7. Beaten
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And many thanks to my beta Bonnie-san, you're awesome!
Sasuke had not been many days in the academy when he first started to notice that he wasn't so popular. Of course, all of the girls loved him but many of the boys were jealous and didn't like him. They made fun of him behind his back.
Actually, the young Uchiha should not have cared, but some things were worse than others. That Naruto openly declared Sasuke as an arrogant fool and always competed with him was nothing of importance. He used to accuse Naruto back and competed as well. The raven-haired liked to 'show off' as the blonde would say.
But there were some boys who really hated Sasuke and he often heard them talk about him, saying really mean and unfair things, not caring if the Uchiha heard what they said. And Sasuke could put up with all of their taunts. But when they started to target him directly, things became harder to handle.
There were four boys; two of them were especially angered with the Uchiha. The leader among them, a tall, brown-haired and freckled boy started it.
When they would receive their test results he began to pick on Sasuke, although the later had gotten all answers correctly and the leader himself had failed totally. At first Sasuke just cut him off and held his chin high, not letting himself be bothered by him. But the four boys soon were taunting him together, laughing and making a fool of the Uchiha. And of course, they did it every time their sensei, Iruka, was looking somewhere else.
Sasuke found it very annoying to begin with, but it soon became even worse. Naruto's grudge against him didn't make anything better and the squealing girls were sickly irritating. Sasuke was so fed up with it. But he kept on doing his homework perfectly and getting the highest score out of all the 90 students in the whole Academy.
After a half of a year, things started to get really hard for Sasuke to handle. Not only was he always bullied during the lessons, at the playtime the gang started to challenge him in really unfair ways. They were getting him from behind or hiding his school bag so he had to search for it for hours afterwards.
One of them would be no match for him. But they were always four against one and they were taller and heavier built than the raven-haired.
"You're always so down these days." Mikoto remarked during Sasuke's day-off.
The child had begun to hate the academy secretly but he went there every day anyway to get his work done.
"Mom… I…"
The last thing Sasuke wanted was to appear weak in front of his family. He really didn't want to be the weak little child who was running to his mom when the "bad kids" were harassing him. But he couldn't stand it anymore…
"I'm being bullied at school", he confessed, "and it's so annoying…"
His mother frowned. "Don't care about them, Sasuke. They probably have lots of problem on their own and I bet that they just want to be like you."
But knowing that he was an offspring of the proud clan of Konoha, Sasuke knew that he couldn't bother with common, clan-less rats like them. His father had told him as much, so many times.
One day, when Sasuke was hurrying home from school to avoid getting targeted the four boys suddenly appeared in front of him again, grinning. They quickly dragged the Uchiha away from the road, straight into the forest. They ripped his school bag off him so its content spread over the ground. Then they held him still as the leader beat him.
Sasuke knew he wasn't the only victim, they had a sick hobby of abusing kids in their own age or younger. But today only he was their victim and there was no help to get.
The raven-haired struggled to get free but they held him in a vice grip and covered his mouth with filthy hands. Sasuke received hard punches to his stomach, legs, arms and face. He tried the best he could to be quiet, but when he got a particularly hard hit on his sensitive cheekbone, he couldn't hold back a whimper of pain. The boys laughed and he could see the malice in their faces – they enjoyed this and they enjoyed his fear, his helplessness.
Sasuke couldn't stand seeing the glee shining from their eyes so he closed his own tightly and tried to not show them how much pain he was in. He cursed himself when he felt his eyes fill with tears, tears of pain and anger.
He didn't know how long time had gone until they harshly released him and he tumbled down on the hard ground. "If you tell anyone we'll kill you." A final kick to his ankle, and the boys were gone.
Sasuke was lying on the ground, sore, hurt and feeling sick. He gritted his teeth when his eyes overflowed with tears. He struggled to get up, ignoring the ache in his limbs and quickly collected his stuff in his mired school bag. Then he ran home as if his life depended on it, not daring to look back.
.
"Itachi, I'm happy for the success with your latest mission", their father babbled. "You have really impressed the elders and I have decided to come along on your next mission so I personally can watch your successes. The Uchiha clan is rising in the ranks..."
The family was sitting around the dinner table; Itachi was participating in the dinner for once and listened expressionlessly to his father. Mikoto listened as well, respectfully.
Sasuke looked down at his plate, hoping that nobody would notice the deep blue bruise on his cheek. The pain in his body had almost disappeared now, but he still had a feeling of hurt inside of him. Somewhere in his chest he had another pain that refused to go away.
When he came home some hours ago he had rushed straight to the bathroom before anyone saw him. He had washed his face and hands thoroughly in an attempt to delete every trace of the abuse. He had gotten a big amount of purple bruises, but he covered the most with his clothes and bandage on his legs. He tried to cover the ones on his forehead and cheek with his bangs, and nobody had noticed yet. His white school bag – inherited from Itachi – was covered with soil but he had cleaned it and his school books secretly.
No one could know about this – what would they think about him then? The weakest Uchiha that wasn't even able to defend himself. His father would be so disappointed, Sasuke couldn't even think about it. If I tell anyone, father will never recognize me.
