Third Person's POV

Ashley stares at Kyoku with a deadpan expression on her face, briefly wondering if she had even heard the ANBU correctly. Ashley had been an official Leaf Ninja for a year and a half by now, not to mention having been trained by Orochimaru since she was six.

Why Kyoku would want to cover such a basic topic was beyond Ashley.

"Why are you talking about chakra control?" Ashley can't seem to stop herself from asking, though she manages to swallow the sarcasm she had been about to let out. "I can already walk on water and walk up vertical objects."

"Your chakra control is average at best" Kyoku points out coolly, something that causes Ashley to scoff.

It was true of course, but being told so by someone that she disliked so much hurt Ashley's pride.

"You're already aware that you have a small chakra reserve" Kyoku reminds her reluctant student, watching as the girl glares at her, an all too familiar expression by this point. "We've been working on increasing it for the last two months. However, a person's chakra can only increase to a certain point. Once that point has been reached, you will want to preserve your chakra as much as possible during a fight."

"You and I were not blessed with large chakra reserves, and so we have to do what we can to counteract that" Kyoku continues wisely, her words capturing Ashley's attention, though the blonde does her best to seem disinterested. "Chakra control goes far beyond that of walking on water or running up a wall. You want to have full control over it, to increase your power as much as possible, whilst also using your chakra efficiently and conserving as much as you can during a fight."

Here Kyoku looks directly at Ashley, her words pointed.

"You should only ever use as much chakra as is needed. Any more than that is a complete waste, and you will exhaust yourself faster. Always remember, something as seemingly insignificant as chakra control could be the invisible decision maker in a life or death situation."

Ashley mulls this over few a few moments, before something seems to come to mind, her expression once again turning bland.

"Aren't you supposed to be teaching me how to fight at close range?" the blonde asks in a flat tone. "All you've done in the last two months is beat me up and make me run around with these annoying weights on. And now we're going over chakra control?"

Resisting the urge to sigh at the simplicity of her student's mind, Kyoku darts forwards and knocks Ashley to the ground with a swift punch. As the girl falls onto her back, a choking sound escaping from her lips, Kyoku kneels one knee down beside Ashley's hip and leans over the girl. Pulling one arm back, Kyoku maintains eye contact with a now startled Ashley, before slamming her fist down into the ground beside the girl's head.

Ashley abruptly turns her head and squeezes her eyes closed, having expected the fist to hit her in the face. She feels the ground tremor beneath her, only reopening her eyes after a few seconds of silence.

Kyoku, now standing above Ashley, glances down at the ground pointedly, to which Ashley turns her head. Her eyes widen, when she sees the large crater now surrounding her, the impact of Kyoku's punch having caused the ground to crumble.

"Having full control of your chakra means that you can move faster, or increase the strength of your attacks" Kyoku advises, satisfied that she has proved her point. "Everyone uses their chakra differently, but to be able to use it effectively in any capacity, you need to be able to control it."

Ashley sweat drops, looking to her ANBU teacher nervously. While she didn't appreciate the way Kyoku often beat her up, she was at least thankful that the woman didn't use her full strength to do it. It seemed as though Ashley would disintegrate if Kyoku did hit her at full power......

"Get up" Kyoku instructs. "We're going to begin the next step of your training."

Slowly rising to her feet, still hindered by the weights attached to her arms and legs, Ashley warily wonders what the next step would entail. More hospital trips no doubt.

".....If we're moving on to chakra control" Ashley asks hesitantly, "Then why am I still wearing these weights?"

"......." Kyoku remains silent, watching Ashley through hooded eyes, her arms crossed over her chest and one eyebrow slightly raised. The blonde girl immediately sighs at this, her shoulders dropping.

After two months, Kyoku was still prompting this?

"......Why am I still wearing these Kyoku Sensei?" Ashley repeats, her tone mocking.

"You'll be wearing them for the foreseeable future" is all Kyoku says, not at all answering Ashley's question. "You can move in them rather well now. Come over here."

Able to walk rather normally, for the most part, with the weights strapped to her, Ashley follows Kyoku deeper into the wooded training ground, over to a small lake. As the Genin comes to a stop beside her, Kyoku raises one hand and points straight ahead.

"This lake is your next training ground" Kyoku explains. "You have to stay on the lake during this training, or else. Do you understand?"

"Yes...."

"Yes what?"

"..........Yes Kyoku Sensei....." Ashley obliges irritably, her eyebrow twitching. "What exactly am I doing on that lake?"

