A/N: Finally got a chapter out by the day I hoped to. Thanks as always to my beta for cleaning up my mistakes. Without further ado, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 20

Groggily, Ino rolled onto her side and slowly opened her eyes. Memory coming back to her, she instantly spring awake, eyes sweeping her surroundings. The last thing she expected was to find that she had woken up in her room. Glancing at her bedside clock, her eyes widened-apparently she'd slept for over 16 hours. Next to the clock, was a note written in a script she didn't recognize. 'Hope you slept well. Meet me at the same training field whenever you get up, we'll begin your training then. –Naruto.'

Immediately after reading the note, Ino hopped out of the bed and began to prepare for the day. 'That bastard better have a damn good reason for that stunt yesterday.' she thought as she grabbed her shinobi gear. Seeing that her parents were apparently already gone for the day, Ino made herself a light breakfast. Ever since she started to take her training seriously, her need to diet evaporated. Regardless, she had never been much of a breakfast person, even now only eating it when she expected to need the energy.

Hunger satiated, Ino left the house jumping to the roof of the building she set out quickly in the direction of the training ground. Arriving a few minutes later, Ino found it in similar state to how it was yesterday, Naruto clones running here and there in some task or another. Using her mantra to locate the actual Naruto, she made her way over to the one doing push-ups by himself, a large rock balanced on his back.

Noticing her presence thanks to a clone dispelling itself, Naruto stopped his exercises, rock rolling off his back as he ceased the chakra holding it in place, and stood to greet her. Unable to help herself, a blush crept to her face as she found he was shirtless, her eyes unconsciously and automatically tracing the muscles of his chest and stomach. She found that Naruto wasn't absurdly muscular, not like Gai or even Asuma, but the muscles he did have were toned to a ridiculous level, the contours of each clearly visible.

Her view suddenly obstructed as he tossed his shirt back on, a slight smirk on his face as he caught her looking, Ino snapped back to her reasons for being there. Brushing the thoughts of his half naked form aside, Ino buried her blush and screamed in a most unladylike manner a few feet from his face "What the hell was that yesterday?!"

Ignoring the girl's obvious frustration, Naruto simply smiled and replied, "I needed to see your limits. We haven't been a team that long, so I really didn't know what I should teach you-now I've got what I think to be a good list in mind."

Holding back the retort already forming in her throat, Ino took a deep breath, "And just what's that?" she asked actually curious.

"All-in-all, you're really good. You were correct in your assumptions of your ability. From what I've seen, I would estimate you to be a solid Jounin overall, not yet to the level of Kakashi or even Asuma, but I'll be you could give Kurenai a run for her money, those were some impressive genjutsu." Seeing her flush at the praise, Naruto mentally gave himself a pat on the back-he was getting better and better at dealing with women. Now though, for the bad part… "However, your weakest points are your stamina, both physical and chakra capacity, and your speed. Your kekkai genkai really is remarkable, allowing you to predict my attacks early enough that you were able to compensate for the difference in speed and for the most part avoid my attacks, but by holding a mid-to-long range fight, I was able to basically render your attacks useless. The training that I have in mind is going to work on improving all three of these simultaneously."

Gritting her teeth slightly as Naruto tore down the pedestal her ego had been sitting on, she asked the obvious question, "And how're we going to do that?"

"Easy, I'm going to teach you Soru."

Despite the fact that she was standing still, Ino tripped at that. Her previous frustration with the blonde for his distrust of her or for fighting her to the point of exhaustion the day before immediately forgotten. One doesn't teach their personal techniques lightly, not to mention she had seen the merits of this particular technique in action and was practically drooling at the prospect of learning it. Speechless, the girl flashed her comrade and instructor a winning smile.

"But, before you'll be able to learn that, I'll need to teach you Kage Bunshin."

Ino damn near fainted at those words. Kage bunshin was a jutsu she had been wanting to learn for years, ever since she'd first seen him use it in the Chuunin exams in fact. Once she began under the tutelage of Yuugao, she recognized the extreme advantage such a technique had for a kenjutsu user. Alas, as a forbidden technique, the knowledge on how to perform it was restricted to those of Jounin rank (and apparently Naruto). Not even once she joined ANBU had the Hokage released the restriction for her. Not wanting to miss this opportunity, Ino began to pay rapt attention.

