Cornerman - Chapter 9 (Patreon)

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“Father…”

Neji Hyuga looked at his father out of the corner of his eye, wanting to say something but unsure of how to continue. The topic was rather sensitive.

Hizashi Hyuga looked at his son. The two of them were currently drinking tea in the courtyard. Despite Neji’s maturity and independence, Hizashi made some time in his busy schedule to spend time with his prodigal son. He didn’t want to disappoint his late wife for neglecting their only child.

“What is it, Neji?”

Hizashi stirred his tea as he watched the drifting autumn leaves. He always found this season to be both beautiful and sad. It was ironic, how his wife had passed away during her most beloved time of the year. He and Hiashi were both equally unfortunate, to have lost their wives so early in their children’s lives.

If their ancestors were here today, they would have surely said that it was the will of heaven for going against their age-old traditions. Hizashi wasn’t superstitious, but he couldn’t deny that the idea tormented him sometimes.

‘Hiashi, you’ve done so much for me and my son. Heaven may even have made you pay the price for it…’

He reached over, ruffling his son’s hair as he smiled. “You’re too young to wear that kind of expression.”

Neji frowned. He wasn’t too fond of being touched, even by his father. However, Hizashi was undaunted. He reached over and started tickling Neji by digging his fingers into the boy’s ribs.

“Stop! It’s about Haru.” Neji slapped at his father’s hands, but a small smile had started to form at the corner of his mouth.

Hizashi raised an eyebrow, withdrawing his mischievous fingers from his son’s sides.

“He’s befriending… commoners.” Neji frowned in dissatisfaction at his own statement. “I stopped him from bringing them into the Hyuga compound.” He squared his shoulders, almost as if he was preparing himself to receive a scolding from his father.

Hizashi’s brows twitched. Indeed, he’d taught Neji to judge people as individuals and not according to their status or birth. After all, his own wife was not from a pure bloodline…

“You did well, telling me of this.” He placed a hand on his son’s shoulder, surprising the boy. Even if this matter wasn’t a huge issue, that didn’t mean that it couldn’t become one. He’d need to discuss this with Hiashi.

“I’ll take care of things further. Don’t mind these kinds of matters in the future – just focus on your training and school work.”

Hizashi stood up. He needed to get back to work anyway. He’d certainly discuss this with his brother as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

Seeing that his father was on his way, Neji stood as well. He wished these sessions were for sparring rather than talking. It felt like a waste of his time to just sit and chat. However, he felt he needed to tell his father about what had happened.

That pathetic kid was getting used, but he was too stupid to even realize it.

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“Something like this happened?”

Hizashi sat across from his twin in his office. It was already evening. Today had been a busy day; both he and Hiashi had been busy until now. He thought about putting the conversation off until tomorrow, given how tired he was, but decided against it. Who knew when they’d have a moment to spare in the future?

“I doubt it’s so serious as all that. Haru is a kind boy; he was likely just wanting to make friends.”

Hiashi didn’t look even the least bit consoled.

“The guards have been too lax. They will have to be reprimanded.”

Hizashi smiled awkwardly. “They likely noticed the impropriety, but didn’t feel comfortable pointing it out.”

“That doesn’t matter. Their duties must take precedence over any fear of punishment.” Hiashi rapped his knuckles against the small wooden table in displeasure. He sighed as he rubbed his forehead. “Did you notice him doing this?”

Hizashi shook his head. “It was Neji.”

“How dutiful – Haru would do well to learn from his cousin.” Hiashi had a regretful expression on his face. He hated admitting it every time, but Neji was far more suitable to be clan heir than his own child. Haru just didn’t have the right temperament.

Hizashi knew what his twin was thinking. This is a conversation they’d had in the past, after all. “Isn’t it strange how Neji is more similar to you and Haru to myself?”

Hiashi nodded somberly. “It seems like a common thing, but I realize more and more every day that our children are not us.”

Hizashi felt that Hiashi was underselling his own son, but singing the boy’s praises right now would only be counterproductive.

“Well, don’t be too hard on him. He’s barely eight years old and doesn’t know any better.” He couldn’t help but try and placate Hiashi. The other man had a track record of coming down too hard on his child.

Hiashi’s hand unconsciously went to a scar that his twin knew lay underneath his robes. “That’s no excuse.”