"Focus your chakra into your feet before you step onto the water" Kyoku advises, gesturing for the Genin to begin doing so. She looks down, as a sceptical Ashley glances up at her, before the girl begrudgingly places her palms together. "I have placed some of the bombs that I use for my gauntlets in the lake. They're positioned only a few centimetres below the surface, so if you exert too much chakra, they will explode. If you exert too little, you will sink and hit them, which will make them explode. Try to regulate the chakra in your feet so you don't detonate any of the bombs."

"What?!" Ashley exclaims, immediately dropping her hands and turning to look at Kyoku in disbelief. "Bombs? You are trying to kill me!"

"If you don't wish to feel the pain of an explosion directly under you" Kyoku says evenly, closing her eyes and shrugging one shoulder, "Then I suggest you learn quickly."

"If they explode, I won't even be able to get out of the lake" Ashley says accusingly, referring to the weights attached to her. "I can't jump properly with these on yet, let alone swim!"

"If you set one foot on land" Kyoku states, reopening her eyes and narrowing them slightly at Ashley, "I'll be waiting to punish you for breaking the rules."

Here, Ashley glowers up at Kyoku, her hands clenching into fists and the corner of her lip lifting in distaste. Every time she thought Kyoku couldn't get anymore awful, she somehow found a way to do it.

"....What's the goal of this?" Ashley asks tightly, turning her head as Kyoku flings something at a small target bobbing up and down in the middle of the lake. Ashley's eyes widen again, as Kyoku then throws a kunai. "Is that my headband?"

"If you want it back" Kyoku smirks to herself, watching as Ashley's surprise turns back into anger, seeing her Leaf headband now pinned to the target up ahead "You'll have to go and get it."

"You took it when you knocked me down" Ashley surmises, scowling.

Whether Kyoku knew it or not, the symbol on that headband meant a lot to Ashley. To have it so easily taken from her and then held hostage, made Ashley's pride as a Leaf Ninja hurt. Not to mention, it infuriated her.

Letting out a low breath, Ashley briefly closes her eyes and focuses on regulating her chakra down into the soles of her feet. It had become quite an easy task to do so by now, the girl so used to walking on water or climbing walls. However, she didn't know how much chakra was going to set off those bombs, and Ashley really didn't feel like getting blown up today.

Not to mention, Ashley was used to keeping her usual weight up on top of the water. She had never had to keep more than double her body weight up before, and so, it was probably going to take more chakra than normal to keep her from sinking below the water's surface.

Reopening her eyes, Ashley can't help but feel discouraged by the task before her. It really seemed as though Kyoku had set her up to fail. The exercise was already going to be somewhat difficult without the added issue of the weights, but with this unfamiliar body weight being carried onto the water for the first time, with bombs under the surface no less.....Ashley can't help but feel anxious.

Holding her breath, Ashley takes one tentative step onto the shallowest part of the lake, pausing for a moment, to ensure that she is not going to sink. Feeling faintly encouraged when she sees that her foot has remained atop the water, Ashley lifts her other foot from the bank and places it ahead of the other one.

Now standing only on the water, Ashley immediately feels herself beginning to sink, the girl not sending enough chakra into her feet to keep her heavy weight above the surface. She quickly focuses more chakra into her feet, raising her arms out to her sides as she wobbles around unsteadily.

Soon stabilising herself and taking a moment to feel relief that nothing had exploded, Ashley continues to slowly step further out onto the lake, her eyes trained down on the water below, trying to spot the explosives.

Only a few metres from the lake's edge, Ashley feels her heart leap into her throat, as something suddenly bursts underneath her. Steaming hot water and burning fire lash up Ashley's legs as she is catapulted high into the air, scorching wind blasting around her and causing her to spin wildly.

Before Ashley can coordinate herself, she crashes into the ground with a painful thud, landing in a crumpled pile on her side. She sucks in a sharp breath between gritted teeth, feeling the skin on her legs burning.

"Get up" the girl hears from above, words that have begun to strike dread into her heart. "You have five seconds to stand up and get back in that lake."

"You're insane" Ashley hisses, leaning up on her elbow, one eye still squeezed closed. "Th-This is way too hard with the weights on."

"Five" Kyoku says pointedly, not interested in hearing her student's excuses. "Four."

Knowing that Kyoku will not hesitate to harm her further, Ashley pushes herself to her feet, stumbling a little from the burning pain in her legs as she puts her full weight on them. She glances down, seeing red raw skin, as well as a few drops of blood dripping down her leg.

"Three."

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Ashley trudges back over to the lake and steps onto in, not wanting to risk being hit by Kyoku, only to have to attempt walking on the water afterwards.

