Game of Shadows - 37 (Patreon)

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

Chapter 37

“Thought you would come and say hello to your old teacher, Anko?” Orochimaru asked with that disgustingly satisfied tone of his, as if everything that happened was part of his plan. And the worst thing was… that he was probably right.

“Something like that,” My sensei admitted, and I could hear the smirk on her face.

The reason became apparent when, as Orochimaru turned to my left to look at Anko, someone else stabbed him right on the back, the black blade coming out of his chest. ‘It’s not going to be that easy, is it?’ I thought wryly.

“A good attempt, Raidou-kun,” The bastard’s voice said, this time from up on the trees on my right. At the same time, the body that had been standing in front of me started dripping down, showing that it was a mud clone. ‘Called it,’ I grimaced, annoyed at being right.

Taking a deep breath in, I slowly stood up.

“Relax, kiddo,” Anko said, apparently having come down from the tree she had been on and standing next to me and Raidou, the three of us looking straight at the Snake Sannin. You just don’t look away from a man like that, especially considering that he was an enemy. “We’ve got it from here.”

“You think you can take me? With two Tokubetsu Jounin?” Orochimaru asked, sounding just as amused as before. “I’m almost insult-”

I interrupted his little speech, one of my ninja wires shooting up from the branch he had been standing on and wrapping around his calf. Instantly, I used both Stunning Thread and Chakra Flow. I wanted to shock the bastard silly or, more realistically, give him a nasty surprise.

A groan escaped his mouth and, for the first time, he lost his insufferable smile. Instead, he scowled down at his leg, which, apparently, had stopped hurting him after the first second for some reason. ‘Gotta hate stupidly powerful people,’ I grumbled mentally.

“That wasn’t nice, Eiji-kun,” He said, as he turned to glare at me. Anko, for her part, spoke right afterwards, positively delighted by my actions.

“On the contrary, that was perfect, Ei-”

She didn’t get to finish the sentence, bending forward and one hand snapping towards her neck. I knew exactly why she did that too, a shot of pain worse than anything I had felt before hit me right where the Cursed Mark had been placed on me. I fell to my knees, gasping for breath as my everything started to burn, the sensation focusing mainly on the mark.

“I would have loved to play some more,” The Sannin spoke calmly, his voice cold and unforgiving. A stark contrast from his amused tone from before, to be sure. Raidou, as the only unaffected one of us, took a defensive stance. “You know, catch up with my old student and all that. But there’s always someone willing to ruin the moment.”

“You are weak, all of you,” He continued, his voice cutting right through my pain, even as my white spots started filling my vision. ‘He is doing that on purpose,’ A part of my mind realized. ‘Letting me hear him clearly despite the Mark’s effect.’

‘Fuck you,’ A bigger portion of my concious decided, as I snarled at the air, my sight long since blurred due to what Orochimaru was doing to me and my sensei. Another wire shot up, my mind barely able to keep itself focused on that alone, and wrapped around his other leg.

“Won’t catch me a second time, Eij-” The Snake Bastard tried to mock.

Raidou, thankfully, realized what I was doing and dashed towards our enemy, his blade quickly cleaving through Orochimaru’s body and cutting it in half.

To our dismay, it turned out to simply be another clone.

To my dismay, I felt his presence appear again through my Web Sense… This time right behind me.

“Still too weak, Eiji-kun,” He whispered in my ear.

“Eiji!”

Then everything turned black.

[}-o-{]

I woke up sometime later with really no idea about how long I had been out. The light that came through the tree branches certainly wasn’t enough to get a gauge on that, although, at least I knew it was day. A groan escaped my mouth as I tried to sit up, my shoulder sending waves of pain even now. Dulled, certainly, but it was still there.

“I see you are awake,” A voice said and I instantly tensed up, calling for Living Threads and Web Sense to get an idea of what was going on. I quickly found out, and it wasn’t reassuring at all. “Had us worried for a while there, Eiji,” Kabuto said, a friendly, relieved smile on his face.

I didn’t believe it for a second.

“What happened?” I asked, as I tried to relax and drag my body so that my back would rest against a nearby tree. ‘These two are supposed to be my team,’ I reminded myself as I eyed the two spies. ‘Gotta show that I can somewhat stand them.’ “Are you two ok?”

