Game of Shadows - 116 (Patreon)

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

Cover Art: Kissuli.

Chapter 116

[Tayuya]

She sat with her legs crossed and her flute in her hands, as she usually did. As she played, her head moved slowly from side to side with the song. She always did that when she was particularly relaxed and at peace, a state that had once been rare. Her back rested against Eiji’s, who was sitting behind her. Around sat the rest of the team, Skitter and Fatass sharing some snacks they’d gotten from a storage scroll, Tayuya supposed. Foureyes, meanwhile, had finished checking them all over and had started doing some maintenance to his puppets.

She’d never admit it to anyone, but she’d come to enjoy moments like that.

Moments in which there was no danger around anymore, there was only her and her team. She’d also, reluctantly, admit that she was fond of the position she was in with Eiji, if just in the privacy of her mind. She wasn’t very sure, but she thought this was what some people described cuddling being like. Feeling safe in the presence of someone you trusted and cherished.

‘God, that sounds so fucking… ugh, emotional,’ She thought to herself, holding back a grimace.

If anything, she was sure their version of it was better, really. How could one be safe in someone’s arms? If anything, that’d make things worse, getting in each other’s way if they actually needed to protect themselves or something. Sitting there though, back to back, they were covering for each other. Tayuya knew no one would ever get to her back with Eiji there, the unmovable, unstoppable guardian that he was. And she liked to think that he felt somewhat like that too with her there, even when he knew everything that happened around him with his threads.

As if he were reading her thoughts, the boy’s head dropped back to rest on her shoulder.

She fixed Skitter with a glare when she started giggling, likely because of the blush that creeped on the redhead’s face. God, Tayuya hated feeling so fucking foolish all the time. She wasn’t one for romance, she wasn’t one for relationships of any kind. However, there she was, with her… whatever Eiji was supposed to be to her.

And yet…

“Ninjas from Iwa are coming,” Eiji announced, his voice soft, almost a whisper. It didn’t really matter what his tone was, Tayuya supposed. Nobody moved overly much, but everyone’s eyes sharpened a little. She could see their minds shifting to professional mode, as it were. Foureyes gave a finishing touch to whatever he was doing and stood up, his puppet hands floating a bit before settling inside his waistband. Skitter, for her part, cracked her neck but otherwise remained where she was, lazily swinging her foot under her. As for Fatass, one could be forgiven for thinking he hadn’t even noticed, if not for the way his eyes narrowed slightly.

“What do you think will happen now?” Foureyes asked and Tayuya heard Eiji take a deep breath in through his nose, practically on her ear. “We did get orders to be careful and not cause an international incident.”

“Kumo caused an international incident,” Eiji replied, and Tayuya could practically see him rolling his eyes. Really, who the fuck was dumb enough to try to make a joke out of them and think they’d get away with it. Clearly, people were cursed to forever underestimate them, she supposed, especially Eiji. Then again, he always held back, always had a card or ten up his sleeve. Hard not to underestimate someone when you didn’t even know how far their abilities went.

Tayuya wasn’t really surprised when she saw the Tsuchikage himself appear with a small army of his ninja behind him. ‘Way to understate things, Fearless Leader,’ She thought to herself. She wondered what information had reached their ears. Judging by the number of ninja and all, she’d bet they’d only heard Kumo had passed through the border in numbers and not that their team was taking care of it.

“Onoki,” Eiji said, not even moving from where he was, his voice still just as soft and calm as before. “You mind playing some more, Tayuya?” He asked then, out of nowhere. She almost jumped where she sat, mainly because she hadn’t even noticed she stopped. “Thanks,” He added when she started again. “God, I love your music.”

She looked away from everyone around, doing her best to keep her face calm. Tayuya cursed her damn heart for fluttering at those words, and even more so at the way Eiji seemed to relax, enjoying her song as much as she enjoyed playing it. Nobody spoke for a while then, the Iwa nin taking the scene in front of them while the Squad simply waited for something to happen. They could be patient.

“Well, it seems there are things to talk about,” The Tsuchikage said eventually.