"However, before I teach you either of these techniques, I'll need your word that you will not teach them to another sole without my express permission. Kage bunshin in particular in the hands of someone not prepared for it can be lethal."

Not being able to find a scroll with particulars about the jutsu, Ino was surprised by this news though, as it was a forbidden jutsu, perhaps she shouldn't have been. "I promise Naruto." she stated resolutely.

Smiling at her, Naruto noticed the momentary confused look. "I had probably best start at the beginning." he said, sitting down and motioning for her to do the same. "Kage bunshin has many applications beyond the obvious use of multiple bodies. In fact, I'd say this is the least of its merits. A fully functioning kage bunshin when destroyed or released will convey anything it has learned to the user." Seeing her eyes widen at the implications, Naruto motioned to the clones throughout the clearing. "As I'm sure you've now realized, though I'm sitting here talking to you, I'm actually getting quite a bit of training done even as we speak. The one thing clones are unable to improve upon is anything physical, hence the training I was doing when you arrived. The technique splits any chakra remaining after the jutsu is used amongst the clones summoned. This means that the clones are indistinguishable from the original for those with a doujutsu. Also, as you've seen, it enables the clones to use jutsu, though, for the most part, I don't recommend this for you."

"Why's that?" she interrupted, surprised by his suggesting against this very useful aspect.

"For starters, the jutsu itself is very costly on chakra and any chakra not used by a clone when it vanishes for one reason or other will return to the original. Beyond that, as I've already told you, your chakra capacity is one of your weak points and, while it's possible to increase your chakra stores, it's a very slow and exhausting process."

Seeing her nod at his explanation, Naruto continued, "However, as I alluded to before, kage bunshin is a forbidden jutsu for a reason. The most obvious reason is the high level of chakra required to cast it to begin with. For inexperienced or weaker shinobi, this can cause chakra exhaustion and death very easily. However, for experienced shinobi, as long as they keep in mind their limitations and the chakra needed to summon the clones, chakra exhaustion is less of a worry. However, even for someone with my chakra capacity, if I have clones casting jutsu I'll run out of chakra very quickly. The biggest reason that kage bunshin is forbidden is its affects on the mind. The information received when a clone is dispelled forcefully or by choice is directed back to the user as well as any remaining clones. If too many clones are released at once, the information overload can destroy the mind leaving the person as little more than a vegetable."

Eyes widening at the unexpected dangers associated with the jutsu, Ino glanced around the clearing with a perplexed look at the hundreds of clones running around, casting various jutsu, and puffing out of existence with reckless abandon.

Chuckling at her confusion, Naruto went ahead and answered her unanswered question. "I'm probably the only person able to utilize kage bunshin to its full extent thanks to the Kyuubi. I never thought I'd be thankful to the bastard fox, but it provides me with certain advantages, not the least of which, a nearly unlimited chakra store and a healing ability which extends to mental strain." What Naruto didn't bother to explain was that because of his unique situation, every clone actually had full access to Kyuubi's chakra rather than just a fraction according to how many clones were active. Each of Naruto's clones did possess the Shiki Fuujin seal on their stomach through which they were able to tap into the reservoir of chakra that existed within. Thus, when Naruto's clones performed jutsu, they were not burning through Naruto's own chakra but rather that of his tenant.

"For you, I'd say, to be safe, never summon more than 20 clones at one time even for training. While you could summon more and stagger their release, if something should happen and they all release at once, twenty would be a safe number though you'd probably be left with a migraine."

Having covered the basics, Naruto stood up and, offering her his hand to help her up, said "Alright then, the jutsu itself is relatively simple." He showed her the hand seal required and gave her pointers on how much chakra the jutsu required. Not a half hour later, Ino was blanketed in sweat, panting, and shaking slightly from the beginnings of chakra exhaustion, but a full twenty perfectly made clones stood next to her.

