Chapter 11:

Neji glanced over at Boruto who was still sitting on the ground with his arms wrapped around his legs. He tried to read him the way he did others he came across. Neji was often complemented for his skills as a ninja but for his perception as well, though it wasn't always brought up.

Right off the bat, Neji could tell that Boruto was frightened and worried and confused and unsure and homesick. Though he was good at reading people, he wasn't always good at helping them feel better.

Neji wasn't sure how to comfort others. He had a tender side, but it was buried under everything else, including his harshness and strict methods. Mostly it was from all the pressure he put on himself and his upbringing. His father didn't have a firm hand, so he wasn't the cause. It was the competition between the main branch and his second branch. He strove to be the best and show the main branch that he was just as good as they were, if not better. He wanted to surpass them. Having someone like Gai as his sensei and a teammate like Lee also helped fuel the competitiveness within him. He was so driven, he pushed himself very hard and had come to expect others to do the same. Those who couldn't were weak in his eyes. More so when he was a little younger. He had changed a little and became more tolerant, but still remained very competitive. So much so that it was hard for him to tell when people needed a break or had to be taught using a different method. That wasn't how Neji was brought up. His training was intense and rough, going for hours without a break and doing things no one else would attempt. If he was on the ground, he was ordered to get up. He was never offered a gentle hand that allowed him to go at his own pace and to relax if he needed it. He was taught to push through the pain and keep going.

Because of this, Neji had a hard time comforting others. What worked for him might not work for them. He worked on it when he trained with Hinata. In the beginning her training was intense and hard, but gradually, as Hinata improved, Neji backed off a little and didn't bark at her quite as much. He was still tough on her, but he smiled more when she did well rather than give her the same stoic look over and over again.

For Neji, dealing with feelings was more of a challenge because he would think the same way he did for training. If someone was tired, he would tell them to suck it up and keep going. When someone was upset, he would tell them the same thing. Do not show feelings. Order the person to stop crying. For some people, that method did not work. They needed someone to comfort them in a much different way. They were allowed to cry until they felt better and were offered words of love and comfort. Neji was unfamiliar with such things. He could do it, he just didn't have a lot of practice. Because he was unsure how to offer people that sort of comfort, he often kept his distance and had someone else do it in his place.

Right now, it seemed that Boruto was in need of that kind of comfort. Neji had to do something to help ease his stress.

Maybe it would be easier since he wasn't as stressed as he was in life.

"Boruto."

He hid his face in his knees.

"Boruto."

"What?" his muffled voice asked.

"This is a rare opportunity for you to speak with your uncle. I suggest you take advantage of it."

"Don't wanna."

Neji frowned. "I think I would have much rather met my niece," he said. "She looks like she'd be much better company. Cuter, too."

Boruto curled into a tighter ball.

"You look too much like your father anyway."

"Shut up."

Neji smirked. "What? Is that insulting?"

"He's a stupid jerk," said Boruto. "He wouldn't even let me go on this stupid mission. Didn't think I could handle it."

Neji sighed. "As much as I hate to say it, I think he was right. You couldn't handle it."

Boruto's head snapped up. "What was that?" he snarled.

"I said he's right. You're not ready."

"I am, too!" Boruto jumped to his feet.

"Sorry, but I side with your father on this one."

"I am ready! Look!" Boruto pointed to his headband. "See this? It means I'm a ninja! A real ninja! And a real ninja goes on dangerous missions to help people and keep people safe."

"Not if you don't know what you're doing."

"I know what I'm doing. I've already been on two missions before this one."

"Yeah. Two D rank missions. And only two!"

"So what? It's not my fault my dad doesn't take me seriously enough to give me better missions." Boruto blinked. "Wait, how do you know that?"

"I see things."

Boruto folded his arms. "Is that your bad attempt at a joke? A Byakugan gag?"

Neji sighed. "No. More of an afterlife thing. Though I'm dead, I'm still aware of things that are happening. Especially involving people I care about."

"Care about?" Boruto scoffed. "You've never even met me in life. How could you possibly care?"

"Because you're Hinata's child. Therefore, you are important to me."

