I am so sorry for the long delay for the new chapter, I had a massive writer's block for this story. After Sasuke left I knew what I had to do, but I didn't know how to get him there. So it took me a whole lot of time to think of a way to get him in but I finally found the right way to get him in.

Kay, buckle up your seat belts people, it's time to get this show on the road!


Sunday flicked the worn page on her latest history book, glancing to the side as Alexander let out another enthusiastic cry. They had been sailing for over a month now and the boy had finally recovered – well, as much as he could recover. Sasuke warned him not to strain himself too much, and that he should take a few walk around the ship before he had to lay back in bed for his I.V.

While Sasuke was treating the boy, like he promised, he finally told her that he'll consider for the organization that she had mention to him a few months ago. Right now they had entered the Grand line some weeks ago and since then had collected several more potential baroque recruits. Some came willingly through the promises of riches, power and paradise, whilst others, like Sasuke, had no choice but to follow.

The raven haired woman couldn't help the amused smile that quirked her lips as another painful cry sounded, followed by numerous shouts of disgust and awe.

…what was the cause?


"ARGH!" One of the marines, brave men of the seas, the very same men who swore oath to hunt down dangerous pirates all over the seas, the very same men that don't cry...

...cried.

Sasuke, slowly, pulled out a larva of some sort from the man's shoulder with a tweezers. It wiggled around a bit in the tong before he placed it into the glassy bucket…with the other larvae.

"So how did those things even get there…?" Alexander asked, somewhat disgusted that a parasite would live in someone's body for a long period of time.

"A botfly infestation occurs when an infected mosquito-"

"WHAT THE HELL DOES A MOSQUITO HAVE TO DO ANYTHING WITH FLIES?" Sasuke merely glared at the man before he ripped opened another bandage, which caused him to whimper.

"As I was saying, before I was rudely interrupted, a botfly infestation occurs when an infected mosquito bites into the skin of a human; before that process a female botfly, carrying the eggs, somewhat ambushes a mosquito in midflight. The fly lays its egg and glues it onto the mosquito's underbelly-"

"THAT MAKES NO SENSE WHAT SO EEEEeeeeaaaaAAAAAHHH-!" The marine cried once more as Sasuke pulled out another maggot from the man's body, this one was in the man's elbow.

The noble was conflicted, in either sympathizing for the man, or laughing his arse off for watching a grown man cry like a baby.

"As I was saying, when the infected mosquito lands on the human skin, our body heat melts the glue, and the eggs fall off of the mosquito and hatches into larvae, which burrows under the skin. If undisturbed, they will remain there for at least six weeks..." he continues to explain the botfly infestation while pulling out another larvae, this one was on his back, ignoring the painful scream from the marine.

Sir Alphonso, and possibly the whole crew of both the Baroque Works and the Marine, deduced that Sasuke is the biggest sadist to ever walk on the face of the earth...

"What is going on here?" the door to the captain's room burst opened, revealing a very unhappy Hina. "Why is Hina hearing girly screams-"

"AAAAHH!"

Pop, this one was from the skull…

Thud.

"Would someone please carry captain Hina back to her room," Sasuke commanded without looking up from the botfly maggot, and for some odd, and disturbing, reason this one was staring back at Sasuke. "And Mr. Anderson, congratulation, you have given birth to six beautiful botfly maggots."

"S-So am I done yet?"

Sasuke simply smiled.

"Don't be ridiculous." he tore another bandage off roughly.


Everyone, except for Sunday, who was busy reading a book, and Alexander, who was also reading a book, thanks to Sunday, winced at the scream of the poor marine.

This too, was a regular occurrence. After treating the boy, Sasuke didn't want to waste any more time not checking up on others, including the recruits. In their month's journey, he had treated fifty-two recruits of lack of vaccination, thirty-six of them with scurvy, twelve veteran members with several of ailment and one marine of botfly infestation.

He was…unique…but that's what made Sunday feel that Sasuke could be useful to the Organization.

The small group of fighters, both normal and devil fruit users, didn't seem interested in socializing once they had formed their alliances among the recruits…especially with Sasuke, everyone felt that the doctor was more of a threat than the marines themselves. There were almost five dozen men and women, though several that had been taken by force were still being held below deck in the brig. The remaining people were free to roam the ship, numbering at around 20.

Though they all seemed to have formed small groups and alliances, whether based on social status, abilities or attitude, Sasuke seemed to be singled out by them all….

