Hey, so here is the newest chapter.

BlackCrystal06, well, I do make it a point to reply to reviews, whether it be through PM or a shout out. I know what you mean with readers' hope and stuff, I mean, before we start writing stories, we are all readers after all.

To those three mentioned in Kirito's vision/dream, well, those who have read at least until Alicization Uniting will know who I'm talking about. I mean, my descriptions are vague, but if you watch the opening scenes, those three, not sure about the man, but the two women are there.

I won't say too much, since it will spoil the future parts of the story. But to how Kirito's memories aren't retained in the Underworld and the real world, not wrong, not right either. Since this is a 'real world' setting, not a VR setting like in cannon SAO. But hey, the Underworld in cannon actually sends signals to influence the soul, or FluctLight. So I'll leave you guys to figure that out until I actually reveal that.

To Guest, well, yes, here, I'm making it so chakra came from the Underworld. Here, mana and chakra are the same thing, but people from the Elemental Nations have chakra coils, so they can do jutsu. People from the Underworld however, lack chakra coils, so they can only use spells.

Its basically comparing a system of pipes containing water to a huge pool of water. Where ninja have a closed tank of water, and they can draw the water through pipes, while people of the Underworld have a huge pool of water, where they can directly get the water from the pool.

And Kirito is a mixture of both, with a huge pool that you get the chakra/mana directly, with smaller pipes that transfer the chakra/mana for more specific amounts.

Anyways, on to the chapter. I was going to go straight to the Niibi sub arc, but then I remembered a certain short Sylph, so I decided to put in a small part for Suguha alone, a bit of a filler, so to speak.

XXX

Two days later, after the Kazekage retrieval mission, everyone had gone back to their respective routines.

Tsunade had given the two teams a three day break since they had defeated two S-ranked ninja in one mission. Yugao, Kakashi, Sakura, Sasuke, Hikari, Asuna and Sinon decided to take the break, but Suguha didn't felt like lazing off, so she requested a normal C-ranked mission.

Tsunade had decided to let her go on a solo C-ranked escort mission, which was to guard a young man and escort him back to his village, which was somewhere between Konohagakure and Takugakure.

Now, Suguha was at the gates waiting for her client. They had met at the Hokage's office, and he had went back to the hotel to retrieve his belongings.

After a while, Suguha heard, "Umm, Suguha-san, I'm done."

The kunoichi turned and saw the client, Nagata Shinichi. He was a short bespectacled young man, around her age according to what Tsunade told her. Shinichi wore a black jacket with long black pants, he also had a relatively large bag, probably containing his belongings.

Suguha also remembered that the client came to Konoha to trade goods, so that was also probably why he had that large bag.

The girl nodded, "Okay, let's go then."

The pair quickly left the village after doing the standard procedures at the gates.

Due to Shinichi being a civilian, they couldn't move at ninja speed, so they had to walk all the way to their destination, which, considering breaks and stuff like that, would probably take a day or two.

As they walked, Shinichi asked, "Umm, Suguha-san, I'm curious, how is life as a ninja?"

Suguha blinked, "Hmm, life as a ninja?"

The young man nodded, "Yes, my village doesn't have any ninja, so its actually my first time meeting one. I mean, I've of stories from my parents and grandparents, but that's all."

Suguha hmm'd, "Well, I don't know how to answer you, but its quite dangerous, I guess?"

Shinichi blinked, "Dangerous?"

Suguha nodded, "Yeah, we fight most of the time after all."

The young man nodded, "I see, then, aren't you scared?"

Suguha shrugged, "Not really, its all I've ever done after all. Well, if I'm facing a strong enemy, of course I will be scared, but its just do or die, I guess."

The man nodded, "I see."

Suguha then asked, "So, what do you do at your village? You said you don't have ninja there right?"

The man nodded, "Well, I'm learning to do business. So, I follow my father to meet customers most of the time. I mean, our village is not as developed as Konohagakure, so we have to do all the work ourselves."

