"It has come to my attention," he said, "that you have gained proxy status."
Right. No preamble, no warmup.
I took a moment to consider my answer and the sorcerer lord looked on patiently for my response to what should have been a simple question.
Had I achieved proxy status?
Yes, of course obviously. The question was how did he know about this. The answer for that was obvious as well. He was a ninja. Not just any ninja but a ninja Lord—A ninja in charge of other ninjas. He could have had an informant in the archives that caught the document of my appointment as it was being filed, and that was off the top of my head. He might have a dozen other sources that I couldn't even fathom.
So there was no point in lying even if I could think of a reason why I should.
That didn't mean I should just come out and say it. I had no idea what he wanted with me. Maybe he wanted to get to know his heir's new friend, but I doubted it.
Most likely, there was something useful about proxy status that I had no idea about. Given I hadn't read anything about Konoha law beyond the casual stuff that was taught at the academy, that was most likely the case.
So what about being a proxy would a Ninja sorcerer lord find useful?
I have no fucking clue.
Still, better say something before the silence gets disrespectful.
"Yes lord Hiashi, I have been granted proxy status." I said, not really able to come up with anything better to say.
He had no appreciable reaction to my confirmation.
"Do you have any plans to take advantage of this in the immediate future?"
Not very subtle of him, but I doubt he thinks he needs to be in this setting.
"I am aware the position comes with… unique obligations, though I admit, I'm still learning what they are."
"Hm."
He sipped his tea. I hadn't touched mine.
"You are quite young to be placed in such a role. Some would call it risky. Others…wasteful."
The assurance that the course of this conversation might send him into either camp remained unspoken.
"And some would say necessary." I replied, ratcheting up the tension in the room.
I don't know what game he was playing but regardless, brown nosing wasn't my jam. Hopefully he liked some spine.
He did not reply, but the silence said he was listening. Testing.
Though something in his body language told me I was wrong in my assumption.
This was not a man used to being rebutted.
"You have no family records."
A shift in air. I kept my gaze forward, not submissive but respectful.
"None that I know of. The orphanage scrolls listed no affiliations. It's possible they were… among those lost during the Nine-Tails." I replied a bit blind sided but the sudden shift in topic.
"Chūnin, most likely. Or genin. Disposable ranks."
He spoke with no malice, only fact. Still, I felt the sting. I was disliking this guy more by the second.
"Perhaps." I replied, deciding to go the safe route.
He did not soften.
"And now, their son walks the halls of power. How a bloodline's fate may change in one generation. "
I kept my eyes focused, steady.
"I am only myself."
"A dangerous thing to be, in the times ahead."
I blinked. Well that was ominous.
He set the cup down.
"You have been seen with my daughter." lord Hiashi said as though said daughter wasn't standing behind me and I noticed the word choice.
Seen. Not spending time with. Not hanging around.
Seen.
"Yes, at the training grounds. She assisted me with my kata. I provided what little I could in turn."
A pause.
"You are not from the clan, yet she seems comfortable with you." he said with overt disdain, the first emotion that had truly escaped him.
I nodded, nonetheless, doing everything in my power to keep my expression neutral.
"She is thoughtful, my lord. Diligent. She takes her studies seriously."
"And yet her progress remains sub optimal."
The air chilled, just slightly.
Hinata remained perfectly still, the lack of movement only made her presence in my peripheral more conspicuous. What was she afraid of? To remain so still.
What had her father done to her to inspire such terror?
"The soft branches do not always grow straight." he said
"Yet they bear the most fruit, given time." I replied, playing his stupid word game.
The silence sharpened. I locked gazes with him— unyielding in defence of my friend.
"Indeed, branches lacking strength may contribute by bearing fruit." He said with a tone that dripped with condescension.
…Am I deaf? Or did this guy just call his daughter a broodmare?
At this point I was outright glaring into those creepy eyes of his.
He leaned forward, just enough to let me notice the movement—just enough to add gravitas.
"Tell me, Hanama-san… what do you believe the role of strength is, within the village?"
That tripped me up for a second.
I hesitated — not out of fear, but caution.
"Strength is a duty. Not a crown." I said.
There. That should sound archaic and needlessly fancy enough that he can come to his own conclusions.
"And whose duty?" I blinked in surprise, and spent a moment parsing out what he might have interpreted from my random ramblings.
"Everyone's. In their own way." I replied
"Even the weak?" he pressed.
"Especially the weak. They carry burdens others overlook." I said feeling more confident in my nonsense.
His eyes narrowed, but not with anger.
"You speak like someone raised far from power."
In other words, don't talk about things you don't know, gutter trash.
"I was." I smiled.
Gutter trash and proud motherfucker.
Another pause. Another unspoken test passed — or simply deferred, I wasn't sure.
"And on the policies of the village? Do you claim any views?"
"Only confusion, my lord. I've seen too little, and understand less. But I learn quickly."
"So I've heard." he said, his tone perfectly level but damn was that shit terrifying.
He stood. The motion was fluid, deliberate.
"You may leave. A bag of the tea served here awaits you at the door. A meagre thanks for taking up your time" he said with absolutely no warmth at all.
I bowed deeply, remaining seated.