…well it's no surprise, especially with the relationship with the Noble Lord that brought many at the edge. There was a difference between the doctor and the others that Sunday could see as the reason, and for that, none of them were willing to accept him. Despite the promises that Baroque is willing to offer, the doctor didn't seem interested in reaping any of the benefits. He simply said that he was just returning the favor of the 'genie'.

To the others, Sasuke was just a mad doctor, and so none made any effort to associate with him.

Sunday couldn't help but think of Sasuke as the 'enigma' of the motley crew. With his small, pale, feministic, physique and lack of visible muscle, he stood out like a sore thumb amongst the recruits. The fact was however, that it was far from the truth.

The doctor, in Sunday's observations, appeared to be the strongest of those she had collected thus far. Despite his statue, the doctor's skill, speed, reaction, and reflexes are beyond anything that Sunday had seen in her life, in fact, it almost makes Mr. One look like a novice.

The recruits often fought over little things, betting whatever valuables they may possess. Sunday had only seen the doctor participate a couple of times, and that was when several men had irritated the doctor. It had been quite shocking to watch such a feminine body dodging every single attack that the muscle-bound thugs tried to throw at him, and even the sneakiest members of the recruit tried to sneak attack, and fail before Sasuke paralyzed them all with several of acupuncture needles.

Through that fight she had seen the Sasuke's skill, and deduced that he was no ordinary doctor; in fact, she had considered that he may have been some sort of an assassin before becoming a doctor…or he may even still be that very same assassin that she had assume, just under the guise of a doctor.

"Here are the daily reports, Miss AllSunday."

Sunday sat back in her chair, gently closing the thick, aged book she had been reading all day. "Good." She muttered. "Is everybody in their cabins? We'll be arriving at Arabasta tomorrow, and Mr. 0 has requested that we continue our journey through the deserts rather than the city docks to avoid any unwanted attention."

"Yes ma'am. All recruits have settled into their cabins for the night—"

"AAARGH!" Sunday raised a delicate eyebrow.

"Everybody?" she questioned.

"All except for the doctor treating the marine, Miss AllSunday." The agent replied, squirming a little. "We… haven't been able to get him to stop with his works, yet."

Sunday sighed and stood. "I will take care of it." The sun had set over an hour ago, and the anchors were dropped. This too, was a regular occurrence with Sasuke. On any other day she would tolerate his workaholic personality, but they would be sailing again at dawn and the last thing Sunday needed was a cranky doctor on her hands.

The agent, noting his dismissal, gladly scurried from the room, barking out orders to the other men. Just as Sunday was about to follow him out onto the deck, she felt a slight tug on her coat, blinking she turned around to see little Alexander with a frown on his face.

"I-Is this the last day Dr. Uchiha is going to stay with us?" she too frowned, not wanting to upset the boy, especially if he's the grandson of a World Noble. Sunday merely turned around and walked out of the room, with the ill boy following her behind.


Sasuke threw the larve overboard, as he watched the little critters drown into the sea, hopefully devoured by Sea Kings. He passed the empty bucket to one of the marines, who reluctantly took it, before he went back to watching the view… even though it's been a month outside of the island, the sight of the beautiful scenery took his breath away, especially the evening sun that's changing the color of the sea into a more brighter color than sapphire, with the sky turning crimson and shades of gold…it was as if he was seeing something entirely new.

"Wow…" he murmured with the sight sorely focused on the scenery. He suddenly felt a hand clasp on his shoulder, turning around he saw the World Noble behind him with a smile. "Tis a beautiful sight, is it not my friend?" He asked as Sasuke stared at him before looking back at the sight.

"I've seen so many sunsets on Drum Island before…but this one…" His eyes caught something foreign in his eye…a glass of wine.

"I apologize, but I drink-"

"-only after your finished with your work." Alphonso finished as he laughed. "Come now, we must at least have a toast for your last day here with us." Sasuke stared at the man…before he took the wine from his hand.

"When did you found out?" He asked him as Alphonso sighed, "When I overheard your partner talking to those ruffians about docking on Arabasta tomorrow, as well as my grandson asking that woman if you were leaving…"

Sasuke took a sip of the red alcohol, while looking out at the sunset. "I owe that woman, she saved me from the cellar, the least I can do is give her part of my deal." Sasuke said as Alphonso sighed.

"Alexander would be very sad to know that this is the last day for you to be with us…" he replied as Sasuke simply scoffed.

