Chapter 055

The village leader furrowed his brow as he gazed sagely across at the youngsters. "You do realize that not a single person in this entire village is going to believe this story."

Naruto shrugged at the man's statement. "A lot of legends are born from truth."

"Yes and other legends are exaggerations of actual truth. That or are rumors started by individuals looking to bolster the fame of the protagonist in question," Hiruzen recited as if he'd had this particular discussion in the past once before. He breathed out a sigh and leaned back in his chair, his image lit up by the sunny day of the village sitting outside the window behind him. "As you'd probably expect, I'm finding this very hard to take in, Naruto."

"Trust me, the whole thing looks so much better on paper," the jinchuriki exclaimed while scribbling in the air. "You had to be there, oji-san. It was incredible."

Smiling, Tayuya stepped forward in full support of the boy. "Shithead was incredible! You should have seen him yourself. He battled Gato's men like they were nothing and squared off against the strongest of all the killers he had under his employ. It was unbelievable!" As magnanimous as she made her heart filled statements, when the old man glanced towards Tayuya the musician suddenly lost whatever small amount of confidence she had in the elder's presence and shrunk back to her spot directly beside the jinchuriki. All the while she tried to make herself look as small as possible.

The musician was well aware of the individual she was addressing and it was shaking her nerves something fierce.

Looking the girl over, Hiruzen then glanced back at the blonde and smiled. "Well, if everything you said to me is true then you should feel very proud of yourself, Naruto-kun." He saw the pair blink in surprise and continued. "It wouldn't be the first time you managed to astound me with something outrageous and bewildering. Chronicles like this are worthy of a future Kage."

Naruto chuckled. "You should read my autobiography once I get it published."

"I'm looking forward to it," the Third laughed, lacing his fingers together before once again propping his elbows on his desk and leaning forward. He smiled at the two kids starting to look more relaxed and opened up with the next item on the list. "Now… I understand you wish to have this young lady apply for a citizenship?"

"That's right," Naruto exclaimed, stepping away and gesturing to the girl, who stiffened considerably when all eyes fell upon her. "I would also like for Tayuya-chan to come live with me and to start training at the academy to become a shinobi. Is that okay, jiji… or would that be too much trouble?"

The village leader gave a very thoughtful expression to the inquiry. "Considering she has a talent for producing genjutsu like you said means that she probably also has a certain level and understanding of the basic concepts of shinobi conduct. With her abilities, it's certainly possible to have her inducted into the system," the Third stated. Just as smiles were beginning to brim on the two children's faces though, the old man raised his hand to stop them. "However, to have her sign up for the academy is too late now. She'll need to be given an apprenticeship in order for her to catch up on some of the material if she intends to follow-through with the curriculum."

Looking a little crestfallen, Naruto and Tayuya glanced at each other worryingly. However, in spite of being told that they would not be able to attend the same school together, they still found light at the end of the tunnel in the form of the alternate arrangement and looked back towards Hiruzen with merriment.

"That's okay with me," Tayuya stated.

"Same here," Naruto also said boisterously.

"I'm glad to see that you're willing to go along with it. I already have a handful of Jonin looking for prospective apprentices, so it shouldn't be too hard to find someone who's compatible enough to start training you," Hiruzen exclaimed, rising from his seat and bowing to the adolescent musician, "Welcome to Konohagakure, young ms."

An overwhelmed Tayuya bowed back respectfully to the elder before embracing Naruto seconds afterwards in triumph at being accepted into his home village. All attention was then slowly returned to the present and to all matters concerning the orientation, which would understandably be the next topic to be dealt with.

It was then when all the metaphorical handshaking was over and done with the third then remembered something else of importance regarding his resident troublemaker, and quickly turned to him in order to address the issue.

"Oh yes, and Naruto. Speaking of the academy…"

OOO

"This sucks!" Naruto yelled out from his corner in the room while holding two buckets out in front of him. He gritted his teeth and looked across at Iruka sitting behind his desk, currently grading tests while the rest of the class was going through their notes. As loud as he was screaming in outrage, the punishment being dealt to him right now was within good reason. "Sensei, why am I being reprimanded for something I couldn't help?"

The scar-faced man looked up in amusement at his venting student. "You were absent from school for nearly two weeks without giving prior notice to your homeroom teacher or the school's administration. I'm sure you of all people understand the severity of this crime, Naruto. Failure to notify the academy of a prolonged absence from class warrants the regular treatment upon your return."

"By getting me to hold these heavy-ass buckets the entire day? Seriously?" Who still practiced this medieval shit? Obviously Iruka. That man looked like he was enjoying dolling out this chore WAY too much for the blonde's liking.

This wasn't his first punishment either. After the usual lecture from the old man following his return, Naruto was then dumped back at the academy to be processed by Iruka in the regular manner; scrubbing, mopping, sweeping, cleaning, stocking, heavy lifting, sorting, and every other detestable task he could possibly conjure up. He had shift work at the school on top of his classes, so the jinchuriki wasn't going to expect any time to sneak any training in until the end of this week. There was no other way to express his disappointment other than through his vocals and the occasional stomping like a child.

He was still ten. He had two more years till final graduation, so only time will tell if he'll really mature enough.

"I told you why I was absent!" God, he wished Tayuya was here right now. He needed irrefutable proof of his innocence.

"And I keep telling you, I don't believe you," Iruka replied with an amused smirk. "Honestly… saving an entire nation from an industrial tyrant, who was none other than the world famous Gato of Gato International, in one day? I knew you were an imaginative character Naruto, but that's just going too far…"

"Yeah. Stop daydreaming, slacker!" Kiba shouted from up in his row. "You should know better than to mess with us already."

"We're already wise to a lot of your fooling around," a girl student called out, earning a round of nods from the class.

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