Disclaimer: The manga "Naruto" belongs to Masashi Kishimoto
Written the 22/09/07, translated 10/06/10
A/N: Tentative entrance in the English Naruto fandom. My translation is far from perfect, I know, and I await your (constructive) criticism!
Memory
The only object of him he was allowed to keep, he quickly hid in a deep drawer, next to their group picture. To forget.
And it works. Sometimes, his eyes still turn towards the closed drawer, but most of the time, he smiles like before. He jokes with Sakura and the others, eats with Iruka and trains with Kakashi. His sadness has been pushed away deep inside his head just like the memories in the drawer.
Then Jiraya asks him to leave the village with him, to leave to become strong. Of course, he accepts. It will be a good excuse to also leave behind this closed piece of furniture, at home, that tempts him from time to time. It's a good thing, leaving. It often makes forgetting faster.
Often, but not always. It's been six months since he left and no one has forgotten. No one dares to enter his house, no one pronounces his name. No one, and especially not him. And when he thinks of it all, his gaze is drawn one last time towards the drawer. Tomorrow, he leaves for two years. Two years is a long time. Much longer than six months.
So he opens the drawer, to have a look. It contains only these objects, and he takes them both out.
With the scratched headband in his hands and the picture in front of him, Naruto starts to weep.