The Wolf Inside - A Naruto Fanfic - Watty Award Winner 2013

Chapter 7

Edited 30/07/2015

Seeing as some people seem confused about the dates I'm adding to show when the chapters were rewritten, let me explain. I am Australian. In Australia, we write the day first, then the month and then the year. It's a bit different to how a lot of you write the date ^-^

Naruto's POV

My eyes widen in surprise when Ashley agrees to help me out with my tree climbing. I really thought she'd say no, seeing as she doesn't seem to like any of us that much.

Feeling somewhat triumphant, I throw a smug look over at Sasuke, causing him to scowl with annoyance and turn his head away, arms crossed.

I pause as Ashley beckons for me to lean closer to her, before slowly doing so, while being mindful to not get into her killing zone. I don't want her to attack me after all...

My blonde teammate rolls her eyes at my hesitation and suddenly reaches out, grabbing onto my collar and roughly tugging me towards her. I blush when I realise how close our faces are, her visible eye glaring at me, unimpressed. Ashley may be pretty, but she's also kind of scary. She doesn't lose her temper the way Sakura does, but she's equally as intimidating, if not a little more...

As she begins whispering in my ear, giving me advice on how to better my chakra control, I spot Kakashi Sensei and Sakura watching us. While Kakashi Sensei looks kinda curious, probably wondering why Ashley's actually talking to me willingly, while Sakura just looks sort of jealous. I really dunno why though. Maybe she knows that Ashley's helping me out and she's worried I'll end up being way better than her?

As soon as Ashley finishes whispering to me, I jump up and clench my fists in determination. I jab my finger into the air, pointing at the very top of my tree.

"Now I'm gonna reach the top of this tree!" I yell. "Believe it!"

Beside me, I hear Ashley growl with annoyance. She lashes out, kicking me in the back of the knee and causing me to fall to the ground in an ungraceful heap.

"Aaacckk!" I grunt as I face plant the grass. I hear Sakura laughing hysterically, to which I jump back up and glare down at Ashley accusingly. She stares up at me innocently, one eyebrow raised.

"What the heck was that for?!" I demand to know, waving my arms in the air. Ashley merely shrugs a shoulder, rising to her feet.

"Well, I just gave you some advice on how to not completely suck" she explains evenly, "And allowing me to kick you was how you repaid me for my generosity."

Ashley's mouth twitches up into an almost invisible smirk, her staring eyes challenging me to do anything about it. I can feel my face heating up as she watches me, her weird, purple coloured eyes glinting in the sunlight.

Shoulders slumping slightly, I whip my head around to face my tree again, trying not to pout. I suppose I can't really complain. At least she'd actually helped me out. I can take a kick in the back of the knee if it means I'll be better.........I'm probably lucky that that's all Ashley did to me....

"Fine!" I announce, glaring at my tree. "But now I'm going to defeat this tree!"

"Have fun with that" Ashley scoffs dryly, waving her hand in a dismissive way.

"Sakura, can you come here please?" I hear Kakashi Sensei call, the request distracting me and making me look over my shoulder. I watch as Sakura scurries over to him, green eyes filled with curiosity.