Before you begin reading, I just wanted to mention this. I do apologise for the time skipping in these chapters, I just figure we don't need to see every single second of Ashley's training. I think it'd be pretty boring to read, so I'm giving snippets of it instead.

Ashley's POV

I close one eye and turn my head, leaping to the side, as another explosion rips through the ground, right where I had just been standing. As per usual though, I ignore the detonating bomb and focus chakra into my right foot as soon as it hits the ground, before bending my knee and immediately jumping backwards.

I let out a short breath as I narrowly manage to avoid another exploding bomb, the ground crumbling away as flames and debris fly straight up into the air in front of me. I land with both feet on the ground this time, hurriedly focusing chakra into both feet, before I manage to dodge to the side, managing to evade yet another explosion.

From a short distance away, I see Kyoku watching me carefully, her half-lidded eyes mostly focusing on my feet.

Since I had managed to complete the training on the lake about three weeks earlier, Kyoku had me switch over to this training instead. I had initially been thrilled to not have to train with her bombs anymore, but apparently Kyoku had other ideas.

Instead of now just focusing my chakra properly, Kyoku also wanted me to learn to focus it fast. For this training, Kyoku would bury bombs just beneath the surface of the ground. Any amount of pressure would set them off, and so I guess Kyoku figured having me stand on them and try to avoid the blast would soon get me to learn how to quickly focus my chakra into my feet.

She had explained that if I wanted to be able to move fast whilst in combat, I'd not only need to learn to use my chakra intricately, yet sparingly, but I'd also need to learn how to do those things under pressure.

In theory, it all sounded great, but in reality.......I'd already had four hospital trips because of this training. It seems as though Kyoku has used bombs that aren't strong enough to kill me or even blow my limbs off, but from experience, I can be assured, they hurt.

My legs tremble as leap around the training grounds, my heart in my throat with every explosion that I barely manage to evade. The soles of my feet burn, whether from chakra or from fire, I'm not sure. Blood and sweat drip down my legs, the skin red raw in some areas.

"You're getting better at this" I hear a voice say, directly behind me. My neck wrenches around at the unexpected sound of the voice, before I am viciously jabbed in the back.

A sharp choking sound escapes my mouth, as I am thrown forwards from the hit, crashing into the ground and rolling onto my side. Before I can even climb to my feet however, the bombs below me detonate, a thunderous boom sounding right in my ear, before I find myself being blasted up into the air.

I grit my teeth and suck in a pained breath, my eyes squeezing closed. The side of my face stings, as if someone has poured acid on it, while my shoulder and ribs throb excruciatingly. Knowing that Kyoku will not show me any mercy despite my suffering, I somehow manage to right myself in mid air and land back on the ground in a crouched position.

Having landed outside of the marked boundary, I stay crouched down, finding myself swaying backwards and forwards, my ears still ringing from the explosion so close to my head.

Raising one hand to rub at my ear, I look up as Kyoku approaches me, breathing heavily.

"Why did you attack me?" I ask, somewhat accusingly. "I was doing what you asked me to."

"I know" Kyoku answers coolly, studying me closely. "I was adding the next part of your training. I want you to be able to fight while moving that quickly."

"Thanks for the warning" I mutter sarcastically, before squeezing my eyes closed and groaning in pain.

After six months of training with Kyoku, you'd think I'd be used to pain like this, especially when it comes to being burned by her bombs. But I'm not. At all. And I don't think I ever will.

I know that my skills are slowly improving, but this still mostly just feels like suffering. How many of my friends would survive Kyoku's training, I'm not even sure. It feels too intense to be training for a Genin.

"That's enough for today" Kyoku says, breaking my train of thought and causing me to look at her in shock.

"Wh-what?" I ask, a little afraid that I may have misheard.

"You've done enough for today" Kyoku reiterates, sounding somewhat amused. "You need medical treatment."

"......Okay?" I agree uncertainly, my body tensing up as Kyoku reaches down and takes hold of my arm, helping me to my feet. The blue haired woman places both hands on my shoulders, steadying me. ".....What time are we starting tomorrow?"

"......Take enough time off to recover" Kyoku orders me, after a momentary pause. "You can't improve if your body doesn't rest."

I stare at Kyoku wide-eyed, briefly forgetting about the pain wracking my body, as her completely foreign words register in my brain.

"Okay, did I die during training today?" I am unable to stop myself from saying, something that earns a soft, short laugh from Kyoku.

"If you're so eager to continue training tomorrow, then we-"

"No, no" I say hurriedly, stumbling backwards and turning around, limping in the direction of the hospital. "I'm already on my way. Don't change your mind!"

Lying on a hospital bed, propped up on my elbows, I draw in a long breath through my nose, wrinkling it at the stinging sensation traveling up my leg. I see Sakura's concerned eyes flick up to my face for just a second, before she looks back at my leg. Her palms hover just above one of my burns, bright green chakra glowing around them as she heals it.

