The Shopkeeper of Konoha

The next day, Naruto woke up with a smile on his face. He had the same old smile that he always had before, and Aoto was relieved to see that. Though he was sure that Naruto had some kind of trauma, they would work on it with him over time.

Aoto made breakfast for Naruto as it was already time for him to leave for the academy. Corazon took the responsibility of guarding him, and Aoto didn't stop him. Tensions were high at the moment, and Aoto wasn't sure what Konoha would do.

They just made a mockery of the two high council members, and Konoha wouldn't take it lying down for sure. Hiruzen might, but the other two won't. And Aoto had a fear of that.

Konoha actually had other things to consider rather than dealing with the thorn that had grown in their backyard. The construction of the new bridge and the use of manpower. It was a very intricate matter, and Konoha had to be cautious about anything that could go wrong.

In addition to that, Konoha had another matter to deal with—the Uchiha issue. Unohana had already told Aoto that there were multiple patients in the hospital belonging to the Uchiha and other shinobis of the village engaging in fights, and some even escalated to shinobi fights.

Aoto could already foresee what was going to happen but didn't know how to help. He could only wait and see, hopefully able to save the Uchiha. Naruto and Hinata showed up after the Academy, and apparently, Naruto's disappearance had made Hinata very sad as she could already guess what was happening.

Seeing Naruto back brought a smile to her face. Both actually avoided the topic of kidnapping and started learning from Shikuro as they always did. Chomei was actually very pissed that he didn't get to go out and extract revenge. (I am not sure what gender I should use as I have messed up with the gender of Chomei, so from now on, Chomei is male).

But Chomei was glad that Naruto and Hinata were back, and Aoto could notice that the kidnapping of Naruto changed something in him. He became more interested in teaching Naruto and Hinata more advanced fighting styles and more magic.

Aoto was happy that Chomei was now slowly letting go of the hatred, and maybe it was time to tell what Naruto was supposed to be in the future so that he could invest more time in him. Aoto waited for some kind of retaliation or at least a visit from Hiruzen for the next few days as life came to normal and construction of the bridge had already started, but there was none. Instead, he received another kind of visit from an unexpected person.

It was Fugaku Uchiha.

"Fugaku-san, so late a visit?"

"Sorry, Aoto, for the silent visit, but I need some answers," Fugaku said.

"Come in," Aoto said as he could see that Fugaku was a bit stressed. Naruto was in the library, so the home was empty, and they took to the living room. He brewed some tea and offered Fugaku one cup.

He sipped one time and looked at Aoto.

"Tell me what do you want to know. I will answer what I can," Aoto said.

"Did you attack the Konoha council members?" Fugaku asked. Aoto was taken aback, as he didn't expect that his assault would be known to the public, but then again, he was the head of the police force, so he must have had connections.

"I did," Aoto replied calmly. Fugaku looked at him with a bit of surprise and then shook his head.

"I knew that Naruto was kidnapped, and I also had a vague idea of who did it. Sorry that I couldn't stop. For being the police force of Konoha, we, the Uchiha, have been a failure," Fugaku said as he bowed his head in apology.

"It's alright. I know how politics work. I knew what I was getting into when I took Naruto in. Just didn't expect they to come after me. I expected Danzo to come. But he as surprisingly no where to be see." Aoto said as he too sipped his tea. Fugaku flinched hearing the name of Danzo and a bit surprised that Aoto even knew of him and his agenda. 

"How is Naruto holding up? I asked Sasuke to be a bit more friendly to him." Fugaku said. 

"Friendship can't be forced Fugaku-san, it can only be natural just like love. You can't force people emotions." Aoto said. 

"You are right." Fugaku said and agreed. He took a deep breath and asked. "What do you know about the Sharingan?" 

"Huh?" Aoto was taken aback by the question.

"Yes. When we met in the beginning you knew about my Mangekyo and even the fact that overusing it can be damaging. So I want to ask what do you know about the Sharingan?" Fugaku asked. 

"Fugaku-san, I am just a baby in front of you. I don't know anything about it." Aoto denied straight forward. 

"You made a fool of my Susano and you still call yourself a baby. They, Konoha council, are stupid if they think they can get away with what they did to Naruto. So I feel like you are on my level too." Fugaku said. 

"You exaggerate too much, Fugaku-san." Aoto said. Fugaku shook his head in denial and looked at him for answers. It seemed like Fugaku wanted some answers today. 

"Sigh! Why am I being dragged here?" Aoto asked. 

"It's because of my son Itachi. I feel like he has shifted his alliance and I don't know how to bring him back. I feel like I can't move forward and I don't know what to do with him. My wife told me to clear my head and I had always wanted to know about Sharingan and the Uchiha, and I want to start here. I have a feeling that there is more to it than what I have known all my life so I am looking for answers." Fugaku said.