Chapter 7:

When Naruto asked Ryosuke and the other foxes to train him in more than just fox magic he had no idea just how much it involved. There was so much more than he thought there would be. He thought hunting would be a cinch. Go into the forest and grab something. It wasn't that easy. The first step was learning how to read the terrain. He already knew some of it because of his ninja training, but this was a lot more involved. There were different paths to take and so many animal tracks to decipher. He had to keep down wind of any animal they came across and walk lightly without making a sound. He learned how to pounce on an animal and how to dig. He had to dive into the hole to flush out the animal. Naruto bashed his head many times trying to get it right.

"Keep your paws tucked close to your body. Tuck your head, too. Not too much," Ryosuke would tell him. "Use your ears. Rotate them to pick up a sound. Keep perfectly still. They'll sense you. Use your back legs. No, really bend them. Further than that. That's it. Just like that. Now jump. No, no. Straight up then into an arch. That's good."

This was a lot harder than he thought. To make matters even harder, most of the animals were sleeping at this hour making it even harder to hunt. They had to go after nocturnal animals. Owls were fair game. Naruto learned how to climb in his fox form. He couldn't go straight up a tree trunk. He had to find a tree with a twisted trunk or one that grew at an angle. His claws made grabbing branches easier, but there was no substitute for hands. When he tried to grab an owl, it took off before he even got close. He tried jumping after it, trying to catch it in flight, but ended up falling to the ground. The owl got away easily.

"Not so easy, is it?" asked Sonar.

"I never thought it would be," admitted Naruto.

He kept trying. When one thing didn't work, he tried another. He got tips from the other foxes and tried to do as they advised. Hunting was so hard! He had been trying for hours and never caught a thing. Even small game like mice were impossible to catch. They squeezed into holes in the ground or under tree roots.

Ryosuke took him deeper into the forest where the mice liked to gather. Naruto spent the next hour chasing mice. After running in circles and bumping into large rocks and shrubs and trees, Naruto only had a mouse tail to show for it. He tore it off the mouse's body and the rest of it got away. Ryosuke then took him to another area Naruto hadn't seen before. It was a small stream hidden by large trees and bushes.

"Drink," Ryosuke told him.

Naruto bent down and lowered himself to the water. The ground was damp and fragile under his paws. It shifted slightly under his weight. Nevertheless, he remained rooted and leaned in for a drink. The moment his opened his mouth to drink, water flowed into his nose and he sprang back coughing. Without a canteen, normally Naruto would cup his hands and drink that way. But without hands, how was he supposed to drink without getting water in his nose? He tried using his tongue the way he saw dogs drink all the time. That only allowed him to taste the water, not drink. Not the way he wished. He had run for so long his throat was burning and wanted nothing more than to cool it.

"Use the back of your tongue," instructed Ryosuke.

"What?"

"The back of your tongue, Naruto. Use it as a cup for the water. Lap it up that way."

Naruto looked back at the water. His tongue was a lot thinner now and more flexible. He gave it a try. It worked! It was much easier to drink now and he didn't get any water up his nose. He lapped up gulp after gulp of cool refreshing water. When he was finished, he sat back and panted.

Ryosuke was smiling at him as if Naruto had just discovered the answer to a tough riddle. "Good."

Naruto caught his breath and spoke to Ryosuke. "There aren't a lot of animals around here. Is this what you have to go through every night?"

"That's why we raid the farm and the trash cans the humans leave outside at night." Ryosuke turned his head and started to walk away slowly, expecting Naruto to follow. "Let's try hunting again. Where the mice gather. One more time and then we'll stop for the night."

"I can't catch those things," Naruto complained. "I don't get it. When I'm human, it's no problem. It's hard, sure, but I could catch at least one of them."

"That's why we're trying again. Come on."

Ryosuke took him back to the area where they had last seen the mice. Ryosuke flushed them out and Naruto was once again chasing mouse after mouse in the dark. They scurried and zigzagged and hid under bushes and stones. "I can't get them!" Naruto slammed his paw down hoping to catch hold of one of their tails. He missed every time or they would slip out from under his paw. "They're too...!"

"That's a human complaint!"

"Huh?" Naruto paused. He watched Ryosuke chase after one of the mice that had slipped free and pounced on it, catching it in his mouth. Naruto watched him silently. The mouse he had been trying so hard to catch was now in Ryosuke's mouth, dead and motionless.

