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A Nugget Of Advice, Chapter 3

The Next Day…

"The first steps to using Earth Release ninjutsu is learning how to mold and control the earth around you." Ebisu pointed to the ground under them. "I want you to focus your chakra into your hands, glue it to the ground, and pick up the dirt with your hands."

"What's the point of this?" Naruto furrowed his brow in confusion. "I can pick up dirt already."

"With chakra, Naruto-kun." Ebisu shook his head in slight exasperation. "Think. We can all simply pick up dirt, but it is soft, and falls apart. I am asking you to pick it up with your chakra and to not spill a bit of it. Almost all Earth Release ninjutsu uses preexisting sources of Earth in order to create techniques. More advanced users can simply create earth from their chakra. Right now, you will be learning to manipulate the earth beneath your feet, and keeping it all together with your chakra. You will be learning how to do just that for the time being. Now, no more talking. Concentrate."

Naruto sighed, but obeyed, and started channeling chakra in his body. Then, he focused it into his hands, letting it channel through them for a brief moment. Satisfied and comfortable with the amount he had generated, he then placed his hands slowly onto the ground, and tried picking up some of the earth beneath him.

For his troubles, Naruto's hand simply bounced off the ground and nearly smacked him back of his face. Recoiling slightly in some pain, Naruto recovered, blinking owlishly. "Huh? What the hell…?"

Ebisu folded his arms. "Not enough chakra, Naruto-kun. The earth rejected it."

"Not enough? But I thought putting too much wouldn't be good."

"Of course not, but the same could be said about putting too little. Remember: this is more than learning how to utilize your elemental affinity. This is an advanced level of chakra control. You must find the right balance of chakra. This is why we were doing chakra control exercises for a week previously. Exercises you were complaining about, no less."

Realizing this will be more complicated than he thought, Naruto made a familiar hand seal. "Kage Bunshin no-"

"Wait, Naruto-kun." Ebisu called out, grabbing the boy's hand before Naruto could complete his technique. He was no sensor but he could practically feel all that build up of chakra from Naruto. "Before you start making a bunch of shadow clones, I want you to realize what using too many clones can do to your body after you dispel them. Make two, or three clones. However, do not make twenty. The more clones you make, the more clones dispelling at a certain time period can damage you mentally."

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows, closing his eyes in frustration. "Gah! Only three? I just wanna get this down so I can start learnin' some ninjutsu! 'Sides, I make a lot of clones all the time, and dispelled 'em, and they never killed me before. Never had to worry about it."

"In due time, Naruto-kun." Ebisu said calmly, not allowing himself to become irritated by the boy's eagerness to push through the important part of the training without caution. "I told you already it takes a while to learn how to use one's chakra to manipulate a chakra nature. Have patience. You have a road ahead of you. Most of this will be done on your spare time. I will start you on the path, but you have to walk it."

Naruto tried not to roll his eyes, sighing deeply. "Fine. Three clones tops, Ebisu-sensei.."

Ebisu was not very convinced. "Take your fingers from behind your back, Naruto. You are not slick."

"Godammit." Naruto swore under his breath. So what if he was crossing his fingers behind his back? If this was most of this to be done in his spare time, why did it matter if Naruto used all the clones he wanted to help him? Besides, just because he had a lot clones doesn't mean he would dispel all of them at once.

"Patience, Naruto-kun." Ebisu dug into his pockets, grabbing a white cloth. He then took his spectacles off, and wiped them clean with the cloth. "Good things come with patience."

"I know, but I got until the end of this month to make sure Neji doesn't win. I need to find ways to beat him."

"Hm. The best way to learn how to do that… Is to study on his source of strength. Tell me: do you know what Neji's most used tool is?"

"Ah, man. Not more of this riddle shit. What? His mind?" Naruto scoffed, remembering that one time Iruka-sensei from the Konoha Academy once said a ninja's "best tool was his mind".

"Not in this case, Naruto-kun." The tobeketsu jōnin smiled thinly; his eyebrow twitched in annoyance at Naruto's uncouth language. "His eyes, Naruto-kun. The Byakugan. Do you know anything about the Byakugan?"

"Not… As much as I like." Naruto admitted. Scratching his cheek sheepishly, he uttered, "Haven't exactly found out the trick to that dōjutsu thingie."

"Well, perhaps it's time to look up a solution, if that troubles you. Go to the library in your spare time." Ebisu watched his student's face light up with some distaste.

Naruto groaned. "Ah, man. The library. Studying. So boring. I'm not a book person, Sensei."

"I figured," Believe him, Ebisu did, "But it is still good to once in a while read up something that you don't know so it can help you. If you are weak in one area, seek out a person who is strong in said area. Or in this case, something. Use everything as your resource."