“You don’t say,” Eiji replied almost instantly before sighing. Tayuya felt his shoulders drop before very reluctantly stood up, letting out another sigh once he was done. She squashed the slight disappointment that they could stay like that for a bit longer. “They just couldn’t help themselves, could they?” He grumbled.

“It could be the same thing that happened at the Invasion, however,” The village leader pointed out and Eiji hummed, conceding the point. “In the end, it’s likely to depend on if something else we don’t know about happened, because this… This is just a mess.”

“We don’t know who is leading Kumo yet, do we?” Eiji asked, and Tayuya’s back straightened as his tone shifted into dangerous territory. “I swear to God, if something like this happens again, I might just take it personally and go pay them a visit.”

Nobody scoffed, or doubted, or so much as commented. The Iwa nin behind Onoki gave away much with their expressions though and Tayuya saw it. Some paled while others grinned. Nobody doubted that EIji could and likely would go through with it. She wondered how many believed he’d pull it off.

She knew she did though.

[}-o-{]

[Onoki]

He couldn’t believe his eyes.

‘Was this the sight that greeted them?’ He thought, torn between respecting and being concerned about Eiji Satou and his Suicide Squad. He couldn’t help but wonder if this was in any way similar to what people had seen at the Kannabi Bridge all those years ago.

It was a massacre. There was no other way to describe what he was seeing. Kumo nin laid all over the ground, sometimes even in piles, like the one the Seven Tails’ Jinchuriki was sitting on with the Earth Release user. They moved and twitched, some only breathed, signaling that most of them weren’t dead, but it didn’t change how it looked to the Tsuchikage.

“You didn’t kill them,” Onoki pointed out.

“We didn’t… for the most part” Eiji nodded, his eyes only half open, as if he were already done with it all and wanted to take a nap. Or, alternatively, as if he’d had his nap interrupted. From what he’d seen, Onoki wasn’t sure which was the case. “This is already enough of a mess to add this much death to it. I’m hoping that Kumo will just be reasonable for once and back the fuck off.”

‘Or you’ll make them,’ Onoki finished in his head, very aware of the boy’s previous words. He wasn’t sure if he should be worried about that or not. On one hand, it was something that would work in his favor. On another… Someone having that much power didn’t spell good things for anyone. ‘It could be in worse hands, I suppose,’ The Tsuchikage mused, only lamenting that it wasn’t an Iwa nin that had gotten that strong. ‘Always Konoha, isn’t it?’

It was like the village was destined to produce absolute monsters. Then again, most of the time it ended badly for the geniuses in question, the village, or both. Onoki could only really count three successes in that front for Konoha, really. Hiruzen Sarutobi, Jiraiya of the Sannin and Eiji Satou. The fact that one of them was but a child that could still be taken out of that list was telling too.

“Letting your worse half influence you there, Fearless Leader,” Fu, the Jinchuriki, pointed out, drawing a snort from Jirobo.

Onoki didn’t hear the response, but judging by the smiling reaction the girl sent towards the genjutsu user, he guessed she’d been told something someway. He regarded the Squad themselves then. All of them looked perfectly fine. There were some signs of weariness, but they certainly didn’t look like a group of five that had battled who knew how many ninja.

“That is, of course, unless you have a better idea, old man,” Satou asked then, turning to regard the village leader with a tilt of his head. Onoki grimaced then.

He could have all those ninja killed, for sure. Nobody except Kumo would even fault him for it. However… He knew what that’d do to the Cloud. Just like he wondered if the sight was the same, he had to wonder if the repercussions would be the same.

Would Kumo and Iwa become the new Iwa and Konoha? Onoki was entirely too old and tired to carry on with such things. If others wanted to perpetuate such grudges, they were free to do so. The Tsuchikage wanted no part in all that, however.

Imprisoning all of them was downright laughable. He didn’t think there was even enough room for so many ninja. If he let them go back to their nation, however, he risked Kumo trying again in some other way and being more successful. Then again… He turned to look towards the person that had taken care of the attack.

“Say,” Satou started then, pulling Onoki from his musings. “I heard a while back that some of my friends were being sent over here to help with this whole thing,” He said. A statement that seemingly came out of nowhere, but the Tsuchikage knew that couldn’t be the case.

