Being Bullied

Chen emerged from the lab's training area when it was already evening.

"It's this late already? I didn't notice the passage of time at all down in the lab. The Ninja Academy must have let out by now. I need to hurry back." Chen muttered to himself as he watched the darkening sky. "Maybe Sasuke is worried and looking for me right now."

After all, Sasuke hadn't gone to Orochimaru yet, so his personality hadn't turned gloomy. Though he seemed cold, the fact that a year ago he didn't send Chen to the Orphanage but brought him home to take care of him showed how much he valued Chen as a brother. In the Original Story, he even used his own body to block Haku's attack for Naruto. To hide how much he treasured Naruto, he insisted on his deathbed that he didn't do it to save Naruto—his body just moved on its own. So right now, Sasuke was still an emotionally invested, outwardly cold but inwardly warm Sasuke Uchiha.

Just as Chen was nearing the clearing where he used to train, he suddenly heard some noises, coming from that very spot.

"Someone's up ahead!" Chen immediately leaped into a nearby tree to conceal himself. For a long time, the commotion continued there without stopping.

"Could it be someone training over there? Who could it be?" Chen wondered suspiciously. Then he carefully crept toward the source of the noise.

"So it's him. The one training here all along is Sasuke." Chen approached the old training ground, jumped onto a tree, and looked down at the clearing where someone was training hard—that person was Sasuke.

Sasuke used to come here alone every day after school to train, and today was no exception. He was training here as usual after school, unaware that someone was watching him.

By now, Sasuke was already exhausted, lying on the ground gasping for air. After being spurred on by last night's events, he was pushing himself harder than ever. Finally, after resting a moment, he gritted his teeth, stood up, and stumbled back home.

"Training this hard?" Chen watched Sasuke's staggering Back view, shaken by his persistence. Staring at the receding figure, he murmured, "Desperate to get stronger, then go find Itachi for revenge?"

After Sasuke left, Chen emerged from hiding and walked to the spot where Sasuke had been training. The charred wooden stakes had been replaced by Sasuke, and the new ones were still riddled with Shuriken.

Chen pulled out a Shuriken, twirled it in his hand, and thought, "Should I give him a hand?" After thinking it over, he decided to help. After all, Sasuke was his only family in this world. Seeing him work so hard, Chen couldn't help but want to lend a hand.

Checking the sky, it was already late. Chen headed home.

Chen returned to Konoha's streets, still putting on an idiot act. Just as he was about to reach home, he ran into several Ninja Academy students walking toward him. These were the same ones Chen had chased off when they bullied Naruto before, and Taichi the Idiot was among them. Taichi and the others were surprised to see Chen. "Sasuke Uchiha? Didn't we just run into him up ahead? How is he here again?" Since Chen hadn't shown his face in over a year, the Academy students had mostly forgotten him, so their first thought was Sasuke Uchiha. Chen didn't intend to acknowledge them and was about to pass by. But then Taichi suddenly remembered something and called out, "Uchiha Chen? Are you Uchiha Chen?"

Hearing Taichi call his name, Chen stopped, turned around, and put on a timid look, asking weakly, "What do you want?"

"Uchiha Chen, it really is Uchiha Chen! Come on, let's go over." Taichi excitedly said to his companions after hearing Chen's reply.

"Taichi, you're not thinking of..." one of the students asked. "Better not. He's Sasuke Uchiha's brother, and he was really strong a year ago." Another kid worriedly said to Taichi.

"What's there to be afraid of? I heard this Uchiha Chen went crazy from the mental shock of his clan's massacre a year ago. He even dropped out of the Ninja Academy. He's definitely useless now, nothing to fear. And there are so many of us, we're Academy students—are we scared of an idiot?" Taichi incited the others.

"But he's Sasuke Uchiha's brother. If we bully his brother, Uchiha Chen, and Sasuke finds out, he won't let us off." The last kid worried.

Over the past year, Sasuke had been training relentlessly. In every test or match, he always took first place. His strength made him the strongest in the class, and he was a real deterrent to his classmates.

Mentioning Sasuke only made Taichi angrier. Before starting the Ninja Academy, Taichi was bigger than other kids and often bullied them. But at the Academy, he kept failing. On the very first day, Uchiha Chen one-shotted him in front of the whole class, humiliating him in front of everyone, including Ino. He'd held a grudge ever since, always looking for revenge. But he never had a chance because Chen was too strong. As time passed, the gap between them grew, and Chen was called a genius at school. Taichi was just an ordinary civilian student with no talent. Even some of his former victims had Surpass him and beaten him. In the ninja world, being big didn't make you strong, so his slightly larger build didn't help. Kids he used to bully, who once feared him, now bullied him back. This frustrated Taichi, but he was helpless. A few days ago, in a sparring match, he was one-shotted by Sasuke, another Uchiha, losing face again.

Taichi hated the Uchiha clan but couldn't do anything. His strength was among the worst in the class—basically the dead last. Revenge on Sasuke was out of the question; they weren't even on the same level.

By now, Taichi had become the class laughingstock, unable to hold his head up. He blamed it all on Uchiha Chen and Sasuke Uchiha. He had no hope of getting back at Sasuke, but today he ran into Uchiha Chen, who had become an idiot. He wasn't about to let this chance slip by, planning to humiliate Chen thoroughly to vent his anger.

Taichi said to his scared companions, "What's there to fear? If I don't tell and you don't tell, no one will know." "But what if Uchiha Chen goes home and tells Sasuke Uchiha?" the students worried. They couldn't handle Sasuke. They were ordinary civilian students with weak talent, also dead last in the class, which was why they hung out with Taichi.

"Relax, he's an idiot. No one believes an idiot's words." Taichi grinned maliciously as he walked toward Chen.

Taichi stopped in front of Chen and sneered, "Oh! Isn't this the former genius? I heard you turned into an idiot! Hahaha!"

"W-what do you want?" Seeing Taichi approach, Chen pretended to be terrified, slowly backing away. "This scumbag wants to lay hands on me," Chen thought. "Damn it, looks like I'm in for a beating today. Taichi the Idiot, huh? I'll remember this!"

"What do I want? Of course..." Taichi kicked Chen directly, sending him to the ground. "To beat you up, idiot!" Seeing the fear on Chen's face, he felt incredibly satisfied. "Aren't you an Uchiha? Aren't you from Konoha's prestigious clan? Weren't you a genius? Hahaha!! Say it, say it! Why aren't you talking?" Taichi kicked Chen while he was down, shouting with a twisted face.

Chen silently endured Taichi's brutal kicks, but inside he was boiling with rage. "Taichi the Idiot, I'll remember this. The humiliation I suffer today, I'll repay tenfold in the future!"

"Hey, you guys come kick him too. What are you afraid of, he's just an idiot?" Taichi turned to the other three kids.

But they didn't step forward, just waved their hands at Taichi. "No need! You've got it covered."

"What are you doing? Stop it!" Just as Taichi was about to continue humiliating Uchiha Chen, a voice came from behind them. It was a woman's voice, and she sounded very displeased.

Everyone looked over and saw a young, pretty woman walking toward them. The questioning shout had come from her!