Chapter 2: Snape's Migraine- Relief Brew
One morning, three weeks into hiring the boy, a very special customer sets foot into the tea shop.
Severus is busy cleaning the teacups in the sink by the tea counter when Kazu lets out a caw to alert him. And moments later, he hears the tinkling of the bell at the entrance of the tea shop and looks up to see a familiar old man standing there.
The old man leisurely looks about the interior of the shop before walking over to the tea counter in small measured steps.
"Welcome to Snape's Tea and Brew," he greets the old man, eyeing the very non-descript clothes and the many wrinkles on his wizened face. The man takes his time as he makes his way from the entrance, as if he was just any other ordinary senior citizen who has decided to stop by the tea shop in his free time.
Severus snorts to himself.
"Can I get you anything?" he asks politely as he tries not to sneer.
The old man eyes the teapots and cups on the counter before looking over to the raven lounging on his custom wooden perch by the window. The bird glances at him for a moment before ignoring him for the seeds in his feeder.
He then glances up to study the tall dark-haired shop owner behind the counter.
"What would you recommend?" he rasps in a grandfatherly manner. His eyes crinkle into a small smile and he stands a little stooped as he portrays the standing posture of an old man bent with age.
Severus reminds himself not to scoff out loud.
'Dumbledore used to pull these stunts on naïve attention-starved children,' the thought briefly flashes through his mind. What follows is a picture of an old wizard falling off the castle walls that Severus tries to push back into the deep recesses of his brain. It's been years but the scene still haunts him and guilt bubbles up into his gut when he is reminded of Albus.
Looking at the old man studying him in a seemingly unobtrusive manner, Severus is reminded of the uncanny similarities between the two.
"Today's special is genmai tea imported from the Land of Rice and it's a favourite among many of my regulars. Would that be acceptable?" he offers.
"Oh? That sounds great," the old man replies before walking slowly over to one of the tables and taking a seat. He takes in the other customers around who are either enjoying their tea or those who have fallen silent and are pretending to ignore his presence in the tea shop.
Severus sighs to himself.
Sarutobi Hiruzen sighs softly as he tries to ease the budding migraine by massaging his temples in small circular movements.
It doesn't help.
'I should be in retirement by now,' he complains to no one in particular.
He hears the sound of scuffling outside his office followed by a yell of alarm. Smoke pours out from under his office door and he tries to remain zen.
It isn't really working.
"You idiot!" he hears someone screaming before one of his ANBU guard falls from the ceiling to look carefully out the room. What he sees doesn't seem too much like a cause for alarm so he shuts the door and bows at the Hokage before disappearing back up the ceiling in a small jump.
Minutes later, one of his chuunin secretaries enters his office to apologise for the incident. It seems that one of the newly-graduated genin had accidentally let off a smoke bomb in the corridors of the Hokage building while his team was there to get a F-Rank mission from the mission's desk.
Hiruzen waves the secretary off and starts massaging his temples again once she leaves his office.
Retirement now sounded like a pipe dream at this rate.
"Panther, report," he calls out to one of the ANBU.
Panther drops from the ceiling and appears before him.
"Have you compiled the file on Snape Severus?" he asks as he glances up at the white ANBU mask.
Panther nods and hands him a file.
Hiruzen flips open the file and studies the picture on the front page.
The man is dark haired, pale and he sports a somewhat hooked-looking nose. All in all, there is nothing eye-catching about him save for the fact that he has a preference for the colour black.
'It's probably why Naruto calls him 'Kuro-san',' he thinks. His birth name, Snape Severus, in itself was strange but who was Sarutobi to question the man's parents and their naming skills?
The file states that he was originally from the Land of Tea, a small hilly country whose biggest exports are tea, as the name suggests.
'He has been travelling around the different continents for the past five years or so and settled in Konoha roughly six months ago,' he summarizes from the file. The file also tells him that the man is an expert in teas and herbal brews.
"What are your personal thoughts on this?" he asks the ANBU.