“And why is that relevant?” He asked, not feeling up to playing games. Despite the curt tone, Satou smiled appreciatively. Certainly not one for politics, that one, if only because he didn’t seem to like the roundabout way they seemed to work in.

“Because if you can arrange for me to see them sometimes, I can be convinced to stay here and keep an eye on these idiots,” The boy explained, giving a fallen Kumo nin a kick that had the shinobi groaning. “All things considered, I think Hiruzen will let us.”

Onoki raised an eyebrow at that. Not because he doubted the truth of the statement, but because it was baffling that such a young ninja had come as far as he had. Eiji Satou wasn’t a unique case in terms of strength and talent, that was for sure. He was one in regards to his freedom though. Most geniuses were tied to something. It could be their village, their duties, their clans, their beliefs or their goals, but there was always something.

Eiji Satou seemed to have no such ties though.

There were files about him and Onoki knew what he cared about the most was his family – or rather, his friends, but the boy used the term interchangeably – and his team. However, that didn’t seem to affect his path too much. He didn’t care for Konoha as most did their villages. It was, at most, a convenient thing that helped his loved ones and that was it. His duties were followed so long as they aligned with the wellbeing of his loved ones. He had no clan and no strong beliefs. His only goal seemed to be peace, so that those he cared about would be fine.

‘Such a carefree attitude,’ Onoki thought to himself and he’d admit only to himself that he found it refreshing. It was nice to know exactly what someone wanted and to know that it easily aligned with what he wanted without causing issues whatsoever. It was especially nice to know that this ally was strong enough to maybe achieve what they both wanted.

“That can be arranged,” Onoki agreed then.

[}-o-{]

[Eiji Satou]

“The nerve of these people!” Tayuya all but shouted, even as Fu giggled off in a corner of the room. “Stop laughing, Skitter. This is… The fuck were they thinking?!”

“I mean, it doesn’t sound that bad,” Jirobo pointed out, obviously more to annoy the redhead than anything else. “Has a nice ring to it even.”

“A nice ring- Fatass, I’m gonna kick your ass.”

“I don’t know what the fuss is about,” Fu commented, skipping around like the happiest of girls, giggling all the while. “I like it.”

“Because you are a childish little shit!”

“It’s not too bad, I think,” Kabuto pointed out, earning himself a very rude finger sign from the redhead. “That’s just not polite, you know?”

“Oh, fuck all of you. Eiji, you agree with-” Tayuya started, turning to look at him. As she did, he saw her eye twitch. “Oh, for fuck’s sake!”

Her reaction was somewhat guaranteed, he supposed, mainly because he was doing his best to hold back a laugh and failing miserably. In the end, he just gave up. It was hilarious, really. Furthermore, it was easier to focus on the funny side of things instead of the concerning one.

His eyes moved down to the files he’d been sent by Onoki.

‘Eiji Satou, the Weaver,’ He read, focusing on the important parts of his bingo book entry. ‘Threat Level: S-Rank.’

On second thought though, he guessed it wasn’t so bad, really. Akatsuki members were all considered S-Rank threats, after all. He’d already taken out four of their members, which meant that they already knew what his power level was. This wasn’t going to be news to the people that he actually would be a concern. ‘If anything, this might deter people from messing up… With some luck, at least,’ He mused before his grin returned as he looked at the other files.

‘Tayuya, the Songweaver. Threat Level: A-Rank*’

‘Kabuto Yakushi, the Fleshweaver. Threat Level: A-Rank*’

‘Jirobo, the Stoneweaver. Threat Level: A-Rank*’

‘Fu, the Shellweaver. Threat Level: A-Rank*’

All of them had a had a * next to their rank. The footnote regarding it explained that their rank combined with the rest of the Squad, not including Eiji, made them an S-Rank threat. Which was a little worrying. His strength might have been common knowledge for his enemies, but now his team’s would be too. That could be a dangerous thing for them.

“I’ll admit,” Fu started then. “That Shellweaver doesn’t sound as cool as all the others. Wasn’t there a better one?”

