The Harsh Truth

Chapter 8

The Chuunin exams that would be held the next day had already the village in excitement.

People had flocked from all over the elemental countries, even from normally awry-relation ones like Iwa and Kumo. Mostly, it was because the events served to showcase the strongest shinobis, out of every shinobi village. Even Daimyos usually attended, albeit the most one would see were the finals that, due to the low number of participants for that year, probably because of the Third Ninja war just so recently passed, had been scheduled immediately after the first two exams. Meaning that, within a week, they'd either be some promoted chuunins or they'd still be a flock of Genins.

The only problem was that Naruto couldn't train, having been forced to bed since the day before…which meant that, first thing in the morning, he had already disappeared from the house.

"Sensei, are you sure?" The voice asked with a bit of doubt, as the grey-haired boy simply rolled his eyes, trying his best *don't worry* attitude.

Neji Hyuga had been many things, but insensitive had not been one. Sure, he had tried, really hard too, but when his very own enemy had become his teacher, his friend and his helper, he couldn't help but stop actually following up with the plan of becoming a fate-obsessed boy. However, when said sensei, after having been forced to be bed-ridden for an entire day, had come personally to the Hyuga compound, to grab him for training, he had been shocked.

Not much because he had come, but because he had arrived from the main gate, had passed straight through the guards who hadn't even said a word, and had all but grabbed him by the ear while he was eating breakfast, carrying him to the training grounds…of the Hyuga family.

"Sensei, did you get permission?" Neji asked once more, he trusted Naruto *not* to have done this simply to leave him in deep hell and pain later on, at the hands of the main family, so the question that he had actually wanted to ask was if sensei was angry at him, at the world, or if he was simply messing around with him in some form of *Underneath the Underneath* training.

Naruto simply turned around, cracking his knuckles.

"Neji, I just feel so full of energies right now, a spar is what we need! Come on!" as soon as he said that, to further prove his point, the boy's blue eyes lit up more, as he begun a cartwheel, yes, a cartwheel, that ended with his right kick nearly hitting the Hyuga boy straight in the face, only for him to adequately push it aside with his right arm.

In that moment, Naruto chuckled, before letting his right fist gain momentum, from his legs touching the ground after having been pushed aside, and slamming it straight against the boy's left arm, that however send him a bit backwards.

"Ouch, sensei, did your mission go well?" as soon as he asked that, Neji's right and left kicks became blurs of speed, that however Naruto dodged by taking careful steps backwards, letting his very own body bend to avoid being hit.

"Nope, it went down the drain like hell was back on earth," Naruto replied, a smile plastered on his face, as his left hand swiped the air in front of him, grabbing a hold on Neji's right ankle, and then, instead of pushing it away, he simply threw it upwards, before moving his right arm underneath it, and twisting until the boy was forced to stop staying up with his left leg, forcing him to twist in mid-air as his body touched the ground.

"You seem…awfully cheery, never the less, sensei," Neji pointed out, as he slowly got back on his feet, slowly bowing in a graceful manner, and just as Naruto was about to do the same, the boy grinned, launching himself forward…with a head-butt.

As Neji's head was about to impact against Naruto, the grey-haired boy simply smiled, sidestepping and using his right arm to block the attempt, putting him in a stranglehold.