Twisted Branches

[Joker]

Raizou was nervous, this was a rare emotion for him to feel. He felt apprehension at certain things, he felt scared of others, regretful of one; but this...This really didn’t put a smile on his face. But he was assigned to act as the assistant to one Nara, Tousha. It was a nice day in the leaf village, the people meandered, there were few clouds up in the sky, there was a nice soft breeze and it was neither hot nor cold. Raizou did not find any solace in this since his objective for this mission was the previous Hokage. He had never met Tousha himself, but still, it was a tough one.

So, he found himself just outside of the Tea-house, a tea house which was where he was expected to meet up with the ex-Hokage. He was usually of a somewhat confident disposition, taking in a deep breath before breathing out in order to calm his nerves. He put on his artificial smirk, and moved past the shutters to enter the store properly. He was dressed in his usual shinobi garb, a black jacket with a mesh shirt underneath, and his grey trousers. He obviously knew what the man looked like, he doubted anyone would have no idea. But the approach was the hardest part of this.

A measured walk, each step exact, his arms were by his side and his expression morphed, a mix between his smirk and a nervous twitch before he dropped it. ”Nara Tousha right sir? I’m the Genin assigned to act as your assistant, Raizou of the Awai clan. It’s an honour to meet you, and work alongside you on this day.” His speech was stiff, far from his usual, words and introductions that he had used sparingly in his life, and perhaps only once before in his entire career as a shinobi.

”I’m not much yet, but I’ll be sure to live up to your expectations. Although why have you picked a tea-shop for a meeting place? Isn’t it a bit...Dull?” Unknown to Raizou, it was the person who had assigned him this mission that had said this was a meeting place, and not a forced upon assignment.

[Toshi]

It was a lovely day for tea. Most days were, but today was especially lovely for some of that sweet, sweet hot leaf water. The kind of day that was made for drinking tea, really. Picture perfect in every way, right down to the exact temperature tea became especially delicious. Many naysayers would have you believe that 'terrific tea temp', or TTT, was just a pretentious term thought up by tea snobs who liked to make tea drinking some kind of competition.

Well, it was, and Tousha was better than everyone at it. Anyone who thought otherwise was just jealous.

So, on this perfect tea drinking day a dark haired man sat in one of his favorite tea houses drinking one of his favorite teas. It was a Sencha blend, but rather than the leaves be ground down into a fine powder the leaves are allowed to stew in the piping hot water and swirl within the cup after each savory sip. It was an acquired taste, one that Tousha had developed in his early twenties or so. The taste always brought him back to those days, when life seemed so much simpler and his knees didn't hurt when it rained. The Nara closed his eyes and drew in a long, content breath, allowing the aroma of the tea to hit him in his special smell zone (yes that's the medical term for it) just right.

Time slowed, lo-fi hip hop beats were in the air, and everything was right with the world. What a true moment of bliss and relaxa-

”Nara Tousha right sir? I’m the Genin assigned to act as your assistant, Raizou of the Awai clan. It’s an honour to meet you, and work alongside you on this day.”

Wait, something's wrong. What's that? Could it b-

”I’m not much yet, but I’ll be sure to live up to your expectations. Although why have you picked a tea-shop for a meeting place? Isn’t it a bit...Dull?”

Tousha looked around the tea shop, his brow creased in confusion. It took a solid five seconds before the Kage's gaze fell on the boy standing near him. Why was this kid staring at him like that? Did he need someone to buy him cigarettes? Was the boy trying to sell him something, spotting a tea-induced moment of weakness? He'd be having none of that, Tousha was in no mood for some youth's shenanigans, not on this very special day.

"I don't want any of your cookies or whatever," Tousha said, his expression impregnable. "Now shoo. Shooo," he added, flapping a hand at the boy.