“Times are different now. We should be grateful that our children have the opportunity to be children.” Hizashi knew what his brother was implying. Something like this would have been met with extreme punishment if one of them had done it when they were young. Bringing any unvetted persons to the clan’s base would have been beyond stupid in those times.

“The children of today lead easy lives.” Hiashi said, not seeming too pleased by that fact.

Hizashi made sure to say his piece. “But it’s better than the alternative.”

He watched as his brother’s face took on a faraway expression. “Although that isn’t the case for every child…” Hiashi’s eyes went to a sheathed tanto that was placed on a shelf like a trophy. On its handle was a mark: the Uchiha clan’s symbol.

Hizashi frowned when he saw his brother gazing at the item.

Hiashi looked at his brother, seeing the pity in his eyes. He snorted.

“That boy is going to cause us all a world of trouble.” He paused, his eyes narrowing in to slits. “He should have been…”

Hizashi quickly interrupted his brother. “There are no signs of any treacherous intentions on his part.”

Naturally, everyone in the know had secretly been paying attention to the last Uchiha. Hizashi was pleased to notice that the boy seemed to have been developing past his past trauma, even befriending some of the children in his class.

Hiashi walked over to the shelf and unsheathed the blade. He held it up to the paper lantern in the room, watching as the light revealed the exquisite pattern of the short sword.

“Oh, please…”

He resheathed the weapon and placed it back on its rack. “He doesn’t know the truth yet, but he will find out one day. Who knows what will happen then?”

Hizashi bit on his lower lip. “If we can’t have faith in our fellow villagers, then we’ll never get anywhere.”

Hiashi looked stared his younger brother down relentlessly. Finally, he relaxed. “The will of fire, hm?” He sat down again while folding his hands in his lap. “Do you have ambitions toward becoming hokage, Hizashi?”

The younger brother laughed. “Nothing so grand as that. I’m just too soft, as you know.”

Hiashi smiled quietly, pulling a sealed porcelain sake jar and two wooden cups from somewhere. “We haven’t had the opportunity for a drink in a long while.”

Hizashi held out the small cup his brother had placed in front of him with a grin.

Once they both held something in their hands, they slightly raised the cups upwards in a toast.

“To the Hyuga’s prosperity.” Hiashi said, beginning their toast.

“And to this time of peace for the hidden leaf. May it stand the test of time.” Hizashi spoke as well.

“And to our children. May they bring pride and honor to our clan.” Hiashi concluded, swallowing the contents of the cup in one go. Hizashi wasn’t far behind.

The thick candle slowly burned down to the base as the two brothers chatted into the deep hours of the night. Tomorrow’s problems were for tomorrow. For now, they’d enjoy this peaceful moment. Those were too rare as it was.

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Haru looked at the girl sitting next to him with a somber expression. She was the first one who’d supported him that day when he’d fought Kiba. Her name was Ichika Takahashi. He felt very grateful towards her for being on his side and being kind towards him despite the fact that he was a noble.

She’d introduced him to her friends who were all commoners like her. Haru felt very happy to have made so many new friends. He’d been hanging out with them ever since that day, both during and after class. One day, he’d offered to bring them all to his house as the other kids’ places were too small for them all to visit at once.

He was so incredibly embarrassed when Neji chased them out. Haru didn’t imagine for even a single moment that something like this would happen. He wanted to stand up for them, but he’d never been able to confront Neji in an argument.

His friends consoled him, saying that they were used to it. This made him feel even worse.

Haru had gone to his father to discuss things; surely, he would agree that what Neji had done was extremely inappropriate.

To Haru’s dismay, not only had his father not denounced Neji’s discriminatory behaviour, he’d even scolded Haru severely for bringing his friends to the compound in the first place!

Haru’s face was pale as he left his father’s office. He felt like a stranger in his own house - like he’d never really known Neji or his own father.

He knew for a fact that there wouldn’t have been even a slight issue had he brought that bully, Kiba, over instead of the other kids. It was all because of one reason: they were people from a lower class.

Haru felt ill.

He’d listened to his friends when they talked about how they were treated differently just because of who they were, but it had never really clicked for him until that day. He felt so incredibly ashamed of his own family and of himself.

Someone shoved him in the ribs.

“Let’s go to the park today.”

Haru looked over to the left at the gloomy looking boy who just spoke. His name was Akio and he was part of their little clique.