"All of his travel and personal identification documents are genuine, I have discovered no forgeries. And he has shown no signs of suspicious activities or malicious intent so far but it could still be too soon to let our guards down."
"He also shows no signs of having advanced chakra coils and as such, he cannot be a shinobi in hiding," continues Panther.
"Falcon has confirmed it with the Byakugan," he adds.
Hiruzen nods at the information.
"And Naruto? How does he react to him?" he questions. Although the boy is like a grandson to him, his position as the Hokage keeps him from reaching out more often to the boy. The feeling of guilt is an ever constant reminder of the sins he carries as the leader of Konoha who is confined to the burdens of his position.
'I'm sorry, Minato' he thinks for the thousandth time since the fourth's untimely death. 'But we all have sacrifices to make,' are the words that have kept him walking on this path he has chosen to take.
'Naruto worships the ground he walks on,' is the thought that pops up in Panther's head but he tactfully says instead, "Naruto looks to be fond of the man and spends most of his time, apart from school hours, in the tea shop or the man's house next door."
"Does Snape make him work even on Sundays?" the Hokage questions with a raised eyebrow.
"No, Hokage-sama. From what we have observed, he helps Naruto with his school work and teaches him about plants and gardening on Sundays when the tea shop is closed," answers Panther.
Hiruzen absorbs this information and flips through the file absent-mindedly. He reads that Snape's Tea and Brew opens at nine in the morning and he glances at the clock on the wall.
'Naruto should still be in school,' he thinks and makes up his mind.
"I think I'm in the mood for a cup a tea," he tells the ANBU.
Severus studies the old man from behind the tea counter. The man looks to be the picture of a harmless customer simply enjoying his morning with a cup of tea in his hands.
'He's probably observing my every move,' Severus thinks and keeps his expression passive.
His visit isn't a surprise though, Severus had been waiting for such a visit ever since the first week of Naruto's employment in the tea shop. With Naruto constantly babbling about his Hokage-jiji, Severus had thought that Sarutobi would have visited him much earlier.
But from Severus' knowledge of his approval of the gag order on the Kyuubi and its vessel, namely one blond whiskered boy, Severus isn't entirely sure if the Hokage visits Naruto to keep tabs on the creature or if he genuinely feels responsible for the boy.
'Fate has a strange way of repeating itself,' he thinks and it brings up a memory of a small orphan boy with green eyes and an old wizard with stars in his robes.
When Sarutobi finishes his tea, he pays for it and walks out after informing Severus that he'll be back again for more.
Severus wishes he'd never come back.
Sarutobi becomes a regular at the tea shop.
He pays the shop a visit almost every morning when the shop opens at nine before heading off to the Hokage tower. And when he craves for a hot cup of tea in the office, he orders some of his subordinates to get take-out from the tea shop.
He doesn't understand why the tea at the tea shop he gets tastes much better than any of the tea he's brewed on his own. Although he has tried to replicate the taste using the very same tea leaves, he'd even carefully watched Snape as he brews the tea in the shop, the teas he makes don't taste quite the same.
Sighing, he looks at the many reports on his desk that he has to sign off.
He sorts through the recent ones but one in particular catches his eye. It's the report of a latest A-Rank mission to the Land of Mist.
'Another Uchiha casualty,' he reads. 'There have too many of that as of late,' and a feeling of suspicion begins to grow.
The Uchiha have been side-lined and regarded with suspicion ever since the invasion of the Kyuubi. He doesn't know where or even when that animosity began to arise but the consequences of it have begun to show.
'This bears more careful investigation,' he tells himself.
Severus turns to the entrance to see Sarutobi walking into the shop with a very pinched look on his face.
'Must be stressful being the Hokage,' he thinks when Sarutobi sits heavily down onto one of the chairs by the wall and starts massaging at his temples.
When he had first arrived in Konoha, Kazu had briefed him on the recent happenings and the key players in the village.
'Sarutobi Hiruzen, the third hokage of Konoha, had been hailed as the 'God of Shinobi' and is currently in his sixties,' he recalls what the raven had said.
