll pack lunch and we can call it a date?" he asked and she sighed.

"Just this once Naruto" she said as Naruto smiled.

"Okie doki!" He said as he opened up his menu and sent her a party invite "I'll pick you up as soon as you're done with the sword, just message me then" Naruto said as he then sent her a trade request "And I brought you today's lunch" Naruto said as she accepted and he sent her the lunch before quickly accepting "On the house" he said as she smiled and nodded accepting the trade.

He walked out whistling to himself as he made his way to the warp system "Floor 61" Naruto said and was warped to the 61st floor, as soon as he got out of the warp system he looked around and started to walk in the direction of his home where he saw Asuna next to it "Sis?" he said as Asuna looked to him surprised.

"Naruto?" Asuna asked as Naruto nodded "What are you doing here?" she asked as Naruto pointed to the house.

"Coming home to make lunch for me and Rika, we're going material hunting for my new sword" Naruto said as Asuna had a smirk.

"So, you and Rika huh?" Asuna asked as Naruto sighed and walked up the stairs "When were you going to tell me you wanted to date my friend?" Asuna asked as Naruto blushed.

"When were you going to tell me about you and Broody getting closer?" Naruto asked as she stood frozen.

"Touché" she said as Naruto nodded and opened the door.

"You coming in? Or checking out the apartments nearby?" Naruto asked as Asuna hopped up the steps.

"Actually I'm your new neighbor" Asuna said as Naruto smiled and nodded.

"Good to know I have an over bearing big sister living next door, just don't mistake some of Kirito's words he isn't the best with people" Naruto said as he dodged a slap "Hey! I'm just saying because you're kinda dense when it comes to people as well" Naruto shouted as Asuna pouts.

"You're an idiot" Asuna said as Naruto smirked.

"An idiot who holds some of the highest stats in the game" Naruto said as he walked into the apartment Asuna entering after him and he walked to the kitchen "And the rarest items" Naruto said with a smirk as he opened his menu and selected Ragout Rabbit and Asuna stood surprised "If you're lucky your brooder boyfriend might find one" Naruto said as he started to cook the meat "But this is for me and Rika" Naruto said as he saw Asuna pout.

"But Naruto-" she was cut off by him scoffing.

"Puppy eyes don't work anyone Asuna, I've had to deal with Rika's whenever I was getting new materials over the past 5 months and she does it better than you" Naruto said as he got out some bread and sliced it along with other ingredients for sandwiches "So how did the soy sauce and stuff come along?" Naruto asked as Asuna's mood changed instantly.

"Perfect, in fact they taste the exact same" Asuna said as Naruto nodded.

"Told ya" Naruto said as he looked at the sauces he made "What about Mayo?" Naruto asked as Asuna nodded again and Naruto smiled "I've recently gotten bbq sauce and Ketchup down" he said as Asuna looked confused.

"Wouldn't they be the easiest?" Asuna asked as Naruto scoffed.

"You would think that, but you have to get the spices and proportions for each spice near perfect" Naruto said as he spun around to look at the oven and saw it had a minute and a half left, he nodded and grabbed the meat out and slicing it before grabbing a slice and putting it on some bread, he put the slices of bread with the meat and the other slices of bread in the over and waited tille half the timer was up and flipped the meat from one bread slice to the other.

"Naruto, what are you making?" Asuna asked as Naruto kept cooking and smirked.

"RLT Ragout Rabbit meat with lettuce and tomatoes with toast instead of bread." he said and heard the oven ding to say it was done, he quickly got it out and put it on the counter top before putting in another two slices of bread one with meat and the other without as he put lettuce and tomatoes on the two he finished before finishing it off with mayo, he put the slices together and wrapped them up before storing them in his inventory before he flipped the meat from one slice to the other, after finishing the other one he added the vegetables and looked at Asuna "Soy or Mayo?" Naruto asked as her eyes widened.

