Game of Shadows by Adrian King1

Chapter 126

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

Cover Art: Kissuli.

Chapter 126

It took only one day before someone made it to Suna from Iwa.

It was a day which Eiji spent with Naruto and it was... so very refreshing. Or maybe that wasn't the right word for it. He was filled with this sense of contentment mixed with nostalgia. It was like going back to before they graduated, when they'd first started hanging out with each other and it was just the two of them. It was... great.

Naruto set out to fill the entire village with his traps once more. Some for defense and some for entertainment. Through those hours, Eiji accompanied him, sitting on a nearby rooftop and watching his brother work. Whenever a prank went off, they made sure to watch it together. Eiji also made sure to have a few clones purposely set some off disguised as other people. He didn't want Suna to get angry at Naruto too.

Fortunately, he only had to do that for the meaner traps, which were few. Naruto had eased up a lot on what he considered funny. At worst, they'd be mildly annoying, which meant that Eiji didn't need to intervene too often.

Besides that, they walked around a lot, watching the sights, looking for stuff that was different between their village and the Sand, trying new dishes – even if Naruto wasn't a huge fan of that option – and generally just lazing around. They both needed the time to relax and they were gladly taking some to do so. On top of all that, Eiji simply enjoyed the time he got to spend with his brother. It felt like ages ago since he'd last been around him for so long without something else to do or someone else to visit.

In Suna, it was only the two of them, basically.

'Just like old times, huh?' Eiji mused with a slight grin.

He could almost forget that he didn't have-

"Eiji," Naruto called and Eiji smiled weakly in response. The blonde had learned quickly to pull his mind away when it started spiraling due to his arm. Sometimes, he'd be subtle about it, or as subtle as Naruto could be. Others, he'd just bluntly call him like in this instance. Regardless of the method, Eiji was grateful. "I wanted to ask you... Well, we wanted to ask you something."

Eiji blinked for a second, taken aback by the fact that both his brother and the Kyubi wanted to ask him something together. He'd been aware that Naruto was making progress, however slowly, towards... sort of befriending the chakra beast. What he hadn't been aware of was that they'd gotten so far.

"Almost dying can do that," Kage commented, sounding almost amused. Judging by the yelp that he heard in his mind, Eiji was sure that Tsuchigumo had... "attacked" the Orochimaru lookalike. For what reason, he had no idea, but neither did he care overly much.

"He stopped playing with her," Hachi answered his unasked question, sounding like she was having a good time. Probably watching the two, if he had to bet. "You are right. And regarding these two... They probably want to know about Tsuchigumo, actually. You weren't being very discreet about things, were you?"

'Ah.' Yeah, that'd make sense, he supposed.

"That.. In the fight... Why did it seem like you had... Like you were... like me?" Naruto hesitantly asked and Eiji nodded, confirming that Hachi had been right. If he knew anything about his mind occupants, he was sure that the woman was feeling supremely smug.

"You are not wrong," Kage confirmed.

"Do you remember the Invasion?" Eiji asked, while in his mind, the male twin offered to help him get into Senjutsu Mode. He appreciated it. The sensing ability would let him be sure that nobody was spying on them.