"He'd forget about me in three years, four years at the best…" The man laughed before he took a sip of his own wine.

"Do you even know who you're going to work for?" Sasuke nip again with the wine before answering, "All I know is if the boss is more infuriating than Sunday, than I'm already going to have a field day…"

The man laughed before finishing his wine. "Too true…" he turned around and sighed. "Speak of the devil, here she comes." Sasuke, finishing the rest of his wine, turned around to see Sunday with a smile. "I'm assuming you're done with your work?"

"Most of it at least…" Sasuke said with a shrug. "So why are you up here, Sunday?"

"I thought I told you not to call me that?" Ms. Sunday answered back, ignoring his question. "Well, it's your name isn't it? It's better than 'Miss AllSunday', anyway…"

"If you must call me that, then be sure to do so in private, Sasuke." Sunday replied, sapphire eyes glinting dangerously for a second. "When we are in the presence of anyone around, you will refer to me as Miss AllSunday."

"Alright Sun—" he paused, before sighing. He hadn't missed the warning in her eyes. "…Miss AllSunday."

"Good. Now it's time for you to return to your quarters, it's going to be a long day tomorrow, so I suggest you get enough sleep before the big day." Ms. All Sunday chide, causing Sasuke to merely blink while Alphonso laugh heavily.

"I'm not a six year old boy, I can handle myself."

"Then perhaps you should act your age, hm? We'll be arriving at Arabasta tomorrow."

Sasuke merely shrugged before handing the empty glass to the marine, who was passing by, and turn to the World Noble, "Make sure your grandson get enough nutrients and supplements in his body, I gave Hina the multivitamins that he'll need for the next month, also make sure he gets plenty of exercise, and rest. Don't change his diet too much, but if he's showing improvement, you may change it a bit…"

"May god bless you and your grandson Sir Alphonso." The noble merely nodded before Sasuke turned back to his benefactor and walked back to their ship.

"Is my ass worth anything to your boss?"

"Perhaps…" he stopped, before turning around and glared, "Alexander Adelaide, I expect you to return to your room and sleep before you exhaust yourself again." The light thud and whimper of the small boy made Sunday somewhat sympathize for the boy...somewhat.


"Grandfather, is Dr. Uchiha really leaving us?" Alexander asked sadly as they watch the ship that Sasuke was on leave rather quickly.

Alphonso said nothing...only muttering a small prayer for the doctor.

"God speed, Dr Sasuke Uchiha..."


By the time the ship had docked the next day, it was late morning. The group, following orders from Mr. 0, were to travel to Rainbase. The first half of the journey would take them until nightfall, and the rest would be made on the backs of Banawani.

Ms. All Sunday watched as the oversized crocodiles that had towed them most of the way here slinked into deeper waters once unshackled from the ship. The majority of the crew and recruits were on land now and seemed to be feeling the heat. All that remained was the lead the recruits who were still resisting out in chains and then they would be on their way.

Ms. All Sunday watched as the last member of the Baroque Works got off the ship for a few seconds more before reaching into her pocket, stepping away from the crew and calling her superior on the baby Den Den. After a few rings, the receiver picked up.

"…What?" answered a gruff voice on the other end.

"Mr. 0, we have arrived in Arabasta." All Sunday spoke.

"Good, start your journey to the designated location. Whatever recruits fail to make it, are to be left behind. They're not worth my time." said the deep voice of Mr. 0. "We have some 'interesting' recruits from some of the other blues already, anyway."

"That's good to hear, sir. I believe I've found someone interesting myself." Sunday said with a small smile.

"Only one?"

"There are several more, but one in particular seems to have a numbers potential." Sunday explain.

"Is that so? Well then, let's see if this recruit survives training."

"I have a feeling he'll be just fine." Sunday said with a slightly mysterious tone. "We are making our way to the Spider Café, the billions will stay there, and I'm going to take the recruits over to Rainbase by Banchi Coach."

"Very well." A click sounded signaling the end of the call.

Putting the Den-Den away, Sunday then noticed Sasuke walking over to her, looking... disturbed.

"Is something the matter Dr. Uchiha?" She asked as Sasuke looked over his shoulder, before shaking his head. "N-No, it's nothing..." he continued on, Sunday heard him mutter about crawling red berries...but said nothing about it as she followed behind.

