And the rest of the loop.

Naruto did not manage to tell Gamabunta what was what. The toad seemed annoyed that the boy couldn't summon him without Kurama's chakra. Jiraiya decided that control exercises were the best way to deal with that, so held off on further summonings until Naruto's control improved. At the end of the day, the sage sat his two new pupils down to talk to them.

"Now then, you two seem to be facing complimentary issues. Sakura is all technique, Naruto is all power. The good news," He grinned cheekily, "is that you'll make excellent training partners for each other. You can help each other understand everything, really fill each other's holes... in your knowledge. We'll start off tomorrow with a spar between you two, so think of some strategies tonight."

Naruto and Sakura walked back together, chatting idly and splitting off to their respective houses at the last possible moment. Naruto made some cup ramen, and readied himself for sleep.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Uh, sleeping?"

"You heard what Jiraiya said. You need to think of some strategies for tomorrow."

"I'll just throw shadow clones at her, it'll be fine."

"Do you really think Sakura's not smart enough to think of a way around that? You know she's attracted to capable people, so show that you're capable!"

"Fine, what should I do?"

"You're going to need to think of that. You should be trying to impress her with your ideas, not mine."

"Kuramaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"Kit, I'm not budging on this."

"Fine."

Naruto tossed and turned for a few hours, considering how to fight Sakura. It was past midnight by the time he got to sleep.

The next morning, Naruto showed up to the clearing with a plan. As soon as Jiraiya called start, Naruto threw out a barrage of shadow clones, then ducked behind a nearby tree. He giggled, waiting for the rush of memories from one of the shadow clones dispelling once victory had been achieved. He was surprised, then, to feel a sharp jab connect with his side from his pink-haired training partner. He rolled away, leaping to join his clones. Naruto threw a smoke pellet down as soon as he did, shuffling around with the clones in order to confuse Sakura. The girl in question was nowhere to be found, so the Narutos drew themselves into a circle, facing outwards in order to catch any attacks that might be coming. Even so, the main Naruto almost didn't see the kunai that flew directly at him. In response, Naruto gathered three of his clones and started leaping towards the tree the kunai had come from, leaving the rest to act as backup in case of a trap. A hand burst from the foliage as soon as the group reached it, once again directly aiming for Naruto prime. In an instant, Naruto found himself on the ground, kunai to the neck, Sakura straddling his chest, panting lightly.

Jiraiya clapped. "All right! Victory to Sakura! Let's bring it back around and talk through all that."

"What! But one of the clones could still beat her!" A chorus of 'yeah!'s came from the orange-clad group.

"In an actual combat situation, you'd be dead and the clones would be gone. That means it's Sakura's victory."

Naruto pouted. "fine." Sakura stood up, offering Naruto a hand. The two of them walked over to Jiraiya.

"Alright, loser first, talk us through your strategy."

Naruto grimaced. "Well, I knew that 'kura would have some way of dealing with the clones, but I figured if I just got out of the way, I could outlast her chakra supplies."

"And what were you thinking once she found you?"

"Hide in the clones. I was going to have only clones go after her, but she threw the kunai at the actual me, so it would have been more suspicious to stay behind."

Jiraiya nodded. "Not as dumb as it looked, but your execution was still lacking. You're going to need to think a bit harder next time. Sakura?" Naruto nodded glumly, as Sakura began to excitedly explain her strategy.

"I made a solid clone before I showed up, sent it in to start the match, and hid in the trees. From that perspective, I could see Naruto make his clones, and keep track of him. When he slipped off, I snuck around to him and hit him with a cosmetic chakra tag. That meant I could keep track of him no matter how he tried to mix himself up with his other clones. Like paint, but less obvious. From there it was a matter of baiting him until I could ambush."

This time, Jiraiya smiled. "Excellent. I expect both of you to use different tactics tomorrow, though." Sakura and Naruto both grumbled, Jiraiya cackled and they all moved on with training for that day. Naruto and Sakura sat and talked at the end of the day's training.

"It wasn't a bad strategy, you know." Sakura said.

"It wasn't enough to win, though."

"Naruto, you've never been strategically minded, instead always thinking on your feet. I expected you to just rush me at the start, so it was mostly luck that your strategy still played into mine. You're getting better. It's really impressive."

Naruto perked up. "Really? You think I'm impressive?"

