Chapter 1
"Wake up!"
"Hmm…?" murmured the sleepy brown-haired ninja, who was trying to insulate all noises by sinking deeper into the futon.
"Wake up, Zen-chan!" The person calls louder with a commanding voice.
Zen-chan? All the servants in his house have to call him Zenzou-sama. The only people who call him Zen-chan is the old neighbour lady and…
"Zen-chan, I'm gonna throw away your Jump magazines if you don't wake up."
"NOOO! Not my Jump!" Immediately he rose from his futon and moved in front of the Jump magazine stack, as quick as a shadowcat. From the half-opened corner of his eyes through his scrubby hair that covered half of his face, he saw a familiar person whom he had not seen for a long time: his mom, Koyuki.
"Really, you haven't changed at all." Zenzou's mom gave a sigh of relief.
She had been living separately from Zenzou's father and him ever since Zenzou was too young to understand anything. Every now and then, she still visited her son with a manga character toy or a colored version of his favorite manga. She would listen to him all day about what manga he was following, what character he admired the most, stuff that his ninja father considered boring and childish.
"Mom! I haven't seen you for so long. How have you been?" Zenzou gladly welcomed his mom with a warm hug, one that he never gave to anyone else.
"Well, I've been good. I've found myself someone and we've been living together happily. He's got some business overseas to deal with in the next month, so I figure I should check up on my baby." She seemed to intentionally emphasize on the word "baby" to tease Zenzou.
"I'm not a baby anymore, Mom." Just as she thought, Zenzou was easily offended by this word.
"So, how have you been, Zen-chan?"
"I've been so excited with this new manga on Jump recently. It's called…"
"Zen-chan, I'm not asking about your Jump magazines. What I meant is, how's your life? Have you got yourself a girlfriend?"
Zenzou was slightly uncomfortable with her questions because he knew his answers would only worry her. What else can he say about the life of an assassin beside that it is full of hatred and blood and vengeance? And there comes the second question. What kind of girl would accept her boyfriend as someone who kills for money?
The silence answered it all, though. He did not need to say a word for his mom to understand that life is tough and cruel in this era, especially for someone in his line of work.
"Zen-chan, you know that I love you and just want all the best for you. I just want to see you happily married to a girl, have children and live a normal life as everybody else."
Her words deeply touched him. He knew that. He wanted a normal life as well. Ever since he was a kid, he was taken into the ninja academy by his old man without even knowing what it meant to be a ninja. All he knew was he had to do it and he had to be good at it. He never knew the other lives.
"Actually, I do have someone I'm interested in."
"Is that so?" Koyuki's face brightened so visibly that he felt the whole room was being lit up.
"Here, I have a photo of her. Take a look." He took a photo from his wardrobe and tossed it to his mother in the air.
"But this is…" Koyuki hesitated when she saw the photo.
"Isn't her face unique? You see those teeth. It's just so black and so amazingly strange, you know. Everytime she opens her mouth…" He excitedly described a hostess whom he met the other day at the Ugly Girl Club run by Hinowa.
"Zen-chan, I'm gonna tell this to you. When you love someone, it's their soul that you love. If you really love her, it must be her soul that you love, not her teeth, or her face, or any other superficial things. By the way, who the hell would love those teeth, you idiot?" Her last sentence did not exactly match with what she was saying earlier on.
"Relax, mom. We only met once. I would have plenty of time to get to know her."
"What I meant is you should also consider pretty girls, or average girls and not just ugly girls."
It's obvious you also pay attention to appearance, Mom! – Zenzou thought to himself.
Ding dong!
"Zenzou, it's me, Sacchan!" Ayame immediately identified herself outside the gate. This is probably a habit of a ninja. Ninjas hate surprises because they are met with surprises all the time.
"Sacchan? Is she the pretty lavender-haired classmate of yours back then?" Koyuki said with great eagerness.
"Yeah, that's her."
"Are you two dating? Oh gosh, I'm so happy for you." Koyuki shook her son's arms and her cheeks were getting slightly rosy from excitement.
"No, we're…"
"Zenzou, where are you, you hemorrhoid ninja?" Ayame shouted through the gate.
"Oh my, she even knew about your hemorrhoid? You guys must be close." Said Koyuki.
Yeah, of course she knows. It's thanks to her that I got it! – Zenzou thought to himself as he headed towards the gate.
He opened the small door to make sure it was Ayame who stood there and not some imposter trying to imitate her voice. Then he opened the door for her. She was wearing her usual kimono and the straw hat that covered half of her face, but her trademark lavender hair was always the first thing he saw and he immediately knew it was her.
"I got something important to tell you." The stern look in her face worried Zenzou the moment she looked up at him.
"Obviously. You wouldn't visit my house otherwise anyway."
"Sacchan! Long time no see, honey." Koyuki enthusiastically shook Ayame's hands.
Why the heck is she so friendly with Sarutobi?
"Hattori-san! You still remember me?" Ayame replied with equal enthusiasm.
"Of course, honey. You were one of the best students in the class. The old geezer had none but compliments for you."
"That's so nice to hear! So, how have you been?"
The conversation then was just between Ayame and Koyuki, making Ayame forgot her purpose of coming there.
"Oi! Are you here to talk to me or to my Mom?" Zenzou finally had to step in when the conversation started veering towards the topic of his hemorrhoid.
"Oh, that's right. I'll talk to you later, Hattori-san."