"If it spares me a speech, maybe I'll go hit up the library… Some time this week." Naruto conceded, saying it in defeat. Rubbing his temples, and sighing, he bemoaned, "Alright. I'll do it, but I wanna get this chakra training down."

"Yes, you will, Naruto-kun. Knowing you, no matter what I say, you will not stop until you prevail." Ebisu chuckled wholeheartedly. "Alright, let us concentrate now. Back to the exercise."

Naruto saluted, a little more energetically. "Yes, sir!" The blond-haired boy once again tried channeling chakra into his hands. This time, a bunch. In his excitement, he practically slammed his hands into the ground…

And felt his hands, and then his arms sink. "Huh? Huh?! AH! SENSEI, HELP! I'M SINKING! I'M FUCKING SINKING!"

Ebisu stifled a peal of laughter. "Naruto-kun, calm down. Simply cut the link of chakra flowing through your hands."

"WHAT?!"

"Stop channeling chakra, Naruto. Simple as that." Ebisu explained again.

Naruto tried to stop panicking, and stop channeling chakra into his hands. When he felt the channeling chakra in hands ceasing, his arms were completely submerged in dirt, and his face was nearly touching the ground. He immediately lifted himself and ripped his two limbs out of the ground, creating a small, but noticeable hole in the soil. Dirt and grime caked his arms, hands, and fingernails, but his arms were unscathed. Still, Naruto felt icky with all this crap on his limbs. "...Okay, I'll let my clones figure this one out while we do something else."

Ebisu nodded. "Probably a good choice. I will let you decide. I will give you a few minutes to find a nearby water stream and wash yourself. We shall continue training."

Naruto smiled. "Thanks, Sensei. I'll be back!" Then, the boy hopped away, moving to find his objective.

Ebisu chuckled at his student's antics. Boy, was Naruto-kun quite the hassle sometimes.

Jiraiya had finally made to the outskirts of Konohagakure by noon. The front gates of the village was in his vision, just a small distance out. A great part of him wanted to hit up the entertainment district of Konohagakure, and go to his favorite place in the world: the bathhouses. Where the wonders and contours of the female body awaited his viewing eyes. Just thinking of it put a smile on Jiraiya's face.

Alas, Sarutobi-sensei had given him the urgent call to make it back to the village. Something to do with Orochimaru and his presence in Konohagakure, which was indeed important. Who knew what Orochimaru was planning? It was no secret that the missing-nin despised his former home, and if he dared stepping in the village again after a decade of being banished, then he was about to start trouble again. Among other things that were important – one thing involving his godson – and Jiraiya stopped his operations in other countries temporarily, and returned home to Hi no Kuni.

To be back in his homeland was something that gave Jiraiya a small smile. Jiraiya was a rolling stone, never staying in one place for an extended amount of time. He got to see lands, meet important people, and experience things not many people did in their entire lifetime. However, he did miss the village in his time away. Being back, even for a while, would be nice. How long had it been again? 8 years?

Damn, had it been that long? It had, hadn't it? He only remembered so because he saw Naruto Uzumaki jet through the forest leading outside the territory of the hidden village Konohagakure, stopping by a body of water.

Nostalgia and a great underlying surface of sadness washed over him when he seen Minato's boy run around from the clearing, nearby a training ground. He had last seen the boy around when he was 4, or at the very least got a look at him before going back off to his duties given to him by the Sandaime Hokage. He took a month off from the adventuring, and visited the village to see what was going one, before go back outside the village on another adventure. Naruto probably didn't even remember his face. A damn shame too, seeing as Jiraiya was supposed to be his godfather and all.

Naruto had looked like he was becoming a teen now. The growth spurt didn't apparently kick in, because he looked super short. What was Naruto doing out here? Apparently, he had some sort of grime on him, or something, and he made it to a stream. Washing his arms and hands of the brown stuff. Was he out here training or something, Jiraiya wondered to himself. Interesting.

Curiosity getting the better of him, Jiraiya followed the boy back a bit, to where he met back with his teacher. He was not that very aware of his surroundings, he snorted. He made plenty of noise, and Naruto practically raced back to wherever he came from, without so much of a worry. He supposed he could not fault him. Jiraiya, after all, was a master of stealth and had decades of hiding experience over Naruto. So, he easily trailed Naruto, and followed him back.

To which Jiraiya saw Ebisu, a jōnin-level shinobi, tutoring Naruto. Jiraiya wasn't very acquainted with the man, but they knew each other, at least on name and face basis. Jiraiya met the man when he was with the Sandaime Hokage once. The jōnin then asked him if he wanted to continue working on his elemental affinity, to which Naruto stated yes loudly. The sannin whistled impressively. Not many genin type of shinobi worked with their chakra nature at a young age. Jiraiya himself didn't learn his chakra affinity at a young age like that. After all, he was one of those late bloomers. Perhaps Naruto took after his father more than his mother.