For the next few hours, Ashley continues to try and reach her imprisoned headband, only to be blown up and thrown from the river with each attempt. As her pain increases, so does Ashley's frustration, the blonde's entire body trembling as she lies in the dirt on her stomach.

Memories of learning to walk on the water, back when she was being trained by Orochimaru, haunt Ashley's mind as she lies motionless. He had taught her by making her walk on boiling hot water, having said almost the exact same thing as Kyoku.

While Ashley was certainly not a genius or a particularly gifted student, she learned rather quickly for someone of her age. However, that had not been fast enough, and Orochimaru had decided that pain would cause Ashley to learn even faster.

Whether that was true or not at the time, Ashley doesn't know. What she does know however, is that she is now in so much pain from her injuries, that she cannot stand up again.

Ashley doesn't even raise her head as Kyoku approaches her this time, instead closing her eyes, wishing, more than ever, that she were back to training with her teammates. It had been hard at times, but at least it had been fun.

This all just felt like pointless torture, almost as if Ashley really were back with Orochimaru. If Kyoku pulled out a bunch of needles and tried to inject Ashley with something, the Genin would hardly even be surprised....

"You're giving up?" Kyoku asks, looking down at the blonde through hooded eyes.

She had lasted much longer than Kyoku had expected. While she hadn't managed to master the exercise by any means, if Kyoku had realised anything about Ashley in the last two months, it was that she had determination.

Though she had a bad attitude and complained a lot, the young girl could certainly push her body in a way that not a lot her age would be willing to. It took a lot of mental fortitude to be willing to put your body through such levels of stress and pain, a strength that many people, including Ninja, lacked.

"I-If I get blown up one m-more time" Ashley says in a rough voice, her face buried in the crook of her arm, as she continues to lie face down in the dirt, "I w-will actually die....."

The corner of her mouth twitching up in amusement, having grown used to Ashley's proclamations that she is going to die during training, Kyoku detaches the body weights from Ashley and scoops the girl up onto her back.

Her head lolling weakly to the side, the blonde can't help but let out a groan, though this time it is not due to the pain. She hated being carried to the hospital like this. It felt humiliating.

".......You can take tomorrow off to recover" Kyoku offers casually, something that makes Ashley inwardly cheer. "I don't want any excuses when we revisit this training."

"......C-Can I have my h-headband back?"

"Who are you talking to?"

"..........Kyoku S-Sensei......."

"No" Kyoku responds in a velvet voice, much to the injured Ashley's aggravation. "If you want it back, you'll have to get it yourself."

Standing in front of a small restaurant, Kiba looks at Ashley with a bead of sweat dripping down the side of his face, the brunette feeling uncertain as he finally spots his girlfriend trudging down the road towards him.

It had been about a week since Kiba had last been able to meet with Ashley, considering her rigorous training schedule and the fact that the two of them were still actively being sent on missions when required. Between those two factors, as well as Kiba himself undergoing as much training as possible in his spare time, it had been a little difficult for the two Genin to see each other in recent times.

"I see the training is going well, huh Angel?" Kiba asks, only half joking, as a weary looking Ashley comes to a stop in front of him.

"Sorry to keep you waiting" the girl apologises, annoyance creeping across her tired face. "Kyoku Sensei has had me doing that chakra control training every day and it's draining my energy....."

"Kyoku Sensei ey?" Kiba repeats teasingly, gesturing for Ashley to walk into the restaurant before him. "Finally given in?"

"I'm only calling her that because I'm paranoid that she'll appear out of nowhere and hit me" Ashley sighs, though the way she shudders doesn't escape Kiba's eye.

The Inuzuka's expression grows serious, as he and Ashley are shown to a table, the girl immediately folding her arms over the edge and dropping her head to rest on them. Kiba watches her for a few moments, able to see the scratches and faint burns that mark her pale skin.

Over the last few months, Kiba had heard all about Ashley's new teacher, as well as her......uncommon training practices. He had initially been really angry about the way Kyoku had been treating Ashley, advising the Minami that she should quit as soon as possible.

Kiba had never known a teacher to be so aggressive with their student before, and he hadn't wanted Ashley to experience that again, knowing that she had already been through a lot of torturous training with Orochimaru.

But Ashley continued to stick with her training for some reason, and while Kiba wasn't happy about it, he knew that he couldn't tell her what to do. She was stubborn and if she was willingly going to continue with Kyoku, all he could do was be supportive and lend an ear when needed.

