Game of Shadows by Adrian King1

Chapter 117

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

Cover Art: Kissuli.

Chapter 117

Playing guitar was, as Eiji found out, quite a lot better than drawing. Or, at least, it worked a lot better at calming him down. Drawing was nice and it allowed him the ability to immortalize moments and memories. However, playing was something that happened in the moment. If he was in a bad mood for whatever reason, taking a pencil and trying to make a picture appear was a lot harder than it was just taking the guitar and playing something.

There was also the fact that other people could enjoy it a lot more. Everyone could appreciate a good drawing and enjoy it if it involved them somehow or it meant something for them. However, at most it'd last for a bit and go away. Few people could stare at a drawing for very long before becoming disinterested, really. At least in one sitting.

Music, on the other hand, could be enjoyed for a lot longer. Furthermore, if one wasn't playing the same thing all the time, people could enjoy it indefinitely, really. 'Why didn't I pick this up before?' He couldn't help but wonder, as his fingers pulled on the strings for a song he'd been trying to make work for a while.

Eiji had taken to playing the guitar quite easily, really. However, it was probably a bit unfair, he supposed. After all, Living Thread worked on those strings too, which meant that making mistakes became a little harder when he could command the things with his mind instead of with his fingers. It felt quite a bit like cheating, he'd admit, but he'd take it.

There were few things more frustrating than the wrong sound being thrown into a song, he'd found.

[Guitar Mastery has gone up a level.]

'Nice,' Eiji thought to himself as he continued playing. The screen distracted him, but he did his best not to let that get in his way. It was probably the least distracting thing happening at that moment, honestly. One would think the explosions and wild movements going on around him would do at least a little more to his concentration.

Eiji found that it wasn't all that much of a problem, really. He had faith in the twins and what they were doing. Besides, if something happened, he was likely to be given warning or something. He didn't have anything to worry about. In case all that somehow failed, he trusted his teammates.

"We've got this," Kage muttered, his strained voice belying how much effort he was putting into the current exercise. Eiji didn't know why the Orochimaru lookalike was even trying to hide that, really. He knew it was a difficult thing, what they were trying to do.

"Because he's a pride driven fool," Hachi explained, even though her words made Eiji want to laugh. She was one to talk, honestly. She could be just as bad, if not worse. "I'm not!" She protested.

Eiji didn't comment, but all three of them knew that he wasn't gonna take his thoughts back.

"Tsuchi? Could you comfort Hachi while she sulks?" Eiji called in his mind, a smile forming on his face as the chakra beast let out a dutiful bark. He knew his mind occupants well enough to know that the female twin would be grumbling and complaining even while the eight legged wolf cuddled to her, but he knew her too well to listen to her half-hearted protests.

Back to the exercise, Eiji had decided to train in something that could come in quite handy in several situations. That is, sharing the 'outside' of his mind with the twins. As in, more than one of them being out of the mindscape. Not in the sense that they could share his senses, they'd figured that out long ago, but more than one of them controlling stuff outside was difficult to coordinate. It was also very awkward, since it felt to him like parts of him, physical or not, were doing things on their own.