in the anime and the manga, kiba relives a day in the academy. most of the students have moved up a class, and naruto is there and is not really known by all the students. that makes it seem that you have to prove yourself to move up a class, and naruto has been in the same class for a long time. it also means there are many different classes of students.

this means that naruto was probably in the last class you had to pass before you became (an unofficial) genin, and Neji probably was not in his class.