The Shopkeeper of Konoha

"Hahaha... If I join, then Hokage-sama would be furious," Aoto said.

"Who cares what that old man says," Naruto said and laughed, followed by the chorus laughter of Aoto. They didn't hesitate to make fun of Hokage-sama, knowing perfectly well that Hiruzen wouldn't be able to spy on their home.

And if he were able to spy, it wouldn't matter to Aoto because he had made his stand very clear from the beginning. As Naruto got himself ready, they heard the shout.

"Naruto, come out, we are already here." It was Sakura who had called, and Naruto beamed with joy. Unlike the original story, Naruto wasn't infatuated with Sakura. Aoto made sure of that as he indoctrinated Naruto to only go after girls who would genuinely care for him, instead of someone who was just beautiful.

Hinata at the moment wasn't so beautiful, or rather she didn't exaggerate her features, which made people see her as a beautiful young girl. But Naruto had stayed and learned with her for the past few years to understand and appreciate her a whole lot more. And thanks to that, Hinata hadn't been that shy.

Living with her father, who was still filled with remorse, had given her quite a bit of good lessons in her life, and thus she was a little more confident than her usual self was in the original story. But there was still one problem with Hinata.

She still blushed like mad when she was with Naruto, which this blockhead never understood. Winry was very close to kicking his butt, but Aoto stopped him as Naruto needed to figure it out himself, and they were meant to be together anyways by the end.

Aoto just needed to make sure that Boruto would be better than the original story. That brat also needed some beating, in the eyes of Naruto. As Aoto was a little lost in his own thoughts, Naruto got down from his home and said hi to his friends and sensei.

Aoto just came down to see him off.

"Remember, if you feel you are in a tough situation, don't hesitate to ask for help. Be together and be careful..." Aoto gave a bunch of advice, and by the end, Naruto was a bit annoyed by the long list of advice. As Aoto was dashing out advice, a small meow was heard.

"Ahh... Yorichi-san..." Naruto was happy to see the black cat, and it meant that Aoto would have to stop with his words, which he did. Yorichi came forward and rubbed her cheek with Naruto and then with the rest, which surprised everyone.

And then an amazing thing happened. Yorichi jumped over the bag of Sasuke and lay down.

"Yorichi-san, do you wish to go with them?"

"Meow."

"Are you sure?"

"Meow."

"Fine. Please take care of them," Aoto said, as he could guess that Yorichi might have noticed a small distress with Aoto and wanted to help them. She was jobless anyways, and going out with them would help her move around a bit.

"Wait... I don't want a cat with me," Kakashi vehemently denied.

"Kakashi-san, it's fine. Yorichi-san wouldn't meddle in the affairs," Aoto said.

"No. It's not that. She will be in danger if we come across any enemies," Kakashi said.

"Don't worry. She is a good cat, and she won't get hurt. In fact, it will be tough for anyone to hurt her," Aoto said with a smirk in his voice.

"Huh? She is a palicko?" Kakashi asked. Over time, they had all been using Palicko for everyday activities, so Kakashi thought that way.

"Palicko? No... She is something else. You don't have to worry about Yorichi-san. She will stay out of your way and just need to feed her once in a while," Aoto said.

"I... I will take care of her," Sakura said, which made Aoto smile. He could see that she was attracted to the cat and wanted to take care of her.

"Naruto, you already know what she likes to eat. You help Sakura," Aoto said.

"Aye... Aye sir. You can count on me, dattebayo," Naruto said. Kakashi looked a bit uncomfortable that a cat with no affiliation would follow them, but since there wasn't an extra person on this mission, he could only accept. Aoto gave a few more food items for her, and soon they were off.

Naruto, while on the way, also bade goodbye to Corazon and others and thus seemed happy. As they left, Kisuke came out and saw that Yorichi had left.

"Did you tell her to go with them?" Aoto asked.

"What are you talking about? I don't understand anything," Kisuke replied while having his hand fan over his mouth. In response, Aoto punched his face with full force, which threw him off.

"Now I understand how Ichigo felt with you. You deserve a beating," Aoto said.

"Hahahaha." Kisuke laughed while a small trace of blood flowed down his nose.

"Don't laugh," Aoto said. There was a momentary silence before Kisuke got up and brushed the dust off his clothes, and the small trace of blood dried off.

"You did good by sending her," Aoto said. Kisuke was silent and just looked into the horizon where Naruto and the rest left. Aoto had also seen Tazuna from afar and knew that the story would unfold the way he knew, and just wanted to see what changed in the story.

Yorichi being with them was a major boost in case of an emergency.

Soon the four people were on a long way, and just before they were ready to enter the Land of the Waves, they were attacked by two Mist ninjas. It was fast and ruthless. They 'killed' Kakashi first and then went for Tazuna.

But it was there that the two Mist ninjas made a mistake. They didn't expect such swift retaliation from the three genins, since they were kids and new.