"I uh Mayo please" Asuna said as Naruto nodded and put mayo on before handing it to her.

"Enjoy" Naruto said as she nodded and bit in her eyes widening as she loved the taste, Naruto put the rest of the rabbit in the oven for some stew "I also have to trade Agil some Ragout Rabbit stew" he grumbled as he made it quickly and then stored it in his inventory messaging Agil quickly "I finished the stew I'm gonna trade you now" and sending a trade request to Agil, he offered the stew and accepted it as did Agil and he got a message in reply "Now I can find out why you hype this up so much" and Naruto scoffed, he looked at Asuna and smiled seeing her sandwich was gone.

"Thanks Naruto" she said and they heard a ding "I'm done with Asuna's sword come get me whenever" Naruto read the message of Rika and smirked.

"You have your sword fixed and I have a date to get to, lets get going" Naruto said as he walked to his fridge and quickly took out some drinks and other snacks while storing away the ingredients he used before heading out with Asuna, while they were walking Naruto saw the sun lowering "Huh, it's already that time?" He asked looking at the ingame clock as Asuna did the same.

"Hey, it's getting close to your birthday isn't it?" Asuna asked as Naruto looked at her and nodded.

"Yeah, I never celebrated it last year because we were clearing floor 45 at the time" Naruto said as Asuna nodded with a soft smile.

"Well maybe this your we can get some other people to come over and celebrate with us, like when we were younger" Asuna said as Naruto chuckled.

"Like who? Agil, Klein, Kirito and Rika?" Naruto asked as Asuna nodded.

"And Klein's guild" she said as Naruto shrugged.

"Yeah sure, I just hope we've beaten the game before then" he said as she nodded "And you're birthday is 10 days before mine isn't it" Naruto said as he remembered it and she nodded as he smiled.

"We'll have a birthday party for both of us on October 5th then, save time and money, I guess" Naruto said as Asuna smiled and hugged Naruto getting a grunt from him.

"We'll be turning 17 won't we?" Asuna asked as he hummed.

"I believe" Naruto said as Asuna chuckled.

"Still underage huh?" Asuna asked as Naruto scoffed.

"As if your parents would let you drink" Naruto said as Asuna pouted "If I remember correctly they scolded you for even coming up with the idea of drinking for your 18th birthday" Naruto said as Asuna pouted more.

"Don't remind me" she said as Naruto chuckled when they stood on the teleporter "Floor 48" Asuna said and the two warped to Floor 48 and made their way to Lisbeth's smithing shop, upon reaching it Lisbeth looked at the two with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey Rika, get this, Asuna wants to get an apartment next to mine, I now have my over bearing big sister living next to me" Naruto whined getting a laugh from Lisbeth as Asuna sighed.

"You probably haven't even told Rika where you live" Asuna said as Naruto shook his head.

"No you were the only one that didn't know, now I've gotta move house" he whined and whined a little more when Asuna hit his head.

"Alright no rough housing in the shop" Rika said as they nodded and she held out Asuna's rapier "Here's your blade fixed" she said as Asuna nodded and thanked her "Now Naruto, let's get going, we have items to find for Tensa Zangetsu!" Rika said as Naruto smiled.

"Date time!" Naruto shouted as Rika blushed although he didn't see as he was walking towards the door.

"One minute Naruto, wait outside I need to talk to Rika" Asuna said as Naruto nodded and walked out waiting outside "You like him don't you Rika?" Asuna asked as Rika nodded a little embarrassed "How long?" Asuna asked.

"A month or so, I was going to ask on a date sooner or later but when he asked me I was embarrassed and said only this once" Rika said as Asuna laughed a little.

"Knowing his luck the two of you will be married by the end of your adventure for the item" Asuna joked before touching wood "To not Jynx you two" Asuna said as Rika nodded.

