Cornerman - Chapter 10

The time had come for the school day to end. Students pushed and shoved each other in their hurry to get out of the classroom, eager to get up to whatever it was that children got up to in the afternoon.

Iruka Umino watched on worriedly as his students segregated themselves into two contrasting groups. It was normal for kids to form their own little circles as had been happening ever since he was a student himself. However, right now, the two groups were clearly divided according to status.

The group that headed out first consisted only of the children from clans or who’s parents were prominent ninja.

The second group was filled with commoners as well as a stray Haru Hyuga.

Iruka himself didn’t come from a rarified bloodline, so his heart went out to the ‘underdog’ students of his. The thing is, he’d found out about the rebellious undercurrents that had been sweeping through Konoha lately.

He found it to be very upsetting.

It wasn’t that he thought the people weren’t allowed to make their grievances public… he just felt that it was irresponsible and damaging for parents to expose their children to politics so early in their lives. They would naturally adopt whatever ideology it was that their parents ascribed to.

It was a rather heretical way of thinking, but what could he say? He’d resolved himself to do right by his students. That didn’t just extend to teaching them how to be ninja. They needed to be able to do their own independent thinking.

He hated getting involved with this kind of thing, but he would have to. He resolved himself to address the elephant in the room tomorrow.

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It was early morning and students had started trickling into the classroom. The few early-birds were surprised to find their sensei at his desk, busy doing paperwork. He would usually only arrive after most of the children were already there. They quickly ignored this abnormality and busied themselves while they waited for class to begin.

After about thirty minutes, the classroom had almost completely filled up.

Iruka-sensei stood and knocked on the blackboard behind him to get his students’ attention.

“Good morning, class.” Iruka removed his spectacles and placed them on the desk in front of him. One hand went up to adjust his headband hesitatingly. He wasn’t sure how to broach the topic with them.

He cleared his throat. “You know…” Iruka started talking but then stopped with a sigh. “I’m no good with this kind of thing.” He muttered under his breath, too soft to hear but for the closest students.

The children watched him curiously as he stood there, trying and failing to find the right words. Finally, seeming to have become fed up with his own indecisiveness, he slammed both of his hands down on his wooden desk.

Most of the kids were startled by the sudden aggression. Their sensei was always a very mild-mannered person. This was out of character for him.

After a moment, he relaxed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “What do you guys know about the ‘will of fire’?” He asked, making eye-contact with his students one by one.

“Oh, I know, sensei! I know!”

Oblivious to the atmosphere, a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Naruko was waving her hands in the air like a maniac. Imagine her enthusiasm when her sensei finally lobbed a question her way that she could actually answer.

Iruka’s mouth twitched into a small smile. He looked at the girl in front of him with amusement. If she had a tail, it would certainly be wagging wildly from left to right.

He scanned the classroom, looking to see if any of his other students wanted to answer the question as well. He spotted Haru, who’d half-raised one of his hands into the air.

“Did you want to answer as well, Haru-kun?” He looked at the Hyuga boy with a placid expression. He’d prefer if a different child, maybe a clanless one, would answer as well. That way, he’d get representatives from both social groups. Unfortunately, no-one else had raised their hands.

Haru looked unsure if he wanted to provide an answer, now that Naruko had stepped to the front. Would he upset her if he took this opportunity?

“Uhm…” He looked at the object of his admiration shyly. “If Naruko wants, she can answer i-instead.” He blushed at his own stutter and almost buried his face in his arms when she turned to look at him.

“No, no. I think you should both come to the front and give your answers.” Iruka said, motioning his students to come stand next to him.

Naruko quickly skipped over to the front with a big smile. If someone told her that she just wanted to show off her knowledge then she’d certainly deny it.

Haru walked over with more hesitation. He wasn’t too comfortable speaking in front of all these kids.

Once the two of them had taken their places, Iruka-sensei bade them to speak. “Let’s start with you, Naruko. Please tell us: what is ‘the will of fire’?”

Naruko nodded her head. She folded her hands behind her back and lifted her chin into the air with a knowing expression. “Sure sensei. The will of fire, well, it’s like this…”

She wagged a finger at the other children in the class, one hand still behind her back, as if she were about to start lecturing them. A few students secretly rolled their eyes. Her behavior was rather ironic, given her position as the class dunce.

“The will of fire is what makes Konoha ninja the best!” She nodded her head sagely, as if she’d revealed the meaning of life. Her eyes went over to where Sasuke was sitting as if to say ‘See, teme?! After today, there’s no point in you acting smart in front of me anymore.’.

