Naruto's POV ((Timeskip Three Months) - Hyuga District - Hidden Leaf)
Rarely would a soul witness a truly exhausted Naruto. His mother often said it was due to being both a jinchuriki and Uzumaki, both being known for their superior stamina. However he had simply been worked to the bone as of late. Once they had arrived home and been given time to rest, Kakashi had come into his house late at night. He quickly restrained Naruto and walked out the front door, kidnapped from his own damn home. His mother had merely smiled and asked that he be fed. So much for mothers being protective!
Late at night, Naruto had barely been awake before Kakashi had dropped him in their training field. An equally bemused duo of Kakashi's held both Ino and Neji as well. Then he had simply said with his normal casualness that they were going on a training trip for two months and two weeks. Naruto remembered Ino's despair when she looked at Naruto and Neji. However, like Naruto, Neji was smiling and nodding. Naruto felt terrible for leaving her hanging on it. But all that time focused on training? How could he pass that up? They had all stretched as the academy had taught them before a heavy workout. Before Kakashi told them to run around the village wall. Not when to stop or how fast to run. The group, knowing better than to question sensei, had done so.
Oh, it had been quite the mistake. Ten laps around the village, Kakashi showed no sign of stopping them. Naruto's infamous stamina held, but even after her growth, Ino ran behind. Naruto had attempted to help her like before. Before Kakashi had warned him off. As such, Naruto watched as they struggled. Five laps later, Neji's brisk jog had become a sagging stomp. Naruto himself was breathing heavily as well. Ten laps later, the three all collapsed. Naruto and Ino cursed at Kakashi breathlessly. If only he had known, he would get it worse from there. He had given them what seemed like ten seconds of rest before he quickly ordered them to their feet.
Naruto could only describe what happened next as a bone-crushing beating. Kakashi had engaged all three and beat them around with even more ease than normal. As always he allowed them to attempt to hit him or counter-attack, but it would never land. Merely be countered with machine-like precision. Usually, he would go until he got tired or surrendered. But on this day, he held no such rules. If they collapsed or tried to quit, he would merely continue the fight. Only stopping once the three were fully grounded and unable to move. He had given them some bentos at this point and let them eat peacefully.
Eventually, once they were rested, he tested their elemental affinities and started their practice for the elements. Neji had been earth and showed immediate prowess for it; Ino had been water and was struggling with the exercise due to insufficient chakra. Kakashi, seeing this, has her tree walk until she is unable to continue. Finally, Naruto has wind. Naruto had tried to demand to learn a jutsu, but instead, Kakashi had him holding leaves onto his body, using chakra to build his control. Warning that wind jutsu required precise chakra control.
The trip lasted days, each harder than the last, and each crammed full of training. Some absurd exercise till they nearly passed out, followed by vicious sparring against the Jounin, finally ending with some targeted exercise for the three. Days became weeks, and weeks became months. In time, the three could feel their growth. Critical flaws of the bunch were ironed out. To Naruto, it was clear they were on another level. So when Kakashi informed them to spend a week relaxing, he did so happily. Neji often missed their get-togethers and this time was no different, leaving the blondes on their lonesome. Naruto would never admit it, but he preferred it usually. Ino had quickly become one of his most favorite people. She could have fun, was supportive, funny, and certainly attractive. Apparently, Mom loved her as well. Seemingly gushing whenever he brought her up. But clamming up when he asked why she cared so much.
Ino and Naruto approached the Side House building where Neji lived. They had a team meeting, but once the Hyuga had failed to report, Kakashi asked them to go grab him.
The Hyuga were widely considered the largest, most prestigious, and powerful clan of the Leaf. They were once rivalled by the Uchiha, but now that their main challenge was missing in action they had risen to the top unopposed. So rich were the Hyuga they now owned an entire district of the Leaf. All private property of theirs they did as they pleased with. The Side House was dutifully set up to guard and work the place daily. Making even visiting the Hyuga quite the hassle. Luckily they were known teammates of Neji's, allowing them easy enough access.
The guard at the front gate asked for their names, recorded them, and asked them to remove their weapons. Naruto had almost rebelled before Ino had hugged his arm and swayed him to hand over his tanto. Naruto smiled lightly as they walked in, silently missing the contact from his teammate. He had been truly blessed with his team so far. Kakashi might be a weirdo, but he had shown himself to be a good sensei. Naruto could feel the difference in strength even now. Neji, while initially someone who infuriated him, had become something else. They, indeed, weren't best friends, but they got along. They still bickered constantly, but now Naruto never felt earnest malice towards him. He liked to believe Neji held none, either. Yet, his greatest surprise had been the blooming friendship between him and Ino. They had gotten along initially due to their uniting against Neji. Afterward, they became friends and were relatively friendly toward each other.