Sakura giggled. "Despite my better judgement." She considered Naruto for a long moment. Naruto floundered for something to say, but for once he found himself unable to think of something inane to fill the gap. Finally, Sakura darted in and pecked him on the cheek. A light blush on her face, she started back towards Konoha. "See you tomorrow, Naruto!"

Naruto stared after the disappearing Sakura in shock. "Kit, I get you're excited, but all this internal screaming is right in my ear. Just jump for joy or something."

"KURAMA SHE KISSED ME SHE ACTUALLY KISSED ME!"

"If you're excited now, I can't imagine how you'll feel after you actually win. I'd suggest doing it without a barrage of shadow clones. Show her you aren't a one trick pony."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see. Just trust me."

For the duration of this loop, Naruto had either gone to Ichiraku's or straight to his apartment once he finished his day. That evening, however, he sprinted to a place he had studiously avoided for most of his life in Konoha. The library. If he was going to defeat Sakura without clones, he was going to need a surprise. Naruto pored over the list of jutsus, trying to work out one that would be useful, until he came across a familiar technique. Grinning, Naruto checked out the scroll from a surprised librarian and rushed home.

The next morning, Naruto split off a single shadow clone and sent him off to practice the technique. Naruto prime went to train with Jiraiya. He tried some half-baked strategy against Sakura, once again ending in a defeat for him. With time to prepare, and knowledge of her opponent's skills, Sakura was a formidable opponent. Jiraiya's training developed both of their taijutsu, and had each of them focusing on some basic exercises. Naruto was tree walking again, but this time with a leaf stuck to his forehead and the back of each hand. Sakura, on the other hand, was facing a far more grueling task. She was repeatedly flushing her chakra reserves to the bare minimum of safety, keeping them running as low as possible to stretch them out. This was not the fastest method to increase chakra capacity, Jiraiya explained, but it was far safer than repeatedly draining her reserves completely.

One day Sakura spoke up. "Pervy Sage? Do you mind if I ask you a question? You have a reputation of refusing students. How exactly did Naruto convince you to accept us?" She had asked Naruto this same question before, but hadn't found his answer satisfactory.

Uncharacteristically, Jiraiya didn't complain about his nickname. He seemed to consider his words for a moment. "You may be aware that I was a teacher to the fourth Hokage, and that he died sealing the nine-tails inside you, Naruto." Naruto nodded emphatically, although the lapse in his focus caused the leaves to flutter off his body, and he crashed to the ground. "Well, he sent something of a message to me, implying that he wished for me to help the nine-tails jinchuriki to control the powers of the fox. When Naruto mentioned what he was, and I confirmed it, I knew I couldn't disrespect a man I'd come to see as a son." He had a solemn look on his face, though soon shook it off. "As for you little lady," he winked, "who am I to get in the way of young love?"

Training continued similarly for the next few days. Although the Naruto clone was supercharging his training, he only had half his chakra available and the complexity of the technique made it difficult for him to pick up. Once he did, he needed some time to practice actually using it in combat, which added even more time to the training process. He was about to rush in as soon as he was able to use it at all, but a tired warning from Kurama stopped him before he could.

Finally, on the tenth day, Naruto stood facing Sakura. When Jiraiya yelled start, it was Sakura that attacked first, Naruto substituting himself with a log just before the attack connected. Sakura began looking around, until she caught sight of a flash of orange in the shrubs. Grinning, she began to stalk after the garish boy. He was playing with a kunai, seemingly deep in thought. Sakura checked around the area, but not a single other orange jumpsuit was to be found. She snuck up behind Naruto, and soon had a kunai to his throat.

"Gotcha. That makes us ten-nil, Naruto." Her victory was cut short as the Naruto in front of her disappeared in a puff of smoke and a laugh, and a pair of hands burst out of the ground beneath her to grab her ankles. So caught up in shock was she that she couldn't even fight back and found herself in the opposite situation to the first training session, Naruto straddling her belly with a kunai to her throat, panting.

Naruto's grin almost broke his face in half. "Nine-one, actually."

"But- how?"

"I've had a shadow clone learning the 'hiding like a mole' technique Kakashi used in the bell test since the first duel. I substituted, made a decoy clone, then dug myself under to wait."

Jiraiya appeared behind them. "And now that you've managed that, I trust you'll be committing more of your reserves to actual training?"

Naruto's grin became sheepish. "Of course, sir."