Suguha nodded, "I see."

Shinichi smiled a bit, "Well, I actually went to Konoha to sell some of our village's goods, and my father decided to let me try doing it alone."

The kunoichi nodded, "I see, then, how was it?"

Shinichi smiled, "It went really well, though I'm quite surprised by how high the standards are in Konoha."

Suguha nodded, and as they were about to continue, the kunoichi held her hand out, blocking Shinichi from moving. The young man blinked, "Eh, is anything wrong?"

The swordswoman didn't answer him, instead, she spoke aloud, "Come out, you're not doing a good job hiding. I can see all of you in the trees."

Slowly, ten men walked out of the trees, all carrying machetes. Suguha also noted that they all had loose stances, with plenty of openings. She also didn't fail to notice the blades were all dull, meaning that the men didn't bother to take care of the blades.

One of the men, obviously the leader since he wore more armour, stepped forward and spoke, "Surrender all your money, and we'll consider letting you live."

The katana user sighed, they weren't intimidating at all. The leader didn't make an effort to scare them other than threatening them verbally, and their equipment was shit too. Though maybe it was just her, since Suguha noticed Shinichi's scared expression.

The young man said, "Umm, S-suguha-san, maybe we should just give them our stuff?"

Suguha sighed, "If we did that, then I'd have failed my mission already."

Shinichi blinked, seeing the angered faces of the ten bandits, "Umm, but there are too many of them."

Suguha giggled, "Don't worry, I'm quite strong you know?"

Shinichi didn't seem to believe her, nor did the ten bandits. One of them huffed, "What can a cute little girl like you can do?"

Suguha's smile turned dark, "Oh, would you like to try?"

The thugs didn't seem to notice the danger and the leader smirked, "Heh, I was planning to let you leave peacefully, but now I think we'll have some fun before we kill you."

Suguha's smile vanished and she slowly walked forward. The leader smirked, "Get her."

Immediately the ten men charged the one kunoichi. One of the thugs swung his machete at her but Suguha easily sidestepped, allowing the blade to pass by her harmlessly, which also caused the man to lose balance. Taking advantage of that, Suguha sent a devastating elbow to the man's neck, knocking him out in one blow.

The girl then noticed two other men swinging their blades at her, where the blades would have decapitated her from both sides. However, Suguha easily stopped the men by blocking their wrists before she punched one of them hard in the face, sending him flying away. The kunoichi then quickly kicked the other man where the sun doesn't shine, causing him to kneel in pain before she swiftly kicked him in the face, sending him to the floor.

Suguha then tilted her head just in time to avoid a stab from another man. The girl quickly sent an uppercut to that man, sending him up before she spun and kicked him, sending him crashing into the second man she had kicked previously.

The fifth thug and sixth thug charged, trying to flank the girl. But as they swung their blades, Suguha ducked, letting their blades clash before she did a handstand and spun, kicking the two bandits away into the trees.

The remaining four men looked hesitant after seeing six of their men dealt with so easily. But Suguha wasn't about to let them go unscathed. As quick as the wind, Suguha appeared in front of them, one of their machetes in her hand, and she swung hard, turning the blade so that the flat side of her blade struck all the men in the face hard, sending them crashing to the ground unconscious.

Looking around at her handiwork, Suguha nodded in satisfaction before she turned to Shinichi, "Are you okay?"

Shinichi looked shocked for a bit before he nodded. Seeing his expression, Suguha thought, 'Lucky I didn't draw my sword or kill any of them, I doubt he'd still be standing if he saw that.'

Suguha then turned, "Come on, let's go."

Unknown to the girl, however, fear was the furthest thing on the young man's mind, 'Suguha-san is so cool!'

After that, they just continued walking until night fell, and unfortunately, they weren't near any villages or inns, so they had to camp out. Fortunately, Suguha had came prepared with a spare tent sealed in a scroll.

The girl quickly set up the tent and made a makeshift campsite in the forests, and Shinichi was once again baffled by how efficient she worked.

