Cornerman - Chapter 7 (Patreon)

“What’s so great about that guy, anyway? Girls just like him ‘cause he looks like one of them. He even hangs out with the village freak!”

These words were spoken by a tall boy, around twelve years old.

“Yeah, he isn’t so tough. He just beat up some weak loser. Even we can do that, isn’t that right Kiba?”

A different boy said his piece, turning to look at Kiba Inuzuka walking next to him.

The boy in question didn’t reply, instead keeping his eyes down as he kicked a can down the road.

‘What do you know? You’re just a bunch of clanless extras.’

Kiba didn’t say this however, ignoring the squad of faceless goons that kept trailing ahead of him.

“Hey, what the hell is your problem? You think you can ignore us just because we don’t have a fancy last name like yours?”

It was the tall boy again. Kiba honestly couldn’t even remember his name. Most of these mobs were completely forgettable. Kids his own age were too afraid to even be near him, so he was stuck passing time with these losers. Kids from clans were too prissy for his taste.

Well, being a loser was the fate for 99% of commoners, Kiba supposed. Of all the ninja graduates that his clan regularly interacted with, he could count one hand the amount that didn’t come from a clan or a ninja family.

“Hey, I’m talking to you, you little bitch!”

The older boy grabbed Kiba’s shoulder, turning him to face them.

“Haa.. look at this little fucker, not showing us even one bit of respect. We even let the little baby hang out with us, but he thanks us like this.” The taller boy made a dramatic show of speaking to his subordinates.

Kiba thought that this guy watched too many dramas.

“Look, I’m not gonna say this again. You better drop that attitude if you don’t want to be in a wheelchair for the rest of your life!”

‘Looks like this is gonna turn into a fight. Well, I was getting bored anyways.’

Kiba lifted his gaze to the group of trash in front of him.

“Who are you again?”

The older kid gritted his teeth and immediately started advancing towards him, motioning at the three punks standing next to him with his head. “Hold him down and cover his mouth. This brat really thinks he’s hot shit. He’s gotta learn the world doesn’t revolve around him just because he’s part of a clan.”

As the four started surrounding him, Kiba reflected that he may actually have a rather difficult fight on his hands.

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A while later, he left the alleyway, limping as he did so. He managed to take the lot of them down, but it was close.

The only reason he’d won was because they weren’t used to getting hurt. Once he broke one kid’s finger and bit a chunk out of another’s ear, they became afraid.

After that point, all he needed to do to win was make it 100% clear that they weren’t winning this without committing to mutual destruction. A bunch of pretend-gangsters that wore studs in their ears to look tough didn’t have the guts for that.

‘Ugh, mom is gonna kill me because of this.’

He really dreaded going home right now. He had no doubt that his family would judge this as him being the bully, despite the fact that it’d clearly been the other way around.

He slipped across the street and into an opposite alleyway, not wanting anyone to see his sorry state.

‘I need to clean myself up before I go home. They’ll know something’s up if they see me like this. Ah, shit!’

Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his side. The big bastard had slipped on a pair of knuckle-dusters while he wasn’t looking. He really hoped nothing was broken.

He put his back against the wall, sliding down until his butt was on the ground. He just needed to rest for a moment.

Suddenly, a man walked into the alleyway and spotted him immediately. Maybe the guy wanted to take a shortcut?

“Hey, are you okay, kid?!”

The man quickly rushed over to his side, but stopped when he saw his face markings, suddenly becoming a lot less helpful.

“Errr… Sorry for bothering you.” He looked around for a moment, checking if there was anyone near them.

“I’ll go call a police member.” He stated that with the tone of someone who really wanted the person in question to tell him no.

“I’m fine, just taking a rest.” Kiba couldn’t blame the guy. Clan members were very valuable members of Konoha, and he likely didn’t want to get misunderstood as having harmed one. Even if Kiba told the police it wasn’t the case, he probably would be kept overnight for questioning.

The guy hesitated, probably feeling a little guilty. “This is where I live, if anyone wants to know.”

He quickly scribbled an address on a piece of paper before handing it over to Kiba. After that, he left as fast as his legs could carry him, practically leaving a dust cloud in his wake.

