Naruto could admit that he was lots of things. Stubborn, hot headed, and a bit of a loud mouth.
But so too could he honestly say that he was willing to put in all the hard work necessary when needed. You didn't get to paint the Hokage monument after all without having some skill after all.
That being said, after his sensei had dismissed his team early after another dull day of team training, Naruto really was beginning to think they were being shafted. They could sort of work together sure, but they weren't learning anything! No jutsu, no skills, hell, even dog breath was talking about the awesome stuff his teacher was showing them. Not that he was into eavesdropping. Not at all.
Frustrated and ready for the day to be over, Naruto shoved his hands in his jacket pockets and made his way home. Maybe old man Teuchi would have a story or two for him. Course set for ramen, Naruto set off. The sun was still decently high in the sky and there was a good breeze that rustled through the trees around him. As he got into the village proper he wanted to enjoy the outside as much as possible.
Though with the looks the villagers sent his way as he started making his way through the crowd that hope was dashed as well. Pulling his jacket tighter but keeping a wide smile on his face, Naruto focused on nothing else but hitting the ramen stand.
Teuchi had been around for a decent amount of time in this village, from the last war to the Kyuubi attack till now, he'd heard some crazy stories and served everyone from civilians to Hokages. That said, watching Naruto drag himself into his stand to sit with a bright but fake smile on his face never sat well with him. Already working on and preparing a miso ramen for the kid, he'd lend an ear just as he always did. "How's it going Naruto? Another hard day of training?"
"If you could call it that. I wanna train, but Kakashi-sensei says training to much would be just as bad as not training enough." Secretly, Naruto got the feeling that Kakashi didn't want to train them at all.
"Well, why don't you go train on your own then?" Ayame poked her head out from the back where she was preparing more broth, ever chipper and happy to see the young blonde, she was like an older sister Naruto never had.
"That'd be great if I knew what to train in. Sure I can work out for hours and hours, but that's it, and I can only do some much of that in one day."
"Why don't you get scrolls from the library. You're a genin now aren't you?" Teuchi mentioned offhandedly as he remembered several previous genin and chunin mentioning the ninja library.
"I....didn't think about it..." While school hadn't been the greatest for him as it was full of teachers who either saw a demon not worth training, or eventually a knucklehead who only wanted attention. No one had mentioned being able to go in the library once he was a genin. He had tried once while in the academy and been turned away but maybe it'd be different now?
Placing a bowl down and looking out at the high sun the old proprietor nodded, "Maybe give it a shot. If your sensei is giving you lots of free time, maybe he's waiting for you to take some initiative?" Teuchi had seen it before.
Nodding and already working on his first bowl, Naruto figured he could at least give it a shot. No matter what anyone thought of him, he could sit down and read when needed. He had learned the kage bushin in a single night after all. Going over the idea some more, already downing and working on a second bowl now, Naruto nodded to himself and decided it was off to the library then.
Watching the boy work through several bowls before laying down money and wishing them both a good day, Teuchi had a smile on his face as at least now the smile on the boy's face looked a little more genuine. Shaking himself and welcoming a team into his stand, he put it in his mind to check up on the boy next time he came by.
Naruto however was all but sprinting through town, dodging through people and other ninja alike as at the least he could either get this out of the way and get good news. Or get rejected and spend the rest of the night working out and beating the crap out of a training post. Moving from the market district and coming up closer to the Hokage tower, it wasn't much longer where along an unmarked red and tan building he found the library itself. High windows and a clean exterior, Naruto put faith in that hopefully things would be different this time. Pushing open the door and walking in, he was met with silence with a heavy smell of paper and wood. There was a reception desk ahead of him and ignoring the odd tingle that ran through him, he walked up to a stern looking woman at the desk.
"Uh, hello?" His voice cracked at the worst time and he really sounded more timid than he wanted to, but the woman looked him up and down all the same.