The Caged Bird Seal - 5

They had ended up outside of the Hokage's tower. The Third had requested that Jiraiya bring Haku along with his friends in hopes that Haku may demonstrate his Kekkei Genkai abilities.

The sennin felt it wouldn't be difficult.

All he had to do was tempt the children with the promise of a ninja skill that they most likely wouldn't be able to perform and they flocked to him like moths to a candle.

However, Jiraiya had been slightly annoyed that Naruto had made so many friends. The crowd of children following him made him feel something like a mother duck.

He disliked that sensation.

Yet the newcomers had proved to be polite, obedient and didn't give him a hard time.

Unlike a certain three stooges he had come to know.

"Hey, Ero-sennin! What are you gonna teach us to do?" Naruto was growing impatient.

"Ugh..." The sage decided to pick another basic skill, "We'll start with Henge no Jutsu: the Transformation Technique."

Sakura's face brightened, "Wow! You'll teach us a real jutsu, Gama-sennin?"

The sennin smirked, "Oh, I'll teach you all right, but that doesn't mean any of you squirts will be able to do it! I mean you guys are what? Three, four?"

"Six!" Naruto barked, "And we can do it old man! You just show us how!"

Hinata felt her heart flutter. Naruto's confidence helped boost her own, and maybe if she was able to perform the jutsu she may demonstrate it to her father later.

"Alright, sheesh..." Jiraiya cleared his throat and then proceeded with a lesson, "As most of you are aware all jutsu require chakra. The amount of chakra needed depends on the jutsu that is being used-" He looked down at the row of children in front of him, "Any of you squirts by some chance have any chakra control yet?"

Haku, Gaara and Neji raised their hands and even though Naruto couldn't prove it, he too raised his hand.

Hinata wore a disheartened look, but Sakura quickly dusted the subject over for her, "How much chakra does this jutsu need anyway, sensei?"

Jiraiya smirked, "Good question, missy. The Transformation jutsu don't require much chakra at all, but focusing your chakra is the key. It's easiest to begin by transforming into another person."

Haku smiled to himself. He knew he could focus.

"Alright so...any of you know any hand seals?" The sennin asked, not expecting them to.

At first no one answered and Jiraiya felt he would have his work cut out for him. He then noticed the shy girl of the group slowly raise her hand.

"Um, there is the d-dog, horse, b-boar and hare..." Hinata said softly, surprising her companions with her knowledge.

Jiraiya raised his eyebrows at her, "Yep, that's right, princess. Anyone else?"

Neji continued the list easily, "There is also the rat, ox, tiger, dragon, serpent, ram, monkey, and bird."

The sennin's eyebrows went up even further, "Wow. You Hyuga kids sure know your stuff! Anyway, of those twelve signs the only one you will need to know for this jutsu is the Ram Seal."

Jiraiya demonstrated the seal for them, "Make sure you get this right, or it will fail. It's important to have full concentration while executing a jutsu."

They quickly memorized the hand sign, although it took Naruto a few moments (with Hinata's help) to position his fingers correctly.

"So Jiraiya-sama, we focus our chakra and concentrate on what we want to transform into?" Haku confirmed, always one step ahead.

"I swear kid; the way you work things out deserves an award..." The sennin commended him, "As usual, you're right Haku. Give it a try when you're ready."

"Who exactly should we turn into, sensei?" Sakura asked, wondering if he had anyone specific in mind.

"Whoever you squirts can think of..." He didn't really care.

Gaara frowned. He didn't want Haku to surpass him yet again, although it was something he was getting used to. He formed the ram seal and focused his chakra.

There was a poof of smoke, and where Gaara once stood was the spitting image of Jiraiya.

Naruto felt his jaw drop.

It was still glaringly obvious that it was Gaara, because of the uncharacteristic scowl the false Jiraiya wore.

The sennin sighed, "Next time, kid, try to look a bit happier..."

His companions looked on in surprise, not expecting Gaara to have such luck on his first try.

Gaara released the jutsu and smirked at Jiraiya, "I'll try."

'One of these days I'll give that sand kid a piece of my mind...'

"Hey Gaara, that was great!" Naruto praised him.

