The Shopkeeper of Konoha

"You seem like you know him." Asuma asked as he could see that there wasn't much surprise in the face of Aoto. It was as if he expected it.

"Was there a fight between you and him?" Asuma asked in curiosity.

"He tried to intimidate and force me once to sell him some joints and I refused."

"What? The audacity. The Uchihas have been growing increasingly unrest that they even force a kid to sell them against their will."

"It's only one Uchiha. It's nothing major. Just because one guy is guilty doesn't mean that the whole clan is guilty."

"You don't know... They have been extremely rude to the people around and boss them. He is one of the products." Asuma doubled down on his words without even thinking for a second.

"Really? Why do you think this is happening, Asuma-san?" Aoto didn't accept the words of Asuma but asked a different question in return. Asuma, who was still angry about the fact that someone just tried to steal from his favorite shop, replied.

"It's because they are arrogant. They think they are better than all others...." Asuma wanted to say more but stopped. He didn't let his emotions catch up to him and gave away sensitive information. He wanted to say that one of them was responsible for the Kyubi attack. Though many people were already speculating that he didn't want to speak it out loud.

"Are they? I have only heard of Fugaku Uchiha from the 3rd great ninja war. But I heard more about the 4th Hokage and Kakashi Hatake. Are they really very strong Asuma-san?" Aoto asked while putting on an innocent face. He didn't mention the name of Shishui because he was a hidden weapon of Konoha and only worked for root.

Though many higher levels and enemies knew of him the general public had no such recollection nor the information. Aoto was very sharp and cunning in not mentioning names that might make Asuma suspicious.

Asuma, hearing the response, wanted to refute saying that Shishui was a great ninja but then again he stopped himself. The Uchiha clan was quite a big clan so it was quite understandable that they would have one or two good candidates, just like the Aburame clan or the Hyuga clan. It was the same for almost all clans so why was it that only the Uchihas were targeted.

The simple answer was that the others feared them. The second Hokage had managed to isolate them, and now Konoha was facing the repercussions. Asuma never liked the way the whole village was working, and now even this kid could subconsciously point it out.

He sighed! Maybe his father's habits had rubbed off on him and he too had started hating the Uchihas just because of what the others had been saying. This kid was more knowledgeable than him and didn't even bat an eyelid when he came to know that an Uchiha had targeted them. If only others were half as smart as him.

"Whatever kid! What do you want to do with him?"

"How do I know? I am not the police."

"...Mmmmm... I will handle him.. Now pay up."

"Payment? What payment?"

"Payment for protecting you." Asuma replied calmly.

"Asuma-san, I never asked you to protect me." Aoto put up a nonchalant face.

"You ungrateful wretch... Fine fine... I will pay for one batch. Now give me." Asuma gritted his teeth and asked. He thought that after saving the life of the kid, he would be provided with free joints.

But it seems like he was expecting too much. Of course, he didn't want to bully the kid like the piece of shit lying on the ground was but he sure expected something in return. Aoto smiled at Asuma's rage, but he refused to do anything charitable for him.

He was here for business. Money should never come between friendships. He had previously lived a very frugal life, and there was no way in hell he was going to give up money. Aoto went downstairs to get himself some joints and out of kind heart he added an extra joint for the same price.

"Here Asuma-san." Aoto handed him over. Asuma could already see that there was an extra joint in the box and this made him happy and made him forget about the regret he was going through of saving this kid.

"Kid, tomorrow come with me to the hospital. I am sure the scientists there have made progress on your special mad honey."

This made the face of Aoto bright as he didn't expect that there was such fast progress. He nodded his head vigorously. The joints weren't that profitable but he was going to make sure that the honey was the one to make more money out of it. Though the system didn't explicitly say anything, he was almost sure that the profit was what would make him have access to other things.

He was just waiting for the next item to be outsourced.

Asuma wasted no time in taking Arisu's unconscious body and fleeing through the window. Aoto proceeded to close the window and go back to sleep. It would have been better for him if Asuma wasn't involved in this and just let Arisu try to rob him. It would have been funny and maybe blackmail this guy to work for him.

But all went down the drain due to one over enthusiastic weed loving guy.

Meanwhile, Asuma reached the Hokage's office which was still lit at night. Hiruzen was still going through the reports when Asuma appeared near him with Arisu. His eyebrows creased and asked.

"It better be a good reason behind your abduction of a fellow shinobi."

"This guy just tried to rob my favorite shopkeeper, so I taught him a lesson."

"Shopkeeper? What is going on? Is that an Uchiha?"

"Yes. He tried to rob a pack of cigarettes and I just caught him."

"Hmm... Throw him in jail and send someone to inform Fugaku about what happened." Hiruzen didn't care much. Though Asuma caught an Uchiha in doing something wrong it wasn't anything that required his attention.