Then he seen the boy use several shadow clones and his eyes widened. The Kage Bunshin no Jutsu was a jōnin-level technique that many jōnin couldn't make more than three without feeling tired. Since when the kid had access to that technique? The boy made four, and attempted to utilize his chakra. Another shock came to him when he seen Naruto's clones place their hands from the ground and pick up pieces of the Earth itself.

Or attempted to anyway, as most of it fell to the ground. Naruto growled in frustration, but his clone continued to do the "dirty work". Jiraiya had to chuckle a little at the little funny he made. Still, tasteless pun aside, Jiraiya pondered in the trees above about this new discovery. Doton affinity? Wasn't Minato's affinity Katon?

'Or was it fūton? Come to think of it wasn't Kushina's affinity wind and not Minato? Eh. Doesn't really matter.' Jiraiya seen the boy use his clones to do the technique, meanwhile he and Ebisu continue training, and doing other things. Things like working on Naruto's taijutsu skills. It was intriguing, definitely.

He realized he should have left, but he found himself staying for another twenty minutes later, watching Naruto training with his sensei. Finally done with watching his godson, Jiraiya smiled wistfully, and left the training grounds, and back to civilization in Konohagakure. It was time to do so anyway, or the Hokage would tan his hide. He had to catch up with his godson. Perhaps even give him some help with his training, seeing he was using Doton ninjutsu.

Ah, but he would have to see, especially if Sarutobi-sensei had other plans for him. Jiraiya would figure it out. For now though, Naruto looked to be doing just fine right now. Yes, on the right path.

Naruto was finished for the day with his training. No success was made today with how many clones his teacher made him use. Ebisu also left relatively early today, so Naruto could not continue training in other things that did not involve ninjutsu. He wanted to actually spawn a thousand of clones, and have them all work on the earth release exercise, but he made a promise to his teacher, and – a part of him that got him sometimes in trouble – he refused to break that promise.

After hours of frustration, Naruto gave up, and decided to take a break from it all. Tomorrow would come anyway, and Naruto could spend hours attempting the technique again.

"Heh, I'm sure I'll get it down soon enough." Naruto grinned to himself, closing his eyes and putting his hands behind his head. Strolling inside the village's gates once again after being checked by the stationed chūnin there, he decided to continue wandering around, and go places-

-And by places, he meant Ramen Ichiraku to get a bite to eat. It was around lunch time for him. All the training had worked up a mean hungry in Naruto, and he would oblige fulfilling it. It took a few minutes, but he made it to Ichiraku, and immediately plopped down into a seat. The sound of his shuffling around as he entered the shop was enough to tip off the person behind the counter.

Ayame smiled at him jovially as the young boy entered the shop. "Naruto, our favorite customer! How's it going?"

"Swell." Naruto smiled back. "After some training, I thought some ramen would hit the spot right about now!"

The brown haired waitress giggled, leaning forward. "You would have been coming around this time, even if you weren't training."

The blond-haired boy guffawed at the older teenager's response. "Ah, Ayame-nē-chan. You know me so well. So, where's Teuchi-jiji?"

"Father's out taking care of some business outside the village. It's just me today."

"Aww, hopefully you ain't lonely, nē-chan. Manning one shop for the day without any help must be difficult." Naruto seen the girl waved her hands, shaking off his comment.

"Nah, it's good my dad is gone for the day. Everyone needs a break from the people they love. Besides, business is usually slow on Sunday afternoons anyway. I can handle it." Ayame chuckled, and straightened up, ready to take her younger friend's order. "Heh. So, what's it today, Naruto?"

"My classic miso, please!" The 13-year old pounded his fists on the counter excitedly. "Ramen, ramen!"

Ayame laughed, holding her hands up. "Okay, okay, Naruto. Settle down. One miso ramen… Starting, of course." She gave one last smile to the boy before disappearing back into the kitchen.

"She's a cutie, isn't she?" A voice rang from outside the shop. Naruto raised an eyebrow at the source of the voice.

A very tall man with white, spiky and long hair, a red haori, a green kimono, and green pants entered the restaurant. Red lines adorned his face, starting from his eyes, and finishing at his jawline. He wore a friendly smile on his face, and plopped down next down to Naruto.

Naruto gave him a neutral, analyzing look before shrugging. "I haven't noticed."

"No?" The man grinned at him. Naruto found himself not quite liking that grin. It looked vaguely... perverted. "She's a cutie little thing. Probably grow up to be quite the beauty."

Naruto again found himself shrugging, trying to shake off that uncomfortable feeling. It sounded like the man was a pervert alright. "She's not my type."

"Ha! Not really into girls that age, huh? Or do you, you know, swing another way?"