"Good work." Naruto told her. "Now, it's time for the real training to start." The glare Ino sent towards him at those was so fierce that he had little doubt it would have been able to wilt the flowers her family is so well known for growing. Laughing at the girls expense, Naruto continued, "Relax, your only job for the moment at least is going to be to sit there and gather your chakra as I explain how Soru works. Your clones, however, will be doing a chakra control exercise I invented awhile back."

"Why the chakra control? I've already mastered tree climbing, water walking, and the rest of the techniques they teach, shouldn't that be enough?" asked the perplexed Ino.

"In theory yes, but this advanced chakra control exercise will drastically cut down on the overall time it takes to learn. Let me explain…Soru was my attempt at recreating the Yondaime's famous Hiraishin no Jutsu. Clearly, I failed in that endeavor, I even know why, but that's a story for another day. The idea behind Soru stemmed from my work on the Rasengan. On the offhand you aren't familiar with it, Rasengan is a condensed, swirling ball of raw chakra." he explained, aforementioned jutsu forming in his hand.

Having never seen the jutsu before, Ino was transfixed by the vortex of power held within her fellow shinobi's hand. As suddenly as it appeared, it suddenly blinked out of existence.

Waving over a clone, Naruto continued, "What I learned while experimenting with the jutsu is that chakra has a maximal density it can form. After that, it becomes very unstable." Naruto gestured to the clone indicating for it to demonstrate.

"Awww, come on!" the clone whined.

"What? Do you expect me to do it? You at least won't have to deal with the aftermath." Naruto chastised the whining clone.

"Talking to yourself?" came the playful jibe from his left. "Isn't that a clear sign of insanity."

Both Narutos present grinned at their blonde friend. "Very well." said the clone forming the swirling ball of chakra. "I like this one, she's got spunk." As the two watched, the ball slowly shrank in size as the clone concentrated on condensing it. Without warning, however, the jutsu destabilized and the clone practically evaporated from the waist up before it disappeared into smoke.

Seeing Ino's shocked expression at the clone's violent demise, Naruto continued. "That's a substantially more powerful than what you're hoping to harness, but the concept is the same. Soru uses the force of this explosion to propel oneself forward at far faster speeds than can be achieved naturally. The force of the explosion is dependent upon the amount of chakra contained. However, you can't just push chakra into the ground-rather than condensing, it will simply disperse. In order to get around this, you have to stomp the ground ten times in an instant, each time pushing chakra into the same spot before it is able to dissipate. The key is to balance the resulting explosion so that you get the momentum you're looking for without blowing off your leg. This is where the clones come in as I can't instruct you how much chakra to use; you'll have to experiment with that for yourself."

Ino was in awe. The ingenuity required for creating such a technique was monumental, and only someone who knows kage bunshin would even be able to experiment with the technique should they think of it. "Why ten times?"

"From my tests, I found that simply trying to force a large amount of chakra at once is unable to condense it the way it needs to. However, if you force the chakra multiple times before it can dissipate, the chakra will condense until it reaches the critical level and explodes. Ten is the only number of steps I've found that was able to form the required density. It's up to your clones to figure out how quickly to step and how much chakra to use."

"Now," said Naruto, flashing a dangerous smile towards his student, "let's get to work on that stamina of yours."

-----------------------------------------------------------------Scene Change-----------------------------------------------------------------

By lunch time, Ino was seriously regretting asking her blond friend for help. Her body was hardly able to move after the ridiculous exercises that he ceaselessly forced her to do. She wasn't even able to use her chakra as every five minutes he was having her release the clone furthest along in its chakra control exercise and every 100 minutes summon 20 new clones to continue the exercise, keeping her reserves at the very minimal of levels.

Despite Naruto allowing her to choose the restaurant for their meal, Ino hardly had the energy to lift her arms, so enjoying the food just simply wasn't an option. On the positive side, the lunch break gave her a much needed reprieve which gave her the opportunity to regain her energy, both physical and chakra. Though a blessing, she knew that she would need every bit she could muster for the hellish training that was sure to ensue after lunch.

Hoping to prolong her brief respite, Ino looked towards her companion and asked, "So, how exactly did I get home last night?"

Naruto had the decency to blush as he recalled the previous afternoon.

