Cornerman - Chapter 4 (Patreon)

Haru Hyuga was not happy.

Recess had just begun. He was on his way to his favorite spot where he would eat his lunch as usual. Despite having basically no friends and not being very smart, Haru didn’t hate school. The reason for that was a certain bubbly, strawberry blonde girl. He didn’t know when it started, but watching her while just going through his day had become something he very much looked forward to. She was always by herself, the same as him, but she didn’t let that get her down. He admired that about her. He was too weak to do what she did, to smile and laugh when people said bad things about her behind her back.

One day, in a sudden fit of bravery, Haru had confronted a gossiping student and asked them the reason for their hurtful words. The boy had replied that their parents told them not to make friends with her, and to stay away. Haru couldn’t understand what she did that was so wrong. It was unfair!

With that outburst, his bravery was exhausted. He didn’t confront his peer any further. Instead, he lowered his eyes and walked away, not so much as saying a word.

He hated himself for it.

Perhaps he could have forgiven himself if he had approached Naruko and offered her a kind word or extended a hand in friendship. However, he didn’t do that. His fear of rejection had overpowered his desire to do good. The only consolation was Naruko, who kept smiling day after day.

She had started smiling even more since recently, despite his inaction. She had made her first friend, after all. Haru should have been happy for her, but instead an ugly feeling had sprouted in his heart.

Her first friend should have been me.

To make matters even worse, that new friend of hers was Sasuke Uchiha. It was impossible to not know about him. Everyone was always praising him – his grades, his skills and even his looks. Why was everyone so shallow? Was that stuff more important than being a good person? It made Haru feel sick.

Sufficed to say, Haru didn’t like Sasuke one bit. He didn’t even feel sorry for him, despite what had happened to his clan, and he didn’t feel bad about thinking that way either. There was something off about him, Haru was sure about that. He was never outright mean, but he wasn’t nice either. Haru didn’t know why exactly, but Sasuke Uchiha rubbed him the wrong way.

He could understand Neji’s attitude towards himself. After all, the main branch of his clan had caused him a lot of suffering. The same branch Haru was a part of.

But Sasuke… He was the person that made Haru understand the meaning of the word hate.

A bitter feeling rose inside him, welling up in his throat, as he watched Sasuke and Naruko leave the classroom side by side. That feeling continued to stew and grow as he watched the two take seats in the shade, perching on a small wooden fence. Naruko chatted happily at Sasuke, who for all his indifference, looked comfortable in her presence.

The feeling continued to fester and boil as he watched them spend the school day together. When the bell rung and the time came for the students to go home, Naruko slung her little backpack across her shoulders and followed Sasuke out the door like a lost puppy.

Haru watched them leave together, his face pale as a sheet.

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Haru looked like a ghost when he arrived at school the next day. Dark circles hung under his eyes, and his stomach stuck to his spine from not being able to eat anything. The servants were worried about him, but he shut himself in his room and ignored them. He didn’t even do his homework.

What was wong with him? Why had he become so obsessed with Naruko being friends with Sasuke?

He almost burst a blood vessel when he saw them enter the classroom together, Naruko hanging on to Sasuke piggy-back style.

He spent the rest of the morning classes completely zoned out. The teacher even caught on to the fact that his homework was unfinished. He seemed about to scold him, but stopped when he noticed Haru’s gaunt, haunted look.

“Sigh. If you weren’t feeling well, you should have stayed at home, Haru-kun.”

Haru nodded his head in relief and thanked Iruka-sensei. He honestly considered staying home. His father probably wouldn’t even have noticed. However, he couldn’t let Naruko hang around with Sasuke without keeping an eye on them. Sasuke was a bad person and was definitely not to be trusted. Naruko didn’t understand that, but he did. He would protect her when she couldn’t protect herself.

During the afternoon classes, Iruka-sensei made an announcement: “All right, guys – it’s that time of the week: taijutsu practice. We’ll start once everyone has picked their sparring partners.”

Haru’s blood ran cold when Naruko immediately ran over to Sasuke. The very idea of Sasuke punching Naruko, touching her, hurting her whipped his blood into a frenzy.

He definitely couldn’t let this happen.

Before Haru knew what he was doing, he stood in front of Sasuke, fists clenched and byakugan activated.

“Let me fight you, Sasuke!” He didn’t even notice his own lack of stuttering.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Iruka-sensei’s disconcerted look. “I think you should sit this one out, Haru-kun. Fighting’s no good if you’re sick.”