But it was hard. When he was standing there in the bathroom, looking at his battered profile in the mirror, the feelings he had been trying to suppress for such a long time finally surfaced. It was too hard for a seven-year-old kid to handle this by himself.
He grabbed hold of the sink to support himself and cried his eyes out. The face in the mirror became blurred and endless streams of tears escaped his tightly closed eyes. He sobbed and sulked, feeling so sad and upset and shocked, not even caring right then that boys was not supposed to cry. He wanted somebody to comfort him so badly… but he couldn't tell anyone.
Now he was sitting here, trying hard to suppress the urge to cry as he ate his food, forcing himself to swallow although he wasn't hungry. If he broke down now, he would never be able to hide from his family what had happened. They would force him to tell them and the disgusting truth about his weakness would be revealed.
"Sasuke, what happened to your cheek?" Itachi wondered suddenly. Sasuke froze, not daring to look at his big brother. His heart raced. Please, don't let them find out…
This was exactly what he had feared. It took every ounce of self-control he possessed to not burst into tears. He struggled to not let his voice sound too strained.
"I… fell", he mumbled.
Even if he didn't look at the elder he could feel that Itachi didn't believe him. The urge to tell his nii-san what happened, to get some comfort, was burning inside of Sasuke. But he didn't.
He forced himself to think of something else, still keeping his gaze locked to the table. He could feel that Itachi was examining him worriedly. The older brother was about to say something but their father craved the elder's attention again and he let it be unspoken right then.
When the dinner was finished, Fugaku and Itachi stayed some minutes to keep on talking about those missions and Sasuke hurried to get up and leave the kitchen. But when he looked behind him for a second he could see that his brother was staring at him intensely. The prodigy's worried, examining gaze burned Sasuke, who ran to his room.
.
Sasuke didn't ever want to return to the damn academy. But he had to. With a heavy heart and aching stomach the young raven put on his shoes two days after his day off. His bag was cleaned and his bruises were rather yellow than blue now. When he left their safe home and walked to school it felt like he was going out to war. This was a war, actually, waging under-cover. School went like always; it was a pain but Sasuke did as well as he could.
The day was longer than usual – the students had shuriken practice outside of the building at the late afternoon. Sasuke performed the best, of course. And so the students finally were able to go home. To his relief, the boys that used to bully him weren't at school today. The young Uchiha began walking home, feeling easier than usual due to their absence.
The sun was slowly going down behind the house roofs; the sky was glowing gold and purple. He felt his mood slowly get better the closer to home he got. He was just a few wards from home when he spotted the leader among the boys.
Instantly alarmed, Sasuke stopped dead in his track and turned around only to get his life's shock when he noticed the three others stand right behind him, grinning. They swiftly grabbed him and made it impossible to escape. They dragged him into a narrow alley-way and Sasuke got a cold sweat when the leader of the gang joined them. This was really, really bad.
He was stuck between two concrete walls which were only some few yards apart. The brown-haired boy smiled wickedly, holding up a kunai. Sasuke's eyes widened in fear. Where did he get that from?
"Do you see what I have here, duckhead? Do you want it in your skin?" The boy grinned and carelessly waved with his arm, exposing the razor-sharp edge of the kunai.
Wide-eyed, Sasuke shook his head frantically. Even if it meant that he would have to beg, his self-preservation was stronger than his pride. The other boys released him and he was suddenly sitting in front of the gang leader, too afraid to even move. The freckly boy grabbed his shirt, dragging him closer and lightly traced the kunai along Sasuke's pale skin, threatening to thrust it into him if he moved. Afraid to even breathe, Sasuke prayed silently that the boys weren't fully serious with using such a dangerous weapon to hurt him with.
In the next second, the kunai was replaced with the boy's fist. And before he had a chance to understand what was happening, the raven-haired got a hard punch right in his face.
"Ow!" Sasuke landed on the ground, his heart was racing and his face hurt. He brought a trembling hand up to his cheeks and felt something sticky. Blood.
He gasped for air, trembling in his whole body and looked up at his predator horrified. Sasuke closed his eyes in silent begging. "Please, don't hurt me anymore…"
He heard footsteps coming closer, a malicious chuckle. "Who's the bravest now, huh? You little shit. You should know who you're messing with…"
Suddenly a loud crash was heard, and the boy's monologue was abruptly interrupted. Sasuke's eyes flew open and he stared horrified at his predator that was now bleeding on the ground beside him. The other boys ran for their lives, not hesitating for a second about abandoning their leader.
Somebody was standing in front of Sasuke. Strong. Furious.
With a heart flutter the child realized that it was his brother who had thrown the brown-haired boy against the concrete wall, crushing his jaw. The said boy was now lying next to Sasuke, gripping his face and whining loudly.
Itachi stared at the gang leader, his eyes blood-red and merciless. Sasuke was almost afraid of his own big brother in that moment – he felt shivers going down his spine upon seeing the rage that was oozing off Itachi. He wasn't his usual calm and collected self. Now he looked like he was about to lose control.