The kunoichi then looked at her client, "Sleep in the tent, I'll keep watch outside."

Shinichi blinked, "Eh? Then what about you?"

Suguha made a small fire jutsu and made a camp fire, "I'll keep watch here, just in case bandits come attack us. Besides, meditating is enough rest."

Shinichi wanted to protest but the girl raised her hand, stopping him, "I appreciate the sentiment, but I am a kunoichi, I learned to adapt to different situations and all those stuff, besides, its my job."

The young man just nodded and reluctantly head into the tent, where he laid down and slept. Meanwhile outside, Suguha just tended to the fire as she kept watch.

This was actually the first time she went on a solo mission, and to be honest it was going fine. But then again, she didn't expect much anyways. Even if it was a C-rank, solo missions were often lower than average missions, hence why they could do the mission solo.

Besides, the girl just didn't felt like taking the break, even if the others wanted it. Suguha then looked at the tent, where the young man was sleeping. She knew he had most probably lived a sheltered life, his reaction upon seeing the thugs earlier just proved it.

The girl sighed and just closed her eyes, meditating as she made sure to be careful as to not fall asleep.

The next day, Shinichi opened his eyes groggily and went out of the tent. The young man stepped out of the tent and saw Suguha stretching, without most of her armour on.

He could only blush as he took notice of the kunoichi's impressive curves until she noticed him. Suguha greeted, "Good morning, Shinichi-san."

The young man had to mentally smack himself before he stuttered, "G-good morning."

Suguha finished her stretching and quickly put on her armour before she asked, "So, are you ready to go?"

Shinichi nodded, "Of course."

The kunoichi nodded before she sealed the tent away in the scroll before she put on her armor and strapped her sword to her waist, "Okay, let's get moving then."

The young man didn't argue and they quickly continued on their way. As they walked, Shinichi couldn't help but stare at the girl from the back.

After some time, as they were nearing his village, the young man asked, "Umm, Suguha-san, you said your life involves a lot of fighting, right?"

The kunoichi blinked, "Hmm, yeah, I did say that."

Shinichi nodded before he asked, "Don't you ever get tired of it?"

Suguha hmm'd before she answered, "A bit, I guess."

Shinichi then hesitated a bit before he gathered the courage, "T-then, how about stop being a kunoichi and come live with me? I mean, my parents and grandparents will definitely welcome you!"

Suguha blinked in surprise at that blatant proposal, the fact that he was blushing up a storm just proves it.

Seeing Suguha not replying, the young man proceeded to try to convince her when Suguha held up both hands, "Okay just stop!"

Shinichi blinked and was about to say something before Suguha cut him off, "First of all, we just met a day ago, so you don't know me, and I don't know you. Second, I may have said I do get tired of constant fighting, but that doesn't mean I want to quit being a ninja. And finally, I already have a boyfriend."

Shinichi looked down before he just nodded, "I see."

Suguha sighed and rubbed her temples, the girl was thankful most of her fanboys, along with most of Asuna, Sinon and Hikari's fanboys, had got over them, but this was taking it to another level.

The girl said, "Come on, we're almost there."

Soon, they reached the village and Shinichi noticed something wrong. At the gates were two men, obviously thugs, guarding the village. Another huge problem was that the usual lively village was silent, abnormally silent.

As Shinichi tried to go to the village, Suguha quickly pulled him back and pulled him into the forests. The young man asked, "What was that for?"

Suguha frowned, "Keep quiet. Its obvious something bad happened, it could be the enemy."

Shinichi's eyes widened, "E-enemies?"

The kunoichi nodded before the young man started to panic. The girl sighed, "Stay calm, I'll check if the enemy is a ninja or not."

Shinichi's eyes widened again, "Eh, but its dangerous for you to go in alone!"

Suguha grinned, "Who said anything about me going in?"

The young man blinked before Suguha stepped back and bit her thumb, smearing her palm with blood before she went through a set of seals, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu."

In a poof of smoke, a small eagle appeared. Suguha smiled, "Razor."

