Originally posted by: lol i wear shirts
no no no, the real question is, how the sauce did naruto pay his way through ninja school and pay rent for his apartment and what have you?! was he on some sort of ninja welfare program? is naruto mexican?

I get the impression that the Ninja Academy is free for any citizen of Konoha that is able to keep up with it. I wouldn't be surprised if most of Konoha has gone through at least the Genin level.
It's possibly even Konoha's only school.

The Hokage explains to Oro how dedicated the ninjas are to Konoha. The ninjas are Konoha's only army.
They let you into the Academy for free, and when you complete it, you're naturally indebted to the country you love to be a ninja.

And if you don't feel indebted and in love with your country, you end up like Oro or Itachi.