"Yeah" Rika said "We may be boyfriend and girlfriend but married in game, no thanks" Rika said before blushing realizing she said it aloud when Asuna giggled on her way out, Rika made it out with her and locked up the shop and turned to Natuto "Where to first?" she asked as Naruto looked at his map.

"The outskirts of floor 62" Naruto said as Rika nodded and changed to her combat gear as did Naruto, his blade on his back looked as if it would be a Greatsword but he wielded it with a single hand "Once we get this item then we go to the dungeon of floor 62 and fight a rare skeleton, once it's defeated it has a 50% chance of dropping the item and once it drops we have 3 days to forge the sword" Naruto said as Rika nodded taking in the info "Reason we get that item last" Naruto said as Rika nodded and the two went to the teleport pad and Naruto said "Floor 62" he said and the two vanished.

-5 days later June 6th 2024-

Naruto and Rika were walking towards a clearing and Naruto smirked seeing a chest, he used a skill called entity scan to scan the area "The mimic finally" he said as he and Rika got closer, as soon as they were close enough Naruto pulled out his sword and jammed it into the crack to open the chest effectively killing the mimic, he looked at the item it dropped and smirked "Now to the dungeon" he said as he and Rika made their way there, he suddently stopped and grabbed Rika's arm pulling her close "Quiet" he whispered as she nodded and he looked at the players in front of them, all with red icons above their heads and next to their name was the emblem for Laughing Coffin "It's the coffin" he whispered as her eyes widened, he kept her close his hand over her mouth as he slowly backed the two up, he continued until he knew he was far enough away so he picked Rika up and broke out into full sprint, his speeds would have shocked even Kirito at the time, once he knew they were far enough away he stopped and sat down by a river and slowly set Rika down, instantly she clung to his arm and he rubbed her head "It's alright, I'll protect you I promise" he said.

What he didn't expect was for her to cuddle him and hide her face in his chest, after getting over his shock he cuddled her lightly and rubbed her head, he decided to wait the day out and continue the next day, so that's what they did, after Rika had calmed down the next day she and Naruto walked towards the dungeon of floor 62, although this time Rika never once let go of Naruto's hand "Hey Rika" he said softly as he saw her nod in his peripherals "I wanted to say, I really like you and" he was stopped when Rika gripped his hand tighter.

"I was planning to confess first you idiot" she said softly as his eyes widened.

"E-Eh?" he mumbled as she looked at him.

"I like you two, but marriage for now is off the table" Rika said as Naruto chuckled.

"I don't like the marriage system in this game anyways" he said as Rika nodded, Naruto hummed for a moment "I wanna make a guild, filled with leaders or higher ups from other guilds" Naruto said softly as Rika looked to him.

"What do you mean?" Rika asked as Naruto smiled.

"I mean, like a United Front against the game, I'll get the leaders of big guilds lile the KOB and Dragon Alliance and then over time add the smaller guilds, inspire the members to show we won't stop till we're out" Naruto said as he closed his eyes "There's also the fact I'll be able to find out if I can find out who Kiyaba is" Naruto said as Rika looked confused.

"What do you mean who he is?" Rika asked as Naruto smirked.

"Tell me, would someone as skilled in Game developing as Kiyaba make a game of his own dream world as he put it and not play? It sounds stupid for him to be sat in his Ruby ca-" Naruto stopped talking as his eyes eyes widened "Kiyaba is the last boss" Naruto muttered as Rika looked confused.

"How? Players can only have one health bar with a certain value" Rika said as Naruto's eyes seemed to be doing the calculations.

"Who has the highest resistance and best defence out of players" he whispered and his eyes widened "Lets hurry to the dungeon, I need big sis to make me a meeting with someone" he said as Rika nodded and they continued.

