He got to work, and the medicine popped up a few minutes later. Hinata reached into her pockets for the payment. He shook his head and said "I refuse to accept any payment for this. It is well below my standard. Please come back to the shop next week. I will be happy to serve you then." She smiled and said "I'll hold you to that then." We then left the store. It was time to leave the city and get back home. The city was 3 days away from the village by walking. Walking back was fine because she had the medicine. However, there was no way that she could make another trip to the city so soon. Mio vouched for us when we got back. We were also selected to go with Hinata to get the month's dose. We were able to use and ninja's pace, so it went much quicker. Once we got in the gates, we made our way to the apothecary. The man was being bullied outside his shop by a well-dressed official. He had several goons with him. "It's nothing personal. Doing business with the riffraff of the city only got you to float by. It's time you learned who the real businessmen in this city are." he said.
The goons took a brick each from their pockets. I got in the way and stole it from one of them. Keisuke did the same to the other goon. "We are here as promised to get the medicine for Mio-sama." I said. "Is it ready!?" Hinata asked with a hand on her hip. The young apothecary shook his head. "Oh! I... umm... no. I still have to make it. I do have the ingredients though. Satoru-dono has been asking me about selling my shop." he said as he began to tremble and shrink down until he was on his haunches like a terrified child. "Is it for sale?" I asked. He looked at me like he could not hear me. "Wh-what?" he squeaked. "Is the shop for sale?" I asked again. He shook his head no. "I like my shop. I don't want to stop making medicine here." he finally got out. "Looks like there's no more reason to fuss." Hinata said, standing next to him. The man was beside himself with fury for being ignored. I did not care. "Can you get to making the medicine? We were in a hurry." He nodded furiously and got to his feet. He scurried into his shop and got to work. The goons backed the bully up. He glared at us all.
None of us were even slightly intimidated by them. "I suggest you leave him alone. You don't want to cause more problems for yourself." Hinata said firmly. He was going to say something, but a death glare shut him up. They turned and walked off. They were the ones that were scared. "We might need to put the shop under our protection if goons are already trying to destroy it." She nodded her head. "Well, my cousin Yasu could stay here to protect it. I can tell that the apothecary is not interested in the company of women. Mother thinks the same way. Maybe a strong male lover will suit him." "Will Yasu want to live in the city? He'd be far away from his family." Keisuke asked her. It was a really good question. "Yasu had said that he was not interested in being more than a genin. Fighting others and infiltrating enemy encampments was never something that he wanted to do. As a kunoichi, this would be the best place for him to serve the needs of the clan." she said, not really answering the question. We did not hear he would want this. Then again, clan life meant sacrifice for the larger family.
Once we got back, we gave Mio the medicine she needed. She was already almost out of the week's supply. After explaining what happened to the apothecary, she just shook her head. "He really is a sweet boy. Yasu might be able to make a man of him. Send him here." she commented. This second trip to the city was our 5th clan mission. We were both now halfway to becoming part of the Kirume Clan. There was still light out when we fetched the new live in lover for the apothecary. Yasu did not have a choice but to accept his mission. He was to leave directly for the city in the morning. At least he would have time to say goodbye to everyone and pack some of his things first. As he left, Keisuke and I made our way to the storage house. 2 of the younger members of the clan were waiting for us there. I wondered what was going on. It was Kuro, the slightly older brother of Juro, and Haruo one of his cousins. They were having an argument. One that they wanted us to solve. It popped up as a clan mission, so I was down for it. Keisuke blew them off. "I am way too tired to deal with this."
