Normal

"Speech"

Thought

Kyuubi

Warnings: I do not own Naruto (I made an offer and they laughed at me). Rated "M" for language and adult situations.

Chapter 48: Lessons of the Spirit

Myra opened her eyes sleepily as she was being nudged awake by a smiling Sakura. "Good morning." The pink one whispered. "I see Naruto found a comfortable spot." Sakura giggled.

Myra took stock of all her limbs and found she had a few more than she needed. "I see what you mean." She yawned. Naruto had somehow tangled himself around Myra, making it difficult for her to move. With a bit of help from Sakura, Myra was able to untangle herself without waking him up. The blonde was still happily snoring when Myra stood up to stretch the kinks out of her back.

"So are you going back to sleep?" Myra started to walk towards the fire.

"Nope, I don't think I could sleep if I tried." Sakura said brightly.

Myra smirked. "You seem more cheerful than usual this morning."

"I slept really well and I had the most wonderful dream." Sakura smiled and sighed like a love sick puppy.

"I see…" Myra raised an eyebrow. "So does Sasuke know he has competition?"

"What?" Sakura paled. "Sasuke doesn't even remember I'm alive." The pink one hung her head sadly for a moment. "But it's ok, I will be there for him when he comes back, even if it's long enough to beat him to a bloody pulp." She smiled. "What should we make for breakfast?"

"Sakura, you are wicked evil. I knew I liked you." Myra grinned. "How about pancakes?"

"Sounds like a plan." The two kounoichi's got to work.

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Two hours later, the smell of food wafted past Naruto's nose. Naruto found himself dreaming that he was being chased by a giant pancake. Just as the giant pancake was about to tackle him, he woke up to Sakura gently kicking him.

"Are you trying to kill me?!" Naruto sat straight up and was rubbing the side of his leg.

Sakura smiled and handed him a short stack of pancakes. "No, but I thought you might be hungry."

The blonde eyed Sakura and the pancakes suspiciously. "Then why did you kick me?"

"Old habits die hard. Now eat." she shoved the plate in his hands.

Naruto took the plate and looked around the camp to see he and Sakura were the only two there. "Where is everyone?" He asked while shoveling pancake into his mouth.

"Myra and Rai-sensei went for an early morning work out after they ate a light breakfast. Konohamaru and gang went to watch." Sakura was starting to clean up the camp from breakfast.

Naruto practically inhaled the remainder of the pancakes, got dressed and was on his way to the clearing near the lake in matter of seconds. Naruto came out of the tree line.

"And here he is now." Myra said with a smile, looking down at her watch. "I told you he was on his way."

There were shocked expressions on two of the three youngsters. Konohamaru was the only one still looking cocky and unimpressed. "I could sense him coming a mile away."

Myra took a deep breath. "That isn't the point. You were sensing with chakra that he was coming. Had Naruto been suppressing his chakra, you may very well not have noticed him at all. Chakra is not the end all be all of tracking someone. There are other ways."

Naruto crossed his arms and joined the class. "Yes and you said you would teach me how you did that."

"Well, you're here now, shut up and listen. Everyone sit down." They all sat down on the mossy grass. Myra stayed standing and started to pace. "Good. Now relax, close your eyes and empty your mind of all thought. You have to have a calm mind for this to work. If you are having a problem clearing your mind of thought, focus on your heart beat and breathing, specifically the rhythm of your heart and how your breathing ebbs and flows. Don't try to stop the rhythm or alter it, because you can if you concentrate hard enough, just listen."

They were sitting there with eyes closed. Konohamaru and Naruto seemed to be having the most difficulty calming. Moegi and Udon were doing the best. However, Myra simply thought that Udon had fallen asleep, so she allowed him to stay that way. Naruto focused on his heart beat and his breathing.

This exercise was more difficult than they had expected. Myra was still standing over the four with crossed arms and a smug grin. "Now, one by one open yourself to the sounds around you. Start small, like the sounds of the water. Then try to hear the wind in the trees. Focus on each sound."

Myra slowly walked past each one of them. Konohamaru wasn't as calm as he was pretending. He felt silly, stupid and like he was wasting his time. Moegi was more calm than Myra expected. The Ravenheart girl raised an eyebrow and smiled.

As Myra got to Udon, she found he really was asleep. There was an urge to kick the young teen, but thought best to scare him later. Myra came to stand behind Naruto. She had expected it would be a struggle for him to calm.