“Better than you, certainly,” Yoroi surprised me by replying at all. The guy had hardly said a word since we had met. “We were smacked away, I don’t even know what they did to you.”

“I don’t either,” I said bitterly, placing a hand over my Cursed Mark. It didn’t help at all though.

“By the time we got to you, the proctor of the exam was standing next to you,” Kabuto informed me, and I listened intently. Maybe he was lying, maybe he wasn’t. But whatever he said could be useful one way or another. “Said something about outside interference. He also told us that we were still in the Exam, even if they had to get involved.”

‘As if they would have me disqualified because of Orochimaru,’ I mused, suppressing a smirk. ‘Wonder if the other villages will find out. That could bring trouble,’ I realized then with a frown.

“That looks painful,” The mednin pointed out as I grimaced and winced at another shot of pain running through my shoulder.

“You have no idea,” I muttered. A part of my mind mocking that he probably had more of an idea than most people.

“Maybe I can help?” He offered and I almost narrowed my eyes at him. “I mean, I’m a medic. We have to deal with pain, believe it or not,” He added with a grin that I half-heartedly returned.

‘He won’t kill me,’ I reasoned. ‘Orochimaru needs me, so he won’t. That doesn’t mean he can’t screw me over with some poison… Do I risk it with my Poison Resistance Lvl 18? They are sure to know that I’ve raised it… Ugh, acting is hard,’ I almost groaned. But then I tried to change my position and a hiss escaped my mouth. ‘I can’t go through the exam like this… I can barely move.’

“Sure,” I accepted with a weary smile. “I really need some help with this.”

“No problem, what are teammates for,” He replied with a wide smile. I could almost believe it. He promptly took out a small vial from his pouch and with a quick succession of hand seals, he used some kind of jutsu to inject the liquid into me.

I would be a lying liar if I said that I was completely fine with what was going on. I wouldn’t trust these two as far as I could have thrown them in my past life. But I needed to be able to stand to actually do shit, which meant that I would have to trust this guy just this once.

I hated it. I hated that I had to rely on him, and I hated that I had been marked now. I had been training my ass off. I had worked so hard that it was considered unhealthy for my mental state for most of that time. I had pushed forward for years. And what did I get for that? A mark that-

‘No, no,’ I shook my head, as I felt whatever Kabuto used was taking effect slowly. ‘Keep a calm head, that’s what the Snake Bastard wants… Relax… Actually, I should test that theory right away.’

I closed my eyes and leaned back against the hard surface of the tree. Mentally, I called for the skill that had come to mind. And I slowly let go of reality, delved into my own thoughts and…

I opened my eyes and looked at Konoha. Or, my mental recreation of Konoha that is. ‘I was right,’ I realized with a grin. I could feel it, the foreing presence in my mindscape. I had worked on this place for a long time. I knew it better than I knew the back of my hand.

‘Come here, you Snake Bastard,’ I thought, concentrating on pulling at the presence. It was strong. It loomed over my mindscape like I imagined Kyuubi had done over the real village. But, here, I was God. There was nothing that could battle me in my own mind.

“Impressive mindscape, Eiji-kun,” The guy spoke, his body in my mind looking like what he actually looked like instead of the face he had literally stolen for the Exam. All around him, purple chakra seemed to dance around him like a flame-like aura. “Even more impressive is your contr-”

He shut up because I fucking wanted him to shut the fuck up. I was done with him. Or, at least, I was done with this version of him. I wanted nothing to do with it.

“You made a mistake, Orochimaru,” I told him, my mental projection speaking with a cold tone and an impassive expression. “You made this thing so that you could escape death,” I spoke, feeling that rush of power that came from knowing that my opponent had no chance. ‘Maybe I kind of get why villains speak so damn much,’ I mused amusedly. Mind-Orochimaru’s eyes widened. “But you aren’t the boss here. This is my mind, and you’ve got no power here.”

“Now,” Chains appeared from the ground and wrapped around him, leaving the chakra untouched. “How about I show you what awaits you on the other side?”