Boruto's face softened slightly. "Just what kind of relationship did you have with my mom, anyway?"

Neji opened his mouth, then closed it. "I..." He looked away with a sigh. "Let's just say, I did some things I can never make up for. And... I could never let her know just how sorry I am. How I..."

"How what?"

Neji looked back and locked eyes with Boruto. "The short version is that I judged her before I even knew her. After I spent some time with her, I learned what a wonderful person she was and knew I had made a terrible mistake."

"Why?" Boruto asked. "What did you do?"

Neji didn't give him the answer he wanted. Instead, he turned the conversation back to what they were discussing before. "Don't try to change the subject. All you need to know is that I care about you because I care about Hinata and she cares about you, just like your father."

"Will you stop trying to get me to talk about him? I told you he's a jerk. He wouldn't let me go on this mission even though I've already done two missions before this. How am I supposed to prove myself if all he gives me are these baby missions? I need something harder."

"But you weren't ready, just as he said," Neji told him. "I think this mission was more difficult than you were prepared for."

"Sure, it's not the walk in the park I thought it would be, but so what?" said Boruto. "Part of being a ninja is dealing with something difficult and handling a situation that turns bad. A ninja needs to improvise and such. Sure, some things didn't work out as I expected, but did I give up? No. I kept going because a real ninja never gives up. I didn't turn back when things got rough. I kept going. See? The fact that I can do that obviously means that I'm well on my way to being a great ninja. No matter what my dad thinks."

"I don't think that's the issue."

"Oh, what do you know? You obviously weren't a very good ninja if you wound up dead."

Neji glared at him. "Do you even know how I died?" Neji said angrily. "Or why?"

"Uh..." Seeing Neji get angry like this brought out Boruto's timid side. Neji was scary when he was angry.

"Your mother, the one who gave birth to your and your sister, was about to die and I took the hit to save her life. It was during the ninja war which took place before you were born. If I hadn't done that, you wouldn't be alive. I died that day instead of her. The enemy would have killed her if I hadn't."

Boruto swallowed, his heart beating fast. He knew Neji had died, but he didn't know the details. Only that he died a hero.

"Hinata, your mother, was willing to die for Naruto. I was willing to die for both of them. That is why I never met you in life. But because of my sacrifice, you were able to be born and live."

Boruto looked down, partly out of shame. He shouldn't have run his mouth like that.

"Which his why..." Neji stood up and looked down at Boruto, "the war was won. Naruto ended up winning and because of the victory, so many people respected him and he was able to become the Hokage in the future. They don't just give you the position. You have to earn it and be able to do the job. So many people trust Naruto with their lives. He saved many lives during the war. So you should give your father a little more credit. You should really listen to what your mom and dad tell you. If they say it's too dangerous, listen to them. They know what they're talking about."

Boruto frowned. "But being a ninja is a dangerous job. I want to be a ninja and when I graduated, they said they were proud of me. Don't they know I'll be in danger on missions?"

"Of course they do. But they also know what missions you're going to be ready for. Right now, you're not ready for something like this."

"But I went to class, I graduated, I went on missions."

"Two."

"Whatever!" Boruto snapped. "The point is, I know what I'm doing. There were some setbacks, but I was able to overcome a lot of obstacles. I know what I'm doing."

"No, you don't." Neji sat back down. "Your mother was worried about you. I heard her and I decided to keep an eye on you. I saw what happened during your mission. Some things were easily avoidable."

"Such as?" Boruto was willing to hear Neji out and get some notes. That way, he wouldn't make those mistakes again. He wanted to know where he went wrong, though he already knew.

"First of all, the snacks you packed weren't the best choice."

Boruto was surprised. He didn't think Neji would pick snacks as something he had done wrong. "What's wrong with them?"

"Well, you picked cookies and crackers and snack bars, for starters," said Neji. "Those things will dry out your mouth and make you thirsty. You'll run out of water before you can get very far. It's good to stay hydrated, but your water supply will be gone sooner."

"I guess I should have packed more water."

"That's an idea, but on missions you need to travel light. Like when you packed a lot later on when you got new supplies. It weighed you down and made it harder to move. It also made your muscles sore which effects your movements."

