Spark of Inspiration

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the associated merchandise.

Chapter 1: Perverts can be teachers too

Naruto couldn't believe his luck, he was one of the eight participants in the chunin selection exams. He squeezed his fist tightly, driving his nails hard into the flesh of his palm. it couldn't be real, right?

Images whirled through his mind's eye: an arena, blood, sand, and medics, everywhere he looked there were medics, with an almost sinister aura, carrying all the losers off on a gurney, like pallbearers on the way to the grave.

He finally felt the weight of it all; Neji Hyuga, his opponent for the Chunin Exams, and an absolute monster. He did not flinch at inflicting life-threatening wounds on his own cousin, what chance did Naruto have?

Even if he somehow got past the white-eyed freak, he'd still have the likes of Gaara to contend with. The blonde squeezed his eyes shut and sank into himself. Poor bushy-brows would never be a ninja again! Even now, he laid in a hospital bed, Naruto knew.

Naruto opened his eyes and tensed his jaw, then there was Sasuke, pale skin flared with darkness, its flames surging and raging from the shoulder and burning the side of his face. Purple power, reeking of malevolence enshrouded him, and Naruto didn't see Sasuke anymore. A snakes shadow drew him in. it was Sasuke no longer.

Of course, Sasuke went back to being the ass he always will and has been, but Naruto couldn't shake the feeling that Sasuke would kill anyone that stood in his way.

Naruto sighed briefly, do I really have to deal with this guy?

"Come now, Naruto-kun, you are not going to stand a chance if you stand there daydreaming about Ramen." the pervert speaks. Bringing the blond to the final show, the last hurrah; his teacher and team leader had decided that tutoring Sasuke took precedence above all and saddled him with this… pervert-Who had already shown his distaste for the blond, and all because of what was his greatest strength and his greatest weakness: The Kyūbi.

The brutal majesty of the fox swam into view, of swirling flame, of nine-tails of destruction, and of a snarling visage crowned with sharp ears swam, He couldn't help himself as each pore inflamed, growing bumps and ridges. His small hair-almost imperceptible-on the back of his neck, rose skyward as if sensing the malevolence in the air.

"Do not falter because Kakadshi-san is otherwise engaged. I am twice the teacher he is, and I will prove to everyone that I am a teacher of the most elite-quality. I will make it worth your while of course. Ninjutsu, yes, Ninjutsu will be a large part of our training. make no mistake." Ebisu pushed his sunglasses back up. "Do not get ahead of yourself, Naruto-kun," Naruto wasn't ashamed to admit that one word baited him in hook, line, and sinker. "there is a small hiccup on the way there" Ebisu grinned, and Naruto felt chills working its way up to his neck. "There is the small issue of Chakra Control."

"Awww, Chakra control, but I hate that it's boring and how's that gonna help me beat Neji or Gaara or Sasuke anyways? I can't exactly stick my feet to their face and hope I knock 'em out!" raged Naruto, it was honestly a waste of time, he was more inclined to start breathing fire or kicking up windstorms.

"We must crawl much before we can walk, Naruto-kun, trust me. You may not think much of me, but I am the most recognized ninja tutor in the village, why do you think Sandaime-sama hired me to tutor his grandson?" Ebisu paced before Naruto with his hands joined at his back. "I know you do not like me, and perhaps you think I do not like you, but we must put that aside for the moment. If you really seek to attain the title of Chunin, you must begin to realize that being a ninja means doing things we don't like for the sake of the mission."

"I get it, just tell me what you want me to do," Naruto relented.

"Do not look so down, Naruto-kun. Today you learn something quite exciting." Ebisu turned his back on Naruto and walked over to a nearby hot spring with a purposeful gait to his step. "Walking on water," and he continued stepping, walking across the surface of the water as if he wasn't defying the very laws set in place by physics.

"What?" the blond's gums flapped as if they were not connected to the rest of his face.

