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

Chapter 61

Ashley's POV

Kiba and I leap down from the trees we had been bounding through, the two of us pausing to catch our breaths. Akamaru sits inside Kiba's jacket, having had enough of running about thirty minutes ago.

We had made good time to get here. The last time I'd been to this spot was back when I was six, and getting from here, to the Village, had taken us a good few hours. With Kiba and I both running, it had taken us just over an hour.

Luckily, it's currently the season for it to stay light later, so it still isn't dark, though I can see a few stars up in the sky.

"Where exactly are we going Angel?" Kiba asks between breaths. "Are you gonna kill me and hide my body out here or something?"

"Not today" I smirk, pushing myself away from the tree I am resting against and walking up the sloping hill before us. "We're here anyway."

I can feel my heart rate increase as I slowly walk up the hill, looking around through hooded eyes. At the top of the slope, only a short distance away from the forest, I come to a stop.

I am not disappointed when I see nothing but grass, and the cliff edges further ahead. I had expected this from the very beginning. But I can still see everything so vividly in my mind. Almost as if it were still there......

"Where are we?" Kiba inquires, looking around in slight confusion as he comes to a stop beside me. He lets Akamaru down, the puppy eager to sniff around and investigate.

I step forwards again, my hands now on my hips as I slowly wander through the grass, my head down and my eyes trained on the ground.

It was here that I was born. Here where we had been a family, and here where many happy memories had been formed.......It was here where the worst day of my life had begun. It was here when I was stolen from my homeland.

This was the last place I had stood, when the rest of the island had been swallowed by the ocean.

I hug myself, I suppose in an effort to try and comfort myself. I had put off coming here. In fact, I didn't even think I was going to come here at all. Why would I? Standing here is painful.

A lot of things about my homeland are painful. But specifically this spot......

"Angel" a soft voice addresses me, causing me to turn around. I see Kiba standing in front of me, looking concerned. "Are you alright? Is this, um.....a place of significance?"

I blink at that, feeling tears welling up in my eyes. I don't cry though, instead choosing to smile sadly at Kiba and nod.

"Yeah, it is" I reply, my voice trembling a little. "This is where my home was. Right here where I'm standing. This is where my Mom, Kiyu, Keilor, Ace and I lived together."

Kiba's eyes widen slightly at that, and he takes a step even closer to me, before pausing. He hesitates, seemingly uncertain of what to do.

"I'm alright" I assure the Inuzuka, although I think I might be lying a little. "I have a lot of happy memories of this place......But I guess the bad memories were the last ones. This is the exact spot that Orochimaru took me from......."

I pause for a moment, remembering the feeling of seeing him here at my home. I was so terrified back then.

".....Angel-"

"It's okay" I say quietly, my back now facing Kiba. "This is also the spot that I grew up in. It's the spot that my sister and I played in, and got in lots of trouble in. And it's the spot where my Mom loved us a lot......"