Chapter 18: The Mask of Weakness

By the time Ren emerged from the hidden laboratory, the sun was dipping below the horizon, painting the sky in shades of orange and purple.

*It’s this late already? I lost all track of time down there,* he thought, a slight pang of anxiety hitting him. *Sasuke’s probably already home. He might be looking for me.*

He moved quickly through the woods, heading back toward the Uchiha compound. As he neared his old training clearing, he heard sounds—the distinct *thwack* of a fist hitting wood and ragged, exhausted breaths.

*Someone’s there.* Instinctively, he melted into the shadows, leaping silently into the branches of a large tree overlooking the clearing. He peered down.

It was Sasuke.

His twin brother was a portrait of sheer, dogged determination. He was drenched in sweat, his body trembling with fatigue, yet he continued to hammer his fists and feet against a fresh set of wooden posts, replacing the ones Ren had seen charred earlier. Finally, his body gave out, and he collapsed onto the damp earth, his chest heaving.

*He’s pushing himself this hard?* Ren watched, a complex mix of emotions swirling within him—pity, respect, and a strange sense of guilt. *All for revenge. All to kill Itachi.*

After a few minutes, Sasuke forced himself to his feet, his movements unsteady. He staggered out of the clearing, disappearing into the twilight.

Ren dropped down from his perch, landing softly in the clearing. He walked over to one of the posts, pulling a shuriken from its deeply embedded position. He turned it over in his hand, thinking.

*Should I help him?* The question lingered. Despite their cold relationship, Sasuke was his brother. He was the one who had taken care of him for the past year when it would have been easier to send him away. The current Sasuke wasn’t the cold-blooded villain he would become; he was just a hurt, desperate boy.

*Maybe…* he thought, making a decision. *Maybe I can.*

The sky was now fully dark. Ren hurried his pace, reaching the outskirts of Konoha proper. He slipped back into his carefully constructed persona—the vacant eyes, the shuffling gait, the slight, mindless drool at the corner of his mouth. He was Uchiha Ren, the idiot.

He was almost home when a group of figures rounded a corner. Ren’s internal alarm bells rang softly. It was a cluster of academy students, and among them was the bully, Kenji, with his ridiculous bowl-cut hair.

They spotted him at the same time. They froze, staring.

“Uchiha Sasuke?” one of them muttered, confused. “Didn’t we just see him heading the other way?”

Kenji’s eyes narrowed, then widened in recognition. A nasty, triumphant grin spread across his face. “No, you idiot. That’s not Sasuke. That’s the other one. Uchiha *Ren*.”

Hearing his name, Ren stopped, turning to look at them with a feigned, blank expression. “W-What do you want?” he stammered, making his voice weak and fearful.

“It *is* Uchiha Ren!” Kenji crowed, turning to his lackeys. “Come on, let’s go say hello.” ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ n͟o͟v͟e͟l͟f͟i͟r͟e͟.net

“Kenji, I don’t know…” one of the boys said nervously. “He’s Sasuke’s brother. And he was really strong a year ago…”

“Are you stupid?” Kenji snapped. “Haven’t you heard? He lost his mind after his family died. He’s a drooling moron now. He dropped out of the academy. He’s a worthless waste! And there are four of us! You’re scared of an idiot?”

“But… Sasuke…” another boy whispered, his fear of the academy’s top student outweighing any urge to bully. “If we mess with his brother, and he finds out…”

The mention of Sasuke only seemed to enrage Kenji further. Before the Uchiha massacre, Kenji had been a local bully, preying on weaker kids with his slightly larger size. But at the academy, he had been humiliated. First by Ren on the very first day, and then consistently outclassed by everyone, including the kids he used to pick on. He was now firmly at the bottom of the class, a laughingstock. His hatred for the Uchiha name, the source of his greatest humiliations, was a burning coal in his gut.

Revenge on Sasuke was impossible. But this… this broken version of his brother? This was a gift.

“Who’s gonna believe an idiot?” Kenji sneered. “He can’t even form a proper sentence. Now shut up and watch.”

He swaggered up to Ren, who was doing his best to look small and terrified.

“Well, well,” Kenji taunted, his voice dripping with mockery. “If it isn’t the great genius from last year. I heard you went soft in the head. Lost your marbles! Hahaha!”

“P-Please…” Ren whimpered, backing away. *This little punk actually wants to start something,* he thought, a cold anger beginning to simmer beneath his mask of fear. *Kenji. I’ll remember this.*

“Please? Please what?” Kenji laughed and lashed out with a foot, catching Ren in the stomach and sending him sprawling into the dirt. “This! This is what I want to do! I want to kick you, you idiot!”

The blow wasn’t powerful—Kenji was a weakling—but the humiliation was a white-hot brand. Ren curled up on the ground, playing his part, but inside, his rage was a silent inferno. *You will pay for this. Ten times over.*

“Aren’t you an Uchiha?!” Kenji yelled, kicking him again. “Aren’t you from the mighty clan?! Weren’t you a genius?! Huh?! ANSWER ME!” Each question was punctuated by another kick.

“Hey, come on, you guys get a shot too!” Kenji called over his shoulder to his friends, who were watching with uneasy expressions. “He’s just an idiot!”

The other boys shook their heads vigorously, staying well back. They wanted no part of this.

Ren endured it, each kick fueling the cold, calculating fury in his heart. He would bide his time. The reckoning would come.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING? STOP THAT AT ONCE!”

A sharp, authoritative voice cut through the evening air. It was a woman’s voice, filled with anger and command.

Everyone froze. Kenji’s foot halted in mid-air. They all turned to look.

Walking toward them was a young, strikingly beautiful woman with vibrant red hair tied in a bun. Her green eyes were narrowed in fury, fixed directly on Kenji. She carried herself with an air of confidence that immediately cowed the group of boys.

Ren, lying in the dirt, peeked through his arms. *Well, this is an unexpected development.*

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