Part of him realized that he shouldn't have been surprised, considering the whole incident in Nami no Kuni, not even a month prior. And yet another part of him was shocked beyond the formation of speech, walking on water was so cool, and he just had to do it. Mostly to rub it in Sasuke's face but nevertheless it ranked up there with blow your house down Jutsu (all for the sheer bragging rights of him being able to say, 'I can walk on water!')!

"You have completed the Tree walking exercise, I assume?" asked Ebisu, a slight smirk present on that pasty face of his. Oh, he knew exactly what he was doing!

"Yeah back in Nami, Kakashi-sensei said that it could make us faster but I'm not exactly sure how that works." Naruto shrugged. "He also said that I waste too much chakra when I use Ninjutsu, and this would help me out."

"I assume Kakashi-san expected you to figure out the overreaching lesson from the exercise. Perhaps I have more work than IY once thought" he rested his one hand on his hip, meandering around the liquid surface as naturally as he would on any other earthen surface,. "you have to understand it in this way when we pump our legs or swing our arms, blood rushes to those areas carrying oxygen with it to vitalize our muscles, the same is true for chakra. However, since you can control it, you can send more to those areas and boost your speed."

"Wait, so I can get as fast as that Lee guy with just my chakra?" Naruto narrowed his eyes, there was something missing here. If anyone could do it, why hadn't they tried? Sasuke completed the same chakra control exercise as Naruto and he was dead-slow compared bushy-brows.

"Unfortunately not, the amount of chakra used is not the concern but the control over ones chakra, that is the biggest priority. Other factors like the condition of the muscle and amount used are secondary and yet important still." Ebisu pushed his glasses up as he returned to shore.

Naruto traded places with him, still listening to his instruction. "The reason you are taught to focus chakra to the sole of your feet is that it is the most difficult area in your body to channel chakra from, and if you can manage that, manipulating chakra to any other area of your body, like say your calves and thighs become almost elementary. I'll elaborate more into this in another week, for now, we will focus on your Ninjutsu and Chakra control."

Naruto took his advice and walked over the surface of the water, he could feel the heat through the rubber soles of his sandals. One step, two, and three-splash!-he sank through to his waist and his cheeks to his ears burnt deep crimson."H-hot! Hot!"

Naruto clumsily fumbled back to the outer rim of the hot spring and pulled himself over the edge. "You should have warned me it was hot! What's the big idea huh?"

"It's a hot spring, don't be so foolish, of course, it would be hot. Why do you think I brought you here? No better way to learn than to learn or burn, I always say." deadpanned Ebisu, and Naruto absolutely refused to acknowledge his foolishness. How did he know that there wasn't something like a cold hot spring? Dammit, he should have been warned.

"Yeah, no kidding, that's a big motivator there. Walk on water or become snake food." Naruto rolled his eyes. He busied himself with draining the water that soaked his pants, and he completely discarded his oversized jacket.

"Round two it is," the young Uzumaki walked with his own purposeful gait towards the water's surface.

"Remember, the water changes with each ripple and with each change in weight to the surface. You must adjust your chakra output to accommodate these changes. As much as the last lesson was about pushing out a steady flow, this exercise teaches you to alter your flow depending on the situation." Ebisu lectured, sounding very much like Iruka.

The way that Ebisu described it, Naruto assumed that controlling his chakra for the purpose of speed and strength buffs, this exercise would finetune the process, to something much more complex and dedicated than the elementary design. instead of simply forcing chakra into the legs, he would pulse it at the opportune moment, weaving it between his muscles, bones, and blood.

Ebisu rubbed his chin, "Is there any reason why you are not using your Kage Bunshin to aid you? This is the most opportune form of training to use Kage Bunshin for if you want to reap the full benefits of their design."

"Huh, what do y-" Naruto cursed as he lost his footing and flailed his arms. He continued when he returned to the surface of the water, this time having discarded his shirt along with his jacket "That would be a waste of chakra. It's not like there is anyone around to fight. I mean what are they gonna do? Hold me up?"

