I made true of my promise to push my class as hard as I possibly could, bringing in the various tags and having my girls exercise and train under the effects of increased gravity, even if it was just a little increase at a time.
Everyone worked with harsher weights and different levels of gravity fields, all depending on just how hard they wanted to train.
I had three separate fields set up, from a small increase to the gravity all the way up to a gravity that made even me wince after long exposure inside.
Add on the heavier weights the girls were now forced to use - starting at twenty pounds a limb and going up to fifty - and you have exercises that, for a normal person, would be impossible.
Thankfully my girls were not ordinary people, and even the most unenthusiastic of them - Sakura and Midori - were training as hard as they could.
It seems that Ino had managed to knock some sense into her friends skull, as Sakura no longer went along with civilian fads like fasting or worrying about how fit she would look.
The pinknette trained, and while I could tell she felt disgusted by the thought of having extremely visible muscles like Anko or Cameia did, she was no longer against improving her physical fitness to match her sharp acumen.
In the physical sense, one month of this hellish regimen had the girls catch up to, and in some instance surpass, their male classmates.
Some of my girls took to this training like fish in water; Ami was obvious, but the twins and surprisingly Hinata were right behind her, while the rest begrudgingly continued on, their joy at improving obvious as they chatted in between Kunoichi Class and Taijutsu Class, enjoying the treatment I gave them as I healed anything that needed healing.
Now, speaking of Taijutsu Class, I had moved forwards with teaching everyone how to fight, keeping them with the basics for the duration of this year, wanting to solidify their foundations as best I could before letting them branch off and find their niches next year.
The undisputed cream of the crop for the class remained the same this year as well - Rock Lee was the most proficient by far, followed by Naruto, Sasuke, and Ami, before you started getting into the more technical geniuses like Neji and Shikamaru.
With the sudden increase in one portion of the classes strength, the rest tried their hardest to catch back up to their previous spots, though I could tell that some were discouraged by the vast difference that had continued to grow between the top students and the bottom.
Many seemed resentful that Rock Lee had begun to shine, many disliking the fact that their former 'leader' in the green spandex was no longer as 'useless' as them, though Neji swiftly told them to either toughen up or leave, lest they disgrace Konoha.
Slotted into the time right after Taijutsu was the class on Chakra Control, which I kept brief and simple for the now exhausted students.
I turned it into a meditation time, to let them rest and wind down from such intense workouts while also honing their mind and control.
The class was simple enough; hold out your arm and keep as many leaves on it as you can using chakra.
When one arm could keep ten leaves stable for the entire class, I began to get those students to work with their other arm as well, teaching them how to push chakra out of their body from multiple places - and limbs - at once.
The students who excelled here were different then the Taijutsu Class; Sakura, Tenten, Shino, and Fuki were the best, followed closely by Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, Sasuke and Midori.
Naruto was still struggling with his control; the vast ocean of chakra he had access to was not easy to tap into, not without causing a flood of chakra to leak out and shatter whatever he was doing.
To those students who weren't good at chakra control either, Naruto became their beacon, especially after I told them that there were things they could do without needing incredible chakra control.
Of course, I stressed the importance of continuing to train it, but I did give them the outs of being better with their techniques, no matter how basic they might be.
All in all, I was happy that I had an excellent class of aspiring Shinobi to teach, and I was proud of them all.
During that month or so, at home, everything was just as great.
Akari and Riku had grown more, and they were finally able to begin eating solids, thought their tastes differed.
Akari loved any kind of meat given to her, while Riku preferred steamed vegetables, much to everyones surprise.
Additionally, they had begun to 'speak' to us as well, capable of forming a wider array of 'words' for us to communicate with.
Kurenai loved it at first, but Akari began to speak constantly, always saying something, all while Riku watched her half sister quietly, only speaking when she felt she needed to.
Of course, Riku was no angel either; she was getting more mischievous as of late, crawling around and away from us to go explore, before taking amusement in knocking things over and breaking them.
It was with us watching those two slowly grow that I began to talk with Kurenai, welcoming the conversation of having a child of our own with wide arms and open legs.
Of course, my raven haired wife was happy to oblige, and that also opened the conversation with Anko about whether or not she wanted another child with Kurenai.
The Snake Charmer gave it some thought and decided to let it run its course, taking Kurenai off of her pregnancy seal for a month and leaving it to fate.
As for Cameia, I made sure to make her feel just as loved as Anko and Kurenai, and she accepted my words and actions with her never changing stoicism.
Though, she had begun to soften up as she watched over Karin, Akari, and Riku, sometimes even managing to crack a small upturn of her lips as she spent time with them.