Lee

Naruto looked at Lee and saw that same determination in his eyes as Gai-sensei. He knew that training with him would really give him a workout. At least one of them would feel good about it.

"Hey Lee, how about we pick up from the last time we fought?" he offered.

The shine in Lee's eye now changed to an inferno of fire as his excitement for battle grew. Lee said quickly, "Yes we should! But this time I will show you all of my new techniques that Gai-sensei has taught me. If I do not win, I'm going to do 1000 push-ups. If I can't do 1000 push-ups then I'll do 5000 jump ropes. If I can't do 5000 jump ropes then I'll do 2000 pull-ups. If I can't do 2000 pull-ups then I'll do,"

"OK THEN, let's get going!" Naruto interrupted as they began to walk off to another side of the training grounds.

. . .

His training with Lee lasted into the late afternoon. Naruto felt that he had done enough training?his fight with Lee had left him exhausted. Lee had definitely gotten much better and his energy levels had definitely gotten higher, even though Naruto never thought they could get any higher from when they where 14. Maybe there was something to that "spirit of youth" thing that Gai-sensei was always going on about.

Naruto had had enough. "Alright Lee, I think I'm done for now," Naruto explained as he sat down on a log.

"Come on Naruto, through my hard work and dedication I have been able to become the splendid ninja I set forth to be! I will show you the power of my youth!" Lee said as he struck a Gai-sensei pose.

Naruto laughed to himself, then hung his head and wished he was anywhere else but there. He figured that after this he would either go to the tower to check on any little mission he could get or go to the academy and see how things have been. He didn't want to spend his whole day there at the training grounds so he decided it was time to go.

"Oh that's ok Lee! You just keep the power of your youth to yourself. I'm going to head out."

"But we are still tied 50-50 in matches! It is as if we both won today," Lee complained.

"And we both lost, so that means you've got some push-ups to do, don't you?" Naruto instigated.

Lee's eye filled with fury as he realized that what Naruto said was true. Naruto was right and he had to keep his promise. "THEN I WILL PROVE TO YOU THAT I, THE HANDSOME DEVIL OF THE LEAF VILLAGE, WILL KEEP MY PROMISE!" He dropped to the floor and began his long but glorious punishment.

With Lee busy with his thousand pushup punishment, Naruto was free to leave him for his next destination. "Where should I go?" he thought to himself.