The Shopkeeper of Konoha

12. Addictive weed



"What.. What happened? What did you do?" Aoto-san was a little scared. It was quite ignorant of him to sell such items and not speak of the conditions and precautions. This was a major mistake for him, but for now he needed to know if these people had done something incriminating.

"We.. We can't remember what we did after we smoked." Takeo said as he felt a little ashamed of being half naked and sleeping with Aoi.

"I am sorry.. I am sorry.. I forgot to mention that this thing can cause problems if you smoke with alcohol. Do you have a huge hangover?" Aoto now had to do some crisis management. He had never run a shop before and his immaturity was popping up.

"We did. Tell me Aoto-chan, are you dealing drugs or something?"

"What? No.. No.. This things is supposed to be used as muscle relaxer and give people some form of hallucination. This thing can help with anxiety and also help those who are suffering from PTSD. Only drawback is that this can be little addictive but then again for smokers it's the same thing. And the only precautions that should be taken is that, it should never be consumed along with sake." Aoto laid out everything that he knew about weed from his previous life.

He had never smoked one but he knew about them from his classmates and what he had read on the internet. So he poured out all the things he knew about weed at that moment and he hoped that these two men wouldn't think that he was selling drugs.

"See, I told you that Aoto-chan wasn't selling drugs. We just consumed it wrong."

"I guess it was our mistake. Sorry Aoto-chan for suspecting you."

Both of them bowed their heads in apology.

"Please. It was my mistake too for not telling you to follow proper instructions. I hope you can forgive me too. You didn't do anything bad did you?" Aoto too bowed his head and accepted his shortcomings.

"No… No… Hahahah.. It's fine Aoto-chan. You are still new in this. Now tell me where did you find this kind of green tobacco?" Aoi said, trying to deflect from the shameful thing that had happened.

"I found it in the forests nearby Takeo-san. I didn't skip classes just to have some fun before." Aoto  lied as he knew that the predecessor loved skipping classes and roaming in the grasslands and the forests nearby. Of course, not alone. Sometimes he would take Ayame or some of his school friends with him.

"Ah. Seems like Aoto-chan has grown up.. Hahahaha.. . So this thing can be smoked to give us relief?" Aoi remembered the exhilaration when he first smoked.

"Yes. But it can be addictive too just like the normal ones. If you consume too much it will lead to circumstances that I don't know about but I am sure it is safe."

"Did you smoke this Aoto-chan?" Takeo asked as he was confused of how he knew about it without smoking this. Aoto looked embarrassed and just nodded his head. He would have to continue his lie if he wanted to get himself a regular customer.

"Hahaha. Well since you know that this can be addicting don't take this anymore. We are adults while you are still a kid."

"Aoi-san, children of my age are already Genins."

"But you are not a ninja."

Aoto just shrugged his head as he knew of his own shortcomings.

"Aoi-san, Takeo - san, do you want to buy cigarettes?"

"Buy? No more gifting?" Aoi laughed. Aoto just smiled at it and didn't reply. He was hoping that these people who came out of concern for him could buy some weed. He had given the weed free before so he earned nothing from it. Now it was time for payback.

"Alright Aoto-chan I am ready to buy this. How much does it cost?" Takeo said.

"6 cigarettes would cost 150 ryo."

"Huh! So costly? This is too much. A pack of cigarettes here cost only 20 ryo."

"Aoi-san, this is a medicinal cigarette which helps in muscle pain, anxiety and PTSD. I don't know if you know of PTSD, this happens when someone goes through trauma in the past and suffers mentally later. These things are special. And this is very difficult to find. I had to waste so much time for this. Sorry but this is the cheapest I could sell them for."

Aoto made up a lie and made it as convincing as possible for him. For profit he would have to do anything and everything. Aoi and Takeo got into thinking. What Aoto said was correct. Both of them remember the pain vanishing away and felt happiness after smoking the weed.

"Alright. Since it was our mistake to accuse you of wrongdoings, we will have to compensate. Give me one pack."

"Damn it Aoi, I should have been the first one to say that. Give me two packs."

Aoto didn't waste another second and a pack that he had made the previous night after putting in the weed was sold to them.

"Aoi-san, Takeo-san. I will only allow the sale of 5 or 6 cigarettes per week. I will not sell more. This is done so that the people don't get addicted to it like smoking. I hope you smoke it responsibly like you do this with sake."

Aoi and Takeo, who felt a little pinch after buying the new stock of weed, were surprised by the words of Aoto. They didn't expect that Aoto had put such rules on the sale of weed. This meant that this person cared for the people around which made them feel more embarrassed for doubting him.

"Don't worry Aoto-chan. We will be careful."

Now this was a small episode that had happened in the shop but 2 or 3 people had already joined the queue and heard all the conversation between Aoto and these two. Coincidentally , the new customers were here for the 'gifts' that Aoto had sold to them before and unlike Takeo and Aoi, the two new customers repeatedly nodded their heads at what Aoto said, as his words were true and the weed just gave them relaxation and some 'happy time' before getting back to normal.

Now, they were here for more.


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