"Odd, I really thought Sandaime-sama or Kakashi-san would have explained this to you." Ebisu paused for a moment, finding great interest in the ceiling while Naruto himself found an equal amount of interest in the bath below.

Ebisu waited for Naruto to return to the surface before he continued. "The Kage Bunshin is one of the greatest Justu devised by Nidaime-sama, he in-"

Ebisu found himself rudely interrupted by the blond, "Wait one of the big guys up there in the mountains-invented my Jutsu? No way! So I'm basically using a Kage-level Jutsu! Sweet."

"Please allow me to finish before you jump in like some buffoon off the street." Ebisu raised a brow as if daring the boy to challenge him. "Not only is it a solid clone, which in itself credits it with a high ranking, but this Jutsu has its abilities in espionage."

Naruto narrowed his eyes, and Ebisu could swear that he heard the gears grinding to paste up there. "You mean like spy stuff right? Getting information and that kind of stuff?"

Ebisu noted that Naruto was standing longer, the more he distracted the boy from the task at hand, however, he took note of an odd configuration superimposing the seal on the boy's stomach. "Indeed, spy stuff. Nevertheless, the true value of the Kage Bunshin lies in the ability for a clone to transfer its accumulated experiences over to the creator once it reaches its end."

Naruto paused for all but a second before he plunged beneath the waters below, this is really getting old. He returned to the surface, "But I've used the Jutsu hundreds of times before and I've never seen memories or anything from my clones."

"Likely because you call upon hundreds of them at any one time, and in the cases that you do not, you are often witnessing the same thing; only from different angles," Ebisu replied. "So I'm going to have you create a few clones and when you dispel them, you must dedicate your focus to processing those memories as they enter your mind." Naruto immediately formed the modified Ox hand sign. "However we will first pay Sandaime-sama a visit."

Naruto stopped midway and once again fell chest-deep into the steaming water. "What why? I thought we're supposed to be training ero-sensei?"

"First, don't call me that, you will address me with the appropriate respect and second, something is wrong with your seal."

Naruto looked down at his stomach and blinked at his intern-sensei, "WHAAAT?"

It wasn't long before Naruto found himself in the Sandaime Hokage's office. The title of tutor to the honorable grandson truly had its benefits.

The Sandaime licked his lips and placed his tea saucer down. "Something is wrong with, Naruto-kun's seal, you say?"

"Indeed, Hokage-sama. I do not wish to disturb you but as you know I have dabbled in every major ninja art I possibly can." he pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose. "I do not pretend to know a great deal about fuinjutsu; far from it. However, I can deduce when one seal is superimposing another."

Sarutobi paused, set his saucer of tea back down, and closed his eyes. "Naruto, take off your shirt." Naruto didn't miss the lack of honorific and he certainly didn't miss the chips of stone that took residence in the Sandaime's eyes.

Naruto grimaced but heeded the old man's commands. "What's this all about, jiji?"

The old man touched his belly, warmth spread from his naval, and enveloped his body like a warm blanket. "Your concerns were warranted, Ebisu, thank you for bringing Naruto here. Now Naruto, is there anything that happened between now and when you started the exam? Has anyone touched your stomach or put something on it?"

Naruto tried to think back, it was hard to pinpoint an exact instance. The exam felt like it had been going on for months. It felt even longer than the mission in the fog-filled Nami-no-Kuni.

Then the memories came flooding in. "Wait! There was that one time when the teme was being a little scaredy-cat. I was fighting this really big snake." Naruto noticed the old man and the pervert exchanging glances. Their short exchange rippled the hairs on the rear of his neck to life.

"Anyway after I killed the snake, I went to help out my team, and you know what? Sasuke was going to give our scroll to this woman with a really long tongue, only she really wasn't a she, she was a he." again they exchanged looks and Naruto was starting to get annoyed. "Well he was really strong, and I don't know what happened. I was getting really strong. I guess Haku was right when he said protecting your precious people makes you strong."