Naruto glared slightly at the man. "Ayame-nē-chan is like family to me. I don't like her like that! So shut your face, old man!"

The man guffawed. "Settle down, kid. I'm just kidding. Although, don't think I didn't catch you not answering my other question."

"What other question?"

The man shook his head, obviously amused. He didn't bother answering Naruto's question, to which the blond-haired Uzumaki frowned at. Naruto watched the man turn his attention to the kitchen, and yell out, "Waitress! I'd like what the brat here's having, please!"

"One miso ramen coming up!" Yelled back the girl from the kitchen.

Naruto harrumphed. "Stop bothering me, old guy."

The man snorted. "You know, I'm not some 'old guy', you know? Do you even know who I am, kid?"

"No, and why should I care?" The blond-haired boy folded his arms.

"Tsk. Typical kids these days don't know what generation proceeded before. I'm the Great One! I'm the excellent, sublime, and awesome hero of the Second Shinobi World War. I'm the gallant one himself, I am-"

"Gama Sennin no Jiraiya!" A gasp from Ayame came out. Ayame almost dropped the soup she was holding, ignoring the cry of protest from Naruto. The young woman, in the end, got the bowl of noodle soup to Naruto shakily. She placed Naruto's food on the counter, and immediately did a deep bow. "I-It's an honor, sir."

"Geez, Ayame-nē-chan! You almost spilled my ramen!" Naruto took his ramen bowl and hugged it to his chest protectively. "What did it do to you?!"

Jiraiya smirked at Ayame's blatant show of reverence towards him. "See? She's just a civilian and she knows more about my reputation than you, brat." The war hero snorted. "Kids these days..."

Naruto rolled his eyes. He placed his soup back down, thanked the waitress, and cracked open the chopsticks Ayame placed on the table with his bowl of soup. "So you're a war hero, huh? Big whoop." Naruto relished the man's face falling into a frown. "I couldn't care less."

Ayame gasped at Naruto's blatant disrespect. "N-Naruto, please! Apologize! This man is Jiraiya of the Sannin. The legendary three shinobi that are at the level of the Hokage himself, and powerful warriors with esteemed reputations!" She turned back to the older man and bowed again. "I apologize, Jiraiya-sama. Your food will be right on its way."

The man waved. "Take your time." The two males watched the female waitress return back into the kitchen area of the shop. Jiraiya then grinned over at Naruto cockily. "See? I'm an esteemed, powerful warrior, boy."

"And that impresses me… how?" Naruto grinned, digging into his soup. Getting a handful of some noodles with his sticks, and slurping them up in a mighty gulp, Naruto chuckled, and started talking in the back to his friend. "What impresses me more is how in the hell do you always make miso so good, nē-chan ? Some old coot doesn't faze me."

Jiraiya folded his arms and growled. "'Old coot?' Listen kid, I could kick your ass easily if I wanted to. In fact, I can show you now if you want."

Naruto snorted. "If Ayame-nē-chan said you're on the level of Sarutobi-jiji, fighting you would be stupid. You may be super strong, but you don't automatically get my respect and awe just because you're some great warrior of an old era. You want my respect? Get in line and earn it."

Jiraiya looked him over for a second, almost glaring at him, before guffawing, and slapping Naruto's back in a jolly manner. The boy immediately almost chocked on some food he was eating, and coughed loudly at the man's strength. Shit, this guy patted his back so hard, it almost hurt. "I like you, kid. You're not so easily impressed and know what you're talking about. You got some spunk. Still, it would do you some good if you respect your elders, you know? I'm Jiraiya. What's your name, boy?"

"N-Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto sputtered out, regaining some of his wits.

Jiraiya smiled. "Naruto… A respectable, gutsy name. Perhaps it could even be a legendary one, one day. Hey kid, you participating in the Chūnin Exams this year?"

"Yeah, I am." The orange clad genin nodded, wondering how the guy guessed that. "How did you know?"

The toad sage whistled. "Ooh, boy. Can't remember how long has it was since I became a chūnin. Good times. Ah, then again most of those good times were also pretty bad... War and all."

"Mmhmm..." Naruto hummed, barely veiling his disinterest. He did not want to hear some old timer wax on some of his old "glory days" stories. He was just here for the ramen.

But Jiraiya did wax indeed, for almost a half-hour, and while some stories were, admittedly, interesting, most were about how awesome the guy was. How arrogant was that?

Naruto immediately ignored the feeling of being a hypocrite, and readied himself to leave Ramen Ichiraku. As soon as he finished his soup, he told the man an excuse about needing to be somewhere else, muttered a "Thank you", and jetted out of there. Paid his bill to Ayame and left before he could get his ear talked off.

