The Shopkeeper of Konoha

Aoto said knowing fully well that the grandma had also lost a lot in the war. She was a bit sad and so was Corazon who had seen a bunch of horrors of his own life. It could be said only Aoto was the most sheltered one here as everyone among them had lost one person or another in their life.

Though Aoto did lose his parents from both the worlds, at least he knew one set of parents were alive and well. They didn't speak more and were soon back at their home.

Happy about the sale, Aoto went to library and started his daily study.

He had been studying in his free time like crazy. Learning basics of magic and how they actually operated. The number of books in the library were vast so he had chose what he wanted to learn and what he could use them later. Actually almost everyone had their own sections of the library which they had focused on and what they could learn and understand better.

Hidden Rain village

Pain was sitting on the edge of a huge statue that seemed like a demon who had extended its tongue and Pain was on the sitting at the edge of the tongue. If anybody could see it, they would be scared with the person sitting in the heavy non-stop rain.

"Nagato, the demand for computing equipment is steadily rising. Konoha has shown more interest in partnering with us for the supply of CPUs. It's a significant opportunity for our village's growth. This man named Aoto is still oblivious to the fact that we don't belong to the Sand village." Konan spoke as she appeared behind Pain.

"The transition from a war-torn land to a thriving hub of technological innovation is a slow process. We can't rush it. It's good that the Asura Path has the knowledge and the technicalities to handle the situation. But this.. This is all dirty money." Pain said.

"But Nagato.. He is a ninja and he hasn't even joined any Academy."

"Konan.. have your forgotten about the innocent children, men and women who had died in the war? Weren't the innocent?. There is nothing innocent about wars Konan." Pain said in a deep and almost emotionless tone.

Konan stiffened hearing that. After Yahiko died, Nagato had changed completely, from a silent and a calm friend to someone who was in a complete different path. He lived for his mission and his mission alone which he seemed to have taken on his shoulders.

"We must leverage this opportunity to showcase the hidden rain's potential without sacrificing our values. The sale of Konoha's computers will strengthen our economy, but we must also focus on nurturing our own technological advancements. Though I think this is still blood money but it will help the Akatsuki to gain funds which we are seriously lacking. Have you contacted Kakuzu?"

"He is a slippery man and after spying on tons of casinos, we finally got a scent of his. Our spies will make contact soon." Konan said.

"Hmm.. Make sure that the Konoha doesn't know that we belong to the Hidden Rain village. We still can't support our organization without a stable flow of money, and in order for Konoha to not doubt us, we need to sell computers to Hidden Sand too." Pain said.

"I will send Sasori for this."

"Is there other form of business relation that could be set up with this Aoto while circumventing the village's supervision?" Pain asked.

"I am not sure. I will have to ask." Konan said.

"Do it. I am curious about how this man came up with something that is almost at the level of Asura Path when it comes to computation. He has already set the ground work and this technology will progress very fast. He is a great visionary. Maybe we should invite him to Akatsuki." Pain said.

"I will give him hint about it the next time I go for the supplies." Konan said.

"Make sure sensei isn't around when you snoop in or else we will hate to lose our beloved sensei."

Konan nodded and the slowly walked away from the place.

Several days had gone past since the first setup of the adult shop. And surprisingly more customers did show up in the shop. One thing was being sold like hot cakes in the shop and that was condoms.

Apparently, after Anko bought the toy she was so happy about it that she came back again to buy another toy. And she didn't come alone. She came with someone else.

This time it was her girl friend. Kurenai.

Aoto hearing the description almost had an headache. Was Asuma bad in bed or something or had he not 'consummate' their love yet? What a headache. But after some days, Hiruzen too had shown up at the shop at one evening.

He was surprised a lot seeing the kind of shop it was but he approved of it saying that the people of Konoha needed to have 'fun' behind closed doors. War times could be stressful and this could release a lot of stress.

This old guy seemed to be quite progressive of his times. After much running around by Aoto, he had finally gotten the approval and had paid the money to buy nearby three shops which also had a home built on the top for the shopkeepers to live.

This made everyone happy as it meant that everyone would get enough space to sleep and live apart from coming to the library to study. Shikuro too had expressed that he wanted to move in near the shop with his toddler.

It was supposed to be an evening of leisure and relief since Aoto had been running around for almost three weeks for the shops but he knew that tonight wouldn't be an easy night for Aoto. It was because this stupid Edward had proposed a duel between the able men and woman on the knowledge of magic they have studied up to this point.

And this whole ordeal made everyone excited. Except for Aoto.