When he was gone, Kiba ripped it into pieces and dropped them on the ground. Then, he took some water out of his backpack and started wiping himself down, trying to look presentable.

He’d purposefully tried to avoid taking any hits to the face, tilting his head so they hit him above the hairline instead. As such, he didn’t have any visible bruises or scrapes above his clothes.

After all the evidence had been removed, he stood up and started making his way home, his face twitching in pain as he tried to mask his limp.

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Shikamaru Nara watched Kiba Inuzuka shuffle into class out of the corner of his eye. The other boy did his best to hide it, but it was clear to Shikamaru that he’d taken a licking yesterday. His groupies weren’t here to drop him off at his class either. Had he gotten into a fight with his ‘friends’? That was most likely the case.

Shikamaru didn’t particularly care about Kiba, but he was stuck waiting for class to start and he didn’t have anything to keep himself busy with. He’d have preferred to play a game of chess, but he was unfortunately out of willing opponents.

He watched as Kiba came to a stop near Haru Hyuga, his tattooed face turning to look in the direction of the other boy who vibrated in his seat. The young Hyuga was predictably staring at the class carrot-top, where she buzzed around their resident prodigy like a particularly energetic fly.

Shikamaru didn’t understand his obsession with the girl. Didn’t he see how troublesome she was?

Shikamaru watched as Kiba stomped over to Haru, grabbing his shoulder once he was within arm distance.

“Tsk. Why are you shaking like that? You have rabies or something?” The dog-boy said this with a look of condescension on his face.

Shikamaru concluded that he was probably just looking for someone to vent his frustrations on.

“Kiba…?” Haru was startled out of his obsessive staring when a felt a strong grip on his shoulder. “Hey, don’t grab me like that!”

Shikamaru and Kiba both raised their eyebrows in surprise. Haru was not the kind of person who’d have stood up to a bully in the past.

Unfortunately for Haru, Kiba didn’t take this too well. “The hell…? Did getting the daylights choked out of you make you grow a spine or something? Haha!”

For a moment Kiba looked as if he wanted to crack Haru’s skull open on his own desk, before he relaxed and let out a laugh.

He walked past Haru to his own seat, shoulder-checking the smaller boy in the process.

Shikamaru watched as Haru’s lower lip trembled, his face turning beet-red in embarrassment.

Both of them had ignored Haru, who’d nervously shuffled closer to Kiba’s seat.

“I-I’ll fight you, Kiba!” The boy managed to stutter out the challenge.

When Kiba briefly looked up at him where he’d kicked his feet up on the desk, the pale Hyuga couldn’t help but lower his eyes meekly.

“Huh…? You want me to get in trouble for hitting the mentally disabled?” Kiba picked his nose as he said this while turning aside his gaze

Haru’s little teeth clenched in anger. “Or are you too scared? Do you need those big kids to fight for you?”

‘Uh-oh. You shouldn’t have said that, Haru-kun.’

Shikamaru watched as Kiba’s body froze. After a second his body relaxed, his head tilting to one side as he stared the other boy down through lidded eyes.

“Haa… If you really wanna die, then I guess I shouldn’t stop you. Though, I don’t get why you don’t just jump off a roof or something.” He scraped the claws at the ends of his fingers against each other, creating a high-pitched noise that made Shikamaru’s teeth itch.

Haru looked like he was having second thoughts when Kiba’s upper lip pulled back to reveal a long fang.

“T-Then meet me behind the academy this afternoon!” Haru sucked in a calming breath as he spoke the statement.

Kiba said nothing, but Shikamaru didn’t doubt that he would show up for the fight. That was the kind of person he was.

Shikamaru nudged Choji, who was dozing next to him. He had no idea how the rotund boy’s mother managed to get him out of bed in the morning.

“Wanna watch the fight later today?” Shikamaru questioned, his head turning slightly to the side.

Choji, who looked to be asleep, mumbled something, almost incoherently. “Isn’t Haru just gonna get killed?”

Shikamaru’s gaze fell to Kiba’s side which he was consciously avoiding leaning on. He stroked his chin with two fingers. “His opponent has a handicap.”

