The Grey and the Old

Mission:

The sound of wood clicking against the stone paved road of Neo-Kirigakure was almost entirely overshadowed by the hustle and bustle of the market district. After so much time, he would be taking on another mission. Something he hadn’t expected to do since his forced retirement around two decades ago.

Though he would’ve felt very dissatisfied with a D-Rank mission in the past, the upcoming one was right up his alley. Helping the owner of a tea shop.

Shigekuni liked to think, that he was well versed when it came to tea after serving as a butler for even longer than he had been an active shinobi in the past.

And there it was, the oh-so-fabled tea shop. It seemed like the owner had preferred to open his shop a bit away from the noisy main street and decided upon a location in a narrow street that branched away from said main street.

Opening the door said shop, Shigekuni announced himself:

“Pardon the intrusion. I have been sent here to aid you and your fine establishment. My name is Shigekuni Nakashima, pleased to meet you.”

The owner – a man way older even than Shigekuni – looked up with a warm smile, that faltered a bit, when he saw the cane in the aged Shinobi’s hand.

“Ah, come in sonny, come in. The name is Takeshi. What a nice surprise to see a polite young man such as yourself. But please, don’t strain yourself on my behalf. If you are injured, I don’t mind waiting for a couple of young’uns.”

Shigekuni waved the concern away with a polite smile.

“It is very commendable of you to trouble yourself over such things, Takeshi-dono, but I assure you, it is not necessary. I shall complete this mission without fail. Now, would you be so kind to show me your storage facilities? I believe I am to help you organize your inventory.”

The ancient tea shop owner looked at Shigekuni with an unsure expression, before he shrugged. If things didn’t go as expected, he could just claim that the mission had not be fulfilled.

The gray-haired shinobi was almost able to see the cogs turn in the liver spotted forehead of the business owner.

“Fine, but don’t overdo it, sonny. Don’t blame me if your back blows out, ho-ho-ho.”

With the most stereotypical old-man-laugh imaginable, the weathered face of the old man crinkled up with humor, obviously in admiration of his own joke.

Ironically, Takeshi supported his own back with both of his arms, after turning around and waving to the younger man, beckoning him to follow his lead.

Not one to be asked twice, Shigekuni followed Takeshi without any further comment. He’d heard it all before. And though he was sure, that most comments were meant for his well-being, he couldn’t help but to find them rather annoying.

Not that he would allow himself to show such displeasure openly.

They arrived in a small backroom, filled to the brim with cardboard boxes and – to Shigekuni’s horror – a lot of dust and cobwebs.

“As you can see, I am not as young as I used to be. I really need to get this place in order. Ya’ sure you can handle this?”

Shigekuni put his cane away, letting it rest in the closest corner of the room.

“Very sure, yes. And now that I have seen this, I couldn’t leave it alone anyways. Please point me towards your cleaning utensils.”

After Takeshi did so, Shigekuni went to work. Despite his claims that he’d be fine, pain was constantly flowing through his body, as he moved all boxes, jars and other containers out of the shelves to give them a proper cleaning.

Before seeing this, he would’ve had a cup of tea here without any reservations. He’d have relaxed with a book, blissfully unaware of the hygienic state of the establishment.

That was not a possibility anymore. But he would complete his mission. With the skill of twenty years of experience cleaning an entire estate, Shigekuni made short work of all the dust bunnies that seemed to have accumulated over an uncomfortably long period of time.
At least, that is what he would’ve like to say, but the pure volume of dust made it impossible to be done with it in one sitting.

He had to clean the shelves three times, because no matter how carefully he wiped the dust aways with the rags provided by the old man, some of it escaped into the air and settled back onto the shelves after a few minutes.

But even the most resilient dirt was eventually conquered by Shigekuni’s impeccable cleaning skills.

A few hours and many buckets of water later, the ground, the shelves, the jars, boxes and every other container and surface was completely spotless.
Shigekuni nodded to himself in satisfaction. For shinobi not familiar with different types of tea, this mission would’ve just started now. Some labels were almost unreadable, as some of the jars and containers had simply been refilled again and again over seemingly decades.

But to a retired butler such as himself, the rest was easy. He recognized them from their smell and by looking at the leaves. Despite his first impressions, he had to admit, that the quality of the tea was top notch and – by some form of divine miracle – none of the products were contaminated in any form Shigekuni could identify.

After putting everything in order, he returned to the front of the shop. He saw that the quaint little business was almost bursting from the seams with customers. Something he failed to notice due to him focusing on the storage room. Something he chastised himself for.

He certainly had lost his edge, if he was so engrossed by cleaning duties, that he failed to notice a venerable horde of civilians.

When Takeshi had finished serving yet another customer, Shigekuni cleared his throat.

Almost jumping in surprise, the older man whirled around, surprisingly agile for his age.

“Damn sonny, I almost forgot you’re still here! Almost gave me a heart attack. Do ya’ need anything?”

Shigekuni, shook his head, expression as unreadable as always, cane already back in one of his hands.

“Nothing, really. Just a signature, that I have fulfilled your mission.”

The scroll with the mission details, was already in the old shinobi’s other hand.

“Damn, you are already done? Tanaga, please take care of the customers, I need to take care of something.”

After the order was received with a smile and a nod by a woman in her early twenties, Takeshi went to the storage room to see for himself how far Shigekuni had come in his pursuit to conquer that pigsty.

“This is my granddaughter Tanaga, sweet kid, she’ll take over the business once I am too old to run – holy nuts and crackers!”

Upon opening the door to his destination, Takeshi’s eyes almost bulged out of their sockets as he saw the state of what had once haunted him in his nightmares.

“The shelves are shining! Why are they shining? How!?”

An amused smiled temporarily found it’s home on Shigekuni’s face. He wasn’t as prideful as he used to be, but he still prided himself in his cleaning and cooking skills.

“All in a day’s work Takeshi-dono.”

Waving the scroll in the man’s face, Shigekuni waited patiently for the ancient tea shop owner to come back to his senses.

“Right, right.”

Apparently taking control over his own mental faculties once more, Takeshi took the scroll back to the counter and after signing it with brush and ink, handed it back to Shigekuni.

“I’ll say sonny, you sure are something. Tell you what. You come back tomorrow, and I will make sure I’ll pay you some extra. I need to take care of my wive’s grave and poor Tanaga will be all alone. Please help her out, alright?”

Shigekuni hummed, as he took the scroll.

“I’ll see what I can do Takeshi-dono. I will be taking my leave for today.”

With that, the aged shinobi put the scroll into one of his pockets of his jacket and exited the full tea-shop, accompanied by the rhythmic clicking of his cane against the wooden floor.

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