But the other boy wasn't giving up. He rose on his elbows, eyeing Itachi angrily and defiantly, spitting blood from his mouth. "I'm not afraid of you. And your little brother is pathetic, just lying there so weakly-"
Sasuke knew that his aniki had a limit. And if you crossed it, you were as good as dead. He had seen his brother lose his patience when talking to some clan fellows.
And just as he thought it, the brown-haired boy was brutally abused by Itachi – the older Uchiha was over him in a second, like a beast with its prey, punching him repeatedly. Enraged by hearing somebody insult his otouto and moreover, hurting him really bad. Sasuke had never seen his nii-san so angry before.
He began to fear – what if his brother killed the boy? Then Itachi would be put into jail…
"Nii-san!" he exclaimed. "Aniki, stop!"
After some seconds Itachi let go and stood up. The boy next to Sasuke was barely conscious.
Itachi turned towards Sasuke, intimidating with his red eyes and fists covered with blood. But his facial expression quickly softened and the younger relaxed. Sasuke grimaced at the pain from his wound and his older brother crouched down beside him, letting his Sharingan fade away and examined it.
"He will never touch you again, otouto", Itachi told him while still scowling angrily. "Can you stand up?" he asked. Sasuke nodded weakly and tried to get up only to feel his strength drain from his body. Itachi supported him and lifted him up in his arms.
The child let himself be carried back to their home, leaving the freckly boy behind them. Itachi went straight to the kitchen – fortunately none of their parents were there – and put his brother down on the counter, making sure that he could sit by himself. Then he disappeared and soon returned with a first aid kit. Itachi washed the blood from his own hands with a grave expression. Then he gently and accustomedly cleaned Sasuke's wound on his cheek where he had been hit. The smaller boy frowned from pain. Itachi placed a compress over the wound. He also put some patches where Sasuke's skin had been pierced by the kunai.
"Sasuke", he said, "I demand to know if they hurt you somewhere else."
Sasuke shook his head, hesitantly.
Itachi sighed and leaned closer, gently sweeping Sasuke's bangs out of his face. The child looked down in his lap when his older bruises were revealed. Itachi took a deep breath, his fingers gently brushed against his little brother's forehead, hardly touching the abused skin.
Afraid of his nii-san reaction Sasuke didn't dare to look up. Itachi didn't say a word as he pulled up his brother's shirt to examine his torso. Several large bruises that had turned yellow were visible on his belly; his arms had fresher marks in a deep purple color from where one of the goons had gripped him roughly. Itachi didn't know how to react right then. He could just imagine the pain his little otouto must have gone through when they gripped his sensitive skin and thin little body so harshly...
He gently stroked Sasuke's face again. The elder's face was expressionless.
The feelings were overwhelming. Rage and sadness were swirling inside of him, but he let it stay there, like always.
"Does it hurt?" he asked quietly.
Sasuke lifted his head in surprise. "… A bit", he confessed.
Itachi hugged him, careful to not cause the child more pain. No words could be said right now. There were so much the prodigy wanted to say but he couldn't let it out.
The guilt – he should've known from the first time he noticed Sasuke's bruises! The sorrow – he absolutely hated seeing Sasuke hurt or harmed in any way. And all the pain – his brother's pain was his pain. And of course; the anger. A red-eyed, indescribable anger. How dared they hurt his otouto?
Itachi had been walking home when he heard voices coming from a small alley-way. At first he dismissed it, until he felt his brother's chakra and heard the menacing words from another kid. It had taken him less than a second to understand. And the only thing he could think right then was Nobody. Hurts. My. Brother.
I'm going to have a little 'talk' with all of the children who were present, Itachi thought darkly. And make sure that they will never look at Sasuke again.
"You're safe now", he told his little brother, still hugging him. Sasuke nuzzled into his chest, so grateful for getting comfort from somebody who didn't judge his weakness.
"Nii-san?"
"Yes?"
"Please… don't tell mother or father about this. I don't want them to know…"
Before Itachi had time to answer the kitchen door opened. Mikoto stepped into the room, looking really grim. Both her prodigy sons realized that she had heard everything. She rushed over to them, examining Sasuke worried.
"Why didn't you tell us, Sasuke? You're really hurt, poor thing! I'm so grateful that you treated his wounds, Itachi –"
When Mikoto Uchiha was worried, upset, sad or very happy she began talking rapidly.
"– And give him some ice-cream. I'm going straight to the academy to talk with that stupid teacher! How could this happen–" She hurriedly prepared for leaving the house, making a smacking, disapproving sound with her tongue as she left commands to her eldest child.
When she finally had left her sons shared a smile. Everything would be fine for Sasuke.
And Mikoto's actions helped a lot – the four boys which had been bullying the youngest Uchiha were suspended from the Academy with the principal's promise that they would not be allowed back to the school until Sasuke had graduated. The gang leader's jaw never returned fully to its original position and the boys' parents grounded them for several months.
But Sasuke didn't really care about that. He was just glad that his nii-san had come in time, or else he didn't know what would have happened.
It's true – every child needs somebody to rely on, and for Sasuke that somebody was always his big brother.