Severus thought it was impressive that he made it to this age as most shinobi usually die rather young. He looks at the tired face of the old man and guesses at what's physically ailing him.
'Well, I think it's about time I introduced a new house specialty brew,' he decides as he approaches Sarutobi.
The hokage sees him walking over to take his order and says tiredly, "The usual, please."
"I was thinking that you might like to try something different today," he offers instead.
The hokage looks up at him and asks, "Oh? What do you suggest?"
"I can't help but notice that you seem rather unwell today. Arthritis perhaps?" he asks gently. It's also a subtle jab at the old man pretending to be a stooped and frail senior citizen. Severus cackles inwardly.
Hiruzen looks at the polite-looking shop owner and wonders if he's subtly being called old. "Just a bit of migraine," he tells the dark-haired man, waving his hand to indicate that it was nothing quite so serious.
Severus senses the truth in the statement with his magic. He then wonders if he still has enough dried blue grass in his storage to introduce it as part of the menu.
'I should have a small container somewhere in the storage,' he thinks.
"A migraine? Well, I have just the brew for that," he tells Sarutobi.
Hiruzen eyes him speculatively for a moment before agreeing. He didn't think Snape would poison him in front of so many people or so openly. The ANBU in civilian clothes pretending to be customers around him though were on alert as they sipped their teas and watched the conversation between the two men.
Severus felt that same alertness in the air but ignored it. He returns to the tea counter to start the brew and recalls the recipe he collected from when he was traveling near the border of the Land of Tea.
*Migraine- Relief Brew*
- Blue grass (10 g)
- Roasted green tea (15 g)
- High-hill tea tree roots (5 g)
When he's satisfied with the results, he brings it over to the old man.
"Migraine-relief brew, I'll be adding it soon to the menu," Severus mentions as he sets it down in front of the Hokage.
Hiruzen looks at the faint blue concoction in front of him and wonders if it's too late to back out.
Severus merely gestures politely at him to try it.
The Hokage sends a doubtful look Severus' way at first but he braces himself and downs the first sip in the name of Konoha courage.
A mint-like flavour bursts on his tongue and he feels the coolness of it traveling down his throat. He soon takes a few more sips and after drinking half a cup, his migraine starts to ease.
He looks up at the shop owner in surprise.
Hiruzen now frequents the tea shop whenever he has a migraine and the migraine-relief brew never fails to work wonders. Although he brews his own brew with the same ingredients, after having brought the take-away brew to one of his subordinates for ingredient identification, it doesn't taste quite the same nor is it as effective.
However, he hasn't quite given up. He is still trying to get the brewing method down to a pat from studying the brewing process every time he visits the tea shop.
He also suspects that the owner has a tea-brewer bloodline technique that he is hiding.
Severus is having a breakfast of eggs and toast when he hears knocking on his front door.
Kazu looks up from his pineapple jam and towards the door before going back to his own breakfast of sweet yellow jam.
The familiar chakra signature he senses outside alerts him to his visitor. With a put upon sigh, Severus gets up from his comfy chair and goes to greet the man.
"You're early," he comments with a frown as he pulls open the door.
"Severus! You're looking like your usual grumpy self," greets the dark-skinned man with a loud booming laugh.
"Washi, you're looking like your usual aggravating self," he returns with a sneer.
"Aww, don't be like that. I know you're secretly happy to see me," Washi laughs.
Severus studies the tall muscle-bound idiot and looks behind the man to see a cart full of supplies.
"Just bring in the ingredients." He waves a hand at the cart to indicate to it and leaves the door open for the other man. He trudges back to the kitchen to finish his meal in peace.
He hears the sound of Washi moving the ingredients into the storeroom while he finishes the last of his scrambled eggs.
Washi soon joins him in the kitchen and helps himself to some toast.
"Oh Kazu, long time no see," he greets the bird.
The raven merely graces him with a glance before turning his back on him.
Washi turns to Severus and asks, "He still doesn't like me huh?"
"You tried to pull out his feathers," Severus comments with a pointed look.
Washi laughs. "Is he still mad about that?"
