Game of Shadows by Adrian King1

Chapter 108

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

Cover Art: Kissuli.

Chapter 108

"Eiji..."

"It's fine," He said, giving Kabuto a tight smile as he took a step back. The minty glow around the med nin's hand vanished as he ended his technique. "Everything alright?" The team leader asked then.

"As good as you can be," The ex-spy answered, which was good enough for him.

"Great," He nodded, giving the man a slight smile when he shot a mild glare his way. "You are doing a great job, by the way. Keep it up."

"What do you-?"

"I'm taking a little break, Kabuto, but I'm not blind," Eiji said, amused that Kabuto thought he wouldn't notice. He always had his Web Sense active, especially after the mess with Sasori. Last thing he needed was to be caught off guard again. No, that wouldn't happen. "Thanks for keeping an eye on everyone."

"It's no problem," Kabuto replied, looking like he didn't know how to react or proceed from there. "I thought given your desire to rest, we could do our part and make things easier on you."

Eiji was very amused by that response and he wasn't the only one. Hachi and Kage's brushed against his own, meshing together in a slightly weird feeling. Tsuchigumo, for her part, was all but laughing, mostly because of what they were feeling though, really.

"You are certainly helping, so thanks," He told the med nin, his eyes dropping a little until they were only half open, his posture deflating as he slouched forward. "Anyone that I have to have a talk with?" Eiji asked. He was pretty sure nobody had been particularly problematic from what he'd picked up, but he had to admit that his focus had been looking for threats, not on his team.

With Sasori out, there was nobody in the team that was likely to betray him, he thought. Especially not after his little display after dealing with Kakuzu. He was pretty sure he'd scared the fuck out of everyone, if their behaviour afterwards was any indication.

"Not that I know of," Kabuto reassured him with a slight smirk. "On that note though, I better go make sure it stays that way, don't you think?"

"Go ahead, man. Best of luck," Eiji replied, waving the boy off.

"So, it's really happening?" Shirakumo asked, sounding subdued.

"There are a few things that could help, but otherwise, yes," He replied, smiling sadly as the spider pushed herself against the side of his neck and his cheek. "Don't worry too much though. There's lots of time."

"For now," She shot back.

"Don't worry about it," He repeated, but the little thing didn't seem very eager to listen to him. "Now, let's go with Tayuya, yeah? We gotta keep working on your genjutsu training or your mother will get angry with me."

"Ok," Was the simple answer the spider gave him. After that, he momentarily closed his eyes before starting to move.

[}-o-{]

[Tayuya]

"Thanks for this," Eiji told her, through genjutsu, just like she usually did with everyone else. It was the first time he did so himself though. Then again, he'd said he wanted to start using illusions more. "I know it kind of gets on your way."

"It's no problem. Makes for a light warm up, I guess," She replied, as was usual lately, hesitating with her words. She knew her personality was aggravating at best and the situation didn't allow for room to mess up now. The last thing she wanted was to screw up her chance by annoying Eiji a little too much, which seemed like something that was more likely to happen at that moment, all things considered. "Whitey is the least annoying one around, honestly," She added as she continued playing her flute.