-6 days later June 13th 2024-

Naruto and Rika were walking through the dungeon after sending the location to Asuna, while they were walking Naruto used Entity scan again and smirked "Found ya" he said as the two started to run towards where Naruto spotted the enemy, upon reaching it Naruto smitked "After this we use a return crystal get to town, use the teleport pad to get to 48 where we go to your shop and forge the sword" Naruto said as he pulled out his sword and held it to his right as Rika nodded and grabbed her hammer and shield, Naruto smiled and ran from his spot as Rika did the same, she held up her shield to deflect a blow from the skeleton as Naruto swiped his sword up as he removed the arm with the sword and smirked at the weaponless skeleton, Rika then using her mace broke the block the skeleton used allowing Naruto to finish it as he whispered "Getsuga Tensho"

He looked through the items and then placed his hand on Rika's shoulder using a warp crystal shouting "Floor 48" as soon as he said that they vanished and reappeared in the safe zone of floor 48, they both made their way to Rika's shop and went to the back.

-3 days later June 16th 2024-

Naruto was sat on the steps of Rika's smithing area with a smirk, they had just finished making Tensa Zangetsu and Naruto loved it, it worked perfectly with his style and kept the same moves as his old Zangetsu "Thanks Rika" he said softly as she smiled with a nod.

"No problem, as for payment, be my bo-" she whispered the rest as Naruto blushed.

"S-Sure" Naruto replied to her as she smiled at him and Naruto chuckled "A proper introduction should be needed now, I'm Maelstrom online but offline I'm called Naruto Uzumaki" Naruto said as Rika's eyes widened.

"Uzu Industries?" she asked as Naruto chuckled.

"Yeah, the heir to Uzu industries" Naruto said as he rubbed his head and she chuckled.

"Of course I meet the heir to Uzu industries and start dating him" Rika said as Naruto chuckled and looked away "I'm Rika Shinozaki, I've known Asuna since middle school but I never knew she was friends with you" Rika said as Naruto laughed.

"She's like a big sister, reason I call her big sis a lot" Naruto said as Rika nodded then Naruto stood up "Anyways, I have a meeting to get to" Naruto said as he walked up the stairs and she grabbed his hand stopping him.

"Be safe, please?" she whispered as he nodded.

"Of course" he said as he slowly walked out smiling as he looked towards Asuna "Hey guess who has a girlfriend now!" Naruto exclaimed as she sighed and smiled.

"Rika and Naruto huh?" Asuna asked as he nodded and the two walked towards the KOB HQ "So why'd you want a meeting with Heathcliff alone?" Asuna asked as Naruto gained a serious look.

"I need to see if something is true or not" Naruto said as the two kept walking, Asuna stopped walking at a pair of double doors and nodded to Naruto and Naruto smiled as he walked in, he looked around seeing he was actually alone with Heathcliff "So Heathcliff, or should I say Kiyaba" Naruto said as he looked at Heathcliff and he raised an eyebrow.

"What makes you think I'm Kiyaba Maelstrom?" Heathcliff said as Naruto smirked.

"Your stats, highest defence, resistance and HP in the whole game and I recently made the discovery that Kiyaba would be the final boss in his Ruby Palace" Naruto said as Heathcliff closed his eyes and nodded "Although, I won't expose you as you after all you probably have an elaborate plan that you want to use to go out don't you" Naruto said as Heathcliff looked at him.

"You always were a genius weren't you Naruto?" Heathcliff said as Naruto shook his head.

"Not as smart as you apparently after all it took me 62 floors to figure out it was you, although I had suspicions after fighting along side you on the 48th" Naruto said as Heathcliff nodded.

"So you'll keep it a secret?" he asked as Naruto chuckled.

"Of course and if I even wanted to expose you I would always use my own Admin log in" Naruto said as he turned around "After all the SAO servers weren't always that secure" Naruto said as he walked to the door slowly not seeing Heathcliff's widened eyes, as he opened the door Naruto walked out to see Asuna and smiled "All done" he said as Asuna nodded and the two walked out.

A/N: So how did you all like this chapter? I also plan to have a couple things change as the story progresses so stay tuned for that.

Ja ne