“Like what? Armorweaver? Chitinweaver?” Jirobo pointed out, drawing a grimace from the girl. “They had to keep to the theme,” He added, and Eiji saw his eyes darting towards Tayuya, who was looking at all of them with a quickly reddening face.

“Stop laughing, Goddamnit!” The redhead demanded, glowering at Eiji who’d chuckled again.

“Yes, dear,” He replied with a wide grin, which made her face twist in all sorts of ways.

“You all suck,” She grumbled to herself.

Chuckling again, much to Tayuya’s annoyance, Eiji looked at the files again and brought his cup of coffee to his lips. With a sigh, he leaned back against the couch and closed his eyes for a bit. It was nice to have some time to relax and not sit out there on the border. It wouldn’t be long before they had to go back, but he’d enjoy it for however short their stay was.

As he opened his eyes though, he was met with a screen.

[Quest Complete: Defend Iwa’s Border

Reward:

+ 2 to all Stats

+ Perk Updated: Mettle of Men

+ Title Updated: Redemption of the Leaf

+ Title Updated: The Weaver]

‘Neat,’ He thought with a slight smile. Redemption of the Leaf was still very situational, but at least it had come in useful for this mission and who knew, maybe it would see some action in the future too. He’d already committed the mistake of thinking that it’d just never be used before.

[Eiji Satou

Main Title: The Weaver

Secondary Title: Prodigy

Energy Points: 1220/1220

Chakra Points: 1525/1525

Natural Energy Points: 0/1525

Beast Chakra Points: 0/0

Strength: 61

Dexterity: 64

Constitution: 61

Chakra: 61

Chakra control: A]

‘Looking good,’ Eiji mused, wondering how crazy his Status screen would look when all his buffs and skills were active. It would be a sight to behold, really. ‘Shame that the people I fight against don’t make any sense either,’ He lamented.

[The Weaver

Increases stats when fighting alongside members of the Spider Clan by 20%.

Increases stats when fighting with Nuibari by 35%.

Increases the effects of Bloodlust when using threads by 40%.

Increases the effects of thread-based techniques by 30%.

Increases the effects of Lightning Release techniques by 15%.

Increases the effects of Fire Release techniques by 10%.]

‘Hm, increased the Bloodlust effect and the jutsu Releases’, huh?’ He noted on that screen. His title was getting more and more ridiculous, which was great. That was just the kind of thing he needed, really. With any luck, he’d get a bunch of updates more as time went by and before shit truly hit the fan.

[Redemption of the Leaf

Increases stats when fighting in and for the Land of Earth by 40%.

Increases skill efficiency when fighting in and for the Land of Earth by 30%.]

[Mettle of Man

The user’s stats increase by 20% when facing a foe with higher stats than them.

The user’s stats increase by 20% when facing more than 3 foes at once. (Clones do not count for the effect)]

‘Overall increase in these two too, which is nice,’ He noted, taking another sip from his drink. Mettle of Man was still a Perk that he didn’t much care for unless it worked with Pain’s Paths, if he was honest. After all, if all his enemy had was numbers, then the fight would still not be all that hard. If push came to shove, he’d just spam clones and spiders to even the odds.

‘The first one is great right now though, I guess,’ He mused, dismissing the screens as he focused back to the present. He’d make the most of the time Onoki was given him and his team to rest, that was for sure. He didn’t know how long it’d last, after all.

[}-o-{]

“You used to be nice and calm, Eiji,” Shikamaru commented, grimacing at him as he made his move on the board. “And now you are the most troublesome of the bunch.”

“I mean, I think I took all the troublesome from the others, at least,” Eiji replied with an easy grin, considering what to do next in their Shogi match. “The group isn’t as bad as they used to be, right?”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” The Nara lamented, placing a hand over his face and dragging it down. “Ino’s been on our case ever since you started dating that troublesome redhead,” He explained with a groan. “The only ones she leaves alone are Naruto and Hinata. I think Sasuke’s the one that suffers the most though. She’s been pushing him to ask out Karin.”

“It’s good to know you guys are having fun while I’m busy,” Eiji said, moving one of his pieces. “What else is new?”