Haku immediately tried it next, having no problem focusing his chakra and flawlessly imitated the image of Jiraiya as Gaara had. The sennin was grateful for the less angry expression on Haku's henge.

"Well done, Haku." Jiraiya nodded to the farm boy after he had released his jutsu, wearing a very pleased smile.

"How do you keep doing that Haku?" Naruto spoke up again, "It's like you know everything!"

The dark haired boy shook his head, "I really don't..."

Hinata looked at both Gaara and Haku in amazement. Had they ever used a jutsu before? They made it look so easy.

Neji wore a small frown while he too made the hand seal. Once the smoke from his henge had cleared, a false Haku stood there, startling the real farm boy.

Neji then smiled in a similar way that Haku had, scaring his companions with his accuracy. Sakura was hopping up and down, excited that there had been three successful henge in a row.

Naruto however was uncommonly hesitant, not sure who to imitate.

"Eh, that was kind of creepy..." The sennin admitted to Neji, "Again, great job but maybe you should lay off the smiling, kid."

Of course, Neji took it as an open invitation to smile more to startle his foes.

Naruto laughed at Haku's astonished face, "Heh heh! Haku, that was pretty cool huh? Poof! He looked just like you!"

A small smile spread over Gaara's face. He too found Haku's astounded expression funny.

"Okay! My turn!" Sakura announced, and she quickly made the hand seal.

Her's was one of the most shocking (and oddly successful) transformations yet...

She had taken the appearance of Gaara.

The Kazekage's youngest son felt his smile turn into a look of shock. He understood how Haku had felt upon looking at a copy of himself.

"Whoa! Sakura-chan!" The blonde boy was pleasantly surprised yet again.

The pink haired girl grinned in accomplishment after undoing the jutsu, "How was that Gama-sennin?"

"Not half-bad, missy..." Jiraiya answered, appreciating that someone had eliminated Gaara's smug expression.

Neji turned to his cousin, "Do you think you can do it, Hinata-sama?"

A nervous blush crept over her cheeks, "I...I'll try..."

"I know you can do it Hinata-chan!" Naruto grinned at her.

Haku nodded with a friendly smile, "Yes Hinata-chan. Its simple."

She felt her hands slip into the ram seal, and concentrated her chakra. Her henge choice had been clear in her mind for quite a while. Hinata trembled slightly before she was enveloped in smoke, still slightly anxious.

Thankfully, she had succeeded.

A nervous-looking Naruto stood in front of her companions.

Sakura cheered with Haku and a low chuckle resonated from her cousin.

Naruto stood bewildered for a split-second and then peeled into a fit of laughter.

He couldn't have been more flattered.

After undoing the henge, Hinata's face was completely crimson. Jiraiya nodded his head with a small smile, "Good girl! Make sure you show that to your dad!"

"I w-will."

"Why did you pick Naruto?" Gaara asked her curiously.

Hinata gulped before answering, "I-I, um...well, he hadn't b-been chosen so I thought..."

Naruto gave her a thumb up, "Hey! Hinata-chan! That was so awesome! You even had me fooled for a second!"

Jiraiya sighed, "You're the only person who'd admit that, squirt..."

The blonde boy glared indignantly at Jiraiya.

"Naruto, aren't you going to try?" Haku asked.

The Kyuubi container nodded excitedly, "Yup! I just thought of what I'll do!"

Dramatically, Naruto went to the front of the line and cleared his throat loudly. He carefully made his hand seal, and focused as best he could on the flow of his chakra. Poof!

There hadn't been much of a transformation.

Instead, Naruto stood there wearing a huge grin…

In full Hokage attire.

There was delighted chatter and laughter from his friends, but Jiraiya's eyes nearly bugged out of his head.

"NO WAY IN HELL!" Jiraiya snapped, "I'll be dead before I see you become Hokage!"

"That's true," Naruto laughed while tipping his hat to the sennin, "You are really old!"

That was the last straw for the toad sage.

The Sandaime had been watching Jiraiya's escapade from his office.

He hadn't expected all of the children to pick up on the jutsu so quickly, but had been pleased to see Naruto's creativity.

"He looks so much like his father..." Hiruzen muttered to himself.

The Hokage watched in entertainment while Jiraiya began to draw Haku into his plan.