"This is how it's done," said Ryosuke. "That is your problem. You're trying to catch them in your paws. You're still thinking like a human. You are a fox now so act like one. This is how we do it. We run with our paws and grab with our teeth. Use your mouth. Use your jaws. Those are your tools. Use them."

He was right. Naruto had been trying to catch them with his paws the entire time, as if he still had hands to grab with. He was hunting all wrong.

"I saw you dragging that bag into the forest, Naruto. You were using your teeth. That was good. Now use it here to grab." Ryosuke dangled the dead mouse in front of Naruto. "Take it from me."

Naruto looked at the blood-soaked mouse in disgust. "Uh..."

"You wished to be trained. You wanted to learn what it was to be a fox. Are you going back on your word?"

Naruto frowned with determination and anger. "I never go back on my word! I'll do it. I still want to learn."

"Good. Then take it."

Naruto moved in and opened his mouth. He grabbed the mouse's head between his teeth and pulled. It was like biting into a candy truffle with a hard, crunchy shell. The taste, however, was very different and far worse. The mouse oozed blood and crunched. Naruto wanted so much to spit it out but he had to persevere. He wasn't going to give up. He never gave up on anything in his life. He could do this.

Ryosuke tugged back nearly taking it out of Naruto's mouth. Naruto pulled back and Ryosuke pulled downward. They were in a tug-of-war. Finally, the mouse snapped in half and Ryosuke had the prize. The majority of the mouse was in his mouth which he then ate. Naruto had the head in his teeth which he promptly dropped on the ground.

"That is your piece, Naruto. Eat it if you like."

"Uh... no thanks."

Ryosuke scooped it up and ate it himself. "With there being so little food, we eat everything, including the head. Remember that. Don't waste."

"Got it."

Ishi and Sammi came from the bushes with mice in their jaws. "We managed this much. Should we bury them?"

"Yes, in case there's too few tomorrow."

Naruto tilted his head. "What do you mean bury?"

"We bury any leftovers we have for later," answered Sammi. "That is how we save food."

"Oh, ok." Naruto made a mental note of that.

Aurora came next. She wasn't carrying any mice. "So, how's his first night of hunting going?"

"I'm getting better." Naruto gave her a smile as if he had something to be proud of. In truth, he was. He was proud of himself. He was improving.

She chuckled. "Glad to hear it. You want to stop for the night?"

"No, I can keep going."

"Are you sure? Will you have enough energy for your ninja stuff in the morning? You need rest."

Naruto shrugged. "I'm thinking it will be fine. Neji wasn't on my back as much today. He was in a good mood."

Aurora grinned. "You're welcome."

Naruto tilted his head giving her a puzzled look. "Hm? What do you mean? You had something to do with his mood? How?"

She chuckled again. "Well... when you said he had been really grumpy and yelling at you and all, I figured he needed a sort of... release."

Naruto cocked his head again.

"You know? A female can help a man release. Take away some stress. Give him a pleasurable night."

Naruto took in her words one at a time and tried to make sense of them. When it finally sunk in, Naruto's eyes widened and his ears pointed upward. "Wait a minute. You mean you...? Did you...? With Neji?"

Aurora smiled and chuckled yet again.

"Ew!" Naruto tried covering his ears with his paws, unwilling to hear anymore. Now he was trying to block several images from his mind. "Ew! Ew! Ew! Gross! How could you do that?! You're and he's...! Ahh!"

"Relax, you dope!" she shouted over him. "I said shut up! I didn't touch him!"

Naruto stopped screaming. "Say what?" Now he was confused. "But I thought you said that you..."

"I did." She smiled again. "In a dream."

Naruto was so confused. "Huh?"

"Remember when I sneaked away from you two the other night? I found his room and he was asleep, so I gave him a dream I thought would help him de-stress a little. You know what men like."

"So that's why you were asking what Neji looked like." Naruto frowned. "I'm still confused. So, you made him dream that he was... with a girl?"

"Relax, it was nothing R rated. I just had a girl love him in the dream and cuddle him and kiss him. The usual. I figured his mood would improve if he had a nice dream like that. I'll spare you the details."

"How? How did you make him dream that?"

Aurora smiled proudly. "With dream manipulation, of course."

"Dream what? What's that?"

"It's another fox technique," said Ishi. "You don't know that?"