Unknown to him, Jiraiya's eyes followed him out. After a lingering look, and a small chuckle, Jiraiya finished the rest of his miso ramen, thanked the waitress, and left the shop as well. He knew where next he had to go.

Ebisu enjoyed the night air's pleasant wind, finishing up eating at his favorite little restaurant in town. Deciding not wanting to eat at home tonight, and treating himself to some delicious kamaboko and fried crab tonight, his stomach was very pleased. He was now off to home, to enjoy an hour of light reading, then sleeping for tomorrow, where he would continue his training of young Naruto Uzumaki.

He had to admit, the training was going smoother than he first thought it would be like when he agreed to this arrangement Kakashi-san set up. Much better. Although the boy had gotten on his nerves quite a bit, and tried his patience, Naruto was starting to come around in his training. Perhaps he would be able to learn some new ninjutsu over the course of the month. The boy did need something more offensive against Neji Hyūga. Ebisu had an idea on what to teach Naruto next, but it required him to master his earth chakra. He knew how the boy worked. Once determined, it seemed like Naruto would stop at nothing but to succeed in his task. That attitude could carry him places. Soon, Naruto would be ready to learn what Ebisu wanted to teach him.

Ebisu was so busy pondering, he didn't notice bumping into someone. Someone much taller than him, and someone familiar. In fact, someone quite famous. It wasn't soon until Ebisu was bowing deeply and apologizing profusely to who he rudely walked into. "Ah! Jiraiya-sama! Forgive me, milord! I hope I did not ruin anything on your person!"

Jiraiya himself would call Ebisu's apologizing "groveling on the floor". He could swear the bandana wearing shinobi was saying under his breath "I am not worth!" a couple of times too.

The older man scratched his head in confusion. "Uh, it's okay...?" Remembering why he approached the increasingly peculiar man, he raised his voice to get the bowing man's attention. "Hey, Ebisu-san, straighten up! I would like to have a word with you."

"Yes, sir. What do you need, Jiraiya-sama?" Ebisu quickly stood tall again, giving the older man his undivided attention.

Jiraiya folded his arms, already in business mode. "I see you're teaching Naruto Uzumaki. What? Is this a short affair? Coulda sworn Kakashi had that little squirt as a student."

Ebisu nodded. "Ah, yes. Kakashi-kun could not teach Naruto in the month, due to needing to tend to Sasuke Uchiha for the month. Orochimaru, unfortunately, attacked him in the Chūnin Exams..."

Jiraiya hummed in comprehension. He remembered being briefed on that by Sarutobi-sensei. That damn Orochimaru got his hands on the Uchiha and gave that boy the dreaded Ten no Juin, his personally designed juinjutsu that he branded on his victims. Or people of interest. Even to this day, that damn technique still eluded him to no end. Anko Mitarashi also had the same thing too. Poor girl had been branded with the damn seal for years now.

Jiraiya grunted, ceasing his pondering of Orochimaru's juinjutsu. "I see. Well, it seems like you are doing a good job so far. I seen a little glimpse of what you guys were doing earlier today when you two were training. I got to say, I'm impressed at the boy's progress. Good job."

Ebisu blushed in embarrassment. "Thank you, milord. I am humbled by your praise. Naruto-kun is a good student, as well as one of the most driven ones I have taught in my years of teaching. It has only been two weeks, and Naruto-kun has gotten a good amount of progress with his Earth Release chakra training."

"Yeah. I respect that. Gotta thank the Nidame Hokage for coming up with that Kage Bunshin, man. Lord know how long it took regular joes like me or you to get the steps down for our elemental affinities." Jiraiya chuckled wistfully. "You know, Sarutobi-sensei wanted me to step in and train Naruto for the month originally, but I got... Kind of set back a day or two and didn't return to the village in time." Jiraiya's guffaw sounded vaguely perverted. "'Habits' and all. My affinity for hot springs have bitten me on my ass quite a few times in my life."

Ebisu nodded, softly stating, "I understand." Not that he would admit it out loud, but he did share a bit of Jiraiya's "habits"... and affinity for hot springs. "So, do you want me to back off and you teach him from here on out?"

Jiraiya shook his head. "Nah. Me and Sarutobi-sensei already agreed that you are already doing a good job with him. Truth be told, I didn't have much of a plan to teach him. I might have had him sign the toad summoning contract, helped him with his chakra control, or something else, but nothing like what you're doing with him. So, I leave the task of physically training the boy to you. I'll come back to him a little after the exams."

Pausing for a second, Jiraiya reached into a pocket in his red haori, and pulled out a white scroll. "No, instead, I got some few things on a scroll I think he would like to learn. Since he's an earth-type user, I thought it would be good to learn some jutsu in that elemental branch. That way, I made my contribution for the month. Just give to him once he's done with learning how to use his elemental chakra. These techniques are good for him too – none of these are low-level." Then, he tossed the scroll over to Ebisu. "Catch."