"Thank you, Hiashi-dono."
"You are… not what I expected."
"Few people are."
His mouth twitched — whether to smile or frown, I couldn't tell you.
"We will speak again, I think." he said, his gaze going to his daughter for the first time. Who in turn moved for the first time in this meeting. Trembling in some unnamed emotion.
My money was on fear.
"Thank you for the Hospitality, I look forward to it." The words tasted like ash on my tongue, every fine of my being protested as I bowed in false gratitude but I wasn't dumb enough to disrespect a clan head in his own home.
He turned, and I remained bowed until I heard the screen slide open and close.
When I stood, the tea had gone cold.
But I ignored it and turned to pull Hinata into a hug. She made no move to repel or encourage this. She simply trembled in place, tears running down a face that even now refused to express emotion.
Fuckin' Sorcerers.
The Hyuuga estate faded behind us, swallowed by the orderly silence of the upper district.
Hiashi was what I expected from a sorcerer lord.
A complete asshole.
Just the highest level of douche you could find.
What was all that talk about branches and fruit anyway?
Figures a guy who got all his advantages in life from an ancestor fucking some strange creature was obsessed with his daughter's uterus.
Speaking of his daughter.
Hinata had said nothing when I let go of her. Just a quiet bow. A ghost trapped in her own home. I hated leaving her there — not because I thought I could protect her, but because I couldn't.
Power. That was the price of changing anything.
And I didn't have nearly enough.
…or at least I thought I didn't.
I needed to read up on what it actually meant to have Proxy status.
"…You're thinking too loud Ku-kun" came the voice beside me.
Kuro-chan.
"Ku-kun~," she sang without turning her head. "I can feel you overthinking."
Korumaru Hidachi.
She walked like a shadow pretending to be a girl — too graceful, too quiet. Half the time I forgot she was there until she spoke. The other half, I got the feeling she was watching me blink.
She had waited for me to walk her home. I don't if I should feel flattered or wary
I gave her a glance, then looked away.
"Sorry."
I blinked and looked away from the dusty orange sky. "Just… stuff. Nothing important."
"You're lying," she said with perfect cheer, as though she were complimenting my haircut.
I hesitated, sighing through my nose. "I had a meeting. With Hinata's father."
"Oooo~," she purred, stopping to face me with her hands clasped behind her back. Her face was all wide-eyed innocence and exaggerated curiosity, the kind kids have in cartoons. "Did he threaten to have you buried beneath the Hyūga gardens~?"
That threw me off just enough to laugh once, softly. "Not in so many words. But yeah… he wasn't subtle. I think he wanted to get a read on me."
Kuro tilted her head. Her smile didn't shift, but somehow felt… wider.
"You're not scared of him?"
"Of course I am," I said before I could think better of it. "But Hinata was scared, too. I think she's always scared around him."
"Mm." She started walking again, slower now, arms folded neatly. "Parents are strange. They shape you, then punish you for what you become. Doesn't seem fair, does it?"
I gave her a sidelong glance. Her voice was soft, lilting, pleasant—but something underneath was… pointed.
Was everybody's homelife trash? Almost makes me glad to be an orphan.
"He's strong," I said cautiously. "Too strong for me to do anything right now. I'll need to learn more before I even think about—"
"Why wait?" she asked sweetly.
I stopped.
She kept walking for a few steps, then turned back, rocking on her heels.
"If someone's hurting someone you care about… why not make them stop?" Her voice hadn't lost its politeness. In fact, she said it with the same tone she might use to ask if I wanted dango.
My mouth went dry. "What do you mean by make?"
She smiled again. No teeth, just lips. All soft and pleasant. "Problems can be solved, Ku-kun. Some problems… solve themselves. And some—" She raised a single finger, gently tapping it against her cheek. "—can be solved with just a little help."
There was nothing threatening in her tone.
I still almost pissed myself.
Aren't you eleven and a civilian besides?
"I…" I started, then stopped. I didn't know what I wanted to ask. If she was joking? If she was serious? If she'd done something like that before?
Who she might have done it to.
And then—
Boom!
The sound was distant but unmistakable. A muffled explosion, followed by another. Then another.
We both looked toward the village center—smoke already beginning to curl above the rooftops.
Chatter. Screams. Chakra flaring in the air like static.
I spun on instinct, chakra leaping to my hands, but not fast enough.
A blur of silver.
Pain bloomed across my ribs as I was sent skidding back against the street, the wind knocked from me. The man who stepped forward was grinning, silver hair wild around his headband and his vest half-unzipped.
"…Mizuki," I said, recognizing the bastard from the Academy. Always a little too charming. A little too cruel behind the smile.
But now his smile was gone. And his eyes were wild.
"Well, shit," he said, half-grinning now. "Didn't think I'd catch you two this fast." he said, reaching over his back and pulling out a matte black piece of metal.
I moved to stand up.
"What do you want?"
Mizuki cocked his head, almost pityingly.
"Honestly? No clue what the mistress wants with you, kid. But you're my ticket. My chance at some real power."
Chink!
The piece of metal unfolds into a Fuma shuriken. (Giant ninja star)
He cracked his neck.
"So, sorry about this."