Chapter Fourteen: Easier This Way.

Teuchi stared at Raio. He could've sworn that he was just there to witness his other three patrons just starting on their bowls of ramen, but now they were gone and all three ceramic bowls were spotless. How could that be?

At least they paid before leaving without a goodbye. Teuchi stacked the bowls, having the kid's portion– the smallest bowl– at the utmost top.

Another day of work. He looked to the right where he had just served Naruto and his new friend their bowls, and–

Raio slid his bowl forward. It was spotless. Naruto seemed just as bug-eyed as Teuchi.

"That's– good," Teuchi chuckled, taking the empty bowl from him. "What a healthy appetite! Get some meat on those bones."

The kid was thin as a rake, after all. He tried not to linger on the thought. Though, his concern was rampant; Naruto was almost the same way when he served him his first bowl of ramen. Scrawny, dirty. What a terrible fate for Minato's child. Ostracized and plagued with terrible loneliness.

This one. Raio. The more he looked at his face– which Teuchi was wary to avoid, for whatever reason that unsettled him– the more familiar he was. Why?

He tried to not let it bother him too much. Instead, he leaned on the counter and had his lips in the same friendly note as he usually did. Minato was an old friend. There was more of an incentive to take care of Naruto. But this second child, so odd in demeanor, seemed to share the same situation. Why else would he look like that?

"Both of you. You're welcome here any time, so feel free to come back for dinner too!"

"Yeah yeah," Naruto raised his ceramic bowl to his lips, smoothly guzzling the unobstructed ramen broth. Teuchi noticed that it was to hide the bashful smile that threatened to show. "We probably will. You have the best ramen in all of Konoha! Thanks, Teuchi."

Raio had his hands flat on the counter. In that same motion, he began to tap his nails against it. Teuchi noticed that they were painted black. Teuchi hoped they were painted, anyways. He knew it was unhealthy for someone's nails to naturally be that shade.

Naruto took something from his pocket. His prized frog-shaped coin pouch. Almost proud, he opened the clasp holding it shut. "I got my money today, so–"

"No," Teuchi waved him off. Raio's eyes followed his hand curiously. "It's on the house. You're my best patron! And consider it a welcome gift for your new friend there. We don't often get new people."

"Ehh," Naruto scratched his cheek. "Put it on my tab."

Teuchi laughed and decided to play along. "Sure."

Raio observed the two with a keen expression. Vaguely, Teuchi was reminded of his daughter when she was looking at the world for the first time– though this was more… honed, perhaps?

He nodded though. Breaking the statue-esque vigil he had been holding. "Thanks."

"Mhm." Teuchi watched Raio slide from his barstool, grabbing the bottle of Ramune. Naruto scrambled to follow him.

"Next time, Teuchi!" Naruto waved with a wide smile. Raio copied the gesture.

Teuchi stood alone in his restaurant. Quietly, he began cleaning up after the mess they made.

God. What was so familiar about that kid?

–

"Where are you going?" Naruto called loudly, making a few heads turn. Nothing unusual. Raising his pace to a quick jog, he caught Raio's stride. "You don't even know this place!"

"It's weird," Raio confessed. His light eyes were flitting from person to person, building to tree, taking in every little detail of the path they traversed. "I feel like I do."

"Well, that doesn't make sense. You said you're new here."

Raio couldn't describe it to him. Well, he could; he was capable of such. Stringing his thoughts into words, weaving them into something coherent. But Naruto was so abundantly unaware of his surroundings. He made the connection that his inobservance applied to picking up things, too. Things that Raio didn't particularly want to explain.

"Maybe it's just déjà vu," He settled. It was the best simplification of what was happening to him. The streets were well-worn in his head, and he followed the steps of someone's daily routine. It was so messily cut. Where his clarity muddled into someone else's head. "Like how I figured out where Ichiraku Ramen was."

"Ohh." Naruto clasped his fingers behind his neck then, taking a much more leisurely stride. "Yeah, I get that."

'No you don't,' Raio wanted to bite, but he took a breath instead. He had no real incentive to continue their conversation. "Yeah."

"You didn't answer me, y'know. Where are you going?"

Raio slowed, then. The path he was following in his head– the rehearsed steps. They weren't his. He wasn't even heading back to his apartment. The visage of someone waiting for him passed through his head like a desert mirage, but it just as easily dissipated. He turned back to Naruto with a frown.

"I guess I was just walking. Sorry. I should've been… clearer." In a brief apology, Raio nodded his head. He didn't mean it. This was just an act of formality to his one and only 'friend'.

He couldn't get used to the idea.

Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but Raio smoothly cut him off. "Naruto, what makes a friend?"

"Whahuh?" He blinked. Then he put his hands down, eyes darting away in a fleeting motion. Raio wasn't quite sure he asked. Perhaps he was just reaching for a different topic. Inherently, he knew Naruto didn't have any other friends. Naruto was an outcast. This is what he's determined.

Still, Raio was nearly positive that any definition Naruto came up with would be much better than his own.

"Well…" Naruto rubbed the back of his neck in a nervous tick. "I guess it's, like, someone who cares about you and you do things with them. So you hang out and talk and… whatever."

"Like going to eat ramen together?" Raio's brows raised.

He crossed his arms and turned his head to the side. "Yeah, duh. Why? You ask a lotta weird questions. What'd you think friends were for?"

"Maybe just," Raio put his nail on his lip. Sorely, he missed the point that'd dig into his skin. "People who are put in the same circumstances, who are on the same team so they help each other. No?"

"Nah. That's too… detached. Friends actually care about each other." Naruto finally shoved his hands in his pockets. Though he couldn't seem to stop fidgeting; one gesture was traded for another, and he tapped his heel against the ground. "You said we're friends. So… you're still… good with that, right?"

Raio had to think about it. Did he care about Naruto?

Ibiki left. Anko ditched him. Even the Hokage left nothing but an unsigned letter after doing a procedure that Raio wasn't convinced was going to help him. Guy and Kurenai said a total of two things to him before leaving. Naruto inserted himself into this life, took him for free ramen (when nothing in this world was free), and bugged him with trivial matters.

This was Karin's cousin. Right now, he was talking to Karin Uzumaki's cousin.

But the way he was fidgeting was different. The way he was so nervous for approval. Not for their experimenter's approval, their captor's, but Raio's. The thought came as a shocking realization: a splash of cold water in his face. Although slight, his lips parted.

Naruto wanted his approval. That's what this was.

"Yeah, we're friends," Raio said. Suddenly, he was happy to repeat it as many times as Naruto needed to hear. "So what do you want to do next? To hang out?"

The blond's whole face scrunched with a tried and true authentic smile. "Hell yeah! Come on then, I have a bunch of spots I wanna show you."

Filled with a sudden vigor that oozed from his very demeanor, Naruto ran past Raio. He huffed in an amused way. Something was stirring in his chest that he couldn't quite place; was this amusement? Self-satisfaction?

He didn't like being alone. Raio knew this for a fact and that's how he's lived his life since the day he was born. Things would be easier, he told himself, having Naruto around as a friend in his new life. That's all this was, right? He was just making it easier for himself.

"What are you waiting for!? We have the whole village to go through!" Naruto waved, about to turn a corner further up ahead. Raio twitched. Like he had to realize he was in his own body, his feet started moving one in front of the other, soon into a brief run to catch up.

Maybe Naruto was the same. This was just a mutual agreement. A trade they were both partaking in, for all he knew.

"Try to keep up!" Naruto teased, disappearing around the corner.