The desert sun was harsh and unforgiving, the heat left travelers drained and exhausted, and if one dared to expose themselves from their protective clothes in hopes of feeling the breeze, they would soon pay the price. Small but fast gusts of wind whipped sand around like miniscule rocks, slapping the grains against burnt and tender skin. As the group moved on, they left a trail bodies behind. Recruits stated lagging before dropping like flies, and if they were still alive, but too tired to go on, they were left to die and decay anyway in the burning sand.

There was no sign of remorse on Ms. All Sunday's face and Sasuke was too occupied with his own thoughts to really notice. Most of the surviving recruits made no effort to so much as look when one of their comrades fell. It wasn't until late afternoon when Sasuke really noticed their dwindling numbers. He stayed beside his partner most of the time, only venturing away when he spotted a weird looking cactus or any form of living creature. He soon joined back with the group though.

The Baroque Works billions, along with their leader, Ms. All Sunday, all had their own canister of rationed water. No water had been offered to any of the recruits by Mr. 0's orders, and that had been a main factor in the loss of most. The only exception was Sasuke who was sipping small amount of water from his canteen. When Ms. All Sunday question him about it he simply answered, "What sort of idiot doesn't bring at least a canteen when entering a world outside home."

However not all recruits thought that way.

"Oi!" called out one of the others, voice gravelly and dry. "How come that kid gets a drink! Look at how many of us were left behind!"

"I don't have to answer to you." Ms. All Sunday said coldly, offering him nothing but a stone cold look.

"Like Hell you don't!" the recruit then rushed at her, hands out, ready to strangle the woman.

"Foolish man." Sunday chided, folding her arms across her chest in an 'x'.

"Cinco Flur… CLUTCH!"

A sickening crack sounded and the recruit fell to the ground in a crumpled heap, groaning in pain, Sasuke simply watch, not in fear nor disgust, but in awe and fascination. The bone breaking, neck snapping, and chokehold was just pure art in his eyes. Perfectly executed, no mistakes...

"Anybody else care to question my judgment?" Sunday asked. "They were weak. The desert weeds out the weak from the strong. If you have a problem with that, then head back to the ship."

"But that's suicide!" called another man, one of those still cuffed.

"Then keep going. Or would you rather die a coward?" Sunday said coldly.

Sasuke merely glanced at the group as Sunday turned around again and began to walk. Sasuke soon followed behind, the others merely glared before they continued on.

Around midnight they had finally reached Spider's Cafe. Thirty-two out of fifty weary Baroque agents followed by fourteen exhausted recruits. After all, only the strongest were welcome in Baroque, so if the current agents could be taken down by the new ones, they obviously weren't fit to be there.

Sunday had said nothing hearing her comrades startled cries as several recruits jumped them, stealing their water and fighting amongst themselves for a drink. They had lost more recruits and agents to fights than to the desert. The survivors were rewarded for their efforts with drink and food. Paula, the 'owner' of the cafe and also a Baroque agent herself shook her head at the pathetic sight. She stood next to Ms. All Sunday, and offered her a mug of coffee, smoking her pipe.

"The coach will be here soon."

"Thank you, Miss Doublefinger." Sunday said with a small smile, sipping gratefully at the coffee. Though the day had been burning hot, after the sun had fallen, the night winds were ruthlessly cold.

"Honestly, I can't see any potential from this ragtag group you've collected." Paula added.

"It's a good thing it was my job to pick them out then." the recruiter began. "You can't always judge a book by its cover, Miss Doublefinger." A clean dish as well as an empty cup was softly placed in front of Paula as Sasuke merely nodded his head.

"The chocolate cake was delicious, and the coffee only made it better." He simply said as he walked back to his seat calmly. Sunday chuckled slightly at the sight of the doctor reading his book quietly while the rest of the recruit continued to bicker and fight like pigs. Honestly, his demeanour truly was amusing. The agent known as Miss Doublefinger blinked in surprise at the sight of the man that looked very different from the rest of the montley crew.

"Perhaps." Paula replied, glancing to Sunday. Her baby DenDen suddenly came to life, and Miss Doublefinger quickly pulled it out, answering and muttering a few quiet words to the other person on the line. "Yes, sir." She muttered as she disconnected.

"Mr. 0?" Ms. All Sunday inquired, and received a nod in response. She stood and walked to the window, pulling a curtain aside, spotting the cloud of dust in the distance. Their ride was here.

Paula then clapped her hands to gain everyone's attention. "Oi! I suggest you all go outside now, your ride will be here shortly."

