Neji can only nod at first, still not quite able to hide the shock obvious in his eyes. After all, this was Uzumaki Naruto -- for as much as he'd learned his own mistake and come to respect and care for him, after his own fashion, he had always been the dropout. Dead-last, he was pretty sure his nickname had been. But none of that changed the fact that Naruto had been the one who had saved him from darkness, and his fingers flex into an open palm at his sides, the smallest sign of his distress. After all, while Neji knew the truth about what a great shinobi Naruto had the potential to be, how much of the village still reviled him for reasons Neji had strong suspicions for, but in reality could only guess at?

"I... am not certain how much is known to you, Yondaime-sama, but I owe your son a great deal," he says finally, softly, his eyes coming up to meet the other's for a moment to impress his sincerity before respectfully dropping again. "Please allow me to thank you for everything you have done for our village."