Game of Shadow

Chapter 22

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor The Gamer. I own nothing, really.

Chapter 22

'This isn't what I was expecting when she said testing my skills,' I thought to myself as my back hit a tree almost as thick as a small house.

You see, my new sensei had decided to see what she had to work with, which was fine. However, I had been expecting her to let me fight against one of the known and varied 'animals' (read, monsters) that populated the Forest of Death. I didn't expect her to say 'Hi' and immediately throw a kunai at my face.

Fast forward a few minutes and there was I, dodging punches and kicks that would probably smack me against the forest floor or send me flying.

It had started as a distance battle really, with both of us throwing kunai and shuriken at each other. She had given me a backhanded compliment when I added some spice to it by attaching tags to them, some exploded, some didn't, some weren't even real tags. I had even tried to throw the shuriken at her feet so that they acted like improvised caltrops…

That idea was a lot better before I realized that she could literally jump over me to end in the opposite direction. I would have to rain shuriken on the place to actually hinder her. And in the end I would probably make more trouble for myself than for her.

'I need to do something… different,' I concluded.

Fighting normally wouldn't do. My teacher apparently didn't bother holding back more than it was necessary to not have me killed. This was easily proved by the numerous bruises that I could already feel forming all over my body even as I tilted my head to have a punch graze my cheek. Less than a second later I had to block a kick to my side that, while not sending me against the nearest tree, did push me almost a meter.

I narrowed my eyes a plan started forming. My eyes darted around every time I had a split second to think, which meant every time I was sent flying, regrettably. However, it ended up being productive, if painful.

'Ok, this idea sucks, but it's something,' I thought before I jumped back to avoid another kick. Normally I would jump over it instead of backwards. But Anko could and would hit me while airborne, so that was a no.

With a semblance of a plan in mind, I waited for my opportunity, dodging what I could, blocking what I couldn't and more often than not I was still hit once or twice in between.

"If you never attack this will never end, brat," She half-demanded and half-mocked. I ignored her while crouching under a jab and rolling away from a punch downwards.

As I went to stand up, my opportunity came. 'Perfect timing,' I thought hiding a smirk. A kick was coming down towards my head and I enacted my plan.

Preparing myself for what followed, I jumped towards the kick, which means up and head first into the kick. Her heel hit the back of my head and, being mid jump, had me doing a front flip. That exactly what I wanted though, and according to plan I extended my leg and…

My foot connected with her face.

Either because of the surprise or because of the actual feet, she stumbled back. Before I could even land on the floor, I was already running through hand seals. And thus, immediately after my feet touched the dirt, I sent two handfuls of lightning-infused shuriken her way.

Unsurprisingly, she jumped over them easily enough.

"That's more like it, but you'll have to try-" Her little speech after landing was interrupted as I pulled my hands to the sides and with the ninja wires attached to the previously thrown projectiles. Before the threads could wrap her up though, she once more simply jumped over it. "I can see the ninja wire, brat. I'm not blind," She mocked.