The Shopkeeper of Konoha

"Don't let their cute furs fool you. These two are experts in their fields. The yellow one is a palico of the healer variety. It can heal a person with its techniques and the other one is an assist type and it could set up traps, assist you in battles and do other kinds of assisting work in your mission. Of course, there are additional applications for them that you can discover on your own." Added Aoto.

"These cats come in various varieties?" Asuma couldn't help but turn his head and look at Arya and John since they were the ones who had brought. John didn't know what he should say because he knew nothing of these, it was Arya who came forward and said

"Yes, these cats come from a very remote island and each of them are different. Some are healers while some assists you in fights. I hope you will like them and help us get these cute beings popular here."

When Arya said those words, Aoto's eyebrows stood up. When it came to the siblings, Arya had always been the clever one. A young girl like her managed to escape Kings Landing, get herself close to Tywin and escape again and even get herself across the sea. Though she had a huge help along the way, it couldn't be denied that she had the smarts of the streets.

Asuma and Kakashi had no idea that these creatures would ever be put up for sale. Although it was very uncommon to encounter them, ninjas could always make deals with beasts. It was known that only the geniuses had communication with them. For example, Asuma himself didn't have any contract animal even though his father had one of the most fiercest contract animal, Enma.

Lord Enma could transform himself into a long stick which was known to be one of the hardest things to break. Kakashi himself was able to contract one because he was genius in his own rights. But here they were, a shop that was ready to sell animals that could be used for contracts.

"Under what circumstances can I enter into a contract with one?" Straight to the point, Asuma posed the question. He had faith in Aoto, and he was not going to let this opportunity pass him by.

"There are actually two requirements. One is pay up and the other is you can only call the palico that you have contracted first and not the other ones. There are 5 types of palico. Fighter, Bombardier, Gatherer, Healer, and Assist. You saw the two types already and there are other ones can be bought too. The healer one is 1 million ryo and the assist one is 600k ryo. Naturally, since this will be the first transaction, both of you will receive a two-day free trial of these two. You don't need to contract now. Enjoy yourself with them before deciding whether you want them or not. By the way, these cats go by the moniker palico." Aoto spoke all at once.

"Will they really listen to us even if we don't contract?" Kakashi enquired. He was unaware of such practices. Though, the contracted animals weren't some kind of slaves and they had their own will. Normally, they were treated with respect and were given equal status if not more. However, when they were necessary, the contracts were the best course of action.

"Of course. This is the guarantee from the shop." With assurance, Aoto spoke. He was confident because the palicos were controlled by the shop and they would listen to his commands until they were being contracted by someone else.

"I trust you on this Aoto but don't you think 1 million ryo is too much for one?" When Asuma heard the figure of one million, he paused a little before speaking. Following their payment through the accomplishment of missions, jonins like them were somewhat wealthy. However, 1 million or 600,000 ryo would still burn a sizable hole in their pockets.

"I am sorry Asuma-san. They had set this as their fee for them. But consider this. In a mission if you are injured, than a healer palico could come and heal you easily. Even though it might be slow, at least you wouldn't need a healer in your team. They wouldn't be far off from the Medic Ninja, even if they weren't quite as efficient." Arya, who had arrived and was standing by his side, gave her approval to what Aoto was saying even though she hardly comprehended what was happening.

Kakashi was the one in contemplation. The price of one million ryo or 600,000 ryo could be regarded as the ideal price if these palickos were truly as excellent as this kid Aoto was claiming. He spoke.

"I will take the healer. Asuma can take the assist." said Kakashi.

"Kakashi, I want to take the healer, you take the assist." Asuma immediately retorted forgetting about the price problem.

"They aren't in contract. When you buy one ask for healer. I want to see how good the healer one is." Without saying anything else, Kakashi took up the palico. He acted as though he was afraid Asuma would steal the gilded palicko from him by doing so. Although Asuma really wanted to do that, he restrained himself.

He got a free trial anyways. If it really was as wonderful as this boy was claiming, the Konoha would never be the same.

"Aoto-kun, how many of these palicos do you have?" Kakashi looked at Arya and questioned. Aoto responded in kind.

"This is John, and her name is Arya. They could sell the 150 or so palicos they have there. The place have been really run by them so they want to get rid of the excess ones." Kakashi nodded his head and took the golden palico in the lap and walked away after thanking Aoto. He promised to return in 2 days. Asuma followed suit. Even though it was late at night, they were both too excited to remain in the shop for much longer and were interested in playing with them.

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