Boruto knew he was right. That's exactly what happened.

"Traveling with one canteen of water is a good idea. Just ration it and fill it up when you get to a clean stream or river."

"What if there aren't any?"

"Not by the side of the road, there won't be," said Neji. "That's the other thing. Traveling on the road is ok, but when you're looking for someone or trying to intercept someone, you're better off staying off the main road. It offers you more cover. In the woods is where you'll find water. You're chances are better there. On the plus side, packing fruit was a good idea because it's healthy, will give you energy, and you can drink the juice and stay hydrated that way. However, packing it the way you did caused them to get crushed."

"Yeah, I should have packed it better..."

"Cookies were a poor choice, not just because it would make you thirsty, but because of what you might already be aware of."

Boruto gave him a confused look.

"You got a stomachache, didn't you? Eating just sweets without anything to balance it out made you feel sick which effected your performance. It doesn't matter how skilled you are or how strong. If your body isn't in good shape, your chances of winning go down."

Boruto sighed. "I guess I messed up there..."

"At least you know for the future," said Neji. "You packed a map which is a good thing. But you got turned around in the forest. You tried to look at the sky to get your bearings, which was good, but you neglected to take into account the fact that time had passed so things weren't where they were the last time you looked."

"Yeah, I know that. Now." Boruto sat on the ground and rested his head in his hands.

"The big thing you messed up on was going alone. You need your teammates with you in case you run into trouble. Which happened several times," Neji told him. "The swamp is a good example. Sure, your clones helped you, but what if they didn't? What if you had been knocked out? What if you couldn't swim? You could have drowned or been eaten and no one would have known what happened to you. How would your mother react? What would she do?"

Boruto didn't want to think about that. He loved his mother a lot. Thinking of her grieving over his tragic loss and not even having a body to bury was almost too much to bear. Breaking her heart was a painful thought. He didn't want to cause her that kind of pain.

"Or the first place you went to, thinking it was your destination. You got overwhelmed quickly. If you had backup, they would have been able to assist you, save you, or even retreat and come up with a plan to help you out in some other way and take the enemy down. Same thing for what happened at the town you were just at with the young prince. You couldn't do it alone. Not even with your clones. You needed backup. Someone could have helped you fight, and someone could have rescued the prince while you were battling."

"Yeah, that's the other thing," said Boruto. "I told the prince to run and he just stood there. It's his fault things-"

"Boruto," Neji interrupted. "You have to understand that sometimes, things don't go your way on missions. More importantly, people don't always do what you think or want them to do. The prince was scared. He was petrified with fear. Because of that fear, he couldn't run away when you told him to. Sometimes people freeze up and even they don't know why. People are unpredictable. The prince could have also tried to help you fight. Or he could have run off and gotten into more trouble. You can prepare all you like but things are going to happen whether or not you prepared for it. Things can go wrong. Things you never thought of could occur. What if those men had a third accomplice? You would have really been screwed. You don't know."

Boruto looked down.

"It could have been worse. They could have been ninja. What if one of them used Genjutsu on you and trapped you in an illusion? You would have needed backup to help break you out of it."

"They weren't ninja, though," said Boruto. "It should have been easy to take them down."

"I've come across a lot of ordinary people who were a lot stronger than they looked. You can't always predict how strong someone's going to be based on whether or not they're a ninja. Be prepared for anything."

Neji moved closer and put a hand on Boruto's head.

"And," he said, "going on missions, as low ranking as they may be, will help toughen you up and give you experience. Every mission is important. Experience is the key. You may come across some important things during a D mission you never thought you'd witness. And sometimes, those missions can become harder in ways you never imagined."

"Like how?"

"Well..." Neji tried to think of an example. "On one D mission I went on, we had to help catch some pigs that got out of their pen. We rounded them up but we soon realized that they didn't escape without help. As it turns out, someone was trying to steal them. That wasn't a part of the mission. No one knew about it. We stumbled upon that fact during the mission and managed to resolve it. There was another time when we were sent on a D mission and happened to stumble upon some bandits. We just happened to cross paths with them on their way somewhere else. We weren't prepared but we had to fight anyway."

