Game of Shadows by Adrian King1

Chapter 110

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

Cover Art: Kissuli.

Chapter 110

[Tayuya]

"I'm sure you would like it," Eiji commented, pointing at her with his chopsticks, an amused smile on his face as he turned his attention back to his food for a moment. "I mean, you like Yuki, don't you?"

"One mutt is enough for me, thank you very much," She replied with a grimace as she looked at her plate. Once more, as she ate, her mind drifted for the smallest bit, wondering why she was in the situation she found herself in. "I don't want to be surrounded by the things. If I can stay away from dog tongues for the rest of my life, it won't be long enough," She muttered, making him chuckle.

To say that Tayuya hadn't expected Eiji's... question, was an understatement. Hell, she'd been fairly sure that he was asexual or aromantic or some shit like that. Those kinds of things seemed to barely register in his mind, as far as she'd seen.

But then she'd gone looking for him when he was late and...

That had happened.

'It's all Bimbo Number Three's fault, I'm sure,' Tayuya accused in her mind as she aggressively all but stabbed a bit of food and shoved it in her mouth.

"Something the matter?" Eiji asked, a corner of his mind pulling up. He'd definitely noticed her slight blush... And now he was making fun of her. God damnit, the day was getting worse and worse. "Didn't know you disliked dogs that much," He commented, as if it was really that what had annoyed her, the asshole.

"Shut up," She grumbled as she continued eating. She was already feeling nervous and self-conscious enough without her face betraying in attempts to turn red. Thank god for the transformation jutsu, because-

"Have I said that you look nice, because you do," He commented, and she felt the heat in her cheeks get worse.

"I don't remember you being this annoying?" She muttered under her breath, as she stuffed more food in her mouth. With some luck, her plate would never be empty, because god, this was all sorts of weird. Eiji didn't do anything other than chuckle at her embarrassed expression before continuing to eat, the absolute asshole.

"The illusion doesn't look bad either," He said then, making her freeze, the chopsticks halfway to her mouth. "I hadn't considered that. You don't have anything that's not ninja related, right?"

"So what? I didn't expect you to go crazy all of sudden," She grumbled, her eyes looking anywhere but at him. "And I don't know if you noticed, asshole, but I'm not a very girly girl."

"I don't know about that," Eiji replied with a half-smile. "But if you aren't having a terrible time as you seem to be, then we could go shopping next time. Get some clothes that aren't for the job. I certainly need some too, as you can see."

Well, that was an accurate statement, Tayuya guessed. She was wearing her usual outfit and had slapped a transformation technique over it all to make it seem like she'd actually worn something that looked half decent for an... outing. No dress though, because she wouldn't be caught dead in one of those. Eiji for his part, hadn't even bothered with an illusion, although he at least had a dark red dress shirt instead of a coat or armor or a plain shirt.

"Awfully presumptuous of you, Fearless Leader," She mumbled. God, what the hell had happened to her. She wasn't one of those civilian girls that got all flustered when asked out. She was not like that. So why the hell was she sitting there, almost unable to look at him and barely able to speak.