The Shopkeeper of Konoha

After finishing their work they went to the Konoha Construction Inc. to ask for men to repair their shop. Reaching their office Aoto got to know how deep Konoha was hurt due to the attack. Men, women, children which included many ninja families too were in queue outside the door.

All of them had a sad face and many of them seemed like they would break down at any given moment. It was here Aoto realized why Tailed Beasts and Jinchurikis were hated. The common folks needed a place to vent and it came in the form of hatred towards young Jinchurikis. Gaara, Naruto, Killer Bee... Nobody was spared.

It was a really sad state of events.

After being in line with Teuchi for half an hour they ask to send men. The total money required to renovate and upgrade the shop would cost a total of 27,500 ryo. 500 was extra at the end because Aoto asked for immediate work as he already knew that if he waited for a long time it would be a little awkward for him. He was not the previous Aoto so he feared that staying with Teuchi for a long time might make him spill out some secrets involuntarily or some habits that might rub the wrong way.

He was an American citizen in his past life and didn't know much about Japanese habits. Memories would help him but memory and habit wasn't the same thing. He would have to cultivate it.

Expectedly, Teuchi wanted Aoto to save the money but he said that he wanted to see his old home built soon. After paying half of the money upfront they left. The Construction Company was really efficient and even hired some ninjas for this job. It was here that Aoto saw these ninjas at work and finally understood why they stood aloof from normal society.

These beings were able to make the work fast and efficiently. Taking woods to the top of the building? Done! Helping in hammering and cutting the woods 10 feet up the ground? No problem. The ninjas had probably taken this job in lieu of the mission that each ninja team was supposed to take after they passed out from the ninja school.

Aoto looked at these ninjas with awe. He had read the manga, watched the anime but had never expected to see these ninjas working their 'magic'. He was a normal guy in his previous life so this was 'superpower shit' for him.

"Sad that I never got admitted in the ninja school nor do I have a chakra. I wonder if the system will give me something that has sufficient power to fight against them."

His home was destroyed so it would take some time to repair it to the full state and that includes upgrades too. The person managing the repair had already asked for plans and Aoto, after thinking a lot, asked to have three separate rooms in his house. The land was quite big and their home was on the upper level so it had enough space. Before they only had two rooms but now there would be 3 with almost equal amount of space per room.

It was already afternoon when the work had started so the workers couldn't work for much time. It was more of taking an inspection of the home and making some arrangements. IT didn't matter to Aoto, this wasn't going to too much time anyways as the Company had guaranteed him to finish the work in 3 days.

By evening Teuchi opened his Ichiraku Ramen and people came running towards the shop. Seeing the number of people, both Ayame and Aoto helped Teuchi. Aoto was responsible for delivering the Ramen to the customers.

The aroma filled the entire shop and Aoto had to admit that this aroma was enough to make even a person who was on a strict diet to break his vow and go for the cheat meal. Apparently, this was the first time Ichiraku Ramen opened after the incident and they had missed the Ramen of this shop.

Just smelling the aroma from the Ramen, Aoto didn't blame the customers, though the general environment in the shop was still depressing. Many people have lost their loved ones and some were just in hospital in critical condition. This was a nightmare for the village.

But at the end Teuchi made quite a profit from what he could calculate and he was happy that he was able to help and just not be a freeloader. Aoto continued to help Teuchi in his shop for the next 3 days.

He helped him in making the noodles, cutting the meat which he had to learn from the ground up. Teuchi was patient in explaining that slicing the meat in appropriate sizes were important as they were important in infusing proper taste when it was cooked.

Aoto had to take a whole new journey with Teuchi in this but he was glad that his Uncle was quite open in sharing his craft. For that he respected Teuchi more. 3 days had passed by and finally on the morning of the 4th day Aoto moved out from Teuchi's home to his brand new home.

The shop was still like the previous one with a display meant for keeping bread. It was like any other ordinary bread shop. The upgrade that Aoto asked for was having a glass door and window panes made of glass. He wanted to make it as modern as possible in the current times.

And one could reach the higher floor through a staircase which was both inside the shop which was in the room behind the counter and another staircase from where people could reach from outside. His new home had three well built rooms with two bathrooms and a kitchen.

The previous night Aoto had to spend more 2000 ryo to buy himself household items like kitchen utensils, futons, and other such items. As he entered his new room he felt a sense of relief. He was finally alone again and free with what he needed to do.