But recently something had changed, though; it wasn't something Naruto could put his finger on. But during the training, the friendship between the two seemed frictionless. Being around each other as much as they were, the two's comradery had grown. The two spend their resting hours talking. Naruto had never realized it, but Ino had been subtly holding back personality wise. She may be friendly and social, but he hadn't noticed that she kept it impersonal. She never mentioned much about herself or dived too deep into conservation. Now, she is more willing. Often beforehand, Naruto had been the one to engage. He was a rather talkative guy, after all. But now Ino seemed to seek him on occasion. She even seemed to enjoy herself around him. He had been fearful she would treat him differently. Either hatefully or with pity. It was what he expected after his secret had been revealed. But things had remained the same, in fact even better!
Shikamaru's POV (Team Eight's Training Ground - Hidden Leaf Village)
Shikamaru had a rule that he tried not to worry too much. Often, worrying about things provided no relief or gain in knowledge, so it was simply not worth his time. Yet, with the Chunin Exams coming up, he knew his goose was cooked. He had always been unremarkable in his books. But one noisy teacher tricking him into taking an IQ test had ruined that for him. With his two teammates being powerful and competent, paired with his "inherent leadership ability," his team was almost sure to participate in the exams. His hopes were further crushed when Asuma started running them into the ground. The man was nearly as lazy as he, if they were training hard it was because Asuma thought they needed it. Life could be a drag.
"Pineapple?" A voice interrupted his misery. He looked up to see Sai facing him. A Plastic smile locked onto his face as always.
"Pineapple? Are you trying to roast me or something?" Shikamaru asked lazily.
"Not quite. My book here says that nicknames can help friends grow closer," Sai said, holding up a book titled "Making Friends for Dummies!"
Shikamaru sighed, attempting for a moment to ignore his problems. He tried anyway, and when it didn't work, he attempted the doomed effort of explaining this to the naive Sai: "Can it at least be a better one?"
"Sorry, Pineapple, but the book says that the target disliking it can be even better." Sai apologized. "It means we have progressed to friendly banter!"
"Pineapple it is!" Tenten chimed in, sitting next to the Nara. "Wanna argue about it?"
"My life is such a drag."
Yuno's POV (Team Nine's Training Ground - Hidden Leaf Village)
Yuno smiled happily as she watched her two teammates spar. Her team had come a long way. The fight between Naruto and Neji had been brutal. It had made it abundantly clear that they were behind. Neji was to be expected; he had always been a genius. But Naruto was shocking. Shocking enough to where Yuno had wanted to play with him a bit. Ino, of course, had vetoed this. But afterward, her team seemed to have a fire in them. Choji was determined to show that he, too, could be a powerful shinobi. Muttering about being tired of watching Naruto win? Shino simply seemed to dislike his friends outclassing him. So, the two had trained like demons. Yuno, ever the good teammate, had matched their efforts. After all, it fit her purpose to become Chunin. And in the process, she would meet many more interesting shinobi. But more than anything, she wanted to see Neji. Seeing him cut loose as he had that night had caught her attention. His typically cold and unflappable persona simply made it more appealing. She always preferred them to be a bit more complicated.
Lee's POV (Team Ten's Training Ground - Hidden Leaf Village)
Lee continued what seemed to be an endless assault on the training post before him. Gai was often known as a task masker but recently doubled their efforts. Lee had never truly minded; Youth rewarded hard work. But his teammates had seemed less willing. Lee had faith in Gai's methods and had assured them of such. Being a bit temperamental, Kiba attempted to get through it all using nothing more than spite. And to his credit, it had worked to several degrees. Sakura had met it head-on, and they had increased the amount they could train using her healing. It's not the most brilliant idea, admittedly. Gai had merely worked this into training to get them even more mileage. Gai had decided to give the two weights similar to what he and Lee used. The two had significantly struggled and were free of them for the first time in three months. The two had seemed doubtful but, upon removing them, had shown a devastating level of speed. Not faster than Lee, but now their Youth shined. Lee had no doubt they would ace whatever problems lay ahead. After all, they were still at the pinnacle of Youth.