Chapter 2:
"So, what do you think of that guy?" Ino asked, damning her diet and placing another order.
"He's alright!" Naruto cheered. "Free ramen and Sasuke's back."
Sakura nodded in agreement.
"He seems suspicious to me." Shikamaru replied, frowning. "First off, the path the Sound were taking wasn't near any road, therefore he shouldn't have been there. He also seemed to know about Kakashi, his team, and where there could be found, which implies insider knowledge. Lastly, after having helped us, rather than ask for something in return, he leaves a lot of ryou here so that we get a free lunch."
"I ain't complaining." The owner commented, drawing several bills as Naruto ordered on of the most expensive dishes.
"Yeah, that does sound suspicious." Temari agreed. "And he's been gone for what, nearly an hour now?"
Ino and Sakura began bickering with Shikamaru and Temari over the trustworthiness of the mysterious ninja as Naruto continued to exploit the free meal. Not that anyone heard, but Hinata offered her opinion and commented that he had just returned.
"Oi! Sakura-san! Have you heard the news?" A familiar voice shouted.
"Huh? Lee-san? Shouldn't you be at the hospital?" Sakura asked.
"Thick-brows is here?" Naruto asked, unhappily turning from his food. "Eh? Neji, Chouji, and Kiba too? Weren't you three-"
"I took care of that." The ninja said. "I'm pretty good in that area." He turned face the trio that had followed him. "Sorry, but I'm not good enough so you'll stay pretty sore for a while."
"Neji! What are you doing here?" Tenten shouted, running over.
The proud genin took a verbal assault for several minutes before being dragged away by the worried kunoichi.
"So who are you, anyways?" Kiba asked.
"Huh? Ah! Gomenasai, I hadn't realized I forgot to introduce myself. I am Asagin Aiyoru, a wandering… well it's somewhat tricky to explain what it is that I do… you'd better sit down and order something to eat."
Although no one could see because of the counter, the owner of Ichiraku was quivering from the waist down because of the profits.
Once everyone was seated and enjoying a meal, Aiyoru began his explanation.
"I travel from country to country, performing whatever jobs I can find. You could call me a mercenary, but I abhor fighting… maybe contract worker might be a more accurate term. Although since I'm always traveling, I always do some free jobs so that people can see what I'm capable of. Since you guys seem like a nice bunch, I'll do a favour for each of you. This goes for the five that aren't here."
"Five?" Chouji asked.
"Yes… ano… Neji, Tenten, Gaara, Kankuro, and Shino. But for the most part, these won't be asked for by any of you. By the way, I also sell information. So I'll also let each of you ask me, once, anything you want, free of charge.
"How do you know about Shino?" Shikamaru asked, glaring at Aiyoru. "He's not at the village right now, so you shouldn't have any knowledge of him."
"I know all about all of you. You, for example, you're Nara Shikamaru; son of Nara Shikato. You're specialty is the shadow imitation technique. Your favourite pastimes are playing shougi and watching clouds. Your most common phrase is calling something troublesome and you've got a crush on-"
"Oi, oi!" Shikamaru shouted, not wanting the conversation to go any further. "Alright, so you're like Kabuto, then."
"The glasses guy that works for Orochimaru? No, I'm much better than him… I'm also straight."
"Why do you wear that mask?" Ino asked.
Shikamaru breathed a sigh of relief, for now the most likely suspect to ask for that which he didn't want revealed.
Once more, Aiyoru showed signs of smiling behind the ANBU mask. "Well, to put it simply, its because I'm not very popular with women."
"You get slapped a lot?" Naruto asked.
"Is he more like ero-sannin or Kakashi-sensei…" He wondered.
"Not once." He replied, whistling after replying.
"Then why?" Temari asked, intrigued. "Some sort of horrible disfigurement?"
"No, I'm simply a loser, so you could say it has to do with shame or embarrassment."
"Could you take off the mask? On second though, since you could still have something beneath the mask, could you-"
"Don't worry, I've never do anything like that." He said, pulling it off.
There was an ensuing silence as everyone stared, mouth agape, at Aiyoru.
"Not since Kakashi have I seen such a beautiful… erm, I mean, here's your order." The owner of the stand said, placing the bowl and getting back to his job.
"How's that a problem?" Temari asked, sparkly-eyed and blushing.
"Sorry, I already answered a question." He smiled, replacing the mask. "And you just more or less wasted your favour."
"Says you…" She thought, a catlike grin momentarily spreading across her face.
"What country are you from?" Chouji asked after ordering a pork ramen.
"Country? Hoo…" Aiyoru sighed, scratching his forehead. "Let's see… from a place called Ichogo, its near the border of wave country. They make some good sweets there. You want some?"
A line of drool answered his question.
"Good thing I went there recently…" He muttered, rummaging though his sack then tossing a small bag to the salivating genin.
"Oi! Asagin-san, you seem to know Naruto's sensei. Have you-"
"Of course I know Gai! Boy, you sure emulate him closely. You're just a flak vest away from being a chibi bunshin. By the way, Kiba, you got anything to ask?"
"Nah, I'm good."
"Really? Nothing? A strange wanderer appears with Sasuke, master of various unknown techniques, and you don't have anything to ask?" He asked, perplexed as he scribbled something on a piece of paper and folded it.
"Nope, you're not that interesting." Kiba grinned, as he got up and left.
"Suit yourself, you missed your chance." Aiyoru smiled, tossing him the note.
"What's this?"
"Let's see… Haruno Sakura and Hyuuga Hinata. Either of you have anything to ask?" He continued, ignoring the question.
"When will Sasuke-kun be better?" Sakura asked, rather pitifully.
"Yeesh, Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kun… what a one-track mind." Naruto thought. Incidentally, the same thought had passed through Aiyoru's head at the same moment.
"The Uchiha will be, physically, healthy in a day or two. As for his mental health; who knows. He could get over it right away, or he could be doing messed up things for years. Lastly, how 'bout you, Hinata-sama?"
Her face became beet red at the respectable suffix given by a complete stranger. "N-no…" She replied, staring at the counter and twiddling her fingers.
"Well, I guess that's everyone. Well, I've got to go and find a place to stay. So I guess I'll need my wallet back."
Picking up the now lightweight pouch, he cast a lingering look at Naruto, and the substantial pile of bowls stacked in front of him.
Grinning, he shook his head and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
