Note: This took a while. College life is busy.

Grasshopper

It was five in the morning and Yukiko would give anything to be back in bed. She glanced around the empty training area and sighed. This was the only time she had to herself during the day. And more than anything, she knew she needed to train more. She was slow, compared to her team, and she just didn't have the same force behind her blows as the boys did. As much as she disliked the early morning, she needed to be stronger.

She began her morning routine with what little determination she could muster in the darkness of the morning. Yukiko started with push ups. She glared at the ground as she forced herself to continue pushing herself away from the ground, despite the ache in her shaking arms. A sound from the edge of the clearing made her look up, but she didn't stop. She was surprised to see a rather strange man. He was clad in a green jumpsuit with orange legwarmers. The jounin approached, though he stood at a distance, silently watching her.

"What." Yukiko groaned out as she pushed her body upwards. "Do you want?" She dipped down, breathing deeply as she kept herself just above the ground.

"I can wait until you are finished. It is not polite to interrupt someone in the middle of exercise." The man said. Yukiko finished her last pushup and nearly collapsed on the ground. But she refrained from doing so in front of the older ninja.

"I'm done." She said, standing up. He was still much taller than her, but she held her head high. "So what do you want?"

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Rock Lee. Your sensei wanted to help you with taijutsu training, but he didn't feel he would be the best teacher. He asked if I would be willing to help you with your morning training." Lee gave her a fantastically ridiculous. Yukiko was surprised. Shikamaru had always seemed apathetic when it came to training their team individually. Apparently he wasn't as lazy as she first assumed.

"I'm doing just fine. Thanks, but no thanks." Yukiko replied. The man was rather strange and she wanted to be left alone while she trained.

"Shikamaru also mentioned that you've been trying to work on your speed. I can help you, if you want." Lee continued, not at all put off by Yukiko's rejection. For a moment, Yukiko considered taking his offer, but she shook her head.

"I don't need your help. Can you please just leave me alone?" She said, rolling her eyes.

"If you do not want my help, that is fine. But the offer still stands." Lee responded. She rolled her eyes, and in a flash, he was on the other side of the clearing, leaning against a tree. Surprised, Yukiko turned, only to have him disappear and reappear in the corner of her vision. When she finally turned to see him, Lee was smiling just as he had before. She could hardly believe the goofy looking man was that fast. She wouldn't be surprised if he was as fast, or perhaps even faster, than her father.

"You know," Yukiko began. "I might just take you up on your offer after all."

.~.~.~.~.

"Keep running, Yukiko-chan! Only one hundred more laps until we are done for today!" Lee shouted from in front of her. Yukiko groaned. It was five thirty in the morning and she was sick and tired of running laps around the entire village. She had been training with Lee for just over three weeks, but not once had it been easy. The very first day, the green clad man had given Yukiko a hefty set of leg and arm weights to wear during her training. Since then it had been non-stop running laps around the village and intense taijutsu training. And all of that was on top of her regular training with her team. Yukiko felt exhausted.

"Can't we just stop?" Yukiko asked, trying to keep up with Lee. "We've already run two hundred laps! I can barely move!"

"That means you need to keep going!" Lee shouted. "Don't give up, Yukiko-chan. If you work hard and train every day, you'll be as fast as me soon!" She let out another groan and continued running.

When they had finished, Yukiko collapsed on the ground, no longer caring to impress Lee. The man was insane, she was sure.

"I'm done with this." She moaned, barely able to raise her arms. "If I never have to run around this village again, my life will be perfect." She glanced over at Lee who was still bright and full of energy.

"Oh, Yukiko-chan. I'm sure you will be fine. Besides, tomorrow we add more weights!" Lee replied, giving her the signature "Nice Guy" pose she had come to dread. Yukiko let out a sigh.

"More? I just added more two days ago!" She complained.

"And you are progressing quickly. You need the weights if you want to get faster." Lee reminded her, wiggling his large eyebrows.

"Fine." Yukiko muttered. Lee laughed.

"You might not have been born fast, but I'll make sure you become one of the fastest ninjas Konoha has ever seen!" He flashed her another smile and Yukiko couldn't help but grin.

"Yeah. Okay." She said with a laugh.

"Now, it is time to focus on taijutsu!" Lee shouted. Yukiko got to her feet and rolled her eyes.

"You really are going to kill me." She groaned. But with that, she continued training with her overly charismatic instructor. Despite the pain she was dealing with on a daily basis, and the exhaustion that was overwhelming her, she wouldn't have it any other way.