Sorry for the short chapter; Please review oh and Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Ryu stared at the girl, momentarily shocked, and then looked at her attire. He smiled wryly, and said, "Change first, and then I'll give you a lesson."
Kokoro zoomed of down the path, and zoomed back, wearing her clothes.
"Your shirt is on backwards, your pants are inside out, and your hair is messy."
By the time she came back again, Ryu had found and trimmed two sturdy branches.
He tossed one two her, and said, "Here." Hiro and Luna sat in the sidelines, interested.
Kokoro learned a lot that day. She learned the basics of sword fighting, and some stances, and exercises that would make her arm stronger, and more able to wield the sword. Ryu realized that Kokoro was a natural at it, and she seemed to gobble information down like a starving mouse. That day Hiro, and Ryu both saw that Kokoro was a natural at it, and Ryu decided to teach her how to use a sword for real. At the end of the day, he sat the girl down in front of her and said, "Kokoro, would you like to learn how to wield a sword seriously?"
Kokoro nodded, and then said, "I want to learn. It seems fun, but I know that it will be very hard work to learn how to use it properly. I might not be able to use a sword as my usual weapon though. Is that okay?"
Ryu nodded and said, "Kokoro, I am the best swordsman in all of this village, and many others. I will not go easy on you. Are you willing to do this as well as your other training?"
Kokoro answered, "Yes!"
Her stomach growled, and she got up turning towards the house. "And now, for dinner." and trotted off.
Luna, Ryu, and Hiro sweat dropped.
Ryu sighed and invited Hiro over for dinner. "Sure!" said the boy, and darted into the house.
Kokoro go up and stretched, looking over at her clock. It was early. She could train a little, have breakfast, and then go to her second session with the Wise One. She shook Luna rudely awake, and they went out and warmed up. Then Kokoro began to train, furiously. Luna went off to hunt, and soon it was time for breakfast. Ryu was already up, and had made breakfast. Kokoro ravenously finished her breakfast, and Ryu's and Gramps' as well, and then left with Luna who had courteously eaten her meal outside, shouting a goodbye as she slammed the door shut. Ryu and Gramps looked woefully at their empty bowls, and Ryu got up, sighing, to make some more.
Kokoro walked through the woods, sighing and looking around her at the lush green forest filled with beauty. Mind touching with Luna (they had gotten so used to mindtouching that they hardly ever talked to each other normally any more, they just mind touched.) Kokoro thought, 'Wow, how beautiful this is. '
'Yeah… Wanna race?'
'Sure!'
Kokoro and Luna ran all the way to the meeting place, and Kokoro was surprised to find that she and Luna were an even match. They soon slowed down and arrived at the clearing at a walk. The Wise One was in the same place he had been before, and was dozing peacefully. Kokoro and Luna crept forward to the old tigers' ear, and took a large branch, breaking it with a loud crack next to his ear. He awoke at once, roaring and looking around for his attackers. He spotted Kokoro and Luna sitting in front of him innocently, Kokoro looking a little pale, and settled down.
He fixed the two of them with a stern glare and said, "Do 'not' do that. Now, have you two mastered the lesson I assigned you?"
They nodded and he continued. "Good. Let me tell you a little more about mind touching, and then we will move on. Mind touching is usually used by the cat species, and it is common politeness to ask another tiger for their permission before mind touching. Do not try to mind touch with another animal unless you have asked them first, or they will think you mean them harm and attack."
"Your next lesson is Mind blending. Mind blending is an advanced technique of mind touching, and can only be used by a tiger and human that have been subject to the jutsu, like you two have. To mind blend, you two must first mind touch, and then one of you try to convey images to one another. Soon, you both will be able to mind blend, blend your minds together, and will be able to use this in battle. It is complicated, so your homework is to practice sending images to one another over the period of the next 3 days. Then I will meet you again."
"For the rest of the day, though, we will be learning foreign languages."
"No!" groaned Luna, and Kokoro asked, "What are foreign languages?'
Luna answered for the old tiger. "Foreign languages are like, we'll have to learn how to speak fox, and wolf and stuff! It's really boring. We need to learn it to ask the other species whether we can mind touch with them. When we mind touch, though, the language is all the same so we can talk properly. Only a few animals know how to mind touch though, and most of them are cats, so this is no use."
The Wise One said, "Yes. Ok, tweet, in chickadee means 'You're a ninny' so avoid saying that."
When Kokoro and Luna went home that day, they collapsed into bed wearily. Ryu asked her from the doorway, "Tough day?"
"Tweet-twitter-tweet. Twoo, whistle. Twee." Kokoro answered.
"Yup, we learned foreign languages. I'm pooped. Night."
Ryu scratched his head and closed the door silently.