Kazu turns back to glare at the heavily muscled man and throws out a threatening caw.
Washi smiles in chagrin.
When Severus leaves the kitchen after cleaning up to check on the new ingredients, Kazu flies to his shoulder and Washi follows the two into the storeroom where he left the supplies.
"All the blue grass to last for a year," Washi points out to the large brown sacks sitting in a corner.
"Thank you," Severus replies as he goes over the stock. For a journey of a couple of weeks, the air-dried grass seems to have survived in a relatively good condition. Washi must have been diligent in keeping them away from the sun.
"Don't mention it, it gives me an excuse to come visit," the other man waves it off with a smile.
"Konoha been treating you well so far?" Washi asks.
"Fairly, business has been doing rather well," Severus comments, distracted by the other bag of silver-veined leaves next to the blue grass.
Washi watches Severus putter about the storeroom for a moment before he asks, "So, when are we starting our own secret organisation?"
Severus drops the white-back mushroom he has picked up to turn around and stare incredulously at the other man. Kazu sports the same look as he turns his beady eyes to him to stare as well.
"What secret organisation?" asks Severus after a brief period of silence.
"Oh, you know, like the secret Akastuki one," Washi says. "Which is really not as much of a secret as they like to think," he adds with a laugh.
Severus pinches his nose and prays to Mother Magic.
"What in the name of Merlin has given you an idea like that?" he asks bewildered.
"Er? Because they're thinking of destroying the world? And I would like to live?" Washi answers while emphasising his points with hand gestures.
Severus sighs. "And what do you expect us to do about it? Did you want us to throw poisonous mushrooms at them and hope for the best?" he asks with sarcasm.
Washi looks pointedly at the ring on his dominant hand.
"I'm retired from heroics," Severus replies with a sneer.
The other man stares back at him in disbelief. "Really?" he asks with another pointed look.
They stare at each other for a minute or two before Severus breaks the silence by saying, "The shinobi villages will do something about it."
Washi decides to leave things as they are and shrugs. After all, it's not like Severus is lacking in powerful contacts from around the continent.
He'd bring up the idea again at a later date.
Washi leaves the next day saying that he has to transport some supplies to another customer south of the Land of Fire. They don't bring up the topic of secret organisations or world ending scenarios.
Severus stuffs blood replenishing potions, poison cure-alls, and wound-closing potions into the muscled-idiot's traveling bag and sees him off.
When Naruto arrives at the tea shop after school, Severus has to do the usual routine of prying the blond leech off his leg before shoving him off to the bathroom. The other customers, used to the Naruto's routine, continue sipping their teas in silence.
'Drat!' Hiruzen thinks as he hears a knock on his office door.
"Hokage-sama! It is I, Ebisu! I am here to bring you the tea I have especially brewed for you," a voice calls from outside.
"Come in," he says, thinking of another excuse to use this time.
The young chuunin secretary opens the door and waltzes in with a tray in his hand. He lifts the teapot from the tray, pours out the concoction into a porcelain teacup and offers it to the Hokage.
"I'm sure I have succeeded this time Hokage-sama!" says the bespectacled young man with a bright smile.
Sarutobi looks at the cup and then back at the smiling chuunin.
"What did you add into the brew this time?" questions the Hokage as he notices that the tea looks especially green today.
"Honourable Hokage-sama, I, Ebisu, have come up with a brilliant idea! For Hokage-sama to keep up with his good health, I have decided to add edible slimy green-moss to this tea!" extolls the young man.
Sarutobi sighs and wonders how heavy his sins were to deserve this. 'I've had enough,' he thinks. Ever since word had gotten out that the Hokage now gets take-outs from a tea shop, Ebisu had taken it as a personal challenge to his own tea-making skills.
He takes a moment to look sternly at the young secretary and says, "You're not allowed to make tea for me anymore."
Ebisu is now another frequent customer at Snape's Tea and Brew. He has a propensity to sit the closest to the tea counter so as to watch Severus' every move.
It annoys the owner of the tea shop.