Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Fenrir and the Fox ❯ The First Three Jutsus: Kawarmi, Henge, and Bunshin! ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter 4:

The First Three Jutsus: Kawarmi, Henge, and Bunshin!

 

Time seemed to pass quickly at the academy, because before they knew it Iruka said that it was time for them to learn their first skills as ninjas.

 

“Alright class!” Iruka said in a loud voice, grabbing their attention instantly. “Over the next few months we are going to be learning three of the most basic and most essential jutsus for a ninja to have in their arsenal. These jutsus are called the henge, kawarmi, and bunshin techniques. As you grow as ninja, you are sure to gain much more powerful techniques, but there will never be a time in your lives where these three techniques will cease to be useful. If you are skilled enough and smart enough, these techniques will carry you far in life.” Iruka then paused for a moment to let this information sink in before he decided to continue.

 

“The first technique I'm going to teach you is the henge technique. The henge jutsu allows you to physically transform into anything that your mind can imagine. With the right amount of skill with this jutsu you can become anyone and anything. This is perhaps the most basic genjutsu that a ninja must know. It is ideal for missions involving infiltration and deception.” Iruka then nodded towards a second teacher named Mizuki. Mizuki then walked over to where Iruka was standing so that they were side by side.

 

“I am now going to demonstrate both the hand signs and the application of this jutsu.” Iruka's hand then began to weave into a few distinct hand signs before he stopped and shouted, “Henge!” The students then watched as a cloud of smoke enveloped both their teacher and Mizuki before finally dissipating. When the cloud cleared their teacher Iruka was gone, leaving another Mizuki in his place. The class gaped at them in a stunned silence until the second Mizuki suddenly poofed away, revealing Iruka once more. Iruka couldn't help but smile at the faces of his stunned class. “As you can see, this technique can be extremely effective.” He then clapped his hands in order to bring his class out of their stupor. “Now for the next hour you guys are going to practice the henge jutsu. The first person to successfully perform the technique gets a special jutsu scroll.”

 

Sasuke's eyes slightly widened when he heard this and casually glanced in the direction of the only person in the class that he would consider a potential rival. Jinra eyes seemed to shine as his fingers began to fiddle with anticipation. This was going to be good, very, very good.

 

“Before we go outside to practice, are there any questions?” Jinra's hand shot up. Iruka glanced in his direction before pointing at him to get him to speak.

 

“Does it matter what we transform into?”

 

“No,” said Iruka. “You can transform into anything you want, so long as you tell us what it is so we know you've done it correctly. Are there any more questions?” When no one rose their hands Iruka gestured towards Mizuki who began to usher the class to the practice grounds.

 

Once they got there Iruka went through the hand signs once more for the people who hadn't caught them the first time and left them to their own devices. Jinra quickly ran and found a spot with enough space for him to practice in. As soon as he was alone he began to take deep soothing breaths and began to focus on the one image that had seemed to be haunting his dreams the last few weeks. A small chill ran down his spine as the creature was formed within his mind's eye. While still focusing on the creature, he slowly moved his hands through the seals that Iruka had shown them before thinking the word `Henge!'

 

He felt more than saw the cloud of smoke envelope him as he kept his focus on the image in his mind and felt his body shift and change. The transformation itself was nearly instantaneous, so before he knew it the world seemed to have changed. His senses felt keener and he was now much lower to the ground. The only question he had in his mind though was: `Did it work?'

 

Sasuke had been watching the whole thing from his training spot a few feet away and could only gape as the cloud around Jinra quickly dissipated, leaving a fairly large silver wolf where Jinra once stood. The Uchiha prodigy's eyes practically bugged out at he gazed at the perfect transformation; so perfect, in fact, that he almost thought that Jinra had run off and the wolf had conveniently taken his place.

 

The wolf stayed in its place for only a few moments before scurrying off towards where Iruka and Mizuki were overseeing the rest of the students. The wolf waked over to where they were standing and sat down, waiting patiently for them to notice. After a few seconds of waiting Jinra nipped at Iruka's pant leg, causing him to glance down and get one of the biggest surprises of his life. Jinra watched with great amusement as his facial expressions changed. First there was surprise, then anger, then fear, and finally (after the wolf made absolutely no move to attack) realization. Iruka then stooped down so he was at the wolf's level and asked in an impressed tone, “which student are you?”

 

His answer came in the form of a cloud of smoke, which dissipated to reveal a very amused looking Jinra. “Took you long enough Iruka-sensei,” he said with a smile. “So, do I pass?”

 

At this point the entire class was gaping at him. The exercise had been going on for less than five minutes and Jinra had already mastered the technique!

 

Iruka only laughed at the simplicity of the boy's statement. “Of course you pass! And as your prize for mastering the technique so quickly, you get a scroll for an advanced genjutsu technique. Just ask for it after class and I'll give it to you then.”

 

Break

 

Little did Jinra know that his little stunt that day had created several domino effects that he wouldn't have anticipated. The first was that Jinra had now cemented himself as the only person in the class that Sasuke could rival himself against, which in turn knocked his ego down several pegs. The second effects was that Sasuke's fan girl base seemed to be rapidly draining at the same rate that Jinra's seemed to be growing, not that the silver haired youth ever noticed, which in turn made Sasuke easier to focus now that he wasn't being stalked every hour of the day. And the third and final effect was that he had now made himself the focus of Naruto's overly competitive nature. It now seemed as if Naruto spent every single opportunity he had to challenge Jinra in some way, but unlike Sasuke, Jinra accepted every time.

 

It seemed to go through a never-ending cycle. Naruto would challenge Jinra, Jinra would accept, Jinra would win, Naruto would vow victory the next time, train even harder, and then challenge Jinra again. The curious thing to all the people that watched their challenges was that Jinra never seemed to mind the challenges and respected Naruto for his continual efforts, and from that a strange sort of friendship bloomed which neither could explain.

 

And so it was that the next few months passed and the genin exams began to loom over the horizon. The class had gone over each of the necessary techniques and a bunch of other information that they would most likely never use again. They already knew that not all of them would become genin, but the only question was who would end up being weeded out?