"Am I hurting you?" Sakura asks distractedly, trying to focus on what she is doing.

"No, you're fine" I say tightly, forcing myself to smile, despite my pain. I see Sakura's pink brows furrow slightly, the girl clearly not believing me.

I don't want to stress her out however, seeing as Lady Tsunade is watching over her shoulder. I guess Sakura is at a point in her training where the Hokage is wanting her to treat patients, as she had mentioned that this would be a good chance for Sakura to work on healing burned skin.

It feels a little strange, having Sakura heal me, seeing as I've always been the one to heal my teammates. Though, I'm not upset about it. In fact, I'm glad Sakura is learning how to heal. It just means that I won't be relied on for that anymore. I mean, I can only heal basic injuries anyway, but people always seemed to expect me to be able to perform miracles with my limited knowledge of medical Ninjutsu.

I watch as Sakura continues to heal my burns, the bleeding in my red raw flesh slowing to a stop and the skin healing back together again.

Strangely enough, I feel like I'm in good hands, despite Sakura having only been learning healing techniques for the last few months. I know she's smart, and has the best chakra control out of Team Seven, possibly out of all of the rookie teams. If anyone's gonna become a great healer, it's her.

I mean, I'd never admit this out loud to Sakura, but I wasn't anywhere close to being able to heal injuries this quickly back when I had fist been taught by Kabuto and Orochimaru.

".......You've been coming in here with burns a lot Ashley" Sakura eventually says, dropping her hands and looking up at me, the burns on my leg mostly healed. "Are you alright?"

"It's the training with Kyoku Sensei" I grumble, rolling my eyes, as I bend my knee and then stretch out my leg, tentatively seeing how it feels. "It's like torture."

"Are you sure the training is ethical?" Sakura asks uncertainly, turning her head to look at Lady Tsunade. "Ashley does always seem to be really hurt when she comes to the hospital."

"Ethics have nothing to do with it Sakura" I sigh, leaning back to rest my head on my pillows. "The training with Kyoku Sensei is way more intense than when we trained with Kakashi Sensei. I swear, one of these days, I'm gonna come into the hospital, already dead. She'll have killed me."

Sakura's head whips around, the girl looking to me with wide eyes, while Lady Tsunade just watches me with an amused expression on her face, her arms crossed over her chest.

"......Ah, it's been awhile" Sakura muses, sweat dropping as she looks to me wryly. "I forgot how dramatic you can be sometimes."

"I'm not being dramatic" I argue, immediately lifting my head to give Sakura a pointed look. "I really am going to die at her hands Sakura. The injuries speak for themselves."

"Speaking of which...." Sakura mutters. "Should I continue my Lady?"

"You did well with the first few" Lady Tsunade praises my teammates. "Continue."

"Luckily for me" I say, screwing my face up as Sakura begins healing the injuries on my left leg, "Kyoku Sensei has given me a few days off to recover. Which she never does. Actually, I'm a little suspicious that it's a trap."

"It's no trap" Lady Tsunade chuckles, shaking her head. "I've sent Kyoku on a mission. She won't be here for a few days."

I blink at this, before deadpanning.

Well. That makes way more sense. I'd thought it was strange that Kyoku would give me a few days off to recover, from the goodness of her heart. Turns out, I was right. She was just going to be away. She didn't actually care about my recovery.

'Oh well' I think to myself, leaning up on my elbows again, to watch Sakura work. 'At least it's a few days where I won't get blown up by a bomb.'

For the next thirty or so minutes, Sakura heals my leg, as well as my arm, my ribs and the side of my head. By the time she is done, I can see that Sakura is breathing heavily, having used up a lot of chakra to heal me.

I swing my feet over the side of the bed as Sakura sits down to take a rest, cautiously rising to my feet and bending my knees a few times. I roll my shoulders and reach up, tentatively pressing my fingertips to the side of my head, only to brighten when I feel no pain.

"Thanks Sakura" I say appreciatively. "You did great, I don't feel a thing anymore!"

"I'm glad" Sakura closes her eyes and smiles at me, wiping at the sweat that has formed on her forehead. "Try not to be so reckless please. I don't want to see you injured like that again for some time."

"I guess I'll have to learn fast at training then" I grin sheepishly, giving Sakura and Lady Tsunade a playful salute as I head for the door. "I'll probably see you again on whatever day Kyoku Sensei starts training me again!"

"I hope not" I hear Sakura sigh as I exit the room, something that makes me laugh quietly.

I stroll through the hospital, even taking a moment to checkout at the reception desk, something that I ordinarily avoid by jumping out of a window. Handing the receptionist back her pen, I turn and head for the door, pausing mid step as they slide open, a familiar man coming into my view.