“Well, Shino has been getting extra training from his family. Said he was working on increasing his options,” Shikamaru told him, sounding like he’d much rather be doing something else entirely. Still, his friend continued giving him updates on how everyone was doing. Apparently, Sasuke and Sakura were being sent towards the Land of Earth sometime soon too. Hinata was keeping up with her training together with Hanabi and Kiba had been doing jobs and working with his clan, mainly.

Eiji was content just to listen, really. Onoki had kept to his word a lot better than the boy had expected, because apparently he’d sent him in Team Ten’s way right after they’d arrived to Iwagakure. Sadly, the rest of them were busy with the actual mission which was doing some light patrolling in between the village and the border. Not quite as dangerous as his mission right at the latter, that was for sure, but that was perfectly fine in Eiji’s opinion.

So, at the moment it was just Eiji and Shikamaru, since the rest of the Squad had kind of gone to do their thing, really. He was half-convinced that they’d done so on purpose to let him have some time alone with his friend or something of the sort. If that was the case, it was appreciated. No offense to his team, but he spent most of his time with them, he’d prefer to be able to focus on his friends when he had a chance.

“You are looking better, Eiji,” Shikamaru said out of nowhere at some point.

“I’m feeling better, honestly,” He replied with a soft smile.

“Can I ask why?” His friend continued then, tilting his head.

“I guess I just… I’m trying to stop worrying so much, I guess. Do what I can and what I want, not necessarily in that order,” He answered with a grin that widened as Shikamaru shook his head.

It wasn’t precisely an approach that he could have used before, really. After all, he could do that now because he was so strong that people couldn’t really get on his way anymore. If anyone tried to stop him from doing something, it was likely they’d be smacked down for it, and not even by Eiji himself.

“I’ll have to thank Ino when I see her next,” He added, because she really had talked some sense into him back in Konoha. He owed her for that, really. If not for her, he might have continued trying to do more than he possibly could.

“She’ll be even more insufferable, you know that right?”

“Well, that sounds like a you problem, Pineapplehead,” A new voice said and Shikamaru groaned. “What kind of welcome is that?” Tayuya asked, narrowing her eyes at him as she took a seat next to the Shogi board.

“Why, Eiji? Of all the troublesome women in the world, why her?” His lazy friend asked with a suffering expression.

“I mean, she’s… Well, she is that bad, yeah,” Eiji admitted with a nod and a chuckle.

“Ex-fucking-cuse me?”

“But she’s also pretty great,” He continued, uncaring of the glare that was burning a hole on the side of his head. “I can be sure that she’ll tell people they are idiots in my place if I have to be polite, at least,” He pointed out another chuckle as he leaned back and rested his hands behind him. “Besides, she’s the only one that can calm me down when I’m getting in my own head.”

“Oh, so you only want me for my music, is that it?” Tayuya asked, placing a hand over her chest in a mock offended expression. Eiji simply rolled his eyes.

“Did you find what you were looking for? What was it again?” He asked, giving her a half-smile.

“Yeah, I did…” She replied, and he could see the mask of confidence crack a little as she fidgeted with the flute in her left hand. With her right hand, she pulled a scroll. She seemed to struggle looking for words for a bit before she simply used the unsealed something from it.

Eiji’s eyes widened.

“You said something about wanting to play an instrument sometime ago, I think,” Tayuya said while he blinked owlishly at the guitar that she’d taken out of the scroll. “And, well… Guitar goes well with the flute.”

Silently, he picked it up and placed it on his lap, tentatively pulling at the strings. Then he looked up at Tayuya once more, grinning widely. She seemed to be trying to look away from him and failing miserably, a slight pink dusting appearing on her cheeks.

“Man, way to make me feel like a third wheel, guys.”

Tayuya turned towards him and shot him a glare that might have actually been able to kill something.

“That sounds like a you problem, Shika,” Eiji pointed out, looking down at the instrument once more.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

Well… I’m actually happy with this chapter. I have only slight doubts regarding the team’s titles and some pieces of Onoki’s part. And, of course, the last part, but that’s just par for the course, honestly.

Overall though, I like how this one turned out.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: I ask this from time to time, so, I hope you aren’t tired of this question. What’s been your favorite part of the story so far?

See you.