Chapter 116: Naruto's Enrollment

Tenyu and Maki sat opposite their father with the solemn expressions of defendants who had already hidden the evidence.

Five hundred thousand ryō lay on the table between them. Beside it stood the finished likeness of Uchiha Itachi, one hand resting on a kunai pouch. Tonbo had woven the figure from reinforced fibers and sealed three short messages into its frame. A child could play with it. An ordinary kunai could not easily damage it.

"You promised work that you expected someone else to perform," Tonbo said. "You named a price without understanding the cost, accepted payment before confirming the commission, and concealed the agreement from every adult responsible for you. Which mistake comes first?"

Tenyu considered blaming Maki. Inner Archive was unnecessary; his face announced the thought.

"We did not ask permission," Maki said.

"Correct."

"But Sasuke agreed to the price," Tenyu argued. "We didn't force him."

"Agreement does not excuse deception. You let him believe you had authority to sell my work."

The twins looked at the figure. Their confidence weakened.

Tonbo placed paper, an abacus, raw fiber, ink, and sealing wire before them. Guided Insight would have made the lesson easy. He did not use it. Some understanding had to be constructed slowly enough to remain uncomfortable.

For the next hour, they counted materials, estimated his labor, and learned the difference between payment, cost, and profit. Their original five-thousand-ryō intention would have been reasonable for an ordinary toy and absurd for a commissioned ninja tool. Sasuke's interpretation was extravagant, but the completed figure justified enough of the price that simply returning everything would erase the obligation they had created.

"You will deliver it," Tonbo said. "You will explain that I made it, that the quoted price was yours, and that he may cancel the purchase. If he keeps it, most of the payment covers materials and labor. You may divide a small commission for arranging the order."

"How small?" Tenyu asked.

"Small enough to teach arithmetic instead of greed."

Maki pointed at the figure. "Does it really talk like Uncle Itachi?"

Tonbo fed a trace of chakra into the seal.

"Little brother, shall we practice shuriken today?" the figure asked in Itachi's measured voice.

Both twins smiled despite themselves.

"Remember," Tonbo said, "skill and family reputation are forms of trust. If you spend either carelessly, earning it back costs more than you gained."

Ayame entered before they could answer. She listened to the entire account, inspected the contract exercise, and assigned the twins two days of helping at Ichiraku without wages. Then she turned to Tonbo.

"You knew about the sale when it happened."

"I knew enough to prevent harm."

"And you let them believe they had succeeded until you finished the figure."

"The delay improved the lesson."

Ayame smiled in a manner that made Tenyu and Maki retreat toward the door. "Then you can improve tomorrow's lesson by helping them wash every bowl."

Tonbo accepted the judgment. The twins escaped with the figure, whispering that their mother possessed a technique no sensor could counter.

The following morning, ANBU occupied roofs and alleys around the Academy. Their presence was discreet only to people who did not know where to look. Kakashi watched from beneath the eaves of a building across the street while other masked shinobi monitored the gates, walls, and gathering families.

Enrollment day placed too many of Konoha's children in one location to rely upon ordinary security.

Tonbo sat among the leaves of a broad tree and surveyed the crowd below. Years earlier, he had regarded many of these children as names attached to a future crisis. That distance had eroded. Kiba was his student. Ino had once hidden behind her father's leg before accepting a flower from him. Sasuke treasured a figure made in Tonbo's house. Naruto knew where Tonbo's family kept spare bowls.

The village was no longer a sequence of disasters he remembered imperfectly. It was a collection of people whose ordinary mornings deserved to continue.

Naruto entered the crowd alone.

Parents adjusted collars, carried supplies, and repeated advice their children pretended not to need. Naruto searched between them for a familiar bandaged face. Adults noticed him first. Conversations faltered. Space opened around the boy by increments until he seemed to be walking through an invisible corridor.

Tonbo's hand tightened against the branch. He could descend. The impulse was immediate and genuine. Yet Naruto would attend the Academy for years, and Tonbo could not appear every time the village reminded him of his isolation. Protection that vanished with its protector could become another form of abandonment.

So Tonbo sent a woven sparrow downward instead. It landed on the gate, plainly visible, and chirped the three-note greeting Naruto knew from visits to the house.

Naruto looked up. His disappointment broke into a grin. He found Tonbo among the leaves and waved both arms.

Tonbo waved back.

Nearby, Sasuke held Itachi's hand. The new figure rested safely inside his bag after Tenyu and Maki had delivered it with an awkward confession. Sasuke had kept the commission, reasoning that a tool strong enough to survive training was worth the price even if its sellers were criminals of unusual height.

"Why does everyone move away from him?" Sasuke asked.

Itachi followed his gaze to Naruto. "Because adults sometimes teach fear before children can examine it. He carries a burden he did not choose. Treat him as a classmate and judge what he does."

Fugaku heard the answer from Sasuke's other side. Pride softened his stern expression, though it vanished when he remembered the mission Itachi had postponed to attend enrollment. His eldest son stood near the edge of ANBU selection. Every missed assignment invited another question from the village leadership.

Itachi looked toward Tonbo's tree. Their eyes met across the crowd.

Tonbo inclined his head. Itachi answered with the faintest smile, then looked again at Sasuke and Naruto. Concern lived behind his composure, sharpened by a clan and village demanding incompatible proofs of loyalty.

Tonbo could not solve that conflict from a branch. He could remain available, preserve alternatives, and refuse the convenient lie that only two choices existed.

Below, Iruka called the new students inside. Kiba marched through the gate with Akamaru on his head. Ino followed while pretending not to watch Sasuke. Shikamaru yawned before the first lesson had begun. Hinata entered quietly beside her father.

Naruto paused beneath the woven sparrow.

"I'm going to be Hokage," he told it, loud enough for half the courtyard to hear.

The bird tilted its head. Tonbo sent his voice through the seal.

"Then begin by arriving before your teacher closes the door."

Naruto shouted in alarm and ran inside.

Kakashi glanced toward the tree from his hidden post. "Subtle," he said over the short-range radio.

"He entered the building, didn't he?"

"Along with everyone who was blocking the gate."

The bell rang. Parents began to disperse, leaving the guarded building full of the generation that would inherit every problem their elders failed to solve.

Tonbo remained until his perception confirmed each classroom secure. Only then did he leave for the mountain training ground, where Kakashi and Guy had promised to meet him after the enrollment watch ended.