“I’m feeling a lot better, sensei. You don’t have to worry about me.” After speaking, he turned his gaze to Sasuke. He wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Naruko interrupted before Sasuke could reply. “You promised to help me practice today, Sasuke!”

Haru didn’t like the fact that he was making her unhappy, but he wouldn’t back down now. He was doing this for her own good.

“Are you a c-coward?” In the end, his stutter came back.

Sasuke was strong, really strong. But Haru had been practicing harder recently. Ever since Naruko had started hanging out with Sasuke. He knew this day would come, the day where he would have to stand up for Naruko. So, he prepared for it. All those days spent being beaten up by Neji would be worth it when he saw Sasuke’s snobby face laying on the ground.

“ ’Kay.” said Sasuke, in that annoyingly dismissive voice of his.

Haru wasn’t surprised when he accepted. Sasuke was cocky and he liked hurting other people.

Naruko gritted her teeth unhappily from the sidelines. “Grrr…! You better spar with me after this, or I’m never taking you for ramen again!”

Haru wouldn’t allow that to happen. He would make up for that day where he’d been too much of a coward to stand up for Naruko. He would make sure to leave Sasuke in a state where he wouldn’t even be able to move a muscle, never mind going out for ramen.

At some point, the whole class had turned to watch them. He could hear them whispering about how he was crazy to fight against Sasuke, that he didn’t stand a chance. He would prove them wrong. They had been mistaking his niceness for weakness all along. No matter how he appeared, he was the heir of the prestigious Hyuga clan!

Iruka-sensei didn’t seem happy when it became clear he wouldn’t be deactivating his byakugan. Even if he didn’t approve, it was allowed for students to use their natural gifts at the academy. How else would they learn how to use them?

“Hey, sensei. Only taijutsu is allowed, right?” Naruko asked Iruka-sensei with one finger placed against her lips.

“Aside from natural abilities, you guys can only use taijutsu. I personally don’t agree with this, but I don’t make the rules. Aside from that, nothing else is allowed.” He said this tiredly, one head going up to adjust his headband.

Hearing that, Naruko chuckled darkly. “Hear that, teme? Your dirty tricks won’t save you this time!”

Haru’s heart sunk into his shoes until he realized that Naruko wasn’t speaking to him, but to Sasuke. Was she looking out for him? He felt as if he was floating on the clouds. All the suffering he had experienced up to this point had all been worth it.

He looked at Sasuke, his stance confident. “Well, are you ready?” He would show Naruko-chan that her support in him wasn’t misplaced.

Not even Neji knew this, but Haru had secretly been learning the gentle fist from observing him and his father. He couldn’t do it well, but what he knew was more than enough to put Sasuke down for the count.

Sasuke took a stance of his own and nodded his head.

Iruka-sensei looked at Haru for a moment, likely sensing that this was more than simple sparring practice for the boy. Then, he shook his head as if to dispel those thoughts.

“Alright, you two. You can start when I give the signal. “One, two, three – go!”

Neither of them moved.

Haru needed to preserve his stance to execute the gentle fist technique, not having enough skill to use it while moving. He would wait for Sasuke to make the first move.

A few seconds passed as the two stood looking at each other. Then, Sasuke smiled and started slowly making his way over to Haru. He looked as casual as could be, and didn’t even bother to activate his sharingan.

Haru frowned. The byakugan depended on reading micro-changes in an opponent’s muscles and nerves. Sasuke’s lack of tension made it very difficult to anticipate what his next move would be. He was completely soft, as if he wasn’t even participating in the fight at all.

Eventually, Sasuke arrived to stand a short distance away from Haru, just outside his reach.

“Well, aren’t you going to attack me?” asked Sasuke, a mocking glint in his eyes.

Haru didn’t rise to his provocation. Instead, he kept his eyes completely focused on Sasuke’s body, attempting to gain even the slightest clue as to what his next move could be.

“If you aren’t going to, then I will. Pay close attention - I’m going to punch you with this fist.” Sasuke said this while lifting up his balled right fist.

Haru didn’t miss how Sasuke’s foot slid slightly forward as he said this. His words were obviously a distraction. He would go for a fake-out punch into a different move, most likely a kick.

“Here I come!” Said Sasuke while swinging his right fist at Haru in an uppercut motion.