Naruto was having a tough time calming down to a point of stillness. The only time he was ever that calm was when he was unconscious. Myra knelt down beside him, and placed a very warm hand on his chest. "This should help, but you need to learn to calm down on your own should you actually want to learn this."

Naruto nodded and felt her chakra pulsate through him. A calming feeling washed over him. He felt euphoric and content with the world around him. Naruto finally relaxed and calmed down enough to feel his center. It was an odd place for him to be. Everything made sense there. His mind wasn't a jumble of unanswered questions, never ending scenarios, or the Fox.

Myra smiled as she stood up to walk back to the front of the group. "Now here is the hard part. Try to feel the person next to you. Not with your chakra but with your other senses. Try to extend your sense of touch, taste, smell, vision, hearing and spirit. "

Konohamaru opened one eye. "Spirit? What's that got to do with tracking?"

"It has a lot to do with tracking when you know what to look for. Now shush." Myra crossed her arms and waited. She didn't expect anyone to understand the first time around. Spirit tracking takes time and lots of training to get to a point to even sense the spirit. Myra had an advantage that made it almost easy.

"Myra, I can feel a little tingle in my arms, is that what I'm supposed to feel?" Moegi questioned.

"Close, Moegi, that's a good start. I didn't expect anyone to be able to do it on the first try." Myra beamed.

Naruto concentrated on his senses, trying to reach out. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do or if he should be doing anything at all. Then the pads of his fingers started to tingle, his mouth went dry with the taste of earth, the sound of the water became deafening, his nose was assaulted by the smell of forest, and though his eyes were closed he could see an array of color. Naruto turned his head and saw the color change and shift as he turned his head.

Myra smirked when she felt Naruto reach out. He didn't reach with his hands; she felt his spirit touch hers. Myra closed her eyes and focused on Naruto; she allowed her own spirit reach out and touch his. The reaction was a little more than she had anticipated.

Naruto saw the purple glow coming towards him. It was warm, comforting and most of all, it was familiar. It came closer and he saw blue flame like tendril flick past him, spreading towards the purple glow. The purple glow extended a tendril of its own. For a split second of exquisite eternity, blue and purple intertwined.

Naruto hadn't felt anything like this. There was no description he could give it. He knew in that instant he was touching Myra's spirit. He could feel her. The immense pride for having come this far in one day; her unbridled passion and love for him; a hatred and fear for someone unknown to him or her; and the deep sadness she carried for the loss of her loved ones.

There was more to it; underneath the purple was a deep blood red glow that was faint. Naruto tried to reach it and see what it was. But as he tried an orange tendril shot out of him and pushed the purple glow back. Naruto heard Myra scream and his eyes shot open.

Myra was ten yards away lying motionless on the ground. Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi were cowering behind a tree. Naruto was standing in the center of a large chard out circle. The last thing Naruto saw before he collapsed was the terrified face of Sakura running towards Myra.

Rai had come out of the tree line just in time to catch Naruto before the blonde hit the ground. "What the HELL happened?!"

Edgar and Poe swooped out of the trees. Poe landed near the unconscious Myra, and Edgar walked the chard circle left by Naruto.

"Looks as if Myra tried to teach Pretty Boy how to see with his spirit and it, or I should say the Fox, back lashed." Edgar tilted his head up to Rai.

"Edgar is right. The seal keeps the demon contained physically and keeps his chakra at bay, but the Fox's spirit is allowed free rein. This is why the Fox can freely communicate with the boy. The Fox's spirit is intact and just as powerful." Poe looked at Rai with sad eyes.

Rai turned to the three teens. "You three, go back to the camp site and start packing up. We will leave as soon as we are packed."

The three didn't say anything, but they nodded. Moegi and Udon hurried back to camp. Konohamaru stayed for a second. "Is Naruto-niisan and Usagi-nechan going to be ok?"

Rai laid Naruto out on the ground. "I can't answer that yet Konohamaru-kun. I'm not even sure what really happened. Go… Take care of your team." Konohamaru nodded, took one last look at Naruto and Myra, and headed back to camp. Rai turned to Edgar. "Go with them and keep an eye on them."

The great black bird nodded and the great bird took flight to keep an eye on his charges. Rai looked over to where Sakura was tending to Myra. It didn't look good as far as Rai was concerned. He looked into the face of the blonde boy lying on the ground. "Don't make me wrong about you boy. I could never forgive myself if I were."