The small eagle nodded, "Suguha-san, what do you need?"

The girl pointed at the village, "I need you to scout the village, check for any notable things, thugs, ninja, anything that can be an enemy."

The bird nodded, "It shall be done."

He then took off and flew towards the village. Suguha then turned to see Shinichi's gaping face. The short man said in awe, "That bird... Just talked..."

Suguha just giggled, "Well, he is a summon after all."

The man didn't know how to respond as they just waited. Soon, after a moment, the eagle returned. Suguha asked, "So, what have you got?"

Razor nodded, "The village is filled with thugs, probably took over the village a while ago. The civilians are all monitored, but still can carry out their daily activities. I also noticed that they have to constantly pay the thugs."

Suguha nodded, ignoring Shinichi's yelp of shock, "Enemies?"

Razor nodded, "Roughly 70 thugs in the village, nothing you cannot handle. Its just the shinobi who rules over them, he's a Jounin with a huge sword."

Suguha nodded, "I see. If its just me, what are the odds of winning?"

Razor considered the idea before he answered, "If its just you, you can take care of the thugs easily, but I suppose you would be a bit tired when facing the Jounin. That is, if you went in all alone."

Suguha smiled, "If we bring in some of your friends?"

Razor smirked, "Then our victory is assured."

The kunoichi nodded, at least she didn't have to call for backup from the village. On a side note, she hoped Tsunade wouldn't be too mad, since her mission was to escort and ensure the safety of the client until they reached the village, well, saving his village from enemies in the process would be within mission boundaries... Probably.

Suguha then turned to Shinichi, "Well, it should be manageable on my own. So don't worry, we'll take back your village."

The shorter man just nodded before the girl turned to Razor again, "So, any ideas when we should strike?"

The eagle replied, "Any time should be fine. They seem relaxed, as if they are not afraid of anything."

Suguha nodded, "I see. Then, we'll strike in ten minutes, tell your friends to get ready."

The eagle grinned and vanished in a poof of smoke. Suguha then looked at Shinichi, "Shinichi-san, I want you to stay here, stay quiet, and wait until I come get you. Got it?"

The civilian nodded, knowing full well he would only hinder the kunoichi if he did otherwise. The girl nodded in satisfaction before she checked on her equipment, which were mostly unused throughout this mission, so she had plenty to work with.

After 10 minutes, she summoned Razor again. The girl asked, "So, are we ready?"

The eagle nodded, "Yes."

Suguha grinned, "Cool."

She then turned towards the village and bit her thumb, smearing her palm with blood. The kunoichi then went through a set of seals and slammed her palm on the ground, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Smoke covered the area, and in an instant, an army of eagles appeared. Shinichi could only stare in awe as Suguha summoned her army of eagles.

The girl just nodded to them, and the eagles shot into the sky.

To the thugs, the leader of the gang, an arrogant man named Kanamoto Atsushi, he was a Jounin, formerly of Kirigakure. But because of the bloodline war, he had fled and found himself leading a group of thugs. The man didn't bother returning to Kirigakure after hearing that Terumi Mei had become the new Mizukage, besides, he liked his freedom.

In addition, raiding villages like this was quite fun, not to mention he had a bunch of loyal idiots, as long as you paid them of course. With that, as long as he didn't run into ninja stronger than Chunnin, he could do whatever he wanted.

Just a few days ago, he managed to take over this village, and now he had a base, a bunch of slaves, his own army, and a whole load of cash, the fact that no one in the village could stand up to him just made it better. Life couldn't be better for him. All he was missing was a hot piece of ass.

Then Atsushi was brought out of his musings by a yell from his thugs, "Holy shiet! What's with these birds?!"

The former Kiri ninja looked up to see a whole flock of eagles circling the air above them. Atsushi blinked in confusion, wondering what they were doing, before all the eagles did a nose dive and shot towards the thugs.