Ebisu and the Sandaime continued exchanging glances as if they were having some kind of silent conversation that Naruto wasn't privy too. "Okay, what the hell is going on? You guys are acting like you know this guy!"

The old man offered him an apologetic smile. "finish your briefing, Naruto-kun and I will let you know whats going on. It's only fair after all."

"Alright, well the snake guy gut-punched me and wrapped that long-ass tongue around me. I couldn't do anything, I was upside down, you know? And then he hit me in my stomach again and that's all I remember before waking up to Sasuke beating up those sound guys." the blond replied.

"It is as I thought, Orochimaru has interfered with the seal. I should have known. This is the kind of shoddy seal work I can expect from my former student." the old man shook his head, thinking of another seal marring one of his subordinates. To think his' once genius student had become little more than a glorified tattoo artist-and a poor one at that.

Naruto came to a pause and pointed an accusing finger at the Sandaime and took a step back, "Wait! He was your student?"

The Sandaime sighed, "Yes, I once had students. Three of them in fact and they've turned out to be my biggest mistakes. When you live as long as I have, you truly live to see your mistakes."

"Okay, but you can fix this, right? I mean he was your student. That means you're stronger than him right?"

"Not necessarily, perhaps in my youth but now? Now I am an old man with a bad back and even worse lungs." the old man smirked as five blue flames ignited at the tip of each finger. "However, you are fortunate that the only ninja with better fuinjutsu knowledge than me, is my other student, Jiraiya."

Naruo's eyes widened to a considerable degree as five flames of blue flickered to life at the end of each of the Sandaime's fingertips.

"Gogyo Kaiin(Five Elements: Unseal)!"The Sandiame's hand came crashing into his naval with the power behind it to collapse nations and he fell, hunched over and grasping on to his burning stomach. Naruto felt his chakra unwind and spring forth as it twisted out like monsoon winds over the sea. "That ought to do it."

"Give me a little warning next time," Naruto looked up from the floor to see a grinning Sandaime. This was revenge for calling him an old man all the time, wasn't it?

"Come on, Naruto-kun, there is no time to waste. Let's go." Ebisu didn't even give Naruto a chance to answer before turning to the old man. "I can't thank you enough, Hokage-sama."

Naruto wasn't even sure what was going on, the only thing he was sure of was the feeling his chakra free, and unrestrained gave him hope. He was going to slay the monsters of the Chunin Exams, all he needed was his chakra and a big can of whoop-ass.

Naruto stood on top of the water once again and he was accompanied by a smattering of five clones.

Ebisu explained that Naruto had to limit his use of clones for this training because there was no telling what kind of mental backlash it would have.

"That's good, now that you've established a starting base you can start exploring the water with your clones. Give it about twenty minutes and dispel your clones," instructed Ebisu.

Naruto and his clones started maneuvering around the hot spring which came to be somewhat of a challenge with the amount of space available, often enough they had to side-step one another, which caused fluctuations in the ebb and flow of both their chakra and the water.

Their feet dipped below the water often enough but became less frequent as they neared the twenty-minute mark. He and his clones had even taken to shadow boxing one another on the surface of the water, with a heavy emphasis on the movement with none of it on speed or impact.

As they reached the twenty-minute mark, Ebisu spoke up, "Alright, dispel your clones, and make certain that you focus on the influx of chakra entering your circulatory system."

Naruto had no idea what that meant exactly but he dispelled the clones regardless. The blond fell to his knees, clutching his head and wincing his eyes. It hurt like ten of Iruka-sensei's heaviest books hitting him all at once.

Naruto looked down when he opened his eyes and his mouth hung. The pervert really knows what he's talking about. "You've progressed quite nicely, Naruto-kun. To be truthful, I did not expect this kind of growth in such a short amount of time, even with the Kage Bunshin."

And indeed, Naruto hadn't left the bath before dispelling, in fact, he was now kneeling on top of the surface of the water as if it were any old solid surface, almost unconsciously.

