Neji's mind raced through his options with desperate speed.
There's a violent maniac waiting for me at my training ground. He wants to beat me senseless under the guise of "friendship." Do I go forward to greet him like a lamb to slaughter? Or do I turn around and run?
He stood frozen for several precious seconds, his Byakugan eyes locked on the two figures in the clearing.
Waiting online. This is urgent!
His body made the decision for him. Neji turned on his heel.
"Ah, Neji's here!" Lee's cheerful voice rang out across the field. He pointed excitedly and sprinted forward, Naruto keeping pace beside him with ease.
Neji's feet stopped moving.
Running was pointless. His speed couldn't match Naruto's. He'd be caught before he made it ten meters. Reviewing his mental flowchart of options, Neji realized with growing horror that both choices led to the same outcome.
This was a false proposition. A rigged game.
The only real outcome was that he would get beaten.
Swallowing what felt like a dead fly, Neji turned back around with painful slowness. He watched the two approach, his expression twisted into something that might charitably be called a smile. His gaze fixed on Lee with all the intensity of a man staring at his betrayer.
"You're the one who brought Naruto here?" The words came out strangled. "I'm so... happy."
The smile on his face looked more painful than any injury. Inside, his thoughts screamed: I never even thought about betraying you, Lee! And yet here I am, sold out by my own teammate!
"See? I knew it!" Lee beamed with simple, honest joy. "You and Naruto are such good friends. You haven't seen each other in so long. Of course you'd be happy to see him!"
Thank you so much, Neji thought viciously. But this is a shock, not a surprise. There's a very important difference.
He didn't dare say it out loud. If he did, the next time Naruto beat him up, the blonde would probably use even more force.
"Thank you, Lee." Neji's teeth ground together as he forced the words out.
"You're welcome! This is what teammates do for each other." Lee waved off the gratitude with genuine warmth. "Alright, I'll continue my training. You two good friends can catch up properly now!"
He bounded away, radiating satisfaction.
Doing good deeds feels wonderful! Lee thought as he launched into a series of high kicks. I should train extra hard to celebrate helping my friends reconnect!
"Neji." Naruto's voice pulled Neji's attention back. "I went to your house to look for you as soon as I got back from the Land of Waves, but you weren't there. I tried several times after that too. You're never home."
Neji's face crumpled with poorly concealed distress. "Well, I've been very busy lately. So busy I'm almost never at home. It's completely normal that you couldn't find me there."
He took a step backward, his body language screaming retreat. "Actually, I just came to check on Lee for a moment. Now that I've seen him, I should really get back to my... business. So, Naruto, I'll see you next time!"
He turned to flee.
"What is Neji so busy with?" Naruto's hand landed on his shoulder, stopping him cold. The grip was gentle but utterly immovable. "I might be able to help! We're friends, after all. You can tell me. Don't be polite. If you're busy with something, I'll help you!"
"Lee will help too, right?" Naruto called over to the training genin.
Lee, in the middle of a handstand sprint, shouted back without breaking stride, "That's right! Whatever Naruto says is correct!"
You didn't even hear what he said! Neji wanted to scream. You just agreed to random words!
His shoulders slumped in defeat. The beating was inevitable. With Naruto's stubborn personality, no excuse would work. The boy would follow him like a persistent shadow, no matter what lies Neji tried to spin.
Since I can't resist, I might as well enjoy it.
"Haha." Neji's laugh was hollow and lifeless. "I was just joking with you, Naruto. No matter how busy I am, when I see you, I can always spare time to catch up."
He glanced at Lee, who continued his training with manic enthusiasm, completely oblivious to the doom he'd brought upon his teammate.
I was careless in choosing friends, Neji thought bitterly. I never expected that I, Hyūga Neji, would one day be betrayed by someone with such thick eyebrows and even thicker skull.
"See? I knew it!" Naruto's face lit up with genuine relief. "Neji is my friend. Why would he avoid me? It turns out we both missed each other equally!"
Hearing Neji's words, Naruto felt a pang of guilt. He'd been thinking the worst of his friend, suspecting Neji of hiding from him deliberately. Neji-nii deserved better than that kind of distrust.
"Neji, before I left for the Land of Waves, I told you we'd continue having friendly discussions when I returned. After all, relationships need to be maintained carefully if they're going to get better and better."
Neji's heart clenched at those beautiful words.
You call that maintaining with care? his mind screamed. You're trying to maintain me into the hospital! If this is making our relationship better, I'd hate to see what making it worse looks like!
Out loud, he said: "Alright then, Naruto. Let's do it. I've been practicing my Gentle Fist diligently during this time."
Even if he was about to get beaten, he had to maintain some dignity. Show some backbone.
That's right. He wasn't someone who took beatings passively. As a member of the branch family, Neji had always harbored resentment toward the main house. He'd held that anger close since childhood, using it as fuel to train harder, to prove that the branch family wasn't weak just because of the cursed seal on their foreheads.