Naruto shook his head. "No. How does it work? Can you teach me? I want to do it, too. Show me how!" This sounded interesting. If it was what he thought it was, Naruto knew he would have a lot of fun with it.

"Oh, it's easy," said Aurora. "I can show you how."

Ishi gave her a gentle shove. "No way! You always do those stupid flirty dreams on men. Plus, you don't explain it right. You lack patience."

"So, what if I do?"

"I'll show you how it's done." Ishi stepped forward. "It's easy once you know what you're doing."

Naruto was very excited. "So? So? What do I do?"

"It's sort of like projecting an illusion into someone's mind. Basically, you're forcing them to dream what you want them to dream. It's a lot of fun."

"Sounds it. How do you do it?"

They went to the palace for a victim. Naruto was all for pulling pranks on his friends. He didn't care. Besides, it sounded like a riot. He couldn't wait to give it a try. He went with Ishi and Seki. They led him up the same path from the night before and onto the wall. Ishi looked through the window for a victim. Finally, he settled on Neji who was fast asleep in his bed.

"Perfect. He'll do fine." Ishi turned to Naruto. "It's important to make sure the person is asleep otherwise it won't work. Dream manipulation only effects people who are asleep."

"And it all stops when the person wakes up," added Seki. "So, make sure you don't give the person a nightmare if you expect them to stay asleep for a while."

Naruto nodded his head. "Ok. Got it. Now what do I do? How do I use it?"

"Controlling your fox fire, send a small flame into their room and hover it just above their head. Don't touch them with it, but make sure it's not too far away. The closer the better, but not too close."

"What happens if it touches the person's head?"

"Usually, it startles them and they wake up. I've heard rumors that if the flame touches their head, the image you're sending them is burning into their minds, but that's just something the elders say. I've done it once just to see and it's not true. Not that I'm aware at least."

"The point is, don't do it," said Seki.

Naruto nodded again. "Ok. I'll give it a try." Naruto conjured up a ball of flame and held it in his paw. His control was practically perfect. He sent it forward and into Neji's room. He held it in place over Neji's head, lowering it inch by inch until it was almost touching his forehead. "This good?"

"Great. Now you can manipulate his dream."

"Ok." Naruto paused. "Uh... how do I do that?"

"Get an image in your mind," said Seki. "Imagine it, picture it. It's just like a daydream or picturing what you're about to do before you do it. You just have to think about it. Picture what you want him to see."

"I just have to think about it?" Naruto was willing to try. He imagined it was no different from creating a sexy clone or fantasizing. He hoped it would be that simple. So far everything he had learned about fox magic he could relate to ninja arts. He concentrated. He already knew what he wanted Neji to dream about. "I know. I'll make him dream he's in a duel with Bushy-brow and losing."

The flame flickered over Neji's head. Naruto hoped that meant it was working. He got a clear picture in his mind. He pictured Neji and Lee fighting in a field. He focused on Lee. He imagined him coming at Neji at full force and pushing him back with a powerful kick. Neji punched Lee back but Lee was so strong he couldn't feel Neji's punch. He kicked Neji in the gut, making him stumble back. Now they were boxing each other. Neji was on the losing side. He couldn't keep up with Lee's speed or his power. He was too strong.

"How can I tell if it's working?" asked Naruto.

"Keep an eye on his reactions. We can't see what he's dreaming. No one can. You have to imagine everything and hope for the best."

That sounded a little less thrilling. Naruto looked into the room and watched Neji closely. He noticed Neji was starting to frown. He must have been affected by the manipulation. Naruto concentrated and made the battle between them more intense. He allowed Neji to have only one good hit to give him hope of victory. After that, however, Lee was dominating the battle.

In bed, Neji was starting to moan and his fingers twitched.

From the wall, Naruto smiled. "It's working." He concentrated hard on the images he poured into Neji's mind. Lee was dominating him. One blow after another came flying at Neji's body and he was powerless to push back. All he could do was block.

Neji was frowning from his bed. His moans grew louder. His arms were starting to move, his dream-self starting to affect his real body. Now he was starting to act out the dream, desperately fighting back against his teammate. His arm jerked, trying to throw a punch at Lee in the dream. His legs were moving, too, trying to gain some ground.

This was pretty funny. Naruto thought this was all very amusing. However, after a few more minutes of this, Naruto decided to give Neji a break and allowed him to land a few hits on Lee in the dream. Neji was beginning to calm down but he still had a serious look on his face as he slept.