Choji’s eyes remained closed, but Shikamaru could tell that he was a little interested. The fat boy replied while nodding. “I’ll bring the snacks.”

“Throw in an ice-cream for the loser.” Shikamaru replied, smiling.

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The time soon came for the anticipated match. Many of the kids in their class had overheard the fateful conversation, it seemed. They followed after Haru Hyuga as he left towards the back of the academy, clearly nervous.

Kiba was already waiting at the spot. How he’d gotten there so fast was anyone’s guess. He watched Haru’s approach with thinly veiled anticipation. It was no secret that he enjoyed violence.

“Come on! I have better things to do today than beat up your crippled, boneless self.” The crowd could sense the animalistic sadism that bubbled underneath his words.

“I’m not afraid of y-you Kiba!” Haru slung his rucksack off his shoulder and tossed it under a tree. “You’re always picking on people! It’s not right.”

Haru was not made for public speaking. His blush quickly creeped down below his neckline once he realized how many people were listening to his speech. His hands trembled slightly. Was he going to get cold feet?

Suddenly, a commoner student spoke from within the crowd. It was a brown-haired girl who was rather well known in their year for her friendly personality. “Yeah, Kiba. You’re too mean!”

Haru, who seemed about to keel over from stress, perked up at the support.

A different kid, a boy this time, seemingly felt the time was right to air his own frustrations. “You look down on people too much. Just because most of us aren’t from a clan doesn’t make us any worse than you!”

The bunch of kids, who were mostly commoners, quickly started agreeing with the statement. After others had taken the lead, they felt it was safe to voice their own frustrations with Kiba.

The Inuzuka smirked in their direction. “Oooh, you guys are so brave, scolding me from over there. How about, after I tear this kid’s throat out, I let you take a shot at me?”

The crowd seemed to freeze at his challenge. It was the friendly girl who regained her senses first. “Is fighting the only thing you can do?” Her voice trembled as she leveled the question at him. It was clear she was rather frustrated by Kiba’s statement, knowing none of them would be able to take him in a fight.

The rest of them started chipping in, saying how he was a thug, how he wasn’t good at anything but fighting and so on.

Kiba looked at the most vocal speakers’ faces one by one. “You retards are so lucky to be in the same village as me. If you were from anywhere else, you’d already be dead.”

Exercising an impressive amount of self-control, he ignored them and stared at Haru. “Is talking all you can do? Or are we gonna fight like real ninja?”

Haru, who’d been getting more and more comfortable in the supportive atmosphere, seemed to only now remember that he’d challenged Kiba to a fight. He had his clan’s honor to uphold.

He nodded his head resolutely, his balled fists at his side no longer trembling. He took a stance, showcasing his increasing experience with the gentle fist.

“I’ll beat you Kiba.”

Kiba grinned maliciously, revealing a set of sharp teeth with four long fangs. He continued to slide his right foot forward until his body almost hung parallel with the ground. Both hands were flared open at his sides, palms facing upwards. Long claws extended from his fingers.

“Wow, what a hero. Haru’s so great, isn’t that right guys?” He mockingly spoke toward the crowd, his tongue running over his rear teeth.

Before Haru could reply, Kiba shot out in a lightning-fast lunge.

‘He’s so fast!’

Haru had learned his lesson against Sasuke. If Kiba got close, the fight would be over. He couldn’t let him slip past his guard!

Haru put more weight on his front foot, readying himself for retreat as soon as it became necessary. Veins bulged at his temples as he desperately tried to keep track of Kiba’s movements. He was much faster than Sasuke!

He shifted his arms and legs to ready himself for the upcoming assault. He wouldn’t make the mistake of going for a knockout attack immediately like last time - he’d play it safe and simply attack whatever opening Kiba offered to him.

There was no subterfuge on Kiba’s part, unlike Sasuke. He immediately launched a flurry of blows against Haru. If it wasn’t for Haru’s byakugan, he’d have been immediately been overwhelmed.

However, he was able to see the micro-changes in Kiba’s body that clued him in on what the next attack would be. Theoretically, this should have given Haru victory, but… Kiba was much stronger and faster than him!