And then, with but a thought, I made him sink through the ground. Pushing the sliver of consciousness he had left in the Mark straight into the Void recreation that existed in my mindscape. Months of planning resulted in this. I had theorized that he would have a presence in my mindscape. Granted, if he didn’t, I had some back up plans for that too, but it was nice for Plan A to work right away.

Now, he would never be able to touch anything important. Actually, he would never be able to touch anything at all in my mind. He was in the Void and the Void was just that, nothing, complete and absolute emptiness. Fiercely and decisively, I worked on my mindscape once more, this time to ensure that his presence would remain exactly where it should. I wasn’t sure he could have moved in the Void, but I wasn’t going to risk it.

My first thought had been to destroy whatever it was that he left with his Cursed Mark, or at least try to. But I couldn’t do that. Why? Because I needed the power up that came with it. I wasn’t sure if the Mark would work if I got rid of the Snake Bastard’s pseudo-horrocrux. And thus, I did the next best thing, I made him as good as dead where my mind was concerned. I could get rid of him when I no longer needed the Mark.

Opening my eyes, I realized that I no longer felt pain.

“Thanks for that,” I muttered, forcing the words out of my mouth but trying to sound genuine.

“So,” Yoroi spoke, as I cracked my neck to see if I could relax my tense shoulders. It was nice to know that the pain had receded. If Kabuto wasn’t such a slimy bastard, I would have actually been grateful. “What’s the plan now?”

I looked at them as they looked at me. I almost wanted to scoff at them. They really expected the half-dead guy to give the orders? ‘Fine.’

“This is what we do now...”

[}-o-{]

Team 10

The clearing was silent, broken branches all around and even splashes of dark red blood covering the trees. Leaves could be seen still falling from the confrontation.

“This… is more of a drag than I thought it would be,” The Nara heir grumbled to himself, barely keeping himself on his feet by leaning against a tree.

“You didn’t even take a hit,” The Yamanaka heiress countered, annoyance clear in her voice as she held her stomach. She winced as the phantom pains that came from receiving a punch while her mind occupied someone else’s body.

The third member of the trio, one Chouji Akimichi, laid on the floor, and if not for his faint snoring, the other two would have been worried he was dead. The bruises all over his body certainly weren’t reassuring at all. Neither was the blood running down from his nose.

“Troublesome,” Shikamaru sighed before starting to make his way to his sleeping friend.

The three of them had been ambushed by a team of Iwa genin. ‘If they even were that,’ The Nara couldn’t help but think. They had been entirely too good to be normal genin. And while he lived with a constant reminder that there were exceptional people out there, none of them had the aura that Eiji had, or even Sasuke or Naruto. No, they felt normal, normal but much better than them. ‘They were Chuunin,’ Shikamaru decided, internally thanking Eiji for motivating not only him but also Ino and Chouji to train harder. No way they would have been able to fight the Iwa team if they had been like they had before.

As it was, they had won just because the other team underestimated them. Granted, it wasn’t much since they already knew that Team Ten was made of clan heirs, and as such they expected them to be troublesome. But the younger trio had still surpassed those expectations, resulting in their ambushers defeat.

‘Thank God that they had the scroll we needed,’ Shikamaru thought, positively relieved at the reveal once he checked one of their opponents unconscious body.

“Can you help me move Chouji, Ino?” The Nara asked tiredly. When his female teammate didn’t move, and instead opted to stare away from him, he suppressed a sigh and grimaced. His eyes moved towards a specific Iwa shinobi in particular.

The one that wasn’t breathing.

‘Of course one of them had to die,’ He thought as he dragged a hand over his face and groaned, his heart twisting painfully in his chest. ‘It wasn’t our fault,’ A part of his head told him and, logically, it was right. After all, it wasn’t their fault that the Iwa guys had decided to ambush them. It wasn’t their fault that the guy had flown in the worst possible direction and got killed by a tree branch of all things when Chouji hit him with a punch.

Still… it made him feel like shit and he thanked whatever god was watching that Chouji had fallen unconscious after the fight was over. Dealing with that in the middle of the fight’s aftermath would have been a nightmare. As it was though…

“Ino, let’s get away from here,” Shikamaru pushed, making it an order instead of a question. That wasn’t the time to have a mental breakdown, much less the place. As his blonde teammate blinked back from wherever her mind had taken her, she nodded stiffly and walked up to him, picking up Chouji from the other side and both started dragging him away.