Boruto understood. He had a little taste of that himself when he agreed to help the prince get to the mountain. He never imagined that he would be facing some strong thieves along the way. It was supposed to be an easy mission but something unpredictable happened.

"And like I said, D missions can help you in other ways. You can learn so much. Even something as simple as how to tie a certain kind of not that may come in handy on future missions. A lot of times, your sensei will teach you new techniques while on these missions."

Boruto folded his arms. "Why should the sensei have to do it when my dad-"

"Let me stop you right there," said Neji. "Your parents can teach you a lot of ninja skills, but your sensei will always teach you something else. It's important to listen to everyone. There are some things your parents might not know or be able to do. And some things they can't teach in a way that you'll listen. Every sensei does this with every team. That's just how it works. Your instructor in school can only teach you so much. The rest is up to you, your sensei, your teammates, your parents, your friends and even strangers you meet on the way. Education is not exclusive."

"I guess..."

"And there are a lot of things you have to learn on your own. Experience. Your father managed to invent his own Jutsu. There are some other ninja who managed to do the same thing but it's a rare talent and very difficult to master. Such things no one can teach you. All they can do is give you the skills you may need in order to apply it to a new technique. Do you see what I'm saying?"

Boruto looked away, chewing on his lip. "Mm..." Neji did have a lot of good points. Things that never occurred to him before. "I guess."

"And those D missions also help strengthen your body as well as give you experience. No teacher like experience, right?" Neji went on. "On those missions you can learn what plants are edible, how to find water, traveling, medical herbs, the difference between them, and even what animals are dangerous and how to handle them. Sometimes you don't have to engage the animal in battle. There are simpler ways to get rid of them without risking injury or using unnecessary energy."

That would have been useful to know when facing that wild boar.

"I still don't see why my dad couldn't have taught me that stuff already. Why wait for a D mission? If he had taught me that stuff, I would have been able to skip the low ranking missions and go right into something worthwhile."

"You're not listening to a single thing I'm saying, are you?" Neji asked with mild annoyance. "I told you, your parents can't hold your hand through everything. Some things you have to do on your own. Some things your parents don't know. Knowing how something his done is only half the battle. You can read all the books you want on the subject and study and do all of that, but it's very different when you're actually out there doing it. Reading about it and doing it are two different things. Just because you listen to what they say and hear all about it doesn't mean it's going to be easy to do it in real life. You have to get your hands dirty and do it."

"But-"

"Like with the thieves," Neji went on. "You said they were stronger than you thought they would be. If your father had told you that fighting non-ninjas were going to be difficult, would you have still been prepared for that? Would knowing about it have made fighting them any easier?"

Boruto didn't have an answer, but he knew in his heart that Neji was right. Even if he went in knowing his opponent would be strong, it didn't make him stronger or them any easier to fight. Like knowing how certain foods tasted. The flavor could be described perfectly, but actually eating it would be a different experience. He would know firsthand.

Neji patted Boruto's shoulder twice before removing his hand and returning it to his side. Neji's hand was warm, like a living person, but Neji admitted that he was dead. Boruto wasn't frightened by him. He was strangely comforted.

"I think enough time has passed, if you want to get going," said Neji. "You shouldn't be here for too long anyway. I have no idea what being here for an extended period will do to you."

Boruto wanted to leave. He wanted to get back to his mission and make sure the prince was safe. He had to defeat the thieves and finish his mission.

He wanted to, but he hesitated.

"What's wrong?"

He had more information than he did before, so he felt confident he could win this time around. He was a little ashamed that he hadn't won the first time and that he had made so many rookie mistakes, but there was another reason for his hesitation. One he couldn't figure out because he thought he was so grown up. One that was so simple.

He was afraid to face his parents after this. He had run off without permission. At first, he thought they would be proud when he returned home after a successful mission. Even if he defeated the enemy and completed the mission, he still made so many mistakes. He hadn't done as perfectly as he wanted, but that wasn't why he was afraid to face them. It was the child sense of disobeying his parents. Inside, he knew even if he brought home gold, they would still be upset with him. He was afraid to go home and face them after this. He hadn't thought about it at all until now.