Haru blanched as he narrowly managed to avoid a bladed index finger clawing his eyeballs out. Kiba had no scruples about hurting him!

He wanted to retaliate, but Kiba’s fighting stance made it incredibly difficult for him to do so. He hugged the ground like an animal, making it almost impossible for Haru to land a punch. Whenever Haru tried to strike out with a kick, Kiba would ruthlessly target his center of balance.

Haru’s brain was working overtime. The longer this fight dragged on, the worse his chances of winning became. Every blow he blocked rattled his bones and cut his skin.

He’d noticed Kiba’s injuries, but he was hesitant in exploiting them. It felt like a bad thing to do, but he didn’t know how else to win.

In the end, he was forced to make a choice.

Kiba struck with a multi-pronged attack, going for Haru’s gut with his claws while simultaneously biting at his leg. Haru hurriedly prevented Kiba from disemboweling him, but was unable to stop those sharp teeth from sinking in to his calf.

Haru howled in pain as his blood sprayed into the air. He was unable to keep up with Kiba’s berserk fighting style. In a fit of pain and black-hearted anger, Haru struck at Kiba’s fractured ribs. In that moment, he forgot about winning. He just wanted to make the other boy hurt.

His free leg shot out in a mutually destructive attack. A loud crack resounded as Kiba’s frail ribs were shattered. The rabid young ninja clenched his teeth together, sealing an agonizing guttural growl in his throat.

That attack would surely have lost Haru the fight had this been a real battle. If Kiba wanted to, he’d have been able to tear through the artery in Haru’s leg.

Kiba’s face turned white as he withdrew his teeth from Haru’s leg, veins bulging on the side of his neck as he keeled over in pain.

Instead of calming down, the sight sent Haru into a frenzy. Without thinking, he sent a flurry of blows at the already defeated boy. Kiba dropped to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut, twitching and breathing in stuttering gasps.

Haru fell upon him, still having not come to his senses. In that moment, Kiba had become the anthropomorphic personification of all the humiliation and bullying he’d suffered in his entire life. All the bottled-up emotions of many years were released as straddled his downed opponent, raining blow after blow down upon his face and torso.

Kiba’s eyes rolled up in his head, foamy blood accumulating at the edge of his mouth.

Something inside Haru compelled him to stop this madness, but the crowd had gone wild. They cheered Haru on as he hammered the person who they had come to blame for all the perceived oppression under the clans of Konoha.

Suddenly, Haru was sent flying off Kiba’s unconscious body, his gaze blurring and his ears ringing. He slammed into a nearby wall, all the air being driven from his lungs.

He watched through teary eyes as a thin shape and a round shape came to stand above Kiba. The group of kids had turned silent, watching as the thin shape quickly knelt and administered first aid.

It was Shikamaru and Choji.

“He’s going into shock! Choji, hand me that thing!” The portly assistant quickly took a flask of something from who-knows-where, handing it over to the Nara.

Shikamaru held it under Kiba’s nose for a moment. When that didn’t work, he unscrewed it and poured everything down Kiba’s throat.

It was terribly foul smelling. Haru’s nose felt assaulted where he lay some distance away.

Within seconds, Kiba started groaning as his eyelids fluttered open in disgust.

“Get him on his knees!” Shikamaru shouted.

Choji grabbed kiba’s waist with one hand, easily dragging him to a kneeling posture. The Inuzuka started vomiting the stuff back out, mixed with drops of blood.

“Choji, run with him to the nurse’s office right now!”

The fat boy scooped Kiba up into a carry, uncaring of the smelly, bloody liquid that stained his clothes. He took off in the direction of the academy at a speed that was ridiculous for someone as fat as him.

The other kids had started scattering, noticing that today’s fight had gone terribly wrong.

Haru himself had started to slink away, to his own shame. He felt incredibly frightened and guilty. His inner voice was telling him that he did something really bad today.

The brown-haired girl whispered to him as she ran up to his side, supporting him. “You didn’t do anything wrong. He’s done worse to some other people.”

Haru’s expression was complicated as he retreated from the academy grounds with the girl by his side, today’s victory tasting like ash in his mouth.

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