Chapter Twelve: Chew toy.

Raio found himself wanting to snarl at this kid. Could he call him a kid when they looked the same age? Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest. "Who am I?-- Who are you? I saw you staring at me when I was outside."

The blond lowered his accusing finger and jabbed his thumb into his chest. An unabashed grin split his face. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki! How have you not heard of me? I'm gonna be the Hokage someday, you know!"

"Really," Raio said, somehow not very convinced. That elder was Hokage, though, and he wasn't very intimidating. Not anywhere near Kakashi's level. There was a disordered thought process that Raio spiraled into; Naruto's beam revealed canine-like teeth, and the blond had whiskers on his face. Raio found this annoying. "Well, I guess looks can be deceiving. So you're a ninja?"

How come Naruto got to run around with sharp teeth and whiskers? Raio had to hide his physical quirks! Maybe this was a ninja privilege. Surely–

Wait. The ground swirled under Raio then, a sudden dizzying pang that throbbed in his head. Uzumaki? This little blond boy was an Uzumaki? Raio clamped his hand tightly over his mouth. Saliva began to pool in his mouth. Uncontrollably, like a dog straining against its leash, Raio began to tremble.

Naruto turned away, kicking at the ground. His shoe scuffed the concrete. Blissfully, the boy seemed unaware of Raio's animalistic response to his name. "Well… not yet! But I'm the best student at the Academy. Hey, are you new or something? I haven't seen you there, either. And why are your clothes so messed up? You look like a hobo. You look kinda sick, too. Are you about to throw up or what?"

If only. If only this boy knew the bitter control Raio forced onto himself. He had to step back to place more distance between them. Maybe he wasn't sick now, but he was going to be. His stomach was so painfully empty.

He bit down on the inside of his cheek. A sharp pang as his sharp incisors chewed through the soft flesh of his mouth, filling it with a metallic ichor. Oh god. Raio swayed on his feet, and in a haphazard attempt to play it off, he forced his head to peer over the concrete divider. He propped his elbows up onto it.

"Y- yeah, I'm new," He forced out in a choke. The taste of flesh was so residual on his tongue. A flash of red hair and a sight of round glasses danced through his head. Over and over the mirage was pushed down. Uzumaki. Was this scrappy kid related to her? Did that mean she knew where he was? But Karin had never mentioned a cousin. She never talked about anyone except her dead mom. Raio settled for a strained, "Hey… where's your red hair?"

"Red hair?" Naruto echoed, squinting and rubbing the back of his neck. "Are you colorblind or something? My hair's yellow."

"I guess I am," Raio swallowed thickly, the mix of saliva and blood smoothly gliding down his throat. Cramps wrung his empty stomach, twisting and coiling it like a dirty rag. Karin's skin was covered in superficial scars. It was bumpy with the grooves of others' teeth and nails. She was a human chew toy. It was gross biting her, with that in mind. It was disgusting to keep reopening old scars and adding new ones. But this kid, his bright eyes didn't hold the same depth. "Hey, roll your sleeves up."

"Eh?" He tilted his head, no longer squinting and staring at Raio straight-on. Ticked off, his mouth pulled into a frown. "Why?"

"Just do it," Raio snapped. Vaguely, he realized his voice was muffled from behind his hand. "Please."

Naruto waited an agonizing few seconds before doing so. He rolled the sleeve of his left arm up, bunching the fabric over his skinny bicep.

Nothing. Raio's slitted eyes scanned over his unmarked skin. Nothing. There was not as much as a blemish on his arm. Naruto looked at him expectantly and was almost more confused by his balking reaction. "Now what?"

Raio swallowed again. His mouth was cotton, despite the blood and spit that went down his throat.

He needed to calm down. He needed to calm down before everything in front of him, everything in his hands was stripped from him. This was a tremulous turning point:

In the middle of a village, he could succumb to his hunger, to his desire, and eat this kid alive. He'd likely be arrested and euthanized after. Raio leaned more of his body weight onto the divider as he stared, unblinking, deep into Naruto's eyes.

They were so… empty. Curious, fuzzy, and a little confused. Somewhere, Raio had begun to force it into his stubborn mind: they weren't the same. This was a victim before being made one. He forced himself to look out over the village. The clean, bustling life. The guileless routine of shopping for groceries and clipping laundry out to dry. This is what Naruto had grown up with.

"Sorry," Raio eventually forced and swallowed his blood again. Everything was so dizzy. "I just got… sick. I'm just hungry."

Naruto seemed unperturbed by this. Whatever he was holding onto, whatever determination for a goal unclear to Raio, he fastened to it.

"Do you wanna go get ramen with me, then?"

The hold of insatiable hunger on Raio shook, then cracked. He jerked his head to wildly look at Naruto. What the hell was this kid thinking? He had no idea the amount of power Raio held compared to him. This puny, blond boy. Raio could snap him like a twig.

Janky, the clasp Raio had over his mouth fell. Both of his arms dangled out over the edge of the concrete divider.

Would ramen even help? Vaguely, he could imagine the taste on his tongue. He had never tried it himself. He wasn't even sure what it was. Running through his head, dancing through, were blurred images of bowls of broth and something else. Almost shuddering, Raio nodded.

He needed to eat. Anything would suffice at this point. He didn't care that Anko had told him to go take a shower, or that new clothes were in the wardrobe of his room. He needed something to fill his aching stomach.

"Yeah," Raio bit out. After a moment he nodded and was able to unhook himself from the concrete divider. A cold sweat clicked his hair to the sides of his face, but he could stand on his own. His legs were just much weaker than before. God, things would be so much easier if they'd just let him have his tail back. In times like this, he'd use it to help him walk. "Let me walk in front of you. I think I know where the place is."

It'd be easier like that, Raio reasoned. He wouldn't have to keep his eyes on the Uzumaki if he stayed in front of him. Besides– he was sure that he knew where he was going. If he got lost, he could just follow his nose.

"Hey," Naruto said when they reached the top of the stairs. "You can slide down these, y'know."

"... What?" He didn't know how much longer he could hang on. But everything was starting to be at least a little bit clearer. The hue of red that filtered over everything was ebbing away, slowly. So, he turned around and allowed himself to look at him.

"Yeah. Watch," Naruto squeezed past Raio (who stumbled back, not risking the accidental touch) and put a hand on the railing. He hoisted himself up onto it, putting a leg over it. He was facing backward now, stomach to the railing. The unease from earlier had leeched from Naruto's demeanor; his face crinkled with a bright smile. "It's a pain getting up these stairs, but it's fun going down. Just use your hands to stop yourself if you get too fast!"

Raio watched, gobsmacked, as Naruto launched himself down the railing with the force of a thousand suns. His hooting and hollering echoed throughout the gap between floors, echoing up as he slid down.

You know what? His legs were jelly. Sliding down the handrailing seemed like an easy alternative to skittering down seven flights. He slung a leg over the handrail and launched himself down.

An artificial breeze whistled through his long hair, whipping it every which way. Vaguely he had the energy to be annoyed about the black strands obscuring his vision. It was a momentary distraction. With the rush of air, the blur of grey stairs, and the wall passing by– his stomach pains weren't so quite severe. Raio let his eyes close. Just a few more seconds and he'd be at the end of the railing, and he'd walk to this ramen place with Naruto.

Was this freedom? He knew, a certainty clearer than the blue in the sky, that he had very nearly lost it just a minute ago.

He needed to control himself. He's already come so far– if anyone was going to ruin his new life, it won't be him. He won't let it.