A NEW HOPE

IT WAS PRETTY OBVIOUS by the weird looks people gave you and Kawaki when walking down the street that you were not welcome in the village. Or were atleast perceived as outsiders.

"Did you see that boys arm?" A woman whispered to her partner, clutching onto them tightly as if you were a rabid street dog ready to bite "And that girl— my god are they both runaways?"

Kawaki would visibly tense up at their remarks. His face didn't show it, but his tightening fist certainly did. It became a regular occurrence overtime as wherever you walked, people talked. 'Who are they?', 'Should we call someone?'— there wasn't a moment the two of you were free from judgmental glares, and if this kept up, soon police would dominate the streets rather than innocents steering clear of your path.

"Kawaki, maybe we should stick to the alleyways again..." You whispered under your breath. It was then that a very noticeable glare was thrown your way by an old man, he looked to be in his mid fifties with his eyes glued onto your hospital gown. He frowned before trotting away. His mobile device must've held the law enforcement on the other line.

Kawaki didn't like the attention either of course, he never planned on even being this open with how gnarly the both of you looked. But after managing to make it to the village of the leaves (or something—you think that's what it's called) the hunger that rattled your stomach forced him to take a more confrontational approach to getting supplies. Scavenging garbage bins only left you penniless and quite frankly sick of the smell, so the boy huffed, ignoring how his arm was now numb from the pain.

"And what? Hope we find bandages, food and a map? As if." He scoffed.

...Okay...

Despite the growing anxiety in your stomach, you're grateful that the two of you weren't running anymore. It allowed you to save energy (which was much needed) and take in more of this amazing world you've found. And wow, you've never seen such a pretty village before! Every street was free of litter and grime, and colourful in some sort of way. Red wooden bars lead up to patios with benches and restaurants— each smelling equally as mouthwatering (with such a wide selection too!) You couldn't wait to one day explore the busy streets of the Hidden leaf. Maybe in a more quieter time when you're free.

If it wasn't obvious that you were an outsider from your clothes, then it was definitely from how you gaped at the most simplest of things. A colourful flag of a famous sport team? Wow! Magazines from corner shop stands? Awesome! Hopefully people shrugged you off as an ordinary country bumpkin rather than someone suspicious... but with how Kawaki gave everyone who so dared to look at him the wrong way a scowl, the facade wasn't going far. Even those who looked genuinely concerned were shooed away with a rather rude "mind your own business" and a kiss of the teeth.

That was until something caught your eye.

"Hey, look over there!" You softly nudged Kawaki once noticing of a large clearing full of wooden stands.

"They have food laid out! Lets go get some!" Too driven by hunger, you scurried off to the nearest stand before Kawaki could stop you. The closest was a stall with vast arrangement of apples. A rather large woman stood behind it, tending the shop, and her lips pulled into a thin line when noticing you, giving you an odd look that soon turned sour once you grabbed an apple. It was green, and you liked how your reflection could be seen in it.

"HEY! Hands off the produce!" She slapped a newspaper that was rolled up onto the wooden counter. "Did your parents teach ya any manners!?" She shouted.

Within seconds you shrunk at her tone and dropped the apple onto the floor. She scowled further at this, mumbling something about you 'dirtying up her stuff.' An onslaught of apologies spilled from your lips before she could continue however. You didn't know why you freaked out— but as far as you're concerned, being yelled at means that you've done something wrong. And if you've done something wrong, you're about to get hit.

You didn't want to get hit again— this woman didn't look weak at all. She'd undoubtedly send you tumbling to the ground in a heartbeat. Nobody would help you either, nobody in the village wanted you here. She'd do what she wanted because she's stronger than you. That's what adults like to do. Thats what Delta liked to do.

"What the fuck is your issue, asshole?" Suddenly, in the middle of your panic, Kawaki was in front of you. With a hand out, you stumbled a bit from his shove, but stared jaw-dropped regardless as he went off on the lady.

"Excuse me, boy? What did you just call me?" The woman pointed a mean finger at you, to which you shuffled your feet at. "That girl was about to steal from my stand! Are you a thief too? You're wearing the same clothes an-"

She finally noticed the excessive bleeding on Kawakis arm.

"K-kid— your arm! Call the police! The ambulance!" She shrieked, absentmindedly hiding herself behind her newspaper. Becuase of that, you were sure the entire street had their eyes glued onto the both of you now. Great.

"Don't act all civilised now, pig. She wasn't stealing, all she did was look at your stupid apple—isn't that what markets are for?" Kawaki wasn't done, infact, he grabbed another one of her apples and took a big bite out of it for good measure. He swallowed harshly. Sweet.

He then smiled cockily, having the juices roll around his tongue a little "I'd say a freebie is fair enough compensation for your rudeness."

The woman did not take kindly to that.

"SOMEBODY GET THESE CRIMINALS!" She bellowed, and the rest was a blur. A sloppy mess of wails, shuffling and haggard breathing. Kawaki (who you were sure now had a habit of holding your arm) dragged you from street to street in an attempt at escaping the madness. You soon saw the familiar blues of the police department from behind, and shivered at the way they called for backup.