"How do I turn it off?" Naruto asked.

"There's nothing to turn off, really," said Ishi. "Just stop using the technique and may the chips fall where they may."

"What does that mean?" Naruto looked from Ishi to Seki.

"It means that dreams change. Once you stop manipulating his dream, your friend will still be dreaming this until he changes it himself. That's just how dreams work. Surely you've had those kinds of dreams before."

Naruto thought about it. "You mean like how one minute I'm walking in the dream and the next I'm at a table and how people come and go all the times in the dream and no one seems to notice?"

"Sort of, yeah. Once you stop manipulating his dream, your friend gains control again and can dream whatever he wants. If he wants to finish this dream then that's his choice. Other people move on to a new dream. Some finish the dream we gave them only they finish it their way. You can't stop him from dreaming."

"Oh, so that's how it works. Ok." Naruto dropped his paw and let the flame above Neji's head go out. Soon Neji's face relaxed and turned over in his bed. "I wish I could see what he was dreaming..."

"That would be dream walking and we can't do that until we gain a new tail." Ishi grinned. "But hey, your first try. Nice job. You're good at this."

"He's a fast learner," praised Seki. "I knew Ryosuke liked him for a reason."

As they left the palace, Naruto chuckled slightly. "Most of you guys didn't seem too thrilled with me in the beginning."

"That's just because most humans are mean to us. They hunt us, beat us. You saw the farmer," said Ishi.

"Yeah, but we were raiding his crops."

"We had little choice. You see what it's like for us." Ishi sighed. "We really did depend on those offerings. It was the prince's family who started it in the first place. They decided to make peace with us many years ago. In exchange for leaving the town and the people in peace, they would leave us food every night. That was the arrangement. I have no idea why it stopped. Even the prince enforced it."

That was bizarre. Why would they suddenly stop like that? Every fox was affected by this and none of them knew why this was happening. Naruto was very determined to find out why.

When the group met up in the forest, Naruto spoke again. This time, addressing Ryosuke. "I get the offerings thing. I know you need them. But aren't you worried that if you don't hunt, you'll get rusty or something? Maybe the humans thought you guys were becoming too dependent on the offerings."

The other foxes exchanged looks. Aurora and Egao looked insulted, as well as Sammi.

Ryosuke led Naruto to a bush and sat down beside it and ordered him to do the same. "Naruto, look at this bush. Do you see any berries on it?"

"No."

"Because we ate them all. Now we must wait for them to grow back. They take time. If we eat them all in one night, we can't expect to go back to the same bush the next night for more. It's the same rule for the animals we hunt. If we eat them all, there will be none left. The population is already low because of this. If we eat any more, they will all be gone. We have to give the other animals time to breed so they can make more and build the population."

Naruto nodded. "So, it's a food chain deal kind of thing. You keep the population in check."

"There's more to it than that." Ryosuke gestured to the forest. "You noticed no doubt how few animals there are here. A part of that is because we've been eating them. But there's another reason."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Lack of food. When we do not eat animals, we eat plants. Foxes are omnivores. We ate plants and animals. So, we're in competition for food all the time with the other animals that live here. There simply isn't enough to go around. So due to the lack of food, a lot of animals have moved on to other lands. They go to where the food is. Because of that, there is even less for us to eat as well. If we must wait for the plants to grow back and the animals have fled the land, what are we to eat?"

Now it all started to make sense.

"That's why the offerings were so important," added Sonar. "We didn't need to eat as much, so the plants were given enough time to grow and there was enough for the other animals to eat. They could eat their fill, have offspring, feed them and we would be able to eat them to keep the population in check without wiping them out. We ate less because of the offerings."

"And the offerings are just table scraps," said Ishi. "It's what the humans do not want anyway. We ate the food they would waste, the animals had enough to eat, and the humans were left in peace. Everybody wins."

It all made sense. Everything worked out. "So, without one thing, the food chain falls apart. All this mess because of..." Naruto was getting just as upset as the foxes. "The humans knew this, right? Then why would they stop?"

"Again, we don't know," said Ryosuke. "We're still trying to figure that out."

"Plus, every time we get close to a human, they always attack us so we can never ask. Even when we do try our best in asking, the humans will not answer or claim they do not know themselves."

No wonder the foxes were so upset. Naruto was getting worked up, too. He wanted more than ever to know the answer. Before he left this town, he had to find the answer.

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