The bandana wearing tokebetsu jōnin caught the scroll easily, and opened it to scan the techniques inside. There were a total of six techniques that were on the scroll. Some of these techniques Ebisu recognized, but most were foreign to him. Nevertheless, they were well-detailed, and nothing Ebisu himself couldn't help Naruto with. Interestingly enough, there were some mid to high-level techniques inside. Nothing too insane, although one of the techniques Jiraiya had written inside the scroll had been an A-rank. It wasn't an offensive technique – more defensive in nature. Nevertheless, it would go for a good cause. It didn't quite matter what technique Naruto would attempt; with Naruto's monstrous chakra level, it would all work out just fine. It would fit right up the boy's alley.

Ebisu nodded, thinking it was a good idea, and pocketed the scroll in a free area on his person. "This is a splendid idea. I will let Naruto know when the time is right."

Jiraiya beamed, clapping his hands in contentment. "Thanks, kid. I appreciate it. Oh, and tell that Naruto brat Gama Sennin no Jiraiya said, 'Good luck in the exams.' I'll be around and in touch. Enjoy your night, sir."

"You too, Jiraiya-sama." Ebisu watched the legendary ninja take his leave with a smile. Patting the scroll in a side pocket, he grinned. "Yes, I think Naruto-kun will enjoy these techniques at his disposal."

Two days later, and Naruto finally got down the basics of molding Earth Release chakra, scooping up dirt with his chakra and not spilling a bit. Naruto whooped out a roar of triumph, saying he was ready for anything now. A happy high he was riding on, until Ebisu popped his bubble and said he was now ready to learn "Part II" of his earth chakra training. "You are still quite too far from learning any sort of ninjutsu, Naruto-kun."

"Come on, man. I'm not finished yet?" Naruto groaned, dropping the dirt.

"No, Naruto-kun." Ebisu grunted out. "You are not finished yet. You can pick up dirt now with your chakra, without spilling it. Well done." Naruto had the decency to look embarrassed, his face heating up. It was obvious Ebisu was getting annoyed at him; the sarcastic congratulations at Naruto's achievement being a clear indication of such. "Now, you must shape the dirt with your chakra. First, we will start off easy, and make a scalene triangle – as in a triangle with three uneven sides." Ebisu explained before Naruto gotten anymore confused with the term "scalene".

Naruto quickly scowled in distaste. "What is this? 'Pottery-making class?' Since when are we making damn ceramics here? Why do I have to learn how to make shapes with dirt now?"

Ebisu stayed silent, staring at Naruto intensely through his shades. Instead of saying anything to the boy, Ebisu placed his hand on the ground, while Naruto watched in interest. Naruto watched as his teacher stood back up, after reaching down and grabbing a clump of dirt with one hand. Then Naruto watched in amazement as Ebisu morphed the dirt, effortless, into specific shapes. First the dirt morphed into a square, then a perfect orb-shaped object, and then things gotten more complex. More angles were added in, and edges gotten sharper, until Naruto seen Ebisu morph the dirt into a perfectly shaped kunai, reminiscent of a real-life kunai knife. Then, the texture of the earth in Ebisu's hand changed. Gone was the lumpy soft dirt in Ebisu's right hand, and replacing it was smooth, hardened brown stone.

Ebisu then chose to spoke. "This is what I'm talking about when I say shape the dirt. This is what happens when you master your earth chakra. Earth Release is about manipulating the Earth under you, turning it to anything you want it to be. Get a bunch of earthen material, and you can make a sky-high wall, or a barrier. Gather small material like this, and you can create makeshift weapons in the middle of a battle. Earth Release is very versatile and not to be trifled with, Naruto-kun, or made a joke of."

"Whoa..." Naruto looked in awe at the kunai in Ebisu's hand. "I'm learning how to do that?"

"Yes." Ebisu smiled thinly. "First, you'll learn how to gather the material, then shape it, then change its texture from hard like this," He flexed the kunai-shaped stone in his hands, "To soft like this." Another flex, and the stone had become dirt, crumbling away from Ebisu's hand. "And vice-versa."

"Kickass, Sensei. Wish you told me that from the beginning." Naruto grinned, rubbing his hands like he was about to receive a present. "Can't wait to learn that shit."

"Hmph. That's still far out your way. Now, do what I tell you, and stop acting like a foolish child."

Naruto growled, immediately angered by the man. "I'm not acting like a child!"