Hell broke loose, as the eagles slaughtered his army of bandits. While they had numbers, they were absolutely abysmal at fighting, especially if they were taken off guard by an army of eagles. Atsushi growled in frustration as he yelled, "Group up!"

None of them listened and continued running around like headless chickens, picked off one by one by the eagles as they screamed in fear and agony.

Then a voice drew his attention, "So, you're the one in charge here?"

The nuke-nin turned and saw a young woman with neck length black hair, wearing a customized set of light green Anbu armour with a Konoha headband around her neck, she also had a katana in her hands.

The kunoichi also had an amused face, showing that she was most probably the one responsible for the eagles. Atsushi growled, "You did this, those eagles, didn't you?!"

Suguha just smiled, "Of course, your army of thugs versus my army of eagles, quite a sight, right?"

The man growled and charged the girl, throwing a fist at her. Suguha easily dodged the punch before she tripped her, making him fall to the ground.

Suguha jumped away as the man tried to take her legs off with a pair of kunai before she raised her sword to block several shuriken.

The man quickly got up and flashed through a set of handseals, "Kirigakure no Jutsu!"

Instantly, mist filled the village, and even though it did well to hide the former Kiri nin, it did nothing to cover the thugs, as the eagles were still picking them off one by one.

Suguha immediately stayed on guard, careful to check her surroundings, even if she could barely see past 5 feet.

Then, all of a sudden, a figure appeared behind her, the shadow that loomed over her being the only warning, before Atsushi tried to stab her with a sword he picked up from one of his fallen thugs.

But Suguha knew it was coming, and she glided away from the attack before she spun and gave a slash to the nuke ninja's abdomen, leaving a relatively huge gash.

The man grunted in pain as blood dripped to the floor. He cursed as he leaped away, as he continued to constantly move around stealthily. However, unlike previously, now Suguha could actually hear him, most of the time from the blood dripping on the floor.

Then all of a sudden, the movement stopped, and the kunoichi could feel the man directly behind her. Then Suguha moved. Charging wind chakra into her sword, she turned and swung her blade hard.

The wind released from the blade blew away all the mist, revealing all the thugs on the floor, either headless or clawed to death. And in front of Suguha, was Atsushi, his body in half as his blood stained the floor.

The swordswoman gracefully flicked the blood off her katana and sheathed her sword. Suguha then turned to her summons with a pleased smile, "Thanks guys."

The eagles all nodded before they vanished in a poof of smoke. Suguha then turned as she heard the doors of many buildings open, revealing the villagers who had noticed the lack of screams.

As soon as they came out, the villagers were greeted with the sight of Suguha standing in the middle of all the dead thugs.

One brave soul, a young boy, asked, "Umm, excuse me, did you defeat them?"

Suguha looked at the boy and nodded, "Yeah, you're free."

Silence filled the area for a moment before cheers erupted through the village. Every villager thanked Suguha for disposing of the bandits and the girl just took it in.

After a while, as the villagers finally stopped thanking her and went to clean the village, Suguha went back to where she left Shinichi and saw the young man smiling.

The young man said, "Thank you, Suguha-san."

The kunoichi nodded, "Of course, its just a part of my mission."

The young man nodded and headed back for his village. Suguha said again, "If that's all, then I'm leaving, okay?"

Shinichi nodded, he wanted to ask her to stay again, but decided not to. She had made it quite clear after all. Suguha nodded and vanished from sight, to the young man's disappointment.

Meanwhile, in Konoha, Tsunade was looking at a scroll, "Hmm, so the Raikage wants to have a joint mission, to improve village relations. Why not?"

At the same time, in an unknown location, the leader of the Akatsuki was talking to two men, one had silver hair with a huge three pronged scythe, while the other man had a face mask and a grey hood that covered his hair. The man with the scythe had a slashed headband from Yugakure while the masked man had a slashed headband from Takigakure.

Pein said, "Hidan, Kakuzu, its time to hunt the Niibi."

XXX

Done. So that's the filler chapter. Next will be the official start of the Niibi sub-arc. Review please.