The class looked at her with disdain. Iruka-sensei’s eyebrow twitched in irritation. This girl had no idea what the will of fire was, did she?

“While what you said isn’t wrong, it also didn’t explain what the will of fire actually is, Naruko.” Iruka said to his studiously disadvantaged student.

She frowned. “Errr, well, the will of fire is like this, see….”

Noticing her struggle, Haru jumped to her aid immediately. “What Naruko means to say, is that the will of fire is about how we all need to fight together to protect Konohagakure and how we’re all a family.”

Naruko looked at Haru in surprise before quickly nodding her head in agreement. “Ah, yeah. That’s exactly what I was going to say.” She patted Haru on the shoulder appreciatively.

The young Hyuga flushed at the contact, looking down at his feet in embarrassment.

At the other side of the classroom, Ichika Takahasi observed her infatuated ‘friend’ in action. How could she not notice the truth? Haru had a crush on Naruko.

Haru continued to smile stupidly at his feet, unaware of Ichika’s staring. He’d been trying to get closer to Naruko since forever, but he’d never quite been able to muster up the courage. Today could be his opportunity – he just needed to not let it slip by!

“Good job Haru, and… Naruko.” Iruka-sensei congratulated the two of them. His praise for Haru was honest while his praise for Naruko was more, well… Let’s just say that he didn’t want to discourage the girl from engaging more during class and leave it at that.

He smiled at the classroom. “No matter our differences, we’re all part of this village – like a big family. We can argue. We can disagree. We can even fight...” His face showed a serious expression. He needed them to understand the importance of his words. “Despite our disagreements, as long as we remember the will of fire, I’m confident everything will turn out all right.”

He dropped down into his chair, waving for Haru and Naruko to return to their seats. That little speech had been more taxing than he’d expected.

The few students that bothered to think a bit more deeply about things looked at their sensei with confusion. What exactly was he trying to say?

Ichika naturally knew what her sensei was trying to say but she wasn’t moved. His words sounded nice but they didn’t change the reality. A lot of people had their lives ruined do to Konoha’s uncaring upper-class: that involved both the clans and the village’s leadership.

This was simply a fact that no-one understood better than she herself and her other sensei...

She looked at Haru, who’d started talking with Naruko on their way back to their seats. She watched as he mustered up his courage, his face somehow both becoming sheet-white and beet-red at the same time. She listened as he asked Naruko if he could sit next to her.

The girl in question looked a bit uncomfortable as she glanced over her shoulder at where she sat. It had gotten rather crowded, with that part of the class now being occupied not only by herself, Sasuke, Sakura and Ino but also by Shikamaru, Choji and Kiba. Shino Aburame had also been aggressively invited into their group by none other than Kiba himself.

The Inuzuka claimed that he needed to stop being a ‘loner nerd’ and that Shino seemed the type to suddenly commit suicide out of nowhere due to having no friends. The boy had since joined them and had seamlessly integrated himself. He was so quiet that sometimes she’d forget he was even there.

Regardless, there wasn’t really any space for Haru close to her. Naruko felt bad refusing him though; he’d helped her out of a tough spot earlier, didn’t he? Ah, well. He’d just have to squeeze in next to her.

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The kids looked suspiciously at Haru as he was being brought over by Naruko. Kiba in particular didn’t look too happy about it. She couldn’t help but feel a dark joy at seeing his discomforted face. Haru had gone a little far that day in his fight against the Inuzuka but that was for the best.

Her gaze roamed over to where a picturesque, dark-haired boy sat near the window. He didn’t seem to pay any particular attention to the goings-on around him.

She found his indifference to be supremely annoying, although she’d never show it on her face. It would be too strange if she went against the current. Every girl fawned over him and she did too, at least when other people were listening. She needed to keep up appearances.

Sasuke Uchiha was a bastard, that was the objective truth. She remembered when she’d run into him a little more than a year ago. She’d not been attending the academy for very long at that point and she wanted to fit in better. She thought it would be a good idea to get on the good side of the most popular kid in their class.

She’d tried to present an understanding shoulder for him to cry on. His clan’s near-extinction was still fresh in everyone’s memory. She was confident in her approach – she was much more emotionally mature than others her age, both due to her personality and her training.

She hadn’t mentioned the incident with his clan. She’d just offered him some of her lunch, prepared with special care, as well as a smile and a comforting pat on his shoulder.

All kids wanted someone to be friends with. Her own experiences and teachings had shown her that was indeed the case. Sasuke would be no different.