“Ah! I’m sorry Akio, but I can’t. I have some stuff I need to do.” Haru smiled apologetically at his friend. He had been neglecting his training recently to spend time with his friends, but he couldn’t continue to do so. He was falling further behind Neji… and Sasuke.

Akio and Ichika followed Haru’s gaze over to where Sasuke sat. It was currently breaktime, but Haru didn’t want to leave the class. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the sight in front of him: Naruko was currently fighting with Sakura over which one of them would be allowed to sit on Sasuke’s lap. Ino sat next to Sasuke, blushing at her pink-haired friend’s boldness.

Haru felt as if a large hand had grabbed his heart and squeezed powerfully. Only through sheer willpower had he been able to keep his composure in front of his friends. However, if someone were to touch his back, they would immediately notice how it was soaked in sweat.

Unbeknownst to Haru, Naruko was less concerned with sitting on Sasuke’s lap than she was about the fact that Sakura was insisting that she wasn’t allowed to. It was similar to how a toddler, who had no desire to eat the last bit of their food, would suddenly become very possessive of those same scraps once their parents offered to eat it for them.

“I’ve known him for longer than you have! Besides, his legs aren’t even that comfortable. You wouldn’t enjoy sitting on his lap anyway!” Naruko had her arms crossed in front of her chest with her feet planted far apart. She was currently staring the pinkette down with a superior expression on her face.

Sakura’s green eyes glared at Naruko from underneath her bangs. Her fists were clenched at her sides in frustration.

“Why do you even care, Naruko? I’ve never seen you sitting on Sasuke’s lap even once.”

The girl looked over at Sasuke with a challenging expression. “Which one of us would you rather have sitting on your lap, Sasuke? Me or the female gorilla?”

Sasuke leisurely dipped his hand into his bento box, pulling out a grilled chicken strip with his chopsticks before placing it in his mouth.

Sakura and Ino had prepared his lunch for him once before, but he quickly returned to cooking for himself once he tasted theirs.

He shuddered in disgust at the memory.

“When did I say either of you could sit on my lap in the first place?” He’d been watching their spat since the beginning. It was hardly a productive use of his time, but he’d needed to eat and to relax now and then, didn’t he?

Sakura turned to Naruko with a smug expression. “Did you hear that Naruko? He never even said you could sit there anyway!”

“Haaa-? Did you miss the part where he said both of us, you idiot?” Naruko looked at the girl in front of her as if she wanted to know how it was possible for someone to be that stupid.

Sakura froze for a moment in realization before rallying her spirits. “Well yeah, but both of us includes you! Weren’t you bragging earlier about ‘how long you’ve known Sasuke’? Maybe you two aren’t as close as you think!”

That really got Naruko going. “I was his first friend, moron! Back then, he and I…”

Sasuke idly picked at his food as he watched the comedy unfold in front of him. He looked down at his meal which was placed on the table in front of him, chewing thoughtfully.

‘The chicken could use a bit more spice.’ He made a mental note to buy some chili flakes the next time he went grocery shopping.

He didn’t notice how a certain blonde next to him was staring at his lap with a resolute expression.

She was breathing slowly in an effort to get her embarrassment under control. Then, steeling her expression as if she were about to leap off the world’s tallest mountain, she used her hands to lift herself from where she sat and smoothly shifted onto Sasuke’s lap.

The boy in question froze in surprise when he suddenly felt a weight on his legs. Strands of blonde hair, tied in a short pony-tail, tickled his nose.

Into turned around slightly in her new seat to look at Sasuke, her face so red that it looked like her head would explode at any moment. She held his bento in her hands. She’d almost knocked it off the table with her surprise attack, but managed to grab it in time. She raised the chopsticks to his mouth shyly.

“W-Want me to help you eat?” Ino asked, stuttering. The point of contact between her and Sasuke burned her as if she were sitting with her butt on a stove. This whole idea seemed a lot more romantic in her head. Right now, she felt more awkward than anything else.

Sasuke’s fine, dark eyebrows furrowed slightly, his mouth opening to say something. However, before he could, he was interrupted by two indignant shouts.

“Ino, you…!”

“What do you think you’re doing?!”

Looking at the other two girl’s furious expressions, Ino suddenly felt that she’d made two mortal enemies today.

Sasuke carefully took his lunch from Ino’s wildly gesturing hands. Despite just having been thoughtful enough to not throw it on the floor, she had now started waving it around in agitation as she argued with her two girl-friends.