Jiraiya sighed. "Well then. I think that covers the strategy explanation. On to training. Sakura, you'll be keeping your reserves down with chakra scalpels from now on. You've become used to keeping them low, you may as well start learning the basics of medical ninjutsu."

Sakura tried to raise a hand, but realised she was still restrained. "Um, sir? I'd like to learn some combat techniques. Being a medic-nin makes me feel like I'm useless as a fighter. I don't want to be left behind by Naruto and Sasuke."

Jiraiya waved his hand. "Bah! Kids. Only respectful when they want something. Two points, Sakura. One:" he raised his pointer finger, "I'm preparing you for a meeting with Tsunade." Sakura stiffened at the mention of the third sage. "The more I see of you, the more similarities I see between you two. I think she'll make an excellent teacher for you if I can convince her to look up from her cards. Two:" he raised his middle finger, "This is a technique that lets you summon a swarm or very sharp, very precise blades from nothing. It doesn't take a genius to work out how to fight with those, so I'm frankly a little scared to see what you work out. Clear?"

Sakura seemed much happier. "As crystal, pervy sage!"

Jiraiya closed his eyes in exasperation, then turned to Naruto. "As for you, we're going to play a little game with water balloons." With that vague statement, Jiraiya turned and started walking back to the clearing. Naruto helped Sakura up, and they shared a glance and a shrug.

Many unsuccessful attempts at bursting a water balloon later, Naruto and Sakura sat in the clearing, talking after Jiraiya had left.

"That mole technique is C-rank, right?"

"Yeah! It was really difficult to get down. Even harder than the multi-shadow clone, and that's meant to be A-rank."

"I think it's A-rank because of the chakra requirements. 'Hiding like a mole' is all about control. You've really gotten better."

"So have you! Your reserves have gotten so much bigger already, it's incredible."

Sakura laughed. "It's really tiring. It's nice to feel less useless, though."

"You've never been useless, 'kura!"

She shook her head. "I was, Naruto. My crush on Sasuke held me back from actually improving myself. This is the first time I've trained without trying to impress Sasuke, and it's the most progress I've ever seen."

"I've never heard you admit that before."

Sakura leant into Naruto's arm. "It's hard to see stuff like that when you still have the crush."

"What do you mean?" Naruto turned to look at Sakura, who smiled. She brought her face up to his, and soon they were sharing a passionate kiss. When they split apart, Naruto's face froze in shock as he realised what had just happened.

Sakura began to look self conscious. "Was that okay? It didn't feel bad or anything, right?"

"This is everything I've ever wanted." Naruto whispered

She giggled. "Even more than the Hokage's chair?"

Naruto's face froze again as these two warring ideas clashed in his head. The sight of Sakura's soft, pink lips soon decided the battle. "Nope, I want this more."

Sakura looked truly taken aback, then smiled. "Right answer." Her hand went to the zipper of her dress, and she slowly pulled it down. Naruto looked shocked

"Wait, what's happening?"

"You said that there needed to be a romantic connection, and that we needed to have sex right? To bring me into the loop? Well, let's get to it." Naruto still looked baffled. Sakura let out a bemused snort. "Just take your clothes off."

Contrary to what his teachers may have you believe, Naruto could follow orders excellently in the right situation. Before long, his orange jumpsuit lay on the floor next to Sakura's dress, and the two of them stood in front of each other in nothing but underclothes.

"So what do we do now?" Naruto asked

"It's my first time too, Naruto. We'll work it out as we go. For now..." Sakura stepped closer and wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck, beginning another passionate kiss.

"I'll leave you two alone, but here's a little gift before I do." Naruto felt a small burst of chakra from Kurama, revitalising but also bringing up some more primal instincts in Naruto. Movements a little surer, Naruto's hand moved to press his and Sakura's chests together, while the other one moved down to grope her sculpted ass. Tongue began to sneak into the kiss, and Sakura gasped, before responding in kind and moving her own hand to Naruto's ass. Finally, they pulled apart.

Instead of speaking further, they both began feverishly undressing, and soon were both fully naked. Sakura's tits, normally bound to her chest for ease in combat, swung free, each one large, round and smooth. Her pussy was already wet, dewdrops of moisture lining its lips. Naruto's cock stood proud, large and thick, his excitement already bringing it to full mast. Sakura jumped him, pushing them to the ground and grinding her ass against his cock as the two of them once again locked lips. She moaned into his mouth as he began to play with her tits, slowly but firmly massaging them with his hands, thumbs tenderly playing with her nipples. Finally, they came up for air.

