Game of Shadows by Adrian King1

Chapter 96

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

Cover Art: Kissuli.

Chapter 96

[Tayuya]

It wasn't often that she woke up early without someone or something waking her up. Actually, she couldn't remember when the last time had been, if ever. She wasn't what one would call a morning person, she could tell you that. 'Mornings are fucking evil,' She grumbled to herself as she twisted, ready to continue sleeping.

At least, she would have, if she hadn't heard someone else move and decided to check what was up. What she saw made her freeze. There, twisting where he laid, was Eiji. Their leader, fearless leader himself, twitching and whimpering like a small child, pale and sweating.

Tayuya could honestly say that she had never seen the boy look so... afraid, small and weak. She'd always seen him as the strongest one around. Even when they had been standing in front of the Tsuchikage, Eiji had this aura that made him seem just as important, at the very least. She was both annoyed and in awe of that particular aspect of him.

That had been one of the reasons that had convinced her to follow and obey this boy. That, and the absolutely terrifying genjutsu he'd put on her, that is. The memory still sent a shiver down her spine. A few seconds were all that she had experienced and if she never got to be under it again, it'd be too soon.

Regardless, she'd gotten to know who Eiji Satou was much more since then. She learned that she'd never have to worry about that unless she made some really bad decisions. Moreover, she'd probably earned her way out of Eiji's list of possible targets and into the one that would never be put under the Genjutsu. She was almost sure of that.

Thus, Tayuya laid there, staring as Fearless Leader looked anything but the nickname she'd given him. She was suddenly reminded of what he'd done, what he'd risked. Eiji had taken a bomb that would have leveled the entire place and made them all disappear and risked his life to get it away from all of them at the risk of himself.

She'd thought he'd shrugged that off. He seemed to be perfectly fine after he came out of the hospital. Four Eyes hadn't mentioned anything to them either, besides the physical problems Eiji had dealt with during his recovery. Now, she was witness to something that she hadn't even thought was possible for him.

Weakness.

"It happens often," She heard, and she turned once more, this time to look at Kabuto, who seemed to be on watch duty that day. The silver-haired med-nin was staring at their team leader with an almost blank expression. At least, if it weren't for the slightest of frowns on his face. "I haven't asked the others, but I'm pretty sure it happens every night at least for a while," He added, his voice soft, to avoid waking up everyone else.

Tayuya stayed silent then, unsure of what to say.

Shrugging it off or dismissing it sounded wrong in her mind. By itself, that was already pretty strange, in her opinion. She'd never cared much for that kind of thing, but then again, nobody had risked their life for her before Eiji. Saying it was nothing was like saying that saving her was nothing, which might explain why she felt as she did in regards to that.

However, that reasoning also sounded wrong to her. Was that it? Was she just trying to keep the importance of Eiji saving their lives, hers included? That sounded like... belittling the action.

"You are here because I have a proposition for you two."

"Hey, at least the music is nice."

"Well, if you need help, I know a thing or two about Genjutsu."

"Nobody but me will be able to see through your Genjutsu by the time I'm done with you. The world will fear you."