He was impressed how the three girls had forgotten his presence so quickly, lost in their argument as they were. Well, this wasn’t so bad, he thought. Despite his own introverted nature, he did feel the desire for the company of others. This arrangement worked in his favor, as he could satisfy his social needs while at the same time not really having to say very much. The girls did more than enough talking for the four of them.

Naruko, Sakura and Ino were so consumed in their quarrel that they didn’t notice Haru Hyuga staring at them with a dumb-faced expression from the other side of the classroom. And Sasuke, well… even if he did notice, he wouldn’t have cared.

Haru really, really couldn’t understand it. How could the three of them fight so intensely over a single boy? Sakura and Ino he could somewhat understand, they were kind of shallow, but…

‘Why, Naruko? Why?! How could you be friends with someone like that? How can you not see that Sasuke is an awful person? Is it just because he’s good looking…?’

Haru’s friends watched with concern as he shook his head at himself.

‘No, Naruko isn’t like that. She just feels sorry for him because he lost his clan, that’s all! One day, she’ll see that he doesn’t deserve her pity!’

Finally, having managed to convince himself that all was not lost, Haru sighed in relief.

To the side, Ichika frowned. “Hey, Haru… my parents said that I should be careful of Naruko.” She was conflicted as she looked at her Hyuga friend. “I don’t think you should…”

“Don’t say bad things about Naruko!” Haru interrupted her, almost shouting before he managed to restrain himself to a loud whisper.

Akio and Ichika glanced at each other. Akio nodded to her before standing up. “Ichika and I are going outside. You can come if you want, Haru.” Ichika followed him out, looking over her shoulder in concern at Haru as she left.

Haru watched his friends go. He looked over at where Sasuke and the three girls now sat. They’d made peace in the meantime and the girls were now all sitting around or on Sasuke – Ino still on his lap and Naruko and Sakura at his sides. They eyed each other warily, but didn’t resume their quarrel.

Haru looked away from the scene with a pained expression. He stood up and followed his friends out of the classroom, too upset to remain there any longer.

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“What a fuckin’ creep.”

Kiba watched Haru leave the classroom with disgust. On his way out, the Hyuga heir stared morosely at Naruko where she clutched posessively onto Sasuke like a limpet.

Choji looked over at Shikamaru, his round face contorting into a mischievous expression. The three of them had been hanging out together ever since the fight.

“He kicked your butt pretty badly, though.”

Kiba tsked loudly as he looked at the fat boy with a threatening expression. “So what? It was one fight. Things are gonna be different, next time.”

Kiba back towards Haru’s direction. “I wonder how brave that sissy woud’ve been if those peasants weren’t around to cheer him on.”

Shikamaru looked at Kiba with distaste. “’Peasants’, Kiba? No wonder you don’t have any friends.”

Kiba harrumphed. “They are what they are. It’s funny to me, the way they’re so desperately trying to deny their own status.” His mind went to those thugs he’d hung out with before. They tried to appear tough, but none of them had any actual combat talent. If they did, they wouldn’t have been on the streets.

He smirked condescendingly.

Shikamaru and Choji looked at the other boy with disapproval.

“What are you talking about?” Choji balled his pudgy hands into two fists as he stared at Kiba. His mother wasn’t from a clan or ninja background, but that didn’t make her any less of an amazing person.

Kiba looked at Choji a little strangely, unsure why the rotund fellow had become so upset. “Don’t take it the wrong way, fatso. I was just talking about their stupid club.”

Shikamaru watched Choji cautiously as veins started appearing on the rotund boy’s temples.

Choji wanted to beat this arsehole in front of him to a pulp, but his curiosity got the better of him.

Seeing that his friend had calmed down, Shikamaru looked at Kiba with a similarly curious expression.

Kiba, seeing that they had no idea what he was talking about, clarified. “Oh, you guys don’t know about it? Most of ‘them’ are part of the same group. They want to change the world or something.”

“Huh? Change the world?” Shikamaru couldn’t help but question Kiba’s statement.

“Yeah, I know. It’s fucking stupid.” Kiba extended his nails and then reached over backwards to scratch his shoulder blades. His injuries had long since healed, due to the Academy’s advanced treatments and his own vigorous healing factor.

Those goons had invited him to attend one of their seminars, probably because they thought it would give them more clout or something. Naturally, he refused. He would never be caught attending something as lame as that.