The recruits began to file out of the cafe, sated by their full stomachs and knowing they would soon get this 'training' out of the way and reap the benefits they had been promised. Ms. All Sunday followed, Sasuke, carrying his luggage, and sticking close to her, as usual.

"So how do we get to the so call Secret Base?" he asked, somewhat bored.

"By Banchi coach." Ms. All Sunday replied, then pointed ahead. Sasuke blinked.

"I beg your pardon..." he looked to where she pointed and could see a cloud of dust and sand quickly approaching. His eyes widened as the cloud screeched to a halt. Standing before them was a huge hard faced turtle; it had piercing eyes, a hat on his head, and a cigar in his mouth.

Sasuke stared at the creature...then back at Sunday...then at the cafe...then back at his recruiter...and back at the turtle...

"Did that woman, by any chance, put any hallucinogens in my cake and coffee?"


Rainbase was famous for its casinos and restaurants. Colorful flashing lights, the passing of money back and forth, and delicious smells and food all served as a spectacular mask, for what laid hidden beneath.

Unknown to the inhabitants of Arabasta, below the hustle and bustle of Rainbase, was the underground headquarters of Baroque Works.

Sunday's recruits had been assembled with all other collected from the other blues in the main area. Before long the doors opened up, revealing Sunday and another man. He was tall, with grayish skin, had long slicked back hair and a long scar across his face in a horizontal line. He wore a heavy, dark coat lined with thick fur, which was rather odd for the climate of the desert kingdom; he had a golden hook for one hand, and a collection of rings on the other. He was the boss of it all, the founder of Baroque Works. This man was Mr. 0 or better known as Sir Crocodile.

He stared at them before he grinned. "Welcome to Baroque Work." he began as he droned about the aspects of joining their Organization and other prospect of the riches that they would receive if loyal to the group. Sasuke on the other hand was suspicious, as he looked around. Even though it's more than half of the group that fell, there's still too many numbers here in the group, then man was planning something...but what...

"...however, we made a slight error, we didn't expect this many recruit today." Sasuke slowly went for a scalpel...something wasn't adding up...

"...so we shall have a small initiation test to see those who are worthy for our Organization." he said with a smile. Sasuke slowly began to focus his chakra, as he felt the familiar energy force waver in his body.

"It's quite simple..." Sasuke silently whispered.

"...it's the survival of the fittest, one man left standing becomes one of our numbers."

"Uchiha Innovation: Dead Man's Body Flicker" Sasuke said before he literally vanished, no smoke, no flash of light, not even a noise...he simply...vanished.

"You may start..." A figure reemerged behind every other recruit as it poured the remenant water of its canteen all over the ground.

"...now."

"Hidden Mist Technique" Before they knew it, a mist had started to rise in the area surprising many including Mr. 0 and Ms. All Sunday.

The boss turned to Sunday who stared at her with a questioning glare, "You said that there were no Devil Fruit user amongst them..." she glance back at him before back at the field.

"I did..." soon screams echoed the area.


(Minutes before)

Sasuke understood what the man wanted even before he could finish what he wanted to say, it was a test. A final test to see who is strong enough to be one of the elite squads. The Uchiha knows that he's much stronger than most of these dirtbags, but Kureha's constant yelling of 'vigilance' affected him alot. He wasn't going to take any second chances, he's going to finish this without any mistakes...

Years on that island, Sasuke was a fool if he didn't train himself to reuse his chakra once more. Though he's still not to his former self, he's not at the point where a foolish chunin can take him down.

After flickering away, his brain quickly thought of a way to take these fools out...

...a evil smirk emerged from his once, calm and cold face as he emptied out his canteen onto the ground before creating a mist. Remembering his genin days and his first A-ranked mission he soon took out a scalpel and chuckled, as the other recruits began to rouse and question just what was going on...

"Eight points," said Sasuke from all directions. "Liver, lungs, spine, collarbone, jugular vein, larynx, kidneys, heart."

"I can fill your lungs with fluids and wait before you choke out and die. I can remove the liver and let the blood clot in your body, bringing the definition of pain to a whole knew level, without your liver, you can face a infarction, if it's in the heart you can get a heart attack, lungs would be the pulmonary embolism, the brain would be a stroke...so many choices..."

Sasuke couldn't help but to feel...giddy, it's no wonder Zabuza did something like this...he was getting excited and...entertained of these foolish recruits trembling in fear...

"I can