Game of Shadows by Adrian King1

Chapter 63

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

Chapter 63

[Shikamaru Nara]

This was bad. Very bad.

They were fighting a losing battle. All of them, their combined efforts, their plans, all of them for nothing. The red chakra from the woman kept coming out of her, kept giving her strength to push through their containment attempts. At this point, she was still down due to Naruto adding more and more weight on her. At the pace they were going, he'd run out of paper and ink before she ran out of power.

Worse still, they were getting weaker and weaker as time went by, and that was without taking into account the chakra they were spending trying to keep that woman still. Shino had, indeed, come through with a plan to use his Kikaichu to drain the woman of her red chakra. The problem was that his bugs couldn't take too much of that chakra without dying.

Thus, the Aburame had come up with a plan to deal with that issue. Instead of sealing the chakra and keeping it in themselves, the bugs were transferring it through the group. The problem with that was that the chakra was still dangerous to them. They all could feel it burning their chakra coils, but it was the only option they had.

That woman had to stay where she was, at all costs.

There was no help coming their way, he knew. Shikamaru could hear the war going on around them and was suddenly reminded of the chat he'd had years ago with Eiji. He'd talked to him about what'd happen if a war ever started while they were Shinobi. To think it would come true so soon...

There was also nothing else they could do now. The Nara had thought about trying to kill the woman, but how? They couldn't get close because they could be affected by Naruto's seals, since the boy had been forced to make them in a more simple way, affecting the area around them instead of just one target. They could use long range techniques because whatever they had tried had failed to do enough damage to take her out or had too wide an area of effect that they were risking messing up the seals, which they couldn't afford to do.

"Ha! The cavalry's here!" Naruto exclaimed, his voice sounding somewhat strained. Shikamaru supposed it made sense, the boy was still making more seals as time passed.

The exclamation made the Nara turn his head a bit, his body still laying flat against the ground as his shadow bound the woman in that position. His jutsu might not have the strength to completely contain her, but he wasn't about to leave his friends by themselves. Besides, he needed a way to burn the chakra Shino's bugs were feeding his system. He didn't want to think what that energy would do to him if it remained inside him.

Immediately, Shikamaru caught sight of a bunch of spiders the size of a human being appearing from one side. He'd seen Eiji's gigantic summons appear, of course. Who couldn't, with how big they were? However, he hadn't thought he'd still have enough to send some their way. 'You are not playing even more of a sacrificial role here, are you, Eiji?' Shikamaru wondered anxiously.

Because he knew that the Satou had taken a damn big risk going by himself against someone stronger than the woman they were containing. That man had looked older than the woman, bigger too, stronger for sure. The Nara didn't want to think about it too much though, because everytime he did the chances of Eiji being alright were right in front of him and they didn't look good.

"The Contractor sent us here," One of the spiders announced then, before they all took some sort of stance. A moment later, a splash of liquid shot out from their mouths. Poison, if Shikamaru had to guess. He didn't have much information to go with, but Ino had already tried poisoning the woman and it hadn't done much. He supposed it still was better than nothing. Anything that helped them weaken her was good in his books.