Training grounds

Training grounds it is!" Naruto shouted with a fist in the air and his famous smile. "We'll start the day with some training, believe it!" he proclaimed.

Once he got to the training grounds he could see some fellow ninjas already training there. As he got closer he saw that it was Team Gai: Neji, Lee, TenTen, and Gai-sensei. Lee was first to notice Naruto as he waved a high hand to him.

"Oi, Naruto! Here for some training?" the bushy-browed ninja asked.

"Yeah, thought it was a good way to start the day," Naruto answered.

"Well why don't you join us, Naruto? We were about to embark on a 50 km sprint around the village on our hands," Gai-sensei offered while giving his famous thumbs up. You could hear the pinging gleam off his extremely bright white teeth as he smiled widely.

Naruto, along with Neji and TenTen, looked worriedly at Gai-sensei. Lee's eyes gleamed with pride as his heart rate already began to increase from the mere thought of this 50 km "warm up" sprint around the village. Naruto was getting light headed from just the thought of the effort he'd have to put forth to complete that type of training. He figured that he'd be better off trying to train with one of them individually instead.

"If it's ok with you Gai-sensei I'd rather have a one-on-one training session today," he said with a weak smile.

"But Naruto, you must let the fire of youth burn through you as a wildfire burns through a forest! I will enrich your mind, body and spirit with my youthful exuberance!" Gai-sensei exclaimed with much animation.

Naruto thought, "More like kill my mind, body and spirit from exhaustion." Naruto tried his best to look appreciative of the offer but had to admit that he would probably end up dying if he participated in this type of training. He decided to stick to his one-on-one training option?but with whom?

He DEFINITELY didn't want to train with Gai-sensei. He respected the man, but there was only so much of his 'youthful spirit of fiery youth' that he could take. Lee was a good friend and much more manageable than Gai-sensei so he thought that training with him might be a good experience. But then he thought that training with TenTen would be a change of pace since he wasn't used to trying to overcome weapons. She looked strong and much more reasonable than Lee. Neji . . . well Naruto hadn't been on "great" terms with him, ever, but they did manage to tolerate each other. Perhaps he could have a good training session with him. He'd just have to make a decision and see.