For a long time, he'd pointed to Hinata as proof. His cousin was timid, weak, lacking even the courage to compete properly. How could someone like that bear the heavy responsibility of leading the Hyūga clan? Neji had been deeply skeptical.
But then something had changed.
One day, Hinata had come to him. She'd apologized for the incident where Naruto had punched him, then proposed a sparring match. If they fought, she'd said, they could consider the matter settled.
Neji had expected an easy victory. Instead, Hinata had transformed into someone completely different. She'd displayed talent he'd never suspected she possessed, and she'd defeated him soundly.
Since that day, while he'd acknowledged his sister's strength, he'd also redoubled his own training efforts. One day, he would defeat Hinata again. He would prove himself.
But Naruto...
Naruto was different. Neji didn't want to defeat Naruto. He wanted to hide from Naruto. Run from Naruto. Avoid Naruto at all costs.
It wasn't that Naruto was too strong. It was that Naruto was too perverted in his approach to friendship.
Neji had been traumatized by the experience.
Ten minutes later, Neji lay face-down in the dirt, his face swollen beyond recognition.
"Neji, get up! The ground is dirty." Naruto's enthusiastic voice cut through Neji's pain-fogged consciousness. Strong hands lifted him effortlessly and carried him to a clean patch of grass. "Let's rest somewhere cleaner."
"Thank you." The words came out flat, lifeless, utterly devoid of genuine gratitude.
Hearing Neji's heartfelt thanks, Naruto's smile widened. He felt the bond between them deepening. Neji wouldn't thank him unless their friendship was growing stronger.
"You're welcome! It's what friends do." Naruto's happiness was painfully genuine.
Not far away, Lee paused in his training to observe the two friends resting together in harmony. He smiled with deep satisfaction.
"This is youth!" Lee shouted, pumping his fist into the air. Sweat flew from his raised hand in sparkling droplets.
Naruto and Neji both turned at the shout. Lee gave them an enthusiastic thumbs-up, his teeth gleaming in a brilliant smile.
Neji's expression twisted with fresh resentment.
In the future, he thought darkly, I will repeatedly fall into inescapable situations because of pig-brained teammates like him.
After Lee completed his training routine, Naruto had another friendly exchange with him. Then, satisfied with a morning well spent, Naruto headed back to his farm in the mountains.
During lunch, Sasuke looked up from his rice. "Naruto, Kakashi-sensei said Team Seven is gathering this afternoon."
"Got it." Naruto nodded, shoveling food into his mouth at tremendous speed.
After the meal, they rested briefly, then spent a few hours training. When the sun began its descent toward the western horizon, Naruto and Sasuke set out for the meeting location.
The gathering place was their usual spot: the training ground where they'd taken the bell test. The field held memories now, both painful and formative.
When Naruto and Sasuke arrived, Sakura was already waiting. The moment she spotted Sasuke, her entire demeanor transformed. She rushed forward with hearts practically visible in her eyes.
"Sasuke-kun! You're here!" Her voice was honey-sweet.
"Naruto, you're here too!"
Did she just add that as an afterthought? Naruto stared at Sakura with mild exasperation. He felt like he and Sakura were drifting apart. Maybe after this meeting, he'd need to find time to maintain their friendship properly.
Sakura, absorbed in conversation with Sasuke, suddenly felt a chill run down her spine. She glanced around nervously, wondering where the ominous feeling came from. Unable to identify the source, she shrugged it off and returned her attention to Sasuke-kun.
This time, Kakashi-sensei was only an hour late.
Everyone had grown accustomed to their sensei's chronic tardiness. One hour was standard. Thirty minutes would have been shockingly punctual.
"Good afternoon, Kakashi-sensei," the three genin chorused in unison as their sensei appeared in a swirl of leaves.
Kakashi's visible eye crinkled in what might have been a smile. "Good afternoon."
The mission to the Land of Waves had changed Team Seven's dynamics. The shared experience, the life-and-death struggles, had forged them into something more cohesive. The bond between teammates who'd faced death together was fundamentally different from the connection between strangers who simply trained in the same place.
"I have an announcement," Kakashi said, getting straight to the point. "I've registered you three for the Chūnin Exams , which will take place in one month. Genin from all the hidden villages will be coming to Konoha to participate."
"The Chūnin Exams?" Sakura's eyes widened.
"Oh!" Naruto's face lit up like someone had just told him his birthday would last for a week. "People from all the hidden villages are coming to Konoha? If that's the case, wouldn't I be able to make a huge number of friends?"
He'd found the key point immediately and become extremely excited.
Kakashi's visible eye twitched. "(￣.#)"
Sasuke's mouth curved into the faintest smirk. "(￣︶￣)↗"
Of course that's what he'd focus on, both of them thought simultaneously.
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