IV

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"MY ETERNAL RIVAL!"

Neji cringes, especially when he spies Naruto's wide eyed, prey-before-predator face half hidden behind the jōnin that Gai-sensei has come to pester. He trails behind his jōnin sensei alongside Tenten, aggressively ignoring the way that Lee is emulating their sensei.

It has been but a single day since Naruto became a genin (something that was describe to him as a 'punishment, I don't know, that's what Jiji said but I'm a genin like you now, 'ttebayo!'). He already has a three-week head start on her, but the thought of her being capable of producing these chakra-heavy shadow clones is enough to get him curious. Gai-sensei had implied that not only did Neji not have the chakra capabilities to use them himself yet, but that it would take months of dedicated training to reach a point where he would be capable of using them. That Naruto already can, well, he's interested in seeing the jutsu in action.

"Wh-who the hell are you, dattebayo!" Naruto jabs a finger in Gai-sensei's direction, her words utter nonsense given that she's the one who identified him when they last spoke upon the topic of his sensei. In the same second he thinks this, he seems the light switch on behind Naruto's eyes, the blue rings sweeping away from the jōnin to instead land on him. "Neji!"

And of course, that has Lee gasping in delight.

"Neji-san! You know our fellow genin?! The student of Gai-sensei's eternal rival?!"

Sage be damned, someone put him out of his misery.

"Maa, did you say something?" The distraction comes in the form of Gai-sensei's 'eternal rival', a tall, silver haired jōnin who yawns lazily behind his half-mask, one bored, slanted eye taking in Neji's team, with Neji himself last to be observed. He's not imagining it, the other takes him in a little more slowly than the others, for all that the look could still be considered a quick sweep. Because of his connection to Naruto? Because he was the one Naruto could identify by name? No, there'd been no hints as to which of them is Neji, only Lee speaking. Technically, Tenten could have been called Neji, as unlikely as it could be. Still, the other jōnin's gaze had been too sharp, too knowing to not be aware of the connection between his student and Neji himself.

Meanwhile, Gai-sensei drops to his knees, burning with a fiery passion that would probably be exceptionally appropriate during a grand event like the chūnin exams, but is spectacularly out of place in the centre of Konoha. "Kakashi! Allow me to introduce me to my promising young students!"

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Their introduction is as flamboyant and excitable as one would expect from Gai-sensei. Naruto stares in horrified awe, the jōnin proves he's known Gai-sensei for what is probably considered far too long with the way he simple nods along, looking as if he's not listening in the slightest. Neji envies him.

Once Gai-sensei's overly colourful introductions are complete, the man folds his arms, looking imploringly at his 'eternal rival'. Naruto had claimed the man hadn't introduced herself to him when they'd met at the Hokage Tower and it seems as if that meeting in particular was just the normal routine; he doesn't introduce himself to them either. He does, however, introduce Naruto.

"Maa, this is my genin student, Uzumaki Naruto. She was a naughty brat and got caught stealing, so is on village lockdown until she learns not to get caught." His hand lands in her hair, fluffing it as Naruto screeches at him, arms flailing about and mouthing off about how she'll 'beat the crap out of him if he keeps introducing her like that and she's totally cool, 'ttebayo!'

Neji is embarrassed to be associated with her.

"Well, my eternal rival! Perhaps our genin should face each other in battle to see who has taught their student the most so far!"

"… I've not even had Naruto twenty-four hours, Gai."

.

Irregardless, Gai-sensei and Gai-sensei's nameless eternal rival set up a match between Lee and Naruto, seeing as both had been the Dead Lasts of their year group. The fact Naruto had managed to pass the graduation test early is a miracle in and of itself. Well, technically she hadn't passed. But the clone jutsu she'd learned had obviously been impressive enough to boot her out of the academy and into the arms of the nameless jōnin before them.

"So, Neji, who do you think is gonna win? It'll be Lee, right?" sitting beside him, Tenten leans over to as her question, eyebrows high in that same way she'd done in the academy, when she'd been betting weapons with the clan children. You don't bet against Tenten; she never offers to make a bet she can't win. Probably why she's not putting any weapons down for a prize at the moment. As much confidence as she appears to have in Lee right now, well, she doesn't know Naruto. Not like he does.

It's true that Lee's had three weeks of solid training with Gai. But Neji has been training with Naruto for years; if anything, she'll win from a sheer ignorance to human limitations and her unwillingness to concede to anyone. She's practically inhuman in that context and that's one more point in the 'probably a jinchūriki' column he'd mentally tallying up. The evidence is becoming overwhelmingly obvious.

"Naruto doesn't go down easily," he concedes, taking as seat beneath the shade of a large oak tree. If anything, with Lee's determination and Naruto's sheer stubbornness, they're in for a long spar.

.

Neji's right. It takes thirty minutes for Naruto to emerge triumphant. Lee doesn't go down without a fight but, with only three weeks of serious taijutsu training, there's only so much he can do against the girl who keeps getting up again and again. And the clones; there's so many that Neji had to activate his Byakuran to keep track of them all; hundreds of them.

But here they are, Naruto victorious, if a little battered, and the nameless jōnin patting Gai on the shoulder.

"Better luck next time I guess, Gai. Come'on, Naruto. Let's go fix all those holes in your form, you're like a slice of Swiss cheese."

...