Haru kept his eyes looking in the direction of where Sasuke’s fist would arrive, not wanting him to discover that he’d been figured out.

Just before Sasuke’s fist launched out completely, his right leg shot out as if to deliver a scything kick meant to knock Haru’s legs from underneath him.

This was his chance!

As soon as Sasuke’s leg was within his reach, he would strike at its pressure points with his gentle fist. After that, the fight may as well be over for Sasuke. He would never be able to keep his balance with just one leg.

There it was!

Haru struck.

However, in an act of incredible balance, Sasuke suddenly shifted his weight forward onto the same toes that were about to leave the ground. Instead of continuing to attack with his leg or fist, he flung his whole body forward to crash against Haru’s.

Overwhelmed, Haru didn’t know how to respond. He had little to no experience with grappling as the Hyuga fighting style depended on staying just within reach while striking at the vulnerable parts of the opponent’s body.

That was not the case for Sasuke, it seemed. In a lightning-fast motion, he wound himself around Haru like a snake, his legs pulling Haru’s own out from below him and bringing him to the ground. One hand pinned Haru’s arm behind his back, painfully pulling at his shoulder joint. The other wound around his neck, making it impossible for him to breathe and cutting off the blood going to his head.

He heard Sasuke smirk into his ear. “I’m going to dislocate your shoulder and choke you unconscious.”

He tried to reply, but he couldn’t say a word. The only sounds that left his throat were pained choking noises. He could hear a few shouts from his surroundings, but he couldn’t tell what they said.

With one last futile and pained grunt, his vision went black and he fell unconscious.

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Iruka Umino looked at the unconscious form of Haru Hyuga laying in front of him. He didn’t give a bad showing of himself today, despite not landing a single hit.

Iruka could tell he had improved.

If he had kept his composure, he may even have been able to turn the fight around with a well-placed blow to one of Sasuke’s pressure points.

That brought Iruka’s attention back to his other student.

He was too darn ruthless! Fortunately, he was able to stop him before he could rip Haru’s arm out of its socket. He wouldn’t have gotten in trouble for it, but he didn’t relish the idea of explaining the situation to the Hyuga patriarch.

It seemed Sasuke had done something to offend Haru-kun – today’s behavior was very out of character for him. Iruka didn’t make a habit of intervening in his students’ squabbles, but he would observe the situation to make sure things didn’t get out of hand. Besides, a wounded pride might spur the boy to keep improving himself.

Iruka immediately noticed when the boy’s eyelids started fluttering open. He’d been unconscious for a surprisingly long time, but Iruka attributed that to his exhausted state since arriving at school today.

“Sensei…?” His voice cracked a bit.

“Ah, you’re awake, Haru-kun.”

He didn’t miss how the young Hyuga’s expression twisted when he noticed his surroundings.

“I lost…” Haru’s face crumpled at the realization.

Iruka was pleasantly surprised that he challenged Sasuke in the first place. To think he even planned on winning was like music to his ears. After all, there was no such thing as ‘at least I tried’ in the ninja world, not when failure could mean your death or the deaths of your comrades.

“Don’t worry about it, Haru-kun. As long as you learned something from this experience - that’s what the academy is for.” He spoke, encouraging the boy. While Haru was less talented than Neji, he was still leagues above the rest of the academy students. “I saw how you planned to take Sasuke down. That was some good planning for someone your age! If you had kept your cool, you could even have won!”

Haru’s expression lightened a bit at that, but his mouth soon returned to a frown. “But Sasuke outsmarted me and he’s the same age.”

Iruka thought that he really put his foot in his mouth by tacking on that little tidbit.

He scratched his cheek while doing his best to keep his smile from turning bitter. No one knew better than him how it felt to be outperformed by your more talented peers. “Well, don’t compare yourself to others too much. As long as you keep practicing, you can even defeat someone like Sasuke.”

Haru nodded at his words, but didn’t seem convinced.

Iruka stood up and stretched his back. As much as he wanted to spend more time lifting Haru’s spirits, he needed to get back to the pile of paperwork waiting for him.

“The school day’s over, Haru-kun. Why don’t you head on home?” Iruka started making his way out the doorway, before pausing. “Oh, and don’t worry about your homework for tomorrow. Just get plenty of rest when you get home! I can help you catch up later.”

The boy’s grateful expression warmed his heart.

Iruka thought that it was alright that he wasn’t able to become a great ninja. He would make up for it by being a great teacher instead!