Naruto stood up and kicked into the air, pivoting his weight on to his left leg, he sunk ever so slightly and returned to his previous stance. "Obviously, you still require practice, but I'll leave that to your clones. You cannot master that skill in one day. And I believe it is highly unlikely that you mastered tree climbing either." Ebisu rubbed his chin. "Well there is no need for the hot water any longer and I think training is just about done for the day. I'll pick you up tomorrow and take you to the spot we will be using for the duration of this month of training."

Naruto watched the pervert walk off and he had to admit that he wasn't as useless as he thought. He was a hard-ass and a giant stick in the mud, and he was very much a pervert, but he knew how to teach. In fact, he had taught him more in one hour than he had learned during his entire academy career and most of his Genin career under Kakashi.

The moonlight illuminated the streets of Konoha just enough to guide him through the dark streets. It had been a while since he was truly excited about training, and he would finally be learning Ninjutsu. It was what he always wanted and he couldn't imagine why nobody wanted to teach him. It was his one strength.

Chakra, he thought while he ambled through the scarcely populated areas of the village. Chakra is what he had in bucket loads-no, carriage loads, he corrected. The first time that he used the Kage Bunshin, he managed to fill an entire battleground with them.

To his knowledge, most Ninjutsu specialists could barely pull off twenty of them, and he was throwing around hundreds of them like they were lucky packets at some kid's birthday.

He came to a stop as he reached one of the empty training grounds, there was a tree trunk to the center and small, quaint pond off to the side, alongside the tree line marking the boundary of the open battlefield.

Naruto formed the ever familiar, modified-ox, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" a complete whiteout of smog obscured his vision until a smattering of orange brought the dark field to life. "Alright, let's get training, we have a lot of ass to beat and not enough time to do it. Let's get to it. Dattebayo!"

Now usually Naruto's clones were outright asses about doing anything for Naruto. His time doing D-rank missions was proof enough. "Damn clones tried to throw dogshit at me."

Nevertheless, they understood the importance of training, and besides, he was bribing himself with Ninjutsu that he was in-turn being bribed with. It was a win-win-win situation. Now that his clones were out of the way, his mission was up.

It was time for shut-eye: who knows what the pervert had up his sleeve for tomorrow?

The month that followed had been a long, and grueling one, Naruto had not and could not imagine all that he learned in such a short space of time. Sure, Kage Bunshin was one hell of a way to speed up the learning curve by ten or even a hundredfold-if one was so inclined-and yet he still could not begin to understand exactly how it came to be.

Even those around him took note, Shikamaru pushed off the tree he was resting on, "What's with the new gear? I never thought that I'd see you without the orange."

Naruto took the time to evaluate himself, pitch-black combat fatigues secured around the ankles and covered with blue plated shin-guards. At his waist, he had the standard kunai pouch, and the shuriken pouch lower down the sides of both thighs, each wrapped in combat wraps that starkly contrasted the heavy black fatigues.

Above he wore a simple black shirt that hugged his form tightly, it was covered in metal plates covering the chest and shoulders, as well as the sides of his neck. The next set of plates covered his bare forearms, spreading out like the shell of an armadillo.

The final finish to the ensemble was a pair of dark shades, in the shape of small disks. What was there to say? His sensei had style.

Besides, his particular brand of Ninjutsu was prone to becoming flashy at the tip of the hat, it didn't just look good, it was practical too!

"Felt like a change I guess," Naruto shrugged indifferently. "cant be the Hokage if I don't start dressing the part."

The assembled ninja decided to give him an appraising eye, including his next opponent. "Whatever the clothes you wear, fate has dictated me the winner."

"Fate can get screwed if you ask me." Naruto stepped forward and he balled his right fist up until the knuckles became white. "You better shut up about this fate shit. When I beat you, I don't want you using fate as an excuse. I beat you because I'm a bonafide, hardworking, badass!"

Those around Naruto eyed him sharply, he breathed in deeply, one heartbeat, two heartbeats, and his chest stopped heaving from his tirade. Those up above in the stands, eyed the group like they were a herd of, particularly juicy cash cows.