The jōnin shook his head, preparing another lecture. "You're wasting your own time. If you want to become a chūnin, you need to stop blurting out things without thinking first. If you want to beat Neji, you need to learn how to accept your limits. I need you to stop questioning so much what whether or not we're doing is pointless. This exercise is vital to learn how to wield your earth chakra correctly. Without it, you will not get far in the ninjutsu department. I have put up with a lot of your antics before, Naruto, and I'm asking you cease it for the time being. You want me to teach you how to become a chūnin? Well, let me teach."

Naruto fell silent as he listened to the man, who folded his arms and looked at Naruto with a frown. "I will not help someone who likes to waste precious time making jokes. We have as little as three more weeks before the month is up, and you're still in the stage of learning how to properly use your earth chakra. Time to stop acting like a child, Naruto, and be serious for once."

Naruto frowned at Ebisu scolding, wanting to yell at the man in annoyance. He felt insulted, hurt. He was trying his damned best here to become stronger, and the guy thought he was joking around? Naruto had a few things to say to the guy... But ultimately, shaking his head, he stopped himself.

No, the man was right on this one. Naruto made jokes because he was honestly frustrated with not learning fast enough. He was stressed, alright. What a stupid move to declare he would beat Neji in a month, especially when the guy was one of the best genin of this generation. He just didn't want to lose. A lot of shit was riding on this. Not just his pride and honor, but Hinata's too. She didn't deserve that fucking beating her cousin gave her. She was a nice girl, and he beat her close to death just because he was feeling some shitty way about his family's doing. That wasn't right. Someone needed to knock some fucking sense into that guy, and Naruto swore he would be the one to do it.

Plus, it was something Naruto had to do himself, to prove himself. He wanted everyone to know that he wasn't the same failure back in the Academy, that he gotten better, and for fuck's sake, he wanted some damn respect!

But... It ran even deeper than that. Even now, even if his desire to become Hokage had changed a little, his other desires were still the same. He wanted to be acknowledged, to be noticed, and to be treated like an equal. He wanted to be treated like a real shinobi, not an outcast anymore. He was done with that crap. He wanted to be someone people could rely on. He wanted to be a leader. Of course, in this situation, he could admit he wasn't acting like one. He could see it now.

How can you lead, when you were whining about shit not going your way every single time? Ebisu-sensei was right, he was acting like a child. It was selfish, and it was wasting time. Ebisu was right again; time was going, and he hadn't quite finished up the basics of this training yet. He had to shape up – like this lump of dirt he was supposed to shape into a triangle. He had to shape up, and fast.

Nodding silently at the man, and slumping his head in defeat, Naruto decided it was time to stop joking around and to get to work. Sighing, he muttered a small "I'm sorry" at his teacher, before placing his hand on the ground, and summoning his chakra to his palm. Dirt in his right hand, Naruto grunted, and looked at the dirt in annoyance. Though he was more annoyed at himself, then anything.

'...The sooner I'm done doing this dull shit, the quicker I can be doing some cool shit like Ebisu-sensei. I just got to be more patient.'

Then he concentrated his chakra and got very lackluster results. As soon as he summoned more chakra to move the dirt in any sort of way, the dirt rejected his manipulation, and a side of it fell back onto the ground, and then another side, until the dirt that once was in Naruto's hands was back where it first came from. Naruto wanted to yell in frustration at the stupid dirt for not doing what he wanted it to do but he curbed his, admittedly childish, anger, and instead tried concentrating again.

When the same thing happened, Naruto's whole body shook, ready to explode. "Can I use my shadow clones for this one, Sensei?"

"What's the limit again?"

Naruto resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Three, Sensei," Naruto droned.

Ebisu nodded back – his face almost haughty – in satisfaction. "Very good. You may do so."

Naruto did a very fake smile back at his temporary teacher before summoning three shadow clones by a single hand seal. The clones silently moved to Naruto's sides – one clone on his right and one on his left. They both then placed a palm on the ground, and started working the triangle exercise with him; dirt clumping in all three of their hands.

Hours passed by, and Naruto felt no new progress with the technique. His clones had the same bad luck, and all three of the boys looked sourly at the clumps of dirt they were trying to shape. It was almost time for break time – twelve o'clock in the afternoon. Naruto was close to stopping until he looked at the progress his dopplegängers were making.

The Naruto clone on the left currently had successfully had one side up at an angle – the left side – while trying to work at the other two sides of the triangle Sensei told them to make. The clone on Naruto's right side had successfully shaped the side on the right, and was trying to keep it up while making the other sides connect.

An idea then popped in Naruto's head. "Hey, guys, come over to me for a second. Drop your dirt."

Both of the clones looked over at the original Naruto, then among themselves, before shrugging nonchalantly and stopped their chakra control exercise. Dirt dropping from their hands, they walked over to the original Naruto, ready to receive their task. "Whatcha you need, Prime?"

