Chapter Ten: Freedom, Finally.

One hour.

It took one hour for Raio to master the Transformation technique that Anko was teaching him. After the little mutant realized there was no humanitarian wall between him and freedom, picking it up was easy. Besides– it was a simple chakra exercise.

Chakra exercises were by no means his favorite, but they were always disappointingly simple. They all shared the same foundation. Unique hand-signs, visualizations, then the real manifestation of chakra. While he could do this in his sleep, the real tricky portion of Transformation was getting him to cooperate.

His ram-like horns were cool. They protected him. Was it necessary to get rid of them completely? What if they were just shaped different? Each time Anko debunked his suggestion, his complaint, and they continued.

He counted the seconds in his head as they ticked by. Collecting them into minutes and hours. It was a habit by now. No one ever told him the time unless it was to trick him.

"We're done, right?" Raio pressed, staring at the kunoichi with beady eyes. At some point, Anko had brought in a mirror so he could compare his transformations. His eyes were like hers now: White around the irises, with rounded pupils. No horns, no tail. His nails were harmlessly rounded. An itch buried itself under his skin where everything was missing. Even the black diamond shape that webbed over his skin was gone, leaving just his purple eyelid markings. "I've mastered it."

Anko looked him over. "Got ourselves a little prodigy, do we? Yeah. Let's get out of here. Are you sure you don't want to change more? You look a lot like--"

"I'm sure." Raio bit at her. Then, refusing to wait, he sprung to his feet.

In a brief moment of hesitancy, his hands hovered just above the floor. He had to remember to stand up with his shoulders squared. Anko went over to the door. The wallpaper peeled off. Thickly, the heavy door rolled out of the way and slid open.

"Give me your wrist," Anko demanded and took it before he could respond. "We're in the ANBU base, kinda. You're not supposed–"

Raio twisted like an eel and yanked his hand free. He skittered, stepping into the dull concrete hall before him, and looked at her with a scathing glare.

"Don't," Raio barked. His voice lowered to a growl, a near-drawled hiss. He sorely missed the threatening loom of his tail, but his transformation didn't drop. "Don't touch me like that. Okay? I was able to put up with your– your prodding, but don't grab me like that."

Anko shoved her hands in her pockets. She regarded him very coolly. "Okay, fine. My bad. Just stick close to me and don't wander."

Stiff, Raio didn't move until she was fully out of the room. The door slid shut. In a sharp motion, she turned and began strutting down the hall. Click. Click. The echo of her shoes against the stone floor, and the slight clinking of shin guards rubbing together. He waited for a few paces before begrudgingly following.

The hall was long. Boringly so. Everything was smooth concrete– when Raio turned his head over his shoulder to look back at where his room had been, he found himself blind to even an indent remaining.

Anko had mentioned something about ANBU. With the severity of the area, and the many cells he could only assume were just past these boundaries, and how she had spoken of it... Maybe ANBU was a term for high-up authority matters? It couldn't be much else.

A staircase came into view, a break from the grey monotony. Raio perked like a dog. Following up the stairs, what looked like a cellar door with dozens of intricate seals carved into it came into sight. Stepping to Anko's side, he pressed his hand against the cold metal and attempted to push upwards.

"Hey," Anko slapped his hands out of the way. "Don't do that, you might blow it up."

Raio held his hands to his chest and looked at her like she was dumb. "What?"

"You heard me, kid," She repeated. Then, pressing her hand flat against the cellar door, Anko used the other to sign hand seals. "What are you doing? Don't watch. I don't want you knowin' the code or anything, dummy."

"Right." Raio averted his eyes. A metallic snap and the hatch swung open outwards. It took Raio's attention with it. Light flooded the tunnel, leaving him squinting.

"Don't just stand there," He heard Anko saying and listened as she stepped out of the underground portion. Her weight was distributed against something soft. Dirt? Was she standing on dirt? Stumbling, Raio fell forward. His hands touched something soft. Organic, thin material that easily bent under his calloused hands. "Well… I didn't mean that, either."

Raio opened his eyes. Gingerly, delicately– and his fingers curled inward. They quickly disrupted the soft and loamy dirt underneath. Blades of grass crumpled under his nails. He had to crawl forward a little, releasing the handfuls of dirt. "Oh, my god."

Anko stood in a vigil.

To the fresh green shimmering in the light under the sun, the earthy smell of dirt. It was so strong he almost thought he was pressing his face entirely into it. Fresh. Everything was so untouched here. Keenly, birds sang out in the near distance.

When Raio brought his head up, his eyes were greedy. Indulgent. He pressed down on the ground and shakily rose--

Not without a souvenir. The handful of dirt he scooped from the earth was staying with him. Quick, he shoved it into his pocket. Trying to play it off, Raio tilted his head back to the endless sky above him.

"Welcome to Konohagakure," Anko mused. Her voice was soft compared to when she was teaching him. Gentle to not break the serenity unfurling above and over him. She closed the hatch doors quietly and resealed them. "C'mon, I need to show you your apartment."

"Give me a minute," Raio mumbled. He fixated on the wispy clouds that blotted the clear sky. An unsurmountable surge of emotions choked him. It burned his throat, constricting it in a vice. Vaguely, he registered that the sun was shining on him to warm his pale skin. It wasn't some laboratory heat lamp. Raio's eyes hurt, and he tried to blink back the oncoming tears, but it was no use.

He jerked his head away from Anko, hiding his face in the crook of his arm. Her eyes fastened to him-- prickling, Raio wanted to flee from embarrassment alone. The feeling dissipated when a breeze picked up and flitted through his hair.

"Take your time," She mused. The fabric of her beige coat rustled as she put her hands in her pockets. Finally, she averted her eyes. He didn't know why, but her tone was distinctly different. "Not like we're in a rush."

"We can go," Raio shot back and forced his arm to his side. He still refused to look her in the face. "Lead the way."

-

Trekking through the village was a unique challenge on its own. The origin point they had to walk around was a towering mountain. Raio had no idea why they would work to encase this mountain within the village walls, but circling revealed why: there were heads carved into the cliffside.

"Egotistical much?" Raio pointed up at the mountain. Anko reached to flick his forehead, but he smoothly dodged out of the way. "What? A lot of people live in a village. It's weird to make them all look at your face."

"These," Anko said pointedly, "Are the Hokage who have led over Konoha. It's kind of a monument. You know, a testament to the good they've done. It's not egotistical if they only get added when they've done well, y'know?"

"I guess." Raio peered out into the bustling village. Humans busied themselves with their daily chores. It all... perturbed him. More than that, snaking through the back streets, he caught every stray glance sent his way. He really shouldn't even be an odd sight to these peons. Do they know the work he had to do to look like them?

He bristled. Then, he crossed his arms. "Isn't it rude to stare? I've been told that."

"Ignore them. We'll be there soon." Anko waved him off. Raio scoffed in response. He was so barren, here. Nothing to coil around himself to protect him. None of his weapons to brandish. It unnerved him.

Soon. The uneasiness clashed with general apprehensive. Lingering, taking precedent, was the flittering excitement in his heart. He could hear his blood rushing in his ears, and feel his heart thumping in his head in a swift rhythm.

His own house. His own life.

"To my house, right?" Just in case.

"To your apartment, yeah."