Ninja or not, he was still a child. He didn't think he was or wanted to admit it, but he was.

"Come on." Neji extended his hand. "I'll take you back and you can decide from there what you want to do."

Neji knew what Boruto was thinking and what he was feeling. He wasn't that hard to read.

Boruto refused to take his hand but he followed obediently.

"Naruto."

"Not now, Kurama."

"Yes, now."

"What?"

"I have a bone to pick with you about what you said about a fox being a fox."

"You still on about that? I thought it was settled. Fine. I'm sorry, ok? End of story."

"Is not," Kurama growled.

"Look, I thought you would like the kitsune. Not just because they're foxes, but because they have power. Like Ryosuke. I figured you two would get along a little better than regular foxes."

"Not likely and certainly not with the likes of him."

"Why not?"

Kurama was silent. Then he snarled. "It's the way he is."

"How's that?" Naruto asked.

"He's no ordinary fox. His lifestyle is similar to wild foxes but they're different in certain ways."

"Yeah, ok," said Naruto. "Despite the little differences, I thought you two might get along. He has a lot of tails, just like you."

"Not just like me."

"Ok, fine. He has five and you have nine but-"

"That's not what I meant," said Kurama in annoyance. "It's how he is."

Naruto was confused. "How is he?"

"He has power and yet he does so little with it," Kurama answered. "Even I can sense how much power he has and honestly, he's only using a fraction of what he's capable of. He's holding back, whereas I wouldn't. He doesn't even use that curse ability he possesses."

"You know the reason for that, don't you?" said Naruto. "He vowed never to use it after what happened with Reevo."

"Yes, I am aware of that. But..." Kurama let out a huff or irritation. "I know we will never see eye-to-eye. He's too gentle. And I can tell he still struggles. Not with his abilities, but with his actions. He wants to do the right thing and not be corrupt. I'm sure that's part of why he holds himself back. I think."

"You think? You just said you were sure."

"This fox his different from me so it's harder to read him. He isn't a tailed beast but he is a fox with power."

Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Don't give me that." Kurama huffed again. "Ryosuke has chosen his own path. He's doing well. He's strong and he tries to do the right thing. Maybe that's what I'm sensing as well. He wants to make sure he doesn't make mistakes. No. On second thought, it that's he doesn't want to seem unsure in the eyes of those around him. He doesn't want to doubt himself or have doubt because he doesn't want them to pick up on it and doubt him as well. Perhaps that's it."

"You really think that?" Naruto was concerned for Ryosuke. He didn't want his friend to be afraid to make a mistake.

"That's more like him in the past when we met up during that big event at the village," said Kurama. "Now, I'm sensing that he's more comfortable with himself and how he handles things."

Naruto gave a sigh of relief. "That's good."

"I still don't like him, though. I say, if you have that power, show it off and make them fear you. He's too concerned making sure there's peace and everyone has fairness. All this crap about making deals with humans to have enough food and staying out of the town and away from people and protecting them and all that crap. Such a pathetic contract. If I were in his position, I would have scared the humans off and had the run of the place. All the food you could want and no human crap to put up with. I'm not fond of the way he's willing to make a deal and compromise. We're just two different foxes."

"That's for sure," Naruto said with a grin.

"All I'm saying is that I hate how he does things," Kurama said bitterly. "Again with the whole getting scrapes from humans and staying out of the town and offering protection and crap like that. It's annoying as hell. A little self-respect wouldn't hurt him. I suppose it would be a different story if it were a weaker fox type of thing, but he actually has power. Yet he's still making deals and making sure there's fairness for all. That's what I don't like. Him having power and refusing to use it. That's what I can't stand."

"Kurama, you're ranting."

"I'm gonna say what I'm gonna say!"

Naruto sighed. Obviously, this mattered more to the Nine-Tailed Fox than he was letting on. It wasn't often that he met another tailed fox so Naruto understood why he would have so much to say about it. Criticize, was more like it; but Naruto let him rant anyway.

Please review! ^-^