-----Flashback-----

Jumping from rooftop to rooftop, Naruto had to marvel at just how light the girl was. Sure he was actually pretty strong, but despite her years of training, Ino seemed practically weightless. He never really noticed it despite the time spent together as teammates, but with his growth spurt while he was with Jiraiya, Ino was now far smaller than he was, probably barely coming to his shoulders.

As he ran past the hospital he heard and an indignant shriek. Turning to the source of the voice, he found none other than Sakura jumping towards him. "Naruto? What the hell do you think you're doing?!" she cried out indicating the prone form in his arms.

"Sakura," addressed Naruto, "exactly what do you think is going on?"

"Why don't you tell me? First, I hear you're out on a lunch date with my best friend and now I find that you're carrying her unconscious through the town. What am I supposed to think?" she screamed at him.

"Sakura. Sakura. Sakura." Naruto chastised. "Always so quick to judge. You're just lucky that Ino's so exhausted, you're shouting's loud enough to wake the dead. You know what, make what you want out of this, I'm getting Ino home now. With a pop, several clones came into existence impeding Sakura's progress as Naruto shunshinned away.

Arriving quickly at the home of the Yamanakas, Naruto rapped lightly on the door. With Ino's mother tending the flower shop next door, it was Yamanaka Inoichi who answered the door.

"When you came asking about training my daughter, I didn't think this was the type of training you had in mind." he said smiling as the boy blushed at the implied connotation. "Come on in, Ino's room is down that hall, first door on the left."

After Naruto placed Ino gently in her bed, he went to take his leave. As his hand reached for the door, Inoichi's voice from behind him halted him momentarily. "So, is this likely to be a reoccurring occurrence?" Naruto's almost predatory grin was all the answer he needed.

-----End Flashback-----

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The month of training passed quickly for the two blondes. The next two weeks proceeded much like the first day of training. Each day, Ino woke up in her bed with the clear knowledge that she had not gotten there of her own volition. Struggling out of bed, she cursed her blonde friend as her body would protest her every movement. She'd get to the training grounds and immediately create 20 clones who would work on the chakra control exercise, at least until she mastered that in which case they proceeded to blowing themselves up trying to learn Naruto's creation. After a quick warm up and stretching, she began ceaseless physical activity (only pausing for lunch and to create clones when applicable) until her body could no longer move, at which point Naruto would carry her home, to repeat the process all over again.

Despite the endless torturous exercises, Ino could certainly not doubt their effectiveness. Even she could feel the improvements to her physical stamina and chakra capacity. Even with the clones turning each day of training into two-thirds of a month, it took Ino almost the entire two weeks to learn master soru. Due to her small but steadily increasing chakra supply, Ino could only use soru in a very limited manner, but the benefits far outweighed the chakra cost.

At the end of their two weeks together, Yuugao returned from her mission and took over the remainder of Ino's training to work on incorporating her new skill into her kenjutsu. While Ino certainly didn't miss the exhausting physical training that Naruto continually put her through, after their training days ended, she did find that she missed his company. The two weeks of spending nearly every waking moment together had certainly brought the two closer, not to mention their daily lunches. Tomorrow, however, they would find themselves as enemies, for the Chuunin exam finals were set to begin.

A/N: Sorry to those of you who were looking for a bit more character development during the remainder of the training month, but I was really ready to get on to the finals and some more plot development. I'll also apologize about the scene with Sakura, it was kind of weak. Hope everyone likes the explanation on the workings of Soru. I tried to keep the actual methodology similar to that of one piece (or the shukuchi fom Kenshin) while providing an explanation for how it could actually function. I also have an explanation for each of the rest of Naruto's taijutsu techniques, Rokushiki which I'll likely be revealing in the authors notes of chapters they appear in (since explaining them in the plot would be forced).

Jutsu Library:

Soru-Shave (Taijutsu technique allowing user to move at rapid speeds by stomping the ground 10 times in an instant, concentrating chakra into the ground until it explodes to propel the person forward)

Kage Bunshin-Shadow Clone

Hiraishin no Jutsu-Flying Thunder God Technique

Rasengan-Spiral Sphere