“Change the world? Like how?” Choji asked with a confused expression.

Shikamaru seemed to realize something, but he let his friend ask the question anyway.

Kiba turned to face Choji. “Not too sure about the specifics, but they want to get rid of classes, clans and such.” It was an idiotic idea in his opinion, but hey, who was he to get in the way of their stupidity?

Shikamaru frowned while stroking his chin with his thumb and index finger. He got where they were coming from…

He looked outside towards where Haru now stood, surrounded by probably ten or so clanless kids. If he put himself in their shoes, he also wouldn’t be too happy as being seen as a ‘lesser’ person.

The thing is, he wasn’t so sure that their goal was even possible. This went far beyond just ninja clans. For instance, what were they planning to do about the land of fire’s daimyo and his family? Where they going to ask them to step down?

It was a ridiculous idea.

“Don’t think too hard about it. They’re just a bunch of idiots.” Kiba had pulled out some marbles from his backpack as he said this. He held them up to the two other boys with a grin. “Who wants to play bīdama?”

Choji and Shikamaru frowned. They’d already lost most of their marbles to this bastard.

“I think we should play chess instead.” Shikamaru said as he took out his chess-set and placed it on the table. He looked over at the two of them with a sly expression. “You guys go first. The winner plays against me.”

The other two immediately started protesting loudly. Not only did they not enjoy chess, but Shikamaru was unbeatable anyway.

“Hey, you guys!” Naruko suddenly yelled at the three boys from the other side of the classroom.

The three of them turned to look at her in surprise. She, as well as her two girl-friends and Sasuke, had gotten up and seemed to be on their way out of the class.

Seeing that she had their attention, she continued. “We want to hold a no-holds-barred combat tournament, but we kinda need more people. You want to join?” She looked a little shy as she stood there with her hands clasped behind her back.

The three boys looked at her in confusion.

“Uhm, Naruko… You know class isn’t over yet, right?” Shikamaru asked as he turned to look at Ino, wanting to confirm if she was on board with this hooky session as well.

Ino sighed. “We know, but Naruko somehow managed to get permission from Hokage-sama to skip the next history period.” She made a what-can-you-do expression with her hands. “The class is pretty useless anyway, so I’m going. This competition could be useful for me to get some actual combat experience.”

“A sensei will be there to make sure we’re not ‘goofing off’.” Naruko said, probably quoting something Hiruzen-sama said. She grinned at the three of them before continuing. “So, you guys in?”

The three boys looked at each other. Their answer was obvious. What ninja worth their salt would want to sit here and listen to a lecture about diplomatic relations between ancient countries when they could be fighting?

“If that guy is fighting too, then I’m in.” Kiba looked at Sasuke challengingly as he stood up from his desk. He wanted to see just how good this ‘prodigy’ really was.

Choji and Shikamaru nodded to each other.

“Naruko, if you get us in trouble because of this, then I promise I won’t help you wash your hair ever again.” Sakura said as she stared the strawberry-blonde down with a dangerous expression on her face.

Naruko looked affronted at everyone’s lack of faith in her. “Seriously, you guys? Do you think I’d lie about this?” She started digging through her pockets as if she were looking for something. Not finding it, she started to panic a little.

Behind her, Sasuke sighed and reached inside her coat before pulling out a rolled-up note. “It’s a miracle that you didn’t somehow lose this.”

Naruko frowned at him while snatching the peace of paper out of his hands. “Here, see? This is our permission note, signed by Gramps himself!”

The lot of them huddled around her to look at what was written on the piece of paper.

“Well, I’ll be…” Shikamaru said with a surprised expression. “It’s real.”

Kiba looked at Naruko with an amazed expression before he patted her roughly on the back. “Holy shit! You aren’t so bad after all.”

She laughed awkwardly, a little discomforted by the other boy’s use of profanity.

Unable to contain his excitement, Kiba rushed out of the classroom in a gust of wind. “You’re gonna get your ass kicked today, pretty boy!” He directed that statement at Sasuke who’d already sauntered out of the classroom while they were confirming the authenticity of Naruko’s note.

Naruko was quick to follow, her exit no less noisy than that of the Inuzuka.

Shikamaru sighed as he watched everyone leave the classroom excitedly. This was going to turn into a huge mess, he could already tell. He just hoped no-one needed to be rushed to the emergency room today.

“What a drag.”

With that, he followed after the rowdy lot.

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