Ashley only lifts her head as a waiter approaches, the two Genin ordering their food, with Kiba laughing as the man hurries away to get their meals prepared.

"Doesn't matter how roughed up you are" the Inuzuka chuckles, "Your appetite is never affected."

Ashley smiles wryly at this, using the back of her hand to rub at a small, mostly healed bruise on the side of her mouth. It was one of the many injuries she had personally been given by Kyoku, after collapsing during training or, more recently, setting foot on land when she was meant to be on the lake.

"If anything" Ashley muses, "All this training is just making me hungrier."

"Gotta fuel those new muscles of yours" Kiba jokes, nodding towards Ashley's arms. "With guns like that, you're gonna make me feel insecure."

"You think they've gotten bigger?" Ashley asks, seeming to perk up as she glances between both forearms. "I can't tell."

"Yeah for sure" Kiba confirms, nodding slowly, as if he is saying something very wise. "I'd better start doing more push ups or something, so I can compete. Don't challenge me to an arm wrestle any time soon."

"Well, hopefully this means all of my suffering with Kyoku Sensei isn't for nothing" Ashley says dryly, rolling her eyes. "Maybe wearing those dumb weights is finally starting to pay off."

Kiba and Ashley both look up, as the waiter reappears with their food, the eyes of both Genin shining as their dishes are placed before them. The two often went out for food together when they had the time, and the excitement of eating a delicious meal never seemed to wear off.

"Ah......" Ashley sighs, shoving some steaming potato in her mouth. "It's so good......It's almost good enough to make me forget about training earlier."

"Speaking of which" Kiba says, quirking one eyebrow at Ashley, "When are you gonna come and train with us again? Me and Hinata wanna practice against you again. Shino gets worn out when he has to do all of the long range sparring against us by himself."

"Well......" Ashley says slowly, screwing her face up as she tries to think. "I have training tomorrow, and then I'm being sent on a mission the day after that. It's only a C Rank though, so it probably won't take long. Maybe two days? I usually get a day off training after a mission, so I could train with you guys then if you want."

"....You sure you'll be okay to spar with us after that?" Kiba asks doubtfully, to which Ashley shrugs, shovelling more food into her mouth.

"As long as I don't get too badly hurt on my mission" she assures the Inuzuka, "It'll be fine. Aside from getting hit all the time, I haven't really gotten to fight during my normal training in the last few months. So whenever I have time to train with you guys, it's fun."

"I'll be sure to remind you of that next time you get annoyed for losing to Hinata" Kiba smirks, the brunette breaking into a laugh as Ashley pauses and sends him a deadpan look.

For the next hour or so, Kiba and Ashley enjoy their meals, as well as each other's company, with the two Genin catching up on what the other has been up to, as well as laughing and joking.

After enduring such hellish training, Ashley really enjoyed her dates with Kiba. She could always relax and have fun with him, and the Inuzuka always had a way of making her feel reenergised, no matter what she had gone through during training earlier in the day.

Although she felt embarrassed any time Kiba would ask her out on a date, Ashley always appreciated that he wanted to spend time with her and she never turned him down. After all, now that her team were all otherwise engaged, Kiba was the person that Ashley spent most of her time with.

Not including Kyoku of course. She didn't count, seeing as Ashley wasn't even sure if the woman was human.

"You wanna head out?" Kiba eventually asks, standing up as Ashley nods. "I'm gonna pay for our food.......And don't slip any money into my pocket this time! If you do that again, I'm gonna get mad, okay?"

Having opened her mouth to protest, Ashley closes it and pouts, as she and Kiba head for the door. It was true that the last time they had gone out to eat, she had snuck some money into the pocket of Kiba's jacket when he wasn't looking. But it was only because he would never let her pay, and she didn't like him wasting all of his hard-earned money on her food!

As Kiba and Ashley step back out of the restaurant, the street lamps now lit up as the evening sky darkens, the Inuzuka pulls the fuzzy hood of his jacket up over his head. A faint sprinkling of red spreading across his nose, he averts his gaze and offers his hand to Ashley, the blonde staring at it for a few moments in silence.

Realising what Kiba is doing, Ashley also begins to blush, scowling as she turns away and gingerly accepts his outstretched hand. The two Genin say nothing as they begin to walk down the street, both looking in opposite directions of each other.

It wasn't the first time they had held hands of course, however Ashley still wasn't used to walking around in public like this. Having his warm hand holding onto hers, made her heart beat so fast, but it wasn't at all an unpleasant feeling. She rather enjoyed it actually.

"Wh-Where's Akamaru tonight?" Ashley asks after a few minutes of silence.