"I need you two to shape one side of the triangle I'm making. I'll concentrate on the last side. Ready?" The two nodded, and placed their hands near the dirt Naruto held in his palm. Invisibly feeding it chakra, the dirt started to shift in Naruto's hands, and Naruto watched in excitement as the uneven triangle was made. "Yes! We did it!"

"Hmm?" A voice came from Naruto's far right, and near a tree. "You finished?" Curious, Ebisu took his eyes off an orange-colored book. Catching up on a good read from a distance, as Naruto trained for a few hours, Ebisu failed to see the new progress Naruto had made in his Earth Release training, only hearing the boy cheer loudly from his spot on the training grounds. He pocketed his book (being seen with it would bring up much embarrassing questions from Naruto), placing it in his back pocket, and walked over to his student. "You did what, Naruto-kun?"

"Look, look Sensei! Me and my clones finally did it, dattebayo! We shaped it, together!"

Ebisu blinked owlishly. "Together?"

"Yeah, yeah! I told my clones to shape each side of the dirt, to make a triangle and they did it! Now we're ready for the next part, right?"

"Show me how you did it."

"Heh." Naruto smirked, and dropped the dirt from his hands. Then he grabbed a clump of dirt with his chakra, and told his clones to take a side and shape the dirt into the triangle again. Finally, after a few more seconds, they produced an uneven triangle once again. "See? We did it, dattebayo!"

Ebisu looked over the triangle for a second, and then back to the happy three clones, before nodding. "Very good. Start over now."

Naruto almost fell down in shock. His clones did, and comically enough, dispelled when making contact with the hard ground. "Wait, what, why?!"

"You did not do the exercise correctly. Start over again, Naruto-kun." Ebisu explained nonchantantly.

"B-But, whyyyyyyyy?" Naruto whined miserably. "I thought I was supposed to make a triangle, Sensei."

"Yes, Naruto-kun, you are supposed to make a triangle, not together with your clones." Ebisu pushed up his shades on the bridge of his nose with his middle finger. "You are learning how to shape the earth by yourself, not with your clones. That defeats the purpose of this exercise. You have to learn it by yourself. Over-reliance on your shadow clones will hamper you instead of help you. The time it takes for them to shape the chakra for you will be enough time for most enemies to get in your defenses and attack you, even kill you."

"B-B-But-" Naruto stammered out.

Ebisu shook his head at the blond boy. "No, there will be no shortcuts in this. You are using your clones to help you find a way to complete the exercise, not do it for you. You still have much to do."

"Ughhhhh..." Naruto groaned, running his clean hands – Naruto figured out how to keep the dirt off his hands in Part I of this stupid training – through his hair, and trying desperate to not tear it out of its roots. "Fine..."

"And one more thing... We're stopping for now." Ebisu tapped a wristwatch. "It's almost 12."

"Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." Naruto groaned again, this time much louder. "Could have came at a better time, huh?"

Ebisu smiled a little at Naruto, finding his frustration slightly amusing. "Do not feel too bad. After all, it is lunch. I will buy you some food."

"Hmph. I could do with grub right about now." Naruto rubbed his belly forlornly. All this training stress did work up a hell of an appetite. Sighing, he said, "Oh well. At least I can get some miso ramen in my system."

"...I did not say I was going to buy you ramen, though."

"Ehhhhhhh?! B-But-"

The man grinned, bringing out two white papers out of his pants pocket. "After all, I do have two coupons for that restaurant that serve a great crab dish..."

"UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Naruto groaned out for the last time. Yep, screw today indeed.

End.

Translation List:

Gama Sennin no Jiraya – Jiraiya, the Toad Sage
Ten no Juin – Cursed Seal Of Heaven

A/N: Guess I lied. No sort of pondering about Kakashi's advice happened in this chapter at all, but don't worry, we'll get to that stuff next chapter. I would have included it but eh. This chapter is already 7,000 words plus – it was getting a little too long for my taste.

So, Jiraiya appeared. Now that he's not busy training Naruto for the month, he's free-ish for anything, huh? Hmm... I quite liked how I wrote him in, and how he gave Ebisu some help with Naruto's training. That way he's not completely just doing nothing, eh? I am quite enjoying how I am writing Ebisu, by the way. I figured the man to be a no-nonsense type of character, and I quite like the interaction him and Naruto have so far. Also, I now have a clearer path of what I am going to have Ebisu teach Naruto. Think I gave a small hint at it too.

Overall, I like how the chapter came out. I'm starting to like the direction I'm putting the story in.

Thanks for the people who's reviewed it. I appreciate the input, and for those worried that Naruto will not learn the Rasenshuriken now I turned his element into Earth, I say don't worry too much about it. Just because Naruto's element is Earth, doesn't mean he won't learn that technique some time down the line. That's all I'm saying for now. Now no more worries about it.

See you guys in the next chapter of this story. Later!