Game of Shadows by Adrian King1

Chapter 121

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

Cover Art: Kissuli.

Chapter 121

[Naruto Uzumaki]

Things weren't going so well, it seemed.

"No shit, what was your first clue?" the Kyuubi drawled from inside his mind, the whole situation bothering it about as much as Naruto expected. Which is to say it didn't, at all. "Good to know you aren't a complete fool."

Which was stupid, in Naruto's opinion. Of course, he knew by then that even if he died, the Kyuubi would be fine... sort of. From what the fox bastard had said, he'd just reform. However, Naruto would bet that it wouldn't be a very pleasant experience though.

"Probably not," the chakra beast replied. "But what can you do, your days are counted, brat. If it's even days and not just hours."

'Thanks for the vote of confidence,' Naruto thought back, even if a small, pushed to the side part of him agreed. His chances weren't looking so good... That only meant he had to find a way to improve them though.

That however... could be a little troublesome, admittedly. If Eiji had made sure of one thing as of late, it was that Naruto knew very well how dangerous Akatsuki could be. His brother had filled his head with all the knowledge he could possibly need to deal with them. What they looked like, what they might be able to do, even some bits and pieces of their personalities. He'd given Naruto all the tools he could possibly need, or as many as Eiji could manage, that is.

Yet, there he was.

The only allies he had in Suna, the siblings, had gone away to some very important meeting that he wasn't privy to. That meant that chances were he would have no back up besides, maybe, the fox. Granted, Suna ninja seemed to be decent enough and they didn't hate his guts like the civilians in Konoha did, but they'd never stand a chance against these S-ranked ninja.

Thus, Naruto had done his best to put seals and traps everywhere. Especially when he heard that the Suna siblings were going away and he wouldn't be able to move back to Konoha. He'd thought, back then, that maybe being attacked wouldn't be that bad. He was confident in his skills, after all, and he thought it was possible he might even be able to deal with them. With some luck he might even deal with them, in a way that would see them permanently not being a problem.

He'd been delusional, evidently.

"Evidently," the Kyuubi repeated his thoughts unhelpfully. God, he could be annoying. "You are one to talk."

That didn't matter, what mattered was finding a way out of his situation before it was too late. The Akatsuki pair had dealt with everything he'd laid out against them. Torn through it all like it was a particularly weak piece of clothing or something, instead of the impenetrable armor he'd thought it to be.

Shields were pierced, traps were avoided, explosions were pushed through. Nothing could stop them, and Naruto soon found out that there was no way he'd be fighting these people and winning. He liked to test the odds, to give it his all for that one single miraculous chance. He'd always been like that.

However, Naruto knew what a lost cause looked like.

Even worse, he couldn't, for the life of him, find a way to give himself the slightest of chances. There was nothing he could do from where he was, hidden under the strongest shield he'd managed to put up, powering it with the chakra of the Kyuubi, piece of shit that it was. Outside, the Akatsuki members were attacking.