Chapter 4: Learn to forget
"I see you met Kakashi." A familiar voice comes from by the doorway.
"Yeah." I smile at the blond haired boy. "How are you today, Naruto."
"I'm good. What about you? You look a little beat."
"Yeah," I begin, scratching my head a bit sheepishly. "I didn't get much sleep last night….I guess I'm not use to living on a boat yet." I admit.
Naruto laughs. "Well you'll get used to it soon." He stops and suddenly becomes serious. "If you didn't get any sleep why are you steering the ship?"
"Oh. Uh…Don't worry about me." I try to assure him I'm fine but, he refuses to listen.
He offers to take over the ship and I hesitate to let him, remembering what Kakashi had said.
"Oh. C'mon Neji, it can't be that hard." He whines as he walks up to stand next to me. "See…It looks pretty easy."
Easy my ass.
"I bet all you have to do is pull that and-"
Naruto continues to talk as I am still in a state of shock that ANYONE would consider that easy.
"But, Naruto," I interrupt. "It's not really as 'easy' as it looks."
"Well, at least let me try?" He asks, giving me the same look that I had given Kakashi earlier.
Who can resist that look? Damn those puppy dog eyes.
I finally give in. Besides if I could learn it in only a few hours how hard could it be to teach someone else?
This was taking forever. I'm just about ready to give up.
'No. I have to be patience with Naruto-kun. Like Mr. Hatake was with me'
A prince must have the ability to tolerate others.
"Naruto-kun, you're doing well." I say, offering a smile. I'm just trying to be nice. Maybe if I compliment him he'll do better. A LOT better.
"Thanks. This is too easy." He says. "When do we move onto the second step?"
"Well… I'm not an expert myself so for now…let's just work on this." I say. I'm not lying. I did just learn last night.
Naruto shrugs and continues on. He then looks down at all the buttons.
"So what are all these buttons for?"
"Uh." Is all I can say which, makes me feel like an idiot. "I don't know."
"Then maybe we should find out." He reaches a hand over. I grab onto his arm stopping him.
"I don't think that's such a good idea Naruto-kun." I tell him. "We shouldn't mess with anything thing we don't know about.
He sighs. "If you say so."
I nod and release his hand. He retracts it muttering a 'party pooper'.
I take a seat in a nearby chair. I let out a sigh leaning back, enjoying the silence that fills the room.
"Naruto-kun…" I call, voice barely above a whisper.
"Hmm?" He response almost immediately.
"…How old are you?" I ask.
"Uh. 14. Why?"
"I was just wondering." I mutter.
"Oh." Then quiet breaks out once again. "….How old are you?" He repeats my question.
"15." I reply.
"So you're older than me, then."
"Yeah." I say. Doesn't this kid know how to count.
"I had thought you were old like 11 or 12 cause you're so small..."
"Excuse me?" I ask. I am not small.
He smirks. "I said you're small."
"I am not." I argue.
"You are too. You're probably not even 15."
"Why would I lie about my age?"
He shrugs. "I dunno."
Again there's silence. Until….
"…You know…you don't have to call me Naruto-kun."
"So what should I call you?"
"Just Naruto is fine."
"Okay….Naruto."
"I think I'm pretty good at this. Ha ha. Look, Neji. No hands."
"Wait! Naruto, don't do that." I grabbed the wheel as he releases it throwing his hands up in the air. "You can't take your hands off the wheel."
"Aww… Neji, you're no fun."
"Well…dying doesn't sound very fun to me. But if that's something you pirates like please wait until I'm not present to play that game." I respond.
If I wanted to die…I might as well have stayed in my village and yelled, 'HEY EVERYBODY I'M GAY!' I would have been killed right away, when they heard that. I wouldn't be here on this boat. I wouldn't have had to run away from home and leave everything behind, my house, my bed, my family. My eyes water at the thought of my family. My two younger cousins… My uncle.
'Stop it, Neji!' I snap in my head. I have to forget them. I just have to because there no going back. The risk is too big and I'd be a coward if I ran back home now not to mention dead…. Okay…I might be a coward for running away in the first place but, if I went back there I'd be a dead coward. At least out here I'm alive. For now.
I swallow, choking back tears.
I look down at the wheel, which my hands are gripping tightly. I notice Naruto's hands are now back on it and he is looking at me with a concerned face. I look down trying to avoid those warm, comforting eyes as he asks, "Are you okay."
I nod, turning and walking a few steps away from him. "I'm fine." I say.
"You sure?" He asks. "You don't look fine.
I nod once more. "Don't worry about me."
"But-"
"I said I'm fine! Just, keep your eyes in front of you and focus on steering the ship." I snap.
I look towards him just in time to see a look of hurt cross his face.
"I sorry." I muttered. "I just…miss….my family."
"I understand." Naruto says sadly. There's a long silence before the I finally decide to break it.
"What about you?"
"Huh?" Naruto looks puzzled.
I offers a small smile. "Do you miss your family?"
"Well…I never really knew my family."
"You didn't?" My eyes widen in shock.
"Uh-uh. I was just a poor starving orphan before Iruka found me."
I frown, looking down. I can't help but feel bad for the yellow haired boy yet I can't help but ask, "Who's Iruka?"
He looks at me. "What do you mean who Iru- Oh. That's right you haven't met him yet. Iruka is the first mate of the ship."
"First…mate?" I can't help but, blush at the word mate even though I pretty sure that's not what he means.
Naruto turns towards me and laughs at my red face.
"Yeah. That means, he's second in command." He explains, chuckling. "You'll get to meet him later."
I nod.
"Oh. So…who's the captain." I ask.
"That would be me."
"Captain Kakashi?"
"I see Neji has decided to share my teachings with you…" Kakashi smiled towards me. "It's about time someone else learned to sail this thing."
He places a hand on Naruto's shoulder, giving him a gentle push.
"I'll take over from here boys." He takes the wheel before continuing. "Why don't you boy's go get something to eat. Chouji has made a huge breakfast in celebration of our new crew member." He winks at me.
I feel my face heating up.
"I forgot all about breakfast!" Naruto nearly shouts.
Naruto takes my hand. I blush even harder as I feel his soft, warm skin touching mine. "C'mon Neji. Let's go get something to eat. I'm starving."
I let him pull me with him.
I can't help but, wonder…what my family is doing while, I'm here on this ship getting accustomed to my surroundings. Do they miss me? Are they looking for me? Will I ever see them again? That's what hurt the most. Not being able to know if I'll ever see my family again.
I shake my head. I shouldn't think about this. Not when I have to forget them.
I HAVE to forget them because I know that there is little to no chance of me ever seeing them again and to keep thinking about them will only make it harder for me to move on.
'Going back is not an option' I tell myself over and over.
I guess I'll just have to get use to this. Living… On a ship, even if it's only a temporary thing. I don't know how long I will be here so I'll have to get use to the life of a pirate.
And two chapters down. I'm got another one started too. I should have that up soon.
