Asuma didn't give a damn about how his father would treat Arisu or accuse Fugaku. Now, all he wanted to do was walk outside and smoke his joint. He was almost outside when Hiruzen inquired unexpectedly from behind.
"What was that about your favourite shopkeeper?"
Asuma turned around and clenched his pack tightly, to make sure this didn't get robbed because he knew his father was a greater smoker than him. He might smoke cigarettes once a day but his father had no such guilty check on himself.
"I buy this from my shopkeeper. Now I only smoke once a day." Asuma said while showing the joint from far.
"Once a day? When did this happen?" Hiruzen asked, confused that his son has lessened smoking by so much degree.
"Few weeks ago. This thing is awesome. You should try it." Asuma thought about it and finally gave his father one joint for him to try. Hiruzen saw the small white thing in the finger of Asuma. He could easily see that there was some green type of 'tobacco' inside and it was wrapped in a more transparent paper rather than the typical paper or tobacco like it was done in cigars.
"What is this?" Hiruzen asked.
"According to him, it is called joint. Why don't you try this? Maybe it will help in taking better decisions in administering the village."At the very end, Asuma made sure to make fun of his father. He was more convinced tonight following his conversation with Aoto that his father's actions were bad for the community.
Even while his father was making an effort to control the situation and ensure that there was peace in the village, it was certain that his father's former coworkers were undoubtedly making things worse than they needed to be.
Asuma had pleaded with his father to make decisions on his own rather than relying on advice from his boyhood buddies, but his father resisted, emphasising the fact that they were his friends.
Hiruzen grasped the joint in his hands without giving it any thought. He simply smoked it directly after lighting it up. Nothing happened at first, but gradually the familiar environment in front of him transformed. As he relaxed, his thinking simply slowed down. He initially believed he was the target of some sort of genjutsu, but for some reason he didn't care.
He simply relaxed and took another drag while sitting in his chair. Asuma grinned triumphantly while gazing at his father for a considerable amount of time. Even the renowned Hokage was unable to escape the joints' enchantment. He shut the door and nearly ran inside. He previously given his father his "payment."
He had better make the most of what was left.
----
The next day.
With a start, Hiruzen sprung out of his chair. He eventually fell asleep on the recliner the night before. The fact that a simple smoke could even cause a kage level ninja like him to nod asleep at his current location astounded him even more.
But he adored it to the fullest.
'No surprise he enjoyed it' as he requested one of his Anbu guards to get information about this new shopkeeper, Hiruzen pondered. Even though he enjoyed this new thing, he needed to research this new product that had recently inundated the market. Although he could tell that this new thing was addicted, it was still good.
The Anbu obeyed the command and then disappeared from view. Hiruzen pulled out his usual cigar and lit it. However, he stopped smoking after a short while. His old cigar was messing with his senses and he missed the feeling he had yesterday. He need that "dosage" once more.
"Sigh! Oh my my, what a torture." Hiruzen had a thought.
Aoto, meanwhile, awoke normally as if it were any other day, and he had all but forgotten what had happened the night before. Before Asuma arrived, he opened the store and began serving clients.
"Kid, shut the store. You now have new clients. I visited the hospital to see how they were doing. You've earned a gold mine for yourself." Asuma had a huge grin on her face. He was delighted because this enterprise will even fatten his funds and fill his pockets.
Aoto saw this, so he quickly posted a closed sign outside the store before leaving with Asuma. In case the other person requested another sample, he also brought another jar of mad honey with him. There were three persons at the office when Aoto and Asuma arrived. They had been impatiently awaiting his arrival.
"You have to be the Aoto, Asuma-senpai was chirping about. I underestimated how young you would be." The Konoha Hospital nurse, who was seated to the right of the speaker, spoke.
That was the first thing that Aoto heard. He couldn't help but curse inside his mind.
"I am much older than you think."
"After experiencing the mad honey, we can now state that this is a really good thing. It works well for anyone with indigestion or other similar gastrointestinal issues. It might also be used to induce sleep. In fact, we are confident that we can produce poison out of this mad honey with the right dosage, giving us an advantage over the poisons that Sunagakure is aware of." The director said.
"Eh!" Aoto was taken aback. He gave the mad honey only for them to use it in medicine. What was up with using it in battle? That was never his intentions. Did he just become a war criminal like Tony Stark, unknowingly?
Ya.. Ya... Ya... He was thinking too much!
"It seems like you didn't know it's poison capabilities."
"No. My father only said that it can only be used in indigestion and was addictive."
"Yes, it is definitely addictive but we have found some interesting uses to it. We hope that you can continue providing this thing. Now how do you want to get paid? By the margin of profit or pay per jar?"