She planned out her approach perfectly with her teacher’s help. She’d even dressed a little prettier that day. It would definitely work - she was sure about that.

Sasuke hadn’t even looked at her.

The delicious homemade bento had been unceremoniously rammed out of her hands as he simply… walked through her. He hadn’t even looked back as the container clattered to the floor, spilling the fragrant rice, vegetables and meat all over the Academy corridors. She herself had been sent spiraling into a nearby wall by the force of his advance.

Ichika had been so stunned that she didn’t even know how to react.

Afterwards, she thought that perhaps she would’ve been able to garner his sympathy if she turned on the waterworks. Well, it had been too little too late at that point and it probably wouldn’t have worked anyway.

Sasuke Uchiha was a bastard.

On top of being an impolite piece of trash, he started giving Ichika a bad feeling as she spent more time near him. She knew to trust that feeling – it was the reason why she’d been accepted by her sensei in the first place. Why she had this ability didn’t matter; testing had confirmed that it was authentic.

It galled both her and her teacher to let such a fantastic piece go - he was in the perfect position to stand against Konohagakure once they told him the truth behind his clan’s extermination. He would turn against the villiage and become the perfect figurehead to lead their movement.

Unfortunately, that was too much of a risk. Ichika’s gut feeling told her that it was best to stay away from Sasuke Uchiha.

She sighed under her breath as she looked at Haru squeezing in next to Naruko. The Hyuga looked like he’d died and gone to heaven. It was both pathetic and… somewhat cute.

However, she needed Haru on her side. It would be problematic if he permanently joined Naruko and her friends.

This wouldn’t be too much of a problem, though. All she needed to do was to was look a little forlorn and he’d be back in the palm of her hand in no time.

Ah, there it was – he was looking over apologetically in her direction.

Ichika gave him a smile and a thumbs up in response. To everyone else the smile would look perfectly normal, but Haru’s specialized eyes would notice the sadness that it hid.

Of course, it was all acting on Ichika’s part. She watched smugly as Haru turned his head away with guilt.

He’d be back here in no time.

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That did indeed prove to be the case.

Once the class ended for their afternoon break, Haru politely excused himself and joined Ichika, Akio and the others for recess.

“Oh, Haru!” Ichika made sure to greet him cheerfully. “Weren’t you having fun with those guys? You shouldn’t have come back just for our sakes.” She made sure to inject a hint of disappointment in her tone to clue him in on the fact that she didn’t really mean what she said.

Haru waved a hand back and forth in denial. “No! I like being with you guys. Besides, it’s a little weird for me to be there.” He grimaced a little, specifically looking at Kiba who was trailing ahead of his group, motioning noisily at his friends with a grin on his face.

On her left, Akio showed an understanding expression. “Yeah, that makes sense.” He smiled at Haru. “Well, what are we gonna do today? I brought some cards, maybe we could play Koi-Koi?”

The three kids walked outside, chatting amicably amongst themselves.

Ichika smiled inwardly as she looked towards the crowd of kids waiting for the three of them. She’d been rather successful up to this point. All she needed to do was to remain patient and continue to grow her following.

As for what would happen in the future, she didn’t know or care. That was for her sensei to decide.

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A beautiful woman rubbed Ichika’s hair affectionately after she returned from school.

The lady was tall with long legs and a curvaceous figure that was only accentuated by her dress. The garment in question seemed modest at first glance, but had been adjusted to fit tightly around all the right parts.

Her glossy black hair glinted with a purple sheen as she bent down to peck Ichika on the cheek. “How was your day, Ichika-chan?”

The little girl smiled brightly at her beloved sensei. “It was good, Iwasaki-sensei! Today, I started making friends with some of the upperclassmen. It was really funny when one of them…”

‘Iwasaki-sensei’ listened attentively as her student told her about the interesting things that had happened to her during her school-day.

The girl was an orphan she’d picked up a few years ago near a small town somewhere in the land of fire. Mineko’s chakra sensitivity had immediately clued her in on the girl’s special nature.

She had talent and a lot of it.

Mineko Iwasaki had instilled it early-on into her young pupil that she had to keep her abilities hidden. She didn’t want to attract the attention of Konoha’s more ‘unsavory’ higher-ups.

Fortunately, Ichika was a very clever child. Due to her years spent fending for herself on the streets, she’d matured emotionally beyond her years. She performed above and beyond any initial expectations Mineko had for her.