"I want it in me."

"Do we need protection?"

Sakura stared him dead in the eyes. "Not if this is a time loop. If you've been bullshitting me, you're risking an awful lot right now."

Naruto didn't doubt himself. He rolled the two of them over on the grass so he was on top. "Good thing I'm not bullshitting you." He lined his dick up and began to slowly sink it into her.

"Fuuuuuuuuuck, you're big." Worried, Naruto stopped, his cock only an inch of two in. Sakura smiled at him. "I didn't say stop."

Worry mollified, Naruto pushed in further and further, until finally he felt his pelvis meet hers, and he was fully inside her. "Ready?" he asked.

"I've never been more ready." She replied. He began thrusting, slowly at first, but building up more and more speed as he kept going, grunting animalistically as he did so. Sakura became more and more vocal as time went on.

"Oh fuck that's good." She said as they started. As the speed began to pick up, she began moaning more and more. "Yessssss, keep going, Naruto. FUCK. That's the spot." Naruto began trying to hit the spot that she'd yelped at more. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck me, fuck me, holy shit FUCK ME!" Naruto finally found the spot, and began thrusting aggressively at it. Sakura's walls began clenching around him in a velvety vice, pulsating from the pleasure he was bringing her and heightening his own.

"Holy shit, 'kura you feel so good!"

"Right, pant, back, pant, at ya FUCK!" This time, her yell came with a spasm throughout her whole body as she came hard around Naruto's iron hard rod. As she came down from the high of her orgasm, she looked up at Naruto. "Wait, are you not finished yet?"

Naruto laughed. "Nah. I guess my stamina goes further than just combat."

"No kidding."

"You don't mind if we keep going?"

"Is that even a question?"

With that, Naruto began thrusting again, quickly speeding up and aiming for the same spot he did before. Sakura's glorious cunt soon proved too much for him, however, and he felt a tightening in his balls.

"I'm gonna cum, 'kura. Where do you want it?"

"IN ME! You'd better shoot that fucking load so deep inside me it isn't ever coming out." Her words didn't come a moment too soon, as with a roar, Naruto slammed balls deep inside her and began pumping a full load of cum directly into her belly. That done, he rolled off her onto his back, and the two of them lay there with massive grins on their faces.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted that for, 'kura."

"I think I do, Naruto. You were very vocal about wanting to date me."

"Yeah, I guess I was, wasn't I?" They lay in silence for a little longer, before Naruto realised something. "Wasn't it meant to hurt on your first time? Not that it's bad that it didn't or anything but..."

Sakura laughed. "Naruto, I doubt there's a single girl who made it to genin with an intact hymen. The amount of acrobatics they have everyone do is enough to break it a thousand times over. Besides," She lifted herself onto one arm to look at him. "The hymen doesn't break if everything's lubricated, and you did one hell of a job of that with that makeout session."

Naruto blushed. "Thanks, 'kura."

She kissed him again, just a soft touch of their lips. "You're very welcome. What do you think Sasuke's reaction is going to be when he finds out we're an item?"

Naruto began grinning like a lunatic. "It's so good to hear you say that we're dating. Honestly, I think he'll be happy that you aren't fangirling after him any more."

She sighed. "Probably. Ah well, not my issue any more." The two of them got up, redressed, and found their way back to their homes. Sakura's parents noted that it was the happiest they'd seen her in a long time.

The rest of the month went as expected. The spars became more evenly matched, as Sakura got better at thinking on her feet, and Naruto better at planning ahead. The couple went on some actual dates, alternating between Ichiraku's and Sakura's choices of venue. They fucked like rabbits as well, both enjoying themselves immensely. Sakura's reserves continued to grow slowly, although she wouldn't get to use her new skills in combat until the attack. Naruto didn't manage to break the balloon, but his much improved taijutsu and control, as well as ability to use Kurama's chakra, meant that his battle against Neji was considerably more one sided. Once the battle for Konoha started, Naruto ran around, helping whoever he could, but went to observe the barrier that Orochimaru put up at Kurama's request. Sakura came to meet him at the barrier, and when Kurama warned them it was time for the reset, they shared a kiss, broken by Naruto waking up in bed on the day of the first stage of the chunin exam.