"Kawaki the police are here!" You shrieked.

"I know! Now move it! You're so fucking slow!"

He still had the apple in hand, but it was loose around his bleeding arm. Despite his antagonising words, there was a wince in his expression— pain. It must hurt. His arm must really hurt. So you picked up the pace, hoping to elevate any further agony.

It was then, that the both of you reached a dead end. The alleyway led to a clearing full of people, but so did behind you, and you were sure people were trailing after you by now. "Damn it." was ghosted under his breath.

"It's not too late...you can take a bite if you want. I don't mind." In a silent offering, you pulled back your sleeve and exposed the boy your bruised arm. Small punctures from needles littered about, and Kawaki glared at the sight of them.

"I don't plan on having my teeth be added to your scars." If it weren't for his kind words, you'd think he was insulting you with how sharp his tone was. Now was not the time to fuss over his consideration though.

"But you're already pushing yourself! A-and I'm holding you back, it's obvious." You never liked to admit yourself as weak because weakness comes in many shapes and sizes. Mental weakness, physical weakness, even emotional weakness (one you're sure Kawaki had) but you couldn't deny yourself as physically weak. If someone gave you a test paper and some books, you'd absolutely kill it, but you can't read your way out of this predicament. So physical weakness was not a good thing to have now.

So you took the embarrassing admission and insisted once more, a little more urgent this time. "Please Kawaki!" You shoved your arm closer "You're courtesy will mean nothing when the both of us are back in the labs! So suck it up and bite me!"

Kawaki was taken aback by your outburst. So you had a little fire in you too then? Okay. "Fine! Then eat this, and you better not make a sound!" He snarled, shoved the apple in your mouth, then parted his lips (unsure of where to bite exactly) and winged it. A hiss escaped you once you felt his canines breaking into skin but your yelp was silenced by a confused gag of the apple. Kawaki held you still with a controlled hand against the wall. It was hard to concentrate on absorbing your chakra points when you squirmed about. Realising this, you steadied yourself and focused on breathing.

In, out, in, out.

The two of you fell into an uncomfortable silence, broken by the occasion gasp or hiss . You'll never get used to it— to the sensation of someone sucking your chakra dry. With Kawaki it felt rather weird and pretty damn awkward. So to distract yourself, you took a bite from the apple, then felt a shock curl up your spine.

It tasted good. REALLY good!

You took another bite, then another and another. Soon you reached the apples core and juice coated your lips. That was a delight to eat— and it was completely filling too! Mash potato had nothing on apples.

Kawaki was done by the time you reached the core. Though his lips were coated with a faint line of blood rather than fruit juice. "Thanks..." he mumbled under his breath, then wiped his mouth clean. Your arm now had a surprisingly large bite mark, perfectly outlining the map of Kawaki teeth in a weird tattoo-like way.

'That hurt a little less than usual' you thanked the stars.

"Don't mention it...can I, uh, see your arm?" You didn't know exactly why, but it felt right to know how serious the wound was. You were a doctor in training, surely there was something you could do to help ease his pain.

"Nah. Let's focus on moving." He quickly replied. A frown tugged at your lips. He was a stubborn one. Oh well, at least you tried.

As the two of you gathered yourselves, someone called out from afar. "I think that's them! Hurry, the Hokage will be here soon!" And fear shot down your spine like cold ice. Kawaki heard it too, and the both of you gave each other a horrified look.

"The Hokage? THE Hokage!?" You shrieked. Wasn't he like the strongest ninja in the village!? There was no way the two of you could outrun someone like him!

"Yes! Now cmon!" Kawaki (like usual) grabbed you by the arm and began tugging you off the wall. By now your wrist was bruised from his iron grip, so you abruptly ripped your hand away. Before he could ask you what your problem was, you wrapped your fingers around his.

"If you want to tug me around hold my hand! My wrist is aching from you being a brute!" Okay, so maybe it sounded better in your head compared to it aloud. But you had your reason, and Kawaki was too dumbfounded to really question it.

"Ugh fine, you're such a baby." He brushed you off, but didn't let go of your hand despite the insult. That was satisfying enough for you. Maybe it was because his wound was healed that he allowed this small comfort of yours.

Unbeknownst to you, however, Kawaki was tensing up at the warmth of your palm against his. Why is he allowing such a trivial thing to happen? To hold your hand like a puny baby? Jigen, whenever he wanted Kawaki to hurry up, would drag him by the arm just like he did to you, and he didn't complain so why should you?

But it did hurt when Jigen did it...

Who cares. He didn't. He's nothing like Jigen, that's why he's different to you. And once he wipes Jigen off the face of the planet, he'll never have to think of him ever again.

Before the two of you properly left the alleyway though, a tall figure appeared in the blink of an eye. Kawaki flinched. He was so fast! Where did he come from?

He loomed over the exit, arms folded and leaning casually, unnaturally so.

"Is he wearing a cape?" You thought aloud and the figure chuckled to himself.

"It's a jacket, actually. But I need you two to stop for me, alright?" They responded. And it was then that you saw a pair of bright, blue, friendly eyes land directly on you.