He could see it in their eyes, they were calling for blood, and most of them wanted to see his blood. "Sorry to disappoint you guys, but I'm not falling over for any of you. I'm winning these exams!"

"Quiet down, Hokage-sama is about to speak." said an unknown leaf ninja. He wore a bandanna a lot like the pervert-Ebisu-but instead of glasses, he chewed on a senbon as if it were preserved meat.

"Thank you all for attending the Chunin Selection Exams. It will be made up of the brilliant eight participants that have managed to progress to this stage. They have earned their chance to show off to our dear audience." Hiruzen Sarutobi returned his arms to his sides, "I will leave you in our proctor, Genma Shiranui's capable hands."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." said the aforementioned Genma, popping the senbon out of his mouth as he spoke. "Welcome to the Chunin exams, I will be getting the fights started as soon as possible. But first, I will announce a slight change to the tournament as Dosu Kinuta of Otogakure has dropped out of the competition." his voice was amplified through the whole arena.

Genma showed the participant the revised tournament layout, "Hey, Sasuke isn't here yet." everyone else looked around when Naruto brought it up. "What's gonna happen if he isn't here?"

Naruto wanted to fight Sasuke, to show the assembled crowd and his peers just how far he had come. "If he isn't here, then he will be forced to forfeit and his opponent will take the win."

Kakashi was training his rival a little too well, he mused, thinking back on the outrageous examples of his sensei's tardiness. He hoped that he wouldn't pick up on either of his sensei's bad qualities, their perversions coming to the forefront of his mind.

Naruto grinned widely, unnerving his fellow participants-except Gaara of course, he was probably holding puppet shows for his 'mother'- 'I should have brought a book to read, that would have really pissed that stuck-up white-eyed punk, Neji.'

"Enough chit-chat. Clear out everyone, except for Uzumaki and Hyuuga." the assembled shinobi disappeared in each their own manner, most of them made swift work of it.

"Today we open up with Neji Hyuuga versus Naruto Uzumaki, and it promises to be an entertaining match-up," announced Genma, broadcasting his amplified voice-that happened to reverberate against the walls and vibrate deep in your chest-through the stadium.

Up in the spectator's booth reserved for participants and their sensei, the topic of Naruto Uzumaki wasn't far from their lips.

None was more interesting than the presence of Ebisu. "What are you doing up here? I half expected you to be running after little Konohamaru-kun, Ebisu."

Ebisu spared Asuma a glance, "One of my students are participating, why wouldn't I be here to support them?"

"Don't tell me that you've been training, Naruto!" exclaimed Asuma, who smacked his forehead, very uncharacteristically. "I was wondering why Konohamaru has been so annoying lately."

"Of course I have, and I mean to witness, Naruto win these exams, on my honor as a tutor." he did not move his eyes from the arena floor.

"Come now Ebisu-san, you do not expect Naruto beat Neji do you? He even defeated my own Hinata. How far could he have possibly come?" Kurenai asked, and Ebisu turned to face her,

Kurenai truly was a beautiful woman, her ruby red lips frowned at him and he smirked. "Just you wait and see."

The sound of Genma's voice and the roar of the crowd as he exclaimed, "Hajime!" drowned out whatever reply she or anyone else had for him on the matter.

It was no matter, Ebisu pondered as he gripped on to the railing. "Perhaps I will be responsible for training two Hokages in my lifetime."

But nobody heard him over the roar of the crowd.

AN: Yeah, yeah, I know I've avoided writing the fight scene, all divulging much of the training and the type of Ninjutsu Naruto will be using, and you'll have to wait and see. Although I shall shout-out those that bother guessing what it is, and guess right at the end of the next chapter.

I hope you have enjoyed, and any of you that are fans of my other stories, please know they're not on any kind of Hiatus, I just haven't got around to them

Thank you for reading, leave a review, follow and fav and you'll be the first to know when I update. .