Game of Shadows by Adrian King1

Chapter 66

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

Chapter 66

[Naruto Uzumaki]

"I hate this," He said, his face twitching as he stopped himself from grimacing.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted from beside him, their eyes locked not on each other but on someone else in the room.

Eiji, to be precise, who laid on the hospital bed, unmoving and pale. Sometimes they would wonder if he was actually dead, with his skin so pale and the black veins still present everywhere in his body. Those were the worst moments and why everyone in the group always visited with someone else. They didn't want to be alone when seeing their friend in the state he was in.

It was like a twisted joke, really.

Their plans had worked, everything had gone well. The Invasion had been stopped, casualties were said to be... reasonably low, or at least that's how Kakashi had told it to their team. Everyone in their group had escaped the whole disaster fine.

Everyone except Eiji.

The one that had made the most plans, the one that had probably done the most, at least in their group... Why was he the one that was in a coma? How was that fair?

'What good is having this power if it still wasn't enough?' Naruto couldn't help but wonder. The Fox's chakra had made him stronger, faster, more durable. He'd been able to fight the woman, Yugito, together with the Swordsman, Zabuza, his name was, but... He should have been able to fight her by himself, shouldn't he? They were almost the same thing. She had a different demon, but it was close enough, right?

Why was she in so much more control than he was?

Naruto wracked his brain ever since, trying to come up with a way to work better with the Fox chakra. However, the fight during the Invasion was a one time deal, he knew. He was keeping his promise and working on his Mindscape, as Eiji had called it, making it into something much nicer than a sewer. It was hard, but he'd made a deal with the Fox and Naruto Uzumaki didn't go back on his word.

Now though, he couldn't use that again to get the Fox's cooperation.

With that in mind, he'd started talking more with the Kyuubi to try and see if there was a way he could get it to help him. Not an easy task to set himself on, that was for sure. The damn furball was always in a bit of a mood. It was either "I'll eat you and all those you are about!" or "Why should I care about my jailer?" or somewhere in between those. Still, Naruto was nothing if not stubborn and he knew it. He'd been dealing with angry and annoyed people his whole life. He'd put up with the Fox's attitude if it helped him be stronger the next time he needed to be.

This was the last time he would have to see one of his friends in a hospital bed like this, that Naruto swore to himself. He'd much rather be the one that was on the bed. He felt so... helpless just sitting there and looking at him.

"Time will be up soon," Sasuke reminded him.

"Right," Naruto nodded stiffly. "Same place?"

"Hn," The Uchiha grunted in response.

And that was that.

That was their routine, more or less. They went to the hospital, then they went to a training ground, usually with Sakura if she wanted to join, which she usually did, and then they would do D-rank missions in the afternoons. Kakashi-sensei had agreed easily enough after they voiced what they prefered to do.

Where they'd been eager to do C-ranks before, now they preferred the chores for a very simple reason. Those missions were short and they were always inside Konoha. That meant that they would always be close by if Eiji woke up. 'When, when he wakes up,' Naruto corrected in his mind.