‘They wouldn’t have killed you,’ An accusatory voice whispered in his ear. And maybe it was right. After all, Shikamaru was sure the other villages wouldn’t risk angering Konoha by killing clan heirs, Chuunin Exams or not. That was, if they knew that we were heirs. Which was a big if. Considering that they had sent Chuunin though, it was highly probable that they also knew exactly who was participating.

As they moved through the forest, both Yamanaka and Nara couldn’t help but remember all those months ago, when they had welcomed back Eiji after his disaster of a mission. How they had all spoken to him reassuring words about how they didn’t think any less of him for what he had done. Both Genin couldn’t help but feel their already considerable respect for the Satou rise even more, since his mission had been even worse than what they had gone through.

It also made them feel much better, knowing that there would be someone to talk to once they were done. Someone that understood and had already gone through something similar. Neither knew how they would have reacted if that wasn’t the case.

“You are both ok, right?” The Akimichi’s voice startled both of his teammates and they almost dropped him to the ground.

“For God’s sa- Don’t do that again!” Ino hissed under her breath in order not to get the attention of anyone or anything that may be out there in the forest.

“Yes, we are ok, Chouji. Glad you are, too,” Shikamaru answered.

“Good… that’s good,” The other boy replied, his tone confusing both of his teammates. It sounded… strange. “I…” Chouji trailed off, gathering his thoughts as he pushed to stand by himself. Both Ino and Shikamaru shared a concerned glance before they turned back to the Akimichi. “Lots of bad things can happen in a mission,” The boy finally said, and both of the others immediately remembered when he had said those words. “We can only learn from them and expect better of ourselves in the future.”

“That’s what my father told me when I told him about my… fears about being shinobi,” Chouji continued as he started walking forward through the forest, his teammates soon following. “My mother though, she just told me to come back home. That she would be happy as long as I came back.”

“I don’t think I understood that until now,” Not Ino nor Shikamaru could see it, but both knew their teammate was crying just by the sound of his voice. They understood though, it hit the Akimichi much harder than it had them. He had been the one to deliver the hit, after all, not to mention that he had also been the one that was the most affected by violence in general.

“We are going back home, Chouji,” The Nara offered, his usually bored tone replaced by a soft one.

“Everything’s going to be ok,” The Yamanaka followed, with a reassuring hand placed on the Akimichi’s shoulder.

“Yeah,” Chouji sniffed. “Yeah, we are and it’s going to be...”

[}-o-{]

Anko Mitarashi

Useless.

She was fucking useless.

The only thing they had to do was entertain Orochimaru enough for more Jounin to back them up. Just that, and from there, they would deal with the Snake Bastard. But nooo, he just glared at her and her Mark rendered her powerless, dropping to her knees as if she was a kid under Killing Intent.

Eiji had held up, even though he had just been fucking marked. So, why hadn’t she? Was she just that weak? ‘I am, aren’t I?’ Anko thought with a bitter chuckle escaping her lips.

‘Killing Orochimaru… yeah, right,’ A tear escaped her eye as her hand balled into a fist. A second later, the wall cracked after her knuckles tried to bury themselves into it. ‘Couldn’t even remain standing in his presence...’

Years of training, years of dark dreams about ending the life of the man that had ruined her life… all for nothing. All of it squashed under the reality that she would never come even close to his level. Anko had been delusional, thinking she could go against one of the Sages.

And that wasn’t even the worst part.

No, the worst part was that now her student was one of Orochimaru’s victims too. And Anko had been there, right there. Just a second too late. A second that would have her student haunted for life just like she had been. Too late to save him but just in time to see his body spasming as the burn of the Mark burned its brand into his chakra system.

Eiji… that student that had frightened Anko at first, reminding her so much of her teacher. That student that wormed his way into her heart, showing her that despite how similar they were, they had just as many differences. That he was, in the end, his own person.

“Am I a monster?”

