Separately

Hinata was waiting for them when they reached the Hyuga compound. She perked up as the pair approached, running over and kissing each of them on the cheek.

"Where are we off to?" Sex was apparently an excellent icebreaker, as Hinata seemed far more comfortable around the pair than she had last night.

"We've got forever, theoretically. So if there's anything you want to do, we can try that out. Otherwise, chakra reserves and technique carry over, so we can train ourselves to our heart's content." Sakura stretched a little as she spoke.

Hinata furrowed her brow. "But, doesn't our mortality give us purpose? The brevity of our life ensures our fleeting pursuits have true meaning behind them. Can we truly call ourselves human if we throw such a thing to the wayside? Can we truly be happy?"

Naruto scratched his head. "I don't know Hinata. I'm still gonna be Kage, I just gotta work out how to get there in under a month. Or wait 'til we get out of the loop."

Sakura chose a far more grandiose response. "Hinata, we have the potential to become gods. Mortality's purpose is an illusion provided by mortality itself. There's so much to learn in the world, thousands of years of accumulated knowledge. Once there's nothing left to learn, we will discover and create things that no-one else has ever imagined. And if we're sick of imagining, we rest on our laurels and enjoy everything we've built." Sakura closed the distance with Hinata. "This is a gift, one that I plan to use to its fullest extent."

"Also, think of what you could tell people without worrying about consequences." Naruto gasped. "We could tell Sasuke we found his brother."

In the midst of the Konoha forest, being led to a secret training ground by his masked teacher, a shiver went down Sasuke's spine. He stopped on a branch. Kakashi turned to face him.

"Everything all right, Sasuke?"

"I'm pretty sure Naruto's planning another prank. And I think I'm involved."

Kakashi eyed him warily. "Think I am too?" Naruto's persistence in pranking was such that even Jounin were somewhat wary of his antics.

Sasuke shook his head. "Just me."

Kakashi leapt over to the same branch as Sasuke. "Well," he said, patting the Uchiha boy on the head, "good luck. If you get me involved, I'm not teaching you the chidori." With that, he turned around and resumed jumping from branch to branch on his way through the forest.

Sasuke followed suit, muttering darkly about how teachers were meant to defend their students from harm, not use them as meat shields.

Back at the Hyuga compound, the throuple was wrapping up their needlessly included philosophical conversation.

"I've been thinking, and I really want to work on my taijutsu. We probably won't be able to build any physical strength in the loop, so we should focus on technique."

"I'd help out Sakura, but the gentle fist only works if you combine it with the Byakugan. I'd actually like to keep working on it myself, to be honest."

"Wanna try out against my shadow clones? I'm still working on this water balloon thing that the pervy sage got me to try out, but clones have the same chakra paths, right?"

Hinata nodded slowly "It would be nice to have training partners that don't collapse after one bout. Want to join in, Sakura?"

The pink-haired girl shook her head. "Nope, thanks though. I actually had an idea for who to train with. I'll let you two have some one-on-one time." She chuckled. "Or one-on-many, as it were."

"Alright then!" Naruto grabbed Hinata's hand and started leading her off towards the clearing he and Sakura had used with Jiraiya.

Sakura turned and headed off towards the hospital.

Konoha's hospital was a place of contrasts. The civilian side was your classic affair, clean and white, occasional pot plants, most of the equipment and staff geared towards helping mitigate disease. The ninja side was superficially the same, but anyone trained to look deeper would immediately see the differences. And any ninja worth their salt knew how to look deeper.

The walls and windows were reinforced, walls to withstand the temper tantrums of superhumans, windows to prevent **** attempts. Though incredibly difficult to open when locked, when unlocked the windows actually had handles on the outside, aiming to help the absurd amount of ninja that refused to enter their loved ones' rooms through the door.

So much of the equipment was geared towards injury that oftentimes any ninja who came in sick was delayed treatment by quite some time, until the requisite equipment to help them could be moved. The exception to this was poison. A comprehensive bank of curatives was kept fully stocked for the inevitable bouts of poisoning between ninja, both friendly and malicious.

The potted plants were all the same though.

As Sakura wandered through the reinforced halls, she eventually heard the echoing voice of the man she was looking for.

"LEE! THIS IS INDEED MOST YOUTHFUL OF YOU, BUT I BEG YOU TO REMAIN IN YOU BED!"

"BUT GAI, SIR! I MUST TRAIN! I HAVEN'T RUN ON MY HANDS AROUND THE VILLAGE EVEN ONCE TODAY!"

"LEE!"

"GAI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI!"

Sakura reached the door the voices had been booming from. Opening it, she saw both master and pupil openly weeping, embracing each other.

"I'm not interrupting, am I?" She'd been around Naruto and Kakashi long enough to know that when shit started getting weird, you either joined in or pretended it was normal.

The two men cleared their eyes of tears, releasing one another. Gai turned to face Sakura. Lee attempted to do the same, but his legs gave out from even the small strain of standing, and he collapsed onto the bed. He rolled over to see who had entered.

"Miss Haruno!" He gasped. "Have you considered my proposal?"

"Sorry, Lee. I really respect everything you've managed to achieve, and you seem like a truly good person, but I don't really see you that way. I actually came to talk to your teacher."

The teacher in question was tearing up again, fist clenched, staring into the middle distance. "Such a youthful proposal. Such a kind refusal. Lee, who is this woman to you?"

"I met her at the start of the exam, sir. I was enchanted by her beauty."

Gai wept. "Oh Lee."

Lee teared up as well. "Gai."

"Lee!"

"Gai!"

"LEE!"

"GAI!"

Lee had approached Sakura at the beginning of every exam so far. She'd even taken a different route this time to focus on Hinata, but he apparently ran laps around the place right up until the exam started. She decided to intervene before they started hugging again and risked breaking even more of Lee's bones.

"The exam's actually part of why I'm here. Doing so much to Gaara with taijutsu alone was pretty incredible. The other members of my team are both looking like ninjutsu specialists, with Naruto's reserves and Sasuke's skill. I'm not able to match that, so I was hoping to get my taijutsu to a point where I can fill out the team better."

"Even seeing how using such techniques may leave your body, you still wish to? How youthful."

"Well, I'm also studying some medical techniques. Should help with a lot of it. Oh, I have one caveat though. I'd prefer to leave the actual strength training until after the chunin exams finish. I only have a month, so I won't really see the benefits of strength yet."

"I see. Normally, such a dimming of the fires of youth would be enough for me to turn you away, but I see you are merely conserving fuel for the glorious bonfire to come." He put one hand on her shoulder, raising the other in a thumbs up. The accompanying grin was blinding. "My team is on a small break until Lee heals. I will train you alone for that time. After, you shall join Lee's private sessions. Lee, I require your word that you will not leave without a doctor's permission."

Lee nodded. "Of course, sir! If I break my word then I shall," he paused, realising that promising to train more intensely would not have the intended effect. "I shall not train for a week straight!" He held his head proudly.

"To offer such a thing." Gai began to tear up. "How youthful. Come, miss Haruno. We shall need spandex."

Sakura raised her eyebrows. The things she'd do for phenomenal cosmic powers.