"Kakashi Sensei?!" I cry in surprise, jumping back from the silver haired man, as he looks down at me with one brow raised.

"Ah, Ashley" he greets, as if it hasn't been a few months since we've talked. "Just who I was looking for."

"Oh, don't give me that" I scoff, folding my arms over my chest and scowling up at my Sensei. "Don't act like you haven't completely abandoned me."

"Abandoned is such a strong word" Kakashi Sensei chuckles nervously, glancing around as the people in the room send us curious looks. "Come on, lets step outside. Before people start to think that I'm a father who has abandoned his child."

"That's basically the situation though" I argue stubbornly, allowing Kakashi Sensei to push me out of the hospital entrance and into the street.

It's not that I view Kakashi Sensei as a father figure or anything of course, but I suppose he's the closest thing I've got. And seeing as how protective he's been of me over the time we've been a team, I can't help but feel somewhat abandoned by him. Especially after what I've been put through in the last six months.

"Now, now" Kakashi Sensei soothes, patting me passive aggressively on the head, as if I am a lost kitten. "Would I be coming to visit you in the hospital if I had abandoned you?"

"I'm in the hospital multiple times a week Kakashi Sensei" I point out, swatting his hand away from me. "And this is the first time I've even seen you in two months. Can you blame me for assuming you'd forgotten I exist?"

"I don't get the luxury of forgetting about you Ashley" Kakashi Sensei teases me, his hands now in his pockets as he smiles down at me. "But since I feel bad that I haven't been around much, let me treat you to a meal."

I remain silent, narrowing my eyes at Kakashi Sensei and looking him up and down, suspicious of his offer.

".....Do I get to pick where we go?" I ask sharply.

"Mm hm."

"And I can get anything I want? Even if it's expensive?"

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you Ashley."

"......Fine" I relent, rolling my eyes and letting out a dramatic sigh. "I guess I can let you treat me then. But it doesn't make up for everything I've had to go through since you decided not to train me."

"I didn't decide....." Kakashi Sensei lets out a sigh of his own, briefly hanging his head. "Forget it. I'm not going to get dragged into an argument with you today. Where do you want to go?"

"Just follow me Sensei" I smirk, highly entertained by the wary expression on my teacher's face as I march past him.

I'm sure he thinks I'm going to pick some super expensive, high end, fine dining experience. And really, I should do that, to punish him. But today, I have somewhere else in mind.

Third Person's POV

"You know, Kakashi Sensei" Ashley addresses, as the two begin walking the Village, "I've really been suffering with Kyoku Sensei's training. And it's your fault."

"Kyoku Sensei?" Kakashi repeats incredulously. "I'm surprised to hear you calling her that. She managed to gain your respect?"

"No" Ashley immediately spits, grimacing. "She.......She beat it into me. I have to say it, or she hurts me."

Kakashi blinks at this, sweat dropping as he looks straight ahead. Having worked with Kyoku for a time back when he had been a member of the ANBU Black Ops, Kakashi knew what the blue haired woman was like.

She seemed calm and cool on the outside, at all times, but the woman was cruel and efficient too. She would always complete her mission, no matter the cost. It was one of the main reasons Kakashi didn't get along with her all too well, though the two did at least mutually respect each other's capabilities.

While he had originally opposed Tsunade's suggestion to have Kyoku train Ashley, upon hearing the Hokage's reasons as to why she had picked the blue haired woman, Kakashi had struggled to come up with a good reason to refuse.

He didn't think using Kyoku's thinking that a mission is always more important than your allies, would be a good enough reason to perturb Tsunade, seeing as that was technically an ANBU's job.

".....She's not here right now though" Kakashi points out, to which Ashley just shudders and glances around.

"Yeah, I know" she mutters, rubbing her arms as if she is cold, "But I'm always paranoid that she'll hear me if I don't call her Sensei......Don't look at me like I'm crazy Kakashi Sensei, it's happened before!"

"I didn't say anything" the Jonin chuckles. "Aside from that, how has training been going? I hear reports from Lady Tsunade every now and then, but nothing too in depth."

"Well of course you won't hear anything from her" Ashley states blandly. "I'm not allowed to complain to Lady Tsunade about Kyoku Sensei's teaching methods anymore. I tried it a few times, and she eventually got so mad that she threw a chair at me. And she threatened me, but I won't repeat what she said."

"Well, you do have a way of getting on people's last nerve" Kakashi tries to mediate, only to earn a withering glare from Ashley.

"You don't understand Sensei" the blonde complains, "Kyoku Sensei is a monster! She shows me no mercy. I think I'm going to die at least three times every training session."

"And yet, you're still alive."

"No thanks to the medics at the hospital" Ashley scoffs, looking annoyed. "I've been to the hospital enough to last me a lifetime. I hate it in there. And I hate training with Kyoku Sensei. It reminds me of......"