If Anko had her way, Eiji would never ask a question like that. And she would be damned if her teacher came and destroyed the life she had managed to piece back together for herself. Her student would get over this and he would never wonder if the Mark had changed him for the worst.

Maybe she had failed to stop Orochimaru. Maybe she had failed in her personal mission to kill him. But she wouldn’t fail her student. ‘This, I swear,’ She thought resolutely.

[}-o-{]

Kurotsuchi

“Run!” Kurotsuchi’s panicked voice filled the forest. Turning around, she used one of her Bloodline Limit techniques, the Lava Release: Quicklime Congealing Technique. ‘So much for keeping that as a trump card,’ A bitter part of her mind thought.

Spewing a large mass of white substance onto the attacking element, the Iwa Genin then took a deep breath in while doing a quick succession of hand seals. All this while trying to run as fast as possible away from the one chasing her.

What followed was the Water Release: Water Trumpet. The stream of liquid mixing with the previous technique, turning it into a solid mass that would be hard to break through. ‘That should buy us some ti- What?!’ Kurotsuchi’s eyes widened in horror and disbelief as the hardened surface cracked.

“Kurotsuchi?” Akatsuchi, her teammate, asked, the fear clear in his voice.

“Just run, we have to get away from here,” She breathed out, jumping to another tree as the barrier that also was supposed to stop the attack incoming broke like it was made of glass. ‘Sand,’ The granddaughter of the Tsuchikage thought to herself. ‘of all the things to be afraid of, I never thought I would fear fucking sand.’

Just how the hell had the Kazekage turned his son into such a monster? But more importantly, ‘How do we get rid of this guys?!’ She screamed in her mind. They had been running from the three children of the Kazekage for most of the first day of the Second Test. And they still kept at it, like starved, desperate wolves chasing a prey. ‘Can’t they just give it a fucking rest?!’

“Don’t stop running!” Kurotsuchi decided to try another time, this time knowing exactly what the result of her attempt would be, with the same techniques as before.

“Right!” Both her teammates shouted. ‘With some luck, at least they’ll live,’ She thought grimly. Poor idiots, probably thought they had a chance. That she was so damned good that she could escape this situation in her sleep and they were dragging her down. They always seemed to have the highest opinion of her.

Shame that it seemed she would ruin that opinion in the worst possible way. ‘Here’s hoping they won’t blame themselves.’

As soon as the two jutsus in the combo were used, Kurotsuchi started running again. It didn’t even take a second before she heard the crack of the material behind her. The barrier breaking before she had even finished the first hop.

‘What I wouldn’t give to have something to move fast,’ The girl thought, lamenting the fact that she hadn’t mastered any of the jutsu used to just… move. She had been a fool, thinking that she had enough power to deal with anything that could cross her path. After all, she had a powerful Bloodline Limit and as the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage, the chances of her being sent into a mission too dangerous for her were slim. And other nations would be too afraid to start another war to target her.

Or so she thought, since it seemed that someone didn’t give a damn about who she was. Even after she had shouted her name, for once using it to her advantage. The Suna boy hadn’t cared enough to deign her with a response before he continued his onslaught with his thrice be damned sand.

As the sand smacked the path she was about to take, Kurotsuchi stopped on a tree branch. Her expression turned grim, although there was the smallest of satisfactions on the fact that at least her teammates had gotten away.

“You,” She heard the voice of the Suna nin behind her proclaim. She turned around, intent on looking him straight in the eyes, at least. “You will prove my existence!”

‘Great,’ She thought bitterly, ‘He is crazy too.’

The dull sound of a kunai against wood got both Genin’s attention, making them turn towards the three the auburn-haired boy had been standing on. When said Suna shinobi turned back to his target a split second later…

Kurotsuchi was gone.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

Lots of things happening in the Forest. Hopefully, I didn’t mess this chapter up and make it as much of a mess as I’m afraid I did. Thing is, this is the first time that so many things are happening at the same time, which is kind of my problem. But I think I did an ok job.

Random Question: Which Bloodline Limit Chakra Nature is your favorite? Mine is Ice… not because it’s particularly powerful or anything, but because I like it better. I would probably spend the day making ice sculptures. Not sure why, but I just think it would be fun.

See you.