The Kyuubi Twins

Chapter 13

When Ryu arrived, she was instantly greeted with a barrage of foxes jumping at her. They were all fairly happy to see her, since it had been near a thousand years since the last contractor of the Foxes had been summoned to where they lived. "Hey! Calm down! Don't mob down, Ryu!" Kuro yelled at the smaller foxes with irritation.

"B-but, Kuro-sama!" One of them protested.

"You'll have time to pamper her later, we need to get her to Aoi to train." Kuro replied, glaring. They nodded in understanding and disappeared into the tall grasses. "Let's go." He said, turning to Ryu. She nodded in agreement.

They walked for a bit, through the tall grasses that often had a fox scurry pass every so often and Kuro would glare at them and they would run away in fright. "You seem to be feared." Ryu noted. Kuro didn't reply to her comment and kept walking on, a bit faster though. They arrived at a pool of calm water. Sitting at the edge was a fox with blue hair. "Are you guys named by color or something?" Ryu asked.

Aoi chuckled. "It is easier. Our true names are in a language long lost, many hundreds of years ago. You're here to train with me, are you not? We must get started right away, the process of becoming a fox sage is a long and hard one. Kuro, you may go." Aoi dismissed Kuro. Kuro nodded and left with silent steps.

Aoi gestured for Ryu to sit next to him and she did. "First, you must learn to sit completely still. To feel the essence of Nature. The power that is hidden. After this step, I will teach you how to harness that power within you, Kurama-sama will help you in this step." Ryu nodded in understanding.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She tried to calm her thoughts but her mind kept wandering to how's Naruto training was going and if Kakashi was fine. A growl of irritation sounded within her mind. Kurama swept a tail and hit her mental-self in the head. 'Stop worrying and concentrate on your training! The faster you get this down, the quicker you can go back to Konoha!' Kurama growled.

Ryu winced mentally and sighed. She steeled her thoughts and focused on the sounds around her. The birds singing their song, the wind rustling the grass, the sounds of a running stream. As she focused on everything and nothing, she realized that she felt an aura of energy-like-chakra surrounding every little thing. "Ah, so you felt it, at last." Aoi said, interrupting her thoughts. Ryu opened her eyes.

"At last?" She questioned, then looked up and her eyes widened in shock. The sun was setting. "W-what? How the heck is it already evening?"

"Time can pass quickly while focusing on the essence of Nature. Come on, you'll need food and a good night's rest to continue the training." Aoi replied, walking into the tall grasses without looking behind to see if Ryu was following.

-The Next Day-

"What we are going to try today is turn that energy you felt into chakra. Once you do, it's going to be called Nature Chakra and once you have just the right amount, you'll show the features of a fox. Thus you become a Fox Sage. However, too much and you'll completely turn into a fox and your mind with become like the animal." Aoi explained, frowning. Ryu had a look of worry on her face. Aoi smiled reassuringly.

There is a reason why there are so few fox sages. We do not have anything to expel the chakra out from you if you took in too much on the first try. That is why we usually train potential candidates for months on just feeling the energy around them, but you do not have that time. But what you do have is Kurama-sama. He can forcefully expel any foreign chakra from you. So once he feels like you're taking in too much, he can expel the chakra from you." Aoi said. Ryu frowned, thinking the process of expelling probably wasn't a pleasant one.