When she’d first adopted the girl, she’d simply seen Ichika as tool for achieving her goals. However, as time passed, she came to care for the child. Ichika thought of her as the mother she never had – she could see that clearly.

It reminded her of her own childhood. Unfortunately for Mineko, she had no such parental figure to care for her and she’d been worse off because of it…

Mineko bit her lower lip in an attempt to stop herself from thinking about her painful past.

She’d tried fruitlessly to keep an emotional distance between herself and Ichika, but after a few years her walls had crumbled in front of the eight-year-old’s sugary-sweet assault.

She’d given in and she was happier for it. She’d been alone for a long time… It felt good to finally have someone close to her again.

“You shouldn’t have to do this, Ichika.” Mineko looked apologetically at her young student. “It’s not right for me to make my problems yours…”

Ichika pouted unhappily at her sensei. “Sensei, I really don’t mind! This is the least I could do after everything you’ve done for me.”

Seeing that her sensei’s lovely face still looked depressed, Ichika continued. “Besides, I like doing it. It’s fun: conning those idiots.” Ichika rubbed her palms together conspiratorially.

A hint of a smile returned to Mineko’s face as she looked at her mischievous student. “It is fun, isn’t it?”

Ichika nodded her head, happy to see her sensei’s spirits lifted.

The two of them sat at the low engraved wooden table that decorated their living-room. They took turns to cook – today had been Mineko’s. She’d prepared some sweet pork fried in chili-oil; it was Ichika’s favorite.

“There’s a man I want to recruit tonight: his name is Tadamasa Goto.” She casually put some green onions on a slice of pork as she watched Ichika. The girl in question, noticing that her sensei had shifted to a more serious topic, immediately became more attentive.

Satisfied at her student’s attitude, Mineko continued. “He’s part of the police force, but he’s become more disenfranchised with his role lately. Being a commoner himself, he feels that the punishments others have suffered for protesting have been too much.”

Ichika looked uncomfortable when she heard her sensei’s intentions.

Mineko, noticing the girl’s attitude, was quick to address her. “If you see a problem, then feel free to say something, Ichika.”

“Ah, no sensei. It’s not that, it’s just… how are you going to recruit him?” She looked at her sensei’s body. Her eyes rested briefly on Mineko’s bountiful chest and small waist which were bound in a way that revealed rather than concealed.

The gorgeous woman sighed and lightly waved at her face with an embroidered fan. Ichika had never been able to get used to the fact that her sensei’s day-time job was that of an escort.

“Ichika… a woman needs to use everything she has at her disposal to make a way for herself in life. I know you understand this.” She sternly looked at the disheartened girl sitting in front of her. “And besides, you know that no man would ever have any hope of touching anything other than my hand.”

Ichika’s mouth curved into a frown. “It just isn’t right sensei. You could beat any of those people with both hands tied behind your back – I don’t know how you can act like that in front of them!”

Mineko giggled at Ichika’s righteous indignation. “I regularly earn more from gifts in a single night than my entire month’s salary was as a ninja.” Her eyes roamed their luxurious accommodations – all bought and paid for. “All I have to do is accompany an old man now and then and let them touch my hand.”

Ichika rolled her eyes in exasperation at her sensei. Of course, she knew that money didn’t just grow on trees. Still, that didn’t mean she had to be happy about what her sensei was doing. She tolerated it, but only because she had to.

“So, I assume you’ll be seducing ‘Tadamasa Goto’ then?” Ichika asked the nubile young woman sitting in front of her.

Mineko quickly stole a piece of pork from her pouting student’s bowl and placed it in her own mouth. “Only if I have to.” She said, chewing smugly on the delicious piece of meat.

“Hey!” Ichika exclaimed, angry at the theft of a portion of her favorite food. She tried to steal a piece from her sensei’s bowl, but her chopsticks were easily deflected.

The two bickered good-naturedly for the rest of their dinner. Afterwards, Mineko helped her young ward with her homework.

Ichika then started proper ninja training while under her teacher’s supervision. Any of the children in her class or her other senseis at the academy would have had their eyes pop out of their skulls if they saw the feats this unassuming girl was capable of. She would easily have been one of the best students, and that in a class filled with talented children from prestigious clans.

Mineko knew that, if Ichika was really serious, none of her peers would be able to stand a snowball’s chance at hell against her in a real life-or-death fight.

After all, she’d not trained the girl how to fight, but how to kill instead…

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Later that afternoon, as the orange rays of the twilight sun provided the last bit of illumination for the darkening allyways of Konoha, Mineko and Ichika were following Tadamasa Goto as the man returned home after a long day’s work.