Kakashi casts a sidelong glance down at his student, able to see the troubled expression on her face. He knew what she meant. She didn't even have to say it.

"......How does it remind you of that?" Kakashi prompts gently, not wanting to force Ashley to say anything painful.

"Well, for one thing, she's not afraid to hurt me" Ashley replies, shaking her head and rolling her eyes skyward, seemingly back to just feeling irritated. "She pushes me beyond what I feel I'm capable of, to the point where I feel like I'm going to die. And I know she doesn't actually care about me at all. She's just following orders, and she wants both you and Lady Tsunade to be satisfied with the results of my training, so she can feel like she completed her mission......I miss training as Team Seven...."

Kakashi pauses as Ashley comes to a stop, the girl sighing quietly, as if shouldering a heavy burden.

"We're here anyway."

Kakashi looks up, feeling confused when he finds himself standing in front of Ichiraku Ramen.

"Here?" the Jonin asks, looking back down to Ashley for confirmation. "But you always used to complain whenever Naruto wanted to come here."

"Yeah..." Ashley mumbles, brows furrowed as she averts her gaze, feeling a little embarrassed. "But it reminds me of when we were all a team, and I miss those days."

Kakashi can't help but smile at this, feeling a little bad for Ashley. She certainly liked to act rough and tough, but deep down, she was somewhat fragile and relied on her friends for strength. Seeing as Sasuke had run away, Naruto had left, Sakura was off training with a new teacher and Kakashi was constantly being assigned to missions these days, it shouldn't have come as a surprise to him that she felt a little down.

He should have realised however. No matter what, Ashley was still just a kid, even if she was a teenager now.

"Sorry for leaving you on your own" Kakashi apologises softly, placing his hand on top of Ashley's head. "I haven't abandoned you though, and neither have Sakura or Naruto. We're still a team, even if we're in different places for the time being."

Ashley closes her eyes at her Sensei's touch, not having received his head pat for a long time. She soon opens them however, her face flushing as she scowls at Kakashi and swats his hand away for the second time that day.

"L-Let's just eat" the blonde girl growls, stepping inside the small building, with a chuckling Kakashi following behind her.

The two Leaf Ninja order their ramen and catch up on what has been happening in each other's lives, with Ashley doing most of the talking, seeing as she felt she had a lot more to complain about than her teacher. Not that he'd have spilled the details on his mission anyway.

Kakashi listens patiently, actually rather enjoying the endless blathering of his student. It had been a long time since he'd been able to listen to Ashley's complaining, or any of his student's complaining really.

A part of him quite missed listening to his four Genin complain and argue, and breaking up their silly little arguments. He missed their antics too, though he'd never tell any of them such a thing.

It was nice to sit down with at least one of them again. While he did admittedly feel bad for making Ashley feel as if she had been abandoned, it was nice to know that when he did get time to see her, he wouldn't feel like a stranger.

It would seem that Ashley's new Sensei hadn't taken his place. A minute detail that Kakashi had briefly mulled over, though, again, that wasn't something he would ever admit out loud.

"And now she's still using those damn bombs for training" Ashley whinges, setting down her bowl and throwing her head back. "I swear Kakashi Sensei, one day you're gonna see me, and I'm gonna be missing a leg. Kyoku Sensei will have blown it right off during one of our dumb training sessions."

"....A part of me wants to see you hopping around on one leg" Kakashi says cheerfully, his tone not at all matching the ominous topic of conversation.

"It's fine" Ashley retorts, smiling nastily at Kakashi. "I'm used to receiving no sympathy at this point. I didn't expect any from you either."

"The lack of sympathy has made you stronger Ashley" Kakashi points out teasingly, closing his eyes and holding up one finger. "I can see it clearly."

Ashley stares at her Sensei with a deadpan expression, not sure of whether he is making fun of her or not. Kakashi was so good at being sarcastic, that if you didn't pay close attention, it was hard to tell whether he was sincere or not.

"I really mean it" Kakashi assures the blonde. "You really do look stronger."

"Yeah well, with what I've been put through" Ashley huffs, blowing some hair from her face, "I'd certainly hope I've become stronger. Otherwise, what's the point?"

"Now Ashley" Kakashi says seriously, leaning closer to the blonde, "Even if Kyoku makes you stronger, don't forget about your real Sensei, okay?"

Ashley blinks at this, feeling a strange warmth in her chest at her Sensei's plea. It soon disappears however, when the blonde realised that Kakashi is probably just teasing her. Like always.

The Minami hoods her eyes and bares her sharp teeth in a smirk, leaning her elbow on the counter and placing her chin in one hand, looking to Kakashi.

"Don't you worry Kakashi Sensei" the girl promises cheekily. "I won't let Kyoku Sensei replace you, as long as you keep coming to see me and buy me food. Otherwise, I might really forget you."