"I left him at home with Hana" Kiba says, sneaking a peek over at Ashley. "She wanted to give him a check up after all the training we've been doing, so I figured it'd be alright to leave him with her while we went out."

"Well, make sure you give him a pat for me" Ashley demands, turning to look at Kiba, her brows knitted together and her cheeks pink. "I-I haven't seen him for awhile and I miss him."

Kiba blinks at this, before closing his eyes and chuckling softly. Despite her tsundere tendencies, Ashley could really be cute sometimes. He loved how much she and Akamaru liked each other. It always made him happy to see them together, and to hear that Ashley missed he Ninken after not seeing him for only a week, filled Kiba with warmth.

"Of course" Kiba promises. "I'll pass it along."

Ashley and Kiba continue slowly through the Village, both Genin enjoying their walk through the cool night, until they eventually arrive at Ashley's house.

Kiba releases Ashley's hand, allowing the girl to use her Katsuryoku to reveal her house key, hidden under the earth by her not so welcome mat. The key now grasped in her hand, Ashley turns towards Kiba shyly, her head tilted slightly downwards. She watches him through her lashes, as he seems to stare at her in thought, his eyes drifting towards her mouth.

Ashley can't help but swallow. It was always the same when Kiba dropped her off home. He would say good night, and then give her a kiss. It made Ashley so nervous that she always felt dizzy, yet at the same time, a small part of her always looked forward to it.

"Thanks for comin out for dinner Angel" Kiba says softly, giving Ashley an affectionate smile. "I know you won't sleep, but try and get some rest, okay?"

"I will....." Ashley agrees quietly, her heart thudding as Kiba draws closer. "And thank you for dinner."

"Anytime" Kiba adds, as both he and Ashley close their eyes. Having readied herself for the usual kiss, Ashley finds herself startled, as she feels Kiba's lips on her cheek. "Good night Angel."

Feeling confused as Kiba steps back from her, turning to leave, Ashley is unable to stop herself from abruptly reaching out and grasping onto the sleeve of his jacket. She tils her head down so that her eyes are trained on the ground, as Kiba turns back around, a question mark appearing above his head.

"........I-It doesn't hurt....." Ashley mumbles, immensely embarrassed as she scowls at the ground, the hand gripping onto Kiba's sleeve trembling slightly, "......S-So it's alright if y-you do it properly....."

Kiba stares at Ashley in amazement for a few seconds, not having expected her to grab onto him or encourage him to kiss her as he normally did. The Inuzuka had only kissed her on the cheek, as he was conscious of the bruise at the side of her mouth.

His face flushing at the sight of an adorably nervous Ashley before him, Kiba can't help letting out a short laugh, something that causes Ashley to raise her head. A troubled look on her still reddened face, Ashley's eyes waver a little.

"......Alright" Kiba agrees, his smile broadening. He steps forwards again, coming close to Ashley, before this time placing a kiss on the girl's mouth.

The Inuzuka doesn't linger for long, drawing back, as both he and Ashley open their eyes. Despite the embarrassed frown on her face, Kiba can see that Ashley's eyes are sparkling, something that makes him smile to himself.

"Good night Angel" Kiba says again, shoving one hand in his pocket and raising the other in a wave, as he steps back from Ashley's house. The blonde stares at him for a few moments, the Inuzuka's cheeky smile not escaping her eyes as he begins to walk away.

"......Good night......" Ashley responds in a low voice, the back of her hand covering her mouth, as her eyes begin to spin dizzily. She hadn't meant to reach out like that, let alone basically ask Kiba to kiss her. Grabbing onto him had just been a reflex, not a planned action.

Kiba is unable to hold back his grin as he heads in the direction of his home, his heart thudding in his chest. That was the first time that Ashley had ever encouraged him to kiss her, and he certainly hadn't expected it.

After dating for roughly four months, Kiba had learned not to outwardly make a big deal of it whenever Ashley showed him affection or encouraged him to do so. While inwardly Kiba would be celebrating, he didn't want to scare Ashley off, seeing as she seemed so nervous whenever they were affectionate with each other.

She would still even try to drop his hand and jump away any time they saw their friends when walking together, and he could always see the nervous hesitation in her eyes whenever he tried to get close to her. He never forced anything on her of course, more than happy to stay within Ashley's comfort zone.

After all, Kiba was the one who should be nervous. He was the one dating the prettiest girl in the world, not Ashley. And he was the one who admired Ashley to no end, constantly impressed by her character and achievements, not to mention her strength.

Why Ashley was nervous all the time, Kiba had no idea.