They were planning on confronting him at his home, but Mineko had thought it a good idea to give Ichika some tailing experience.

They watched as he entered a seedier part of Konoha. Despite having worked for the police-force for almost twenty years, the man was still earning pennies. This was due to the fact that he frequently conflicted with the higher-ups over various things. He was the kind of person that was either unwilling or unable to play the ass-kissing game.

Suddenly, to everyone’s surprise, a thin figure stepped in Tadamasa’s way from out of nowhere.

It was Sasuke Uchiha.

Ichika and Mineko frowned at his sudden arrival. To their knowledge, there was nothing that could possibly bring the boy to this part of town.

It was so strange, in fact, that Mineko was considering abandoning their recruitment efforts to see what the last Uchiha was up to instead.

Tadamasa himself was rather startled. He’d had a few cups on his way back from work at a small, cheap store he often visited. His whole week had been a dumpster-fire and he needed to drown his sorrows somewhere.

Sasuke Uchiha suddenly appearing in front of him was like the horseshit icing on the horseshit cake that was the past few days.

Of course, he knew who the boy was – who didn’t? On top of that, Tadamasa remembered rather vividly the abuse he’d suffered under the hands of the Uchiha when they’d still been the heads of the police force. For a long time, he’d kept his head low and polished his skills, waiting for those bastards to take a shot at him again.

He didn’t know whether to be happy or sad when all of them suddenly kicked the bucket. He was finally able to take a breath and raise his head, but he couldn’t help feeling as if he’d been robbed of his chance at revenge.

He eyed the young boy warily as they approached each other from opposite sides of the narrow path.

As they drew closer, he caught a glimpse of Sasuke’s immaculately kept form. The boy was tall for his age, clad in a dark-grey robe with black hair that fell to his back in a loose horse-tail. His sword-like eyebrows framed his face perfectly. His expression was relaxed and somehow smug as he casually strolled along the remote road.

Tadamasa noted irritably how similar he looked to his late family members. Despite the fact that they had never met each other, young Sasuke looked as if he were one moment away from giving him a condescending smirk.

Goto was shocked to note that he’d suddenly come to a standstill in front of the boy.

Sasuke looked at the rugged middle-aged man standing in front of him with a raised eyebrow.

Tadamasa had to stop himself from puching the kid in his pretty face.

“I’m with the police force.” Tadamasa said, clumsily pulling his identification from his coat pocket. “You shouldn’t hang around here at this time – it could be dangerous.” He mumbled the vapid words in a hurry, wanting to explain why he’d suddenly stopped in front of the last Uchiha.

The truth was, he wasn’t exactly sure why he did what he did. He chalked it up to his irritation at the boy’s late clan members and his own lowered inhibitions.

Sasuke nodded placidly. “I’m on my way home now.” He smiled handsomely at Tadamasa. “But I appreciate your sentiment.”

Tadamasa nodded his head absentmindedly. He made to pass the boy, but his foot suddenly slipped to the side in a sneaky motion.

He’d unconsciously tried to trip the kid!

Goto could feel the rush of ill-intent overcome him as he turned his head, hoping to see the brat plant face-first into the dust.

“Oops! My…” He started speaking in an effort to excuse himself, only to suddenly feel a sharp pain in his thigh!

“…hand slipped.” He bent down to grab his leg in pained confusion as Sasuke finished his sentence for him.

The boy had hit him straight on a large nerve in his leg before he’d had the chance to do anything.

Saliva dripped from Goto’s mouth onto the ground as a groan tore from his throat. The pain of an accurate nerve-shot was not to be underestimated.

“Aaarrgh…! You… -hugh-…. Little bastard! You dare hit an officer of the law?” Goto felt his face turn red in embarrassment and anger.

He stood up straight, taking care not to put any weight on his injured leg. Tiny, painful shocks were constantly coursing up towards his groin and gut. The little fucker had launched a truly malicious attack!

Sasuke had already turned and started walking away. “Don’t be too upset, ‘officer.” He said over his shoulder at the man standing behind him. “It was just a little slip, after all.” The kid didn’t forget to send a truly vile smile his way as he left.

Tadamasa watched, mortified, as the kid headed off without a care in the world. He gritted his teeth in rage.

‘Things aren’t the same anymore – you bastards can’t get away with everything you want. I am the law now!’

Tadamasa lurched forward quickly, using his good leg. By attacking him, the boy had committed a crime – and he was going to make sure the brat was brought to justice!

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