II.

Naruto logged back into the game and immediately started to complete the tasks he was currently good at. He wanted to get stronger as fast as possible so he could take on the sand dragon. It motivated him to become the strongest and most respected hero of his class. That meant becoming Hokage. To become one, he still had a long way to go and many hours of playing.

He had just killed the last gremlin when he noticed someone following him. He took his prey and turned around. On the tree stump across from him sat the same red-haired guy in a sand cloak and carefully watched him.

Another half dozen gremlins that had just appeared there came down on Naruto and attacked him. Although these monsters were not among the strongest, they paid for their lack of numbers and almost swallowed him. The stranger dropped about two gremlins from him, which helped him quite a bit and the ninja could easily finish them off.

"Thanks for the help," he thanked him as he finished them off and walked over to the stranger, getting out of the danger zone of the map. The stranger did not answer him. "By the way, I'm Naruto. We've met before. You helped me with the book of heroes," he introduced himself.

"Hmm…" he trailed off. "You should train on stronger monsters. You will get more experience for them," he finally said.

"I tried that for a while, but when more of them came at me, I had to fight my way through the underworld and there are no experiences for that," he replied. Of course, he thought of something like that.

"I can help you with that," he said so quietly, the ninja was surprised to hear him.

"Seriously?" he cheered in surprise. He didn't expect help. He tried to find the foreigner in the database, but an error always appeared on his page. He didn't even know his name, which he kept hidden. So he had no idea if it was an NPC or another player. But he guessed the second. "That would be great," he smiled.

"Follow me," said the stranger at last and went to the other side of the forest.

"And what should I call you?" Naruto asked him as he walked.

"I'm Gaara," he replied simply.

"What class are you in? Let me guess, are you a mage, maybe a cleric? I have never seen such a uniform anywhere. Does that belong to your class or did you get it from the store?" he inquired further. Gaara hesitated for a moment before finally answering.

"I'm a sand mage."

"Then you must be from Suna. There they specialize in sand-related classes. I think I found a bandit class, clock master, and such." As he walked, he noticed the black circles under the mage's eyes and a strange mark on his forehead. The mage looked like he hadn't slept much.

Gaara led Naruto to a remote side of the forest that was on the edge of the desert. To the place where there were special monsters that no one dared to see, so there was no one to disturb them. It was quite difficult to get to that place because you could only get there from a special place.

As soon as they entered there, a winged eye flew towards them. The sand mage poured some sand into his hand and threw it towards the monster. At his will, the sand wrapped itself around the enemy like a rope, holding him in place.

"I'll hold it for you. You kill him," he said, noticing another monster approaching them. This time it was a rabbit carnivorous monster known for its aggressiveness. Gaara used the same sand spell and bound him in the air.

Naruto didn't delay and went into battle. His attacks were minimal against stronger opponents. It took a lot of stamina, but he finally got over them. All he had to do was defeat the Devil's Eye and he would automatically level up.

If he had continued alone, he would have taken it much longer. The rabbit monster also gave him another level. He grew to like this tactic. He could get stronger so quickly.

With Gaara's help, he defeated a few more monsters before he got bored like this. He was glad he could improve, but he didn't like that it was so free. During the small break, the two chatted and renewed their energy. Well, rather, Naruto talked and Gaara sometimes answered him or asked a question himself, but that was an exceptional case.

During this time, they agreed they could try some adventures from the book together. Complete several tasks that a ninja would definitely appreciate a mage's help with, earn some coins and get unique items.

This help of theirs became a rule and whenever Naruto joined the game, Gaara was already waiting for him. At first, it was a bit strange, because the mage never spoke much, but after some time with the ninja, little by little he started to open up and started to welcome him, sometimes he told him some news, what happened there and so on. It was small steps that strengthened their growing friendship.

Naruto got this far with his help and even managed to complete several missions in his clan that helped him get closer to his dream title of Hokage. He reached the level where he was notified to attend a ceremony where he would be promoted and given a new title.

This notification came to him when he had just completed a mission with Gaara. He read the solemn message aloud and was overjoyed. He finally saw the fruits of his hard work.

"What clan are you in?" Gaara asked him, a hint of concern appearing on his otherwise stony face.

"At the guardians of the nine-tailed fox," and he saw nothing wrong with that.

"I'll go with you," he finally said firmly.

"Seriously? At least I'll enjoy it more. Do you think they will have ramen? So far I've had ramen at Ichiraku's and he was seriously excellent," Naruto dreamed.

The two of them teleported to the clan borders. Gaara wanted to go inside with Naruto, but the system wouldn't let him.

"It is a pity. As soon as it's over, I'll come and tell you what it was like, okay?" Naruto promised him with a smile before heading inside.

He walked through the main door where the other hooded members were already waiting for him. Festive music was playing in the building and everything was decorated. The other clan members led him to a room separated by a heavy stone door that hid a dark room with a giant seal in the middle.

Naruto was placed in the centre of the circle and the others stood around the edges. The cult members began chanting words in unison in a language the ninja did not understand. In response to their words, the seal glowed orange.

Naruto wanted to ask what was happening, but his words lacked volume. He wanted to move and leave the room, but his feet were frozen to the seal. Orange and black energy began to rise from the lines and tentacles started to wrap around his feet. The tentacles reached his abdomen where they stabbed into his stomach.

Pain shot through him, he clutched his stomach and fell to his knees. He tried to tear the tentacles off him but to no avail. He plucked one out, but two more lodged in his stomach. The pain was getting worse and Naruto was starting to think he saw a giant orange fox with a mischievous smile out of the corner of his eye.

That was the last thing he saw as his image began to blur and eventually knocked him out of the game. Naruto was lying on the ground, sweaty as if he had just run a marathon. He tore off his glasses and threw away his gloves, clutching his stomach. He took some pain pills and rolled into bed. Even the slightest touch made his stomach ache as if he had been punched.