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

Chapter 18

Edited 15/05/2015

Ashley's POV

Sasuke cautiously lowers his arms from in front of his face as Sakura coughs a little, the smoke beginning to disperse. Naruto blinks in confusion, tilting his head to the side at the sight of the man now standing before us.

"Huh?" the blonde asks. "Iruka Sensei? How come you're here?"

The unfamiliar, brown haired man lets out a short laugh, dusting himself off before raising one hand in a wave. A scar runs horizontally across the man's nose, his skin even more tanned than Naruto's.

"Hi you guys" Iruka greets, grinning in amusement at the confusion of the others. "It's been awhile huh?"

I frown a little at the brown haired Ninja, crossing my arms as I study him silently. Who is he? It seems as though he knows Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke, but how? And why the hell did our Heaven and Earth scrolls summon him here?

As Iruka opens his mouth to continue, his eyes drift over to me, to which the man pauses for a few seconds.

"Ah!" he suddenly says in realization, snapping his fingers. "You must be the Ashley that Kakashi has told me about, right?"

"......Kakashi told you about me?" I question flatly, raising one eyebrow.

"Well...." Iruka trails off, chuckling sheepishly and rubbing the back of his neck, "More like complained about you, but he's mentioned you to me nonetheless."

"Great....." I mutter sarcastically, my shoulders drooping comically. I'm really not that bad.......Am I?

"Well, seeing as you don't know me and the others do" Iruka continues brightly, "I suppose I'll introduce myself! My name is Iruka Umino, and I teach at the Academy here in the Village. Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto are all former students of mine actually."

"It's nice to see you again Iruka Sensei" Sakura pipes up, smiling cutely.

"Yeah, Iruka Sensei's the best!" Naruto announces, turning to me. "He treats me to Ramen sometimes!"

Iruka laughs at this, placing an affectionate hand on Naruto's head and scruffing up his hair.

"Well, it's nice to finally meet you properly anyway" the older Ninja says warmly, to which I blink in surprise.

He thinks it's nice to meet me? I can't say anyone had told me something like that before. How does he know it's nice to meet me? For all Iruka knows, I could be a serial killer or something....

Still......

"Uhh.....Yeah...." I murmur uncomfortably, dropping my eyes to the floor. "...It's.....Nice to meet you too...."

Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto all turn to me, eyes wide. They stare in shocked silence for a few moments, causing me to grow an anime vein.

So I was polite? Big deal! Why do they have to be so weird about it! I can have manners sometimes if I want to! They make me so mad!

Heaving a deep sigh, I look up, only to spot Iruka eyeing me strangely, as if unsure about something.

"Yes?" I prompt, to which the man shrugs his shoulders.

"It's nothing" he replies slowly, brows furrowing a little, "It's just that......You don't really seem the way Kakashi described you to be."

".......I don't even want to know what he told you" I state, rolling my eyes and shaking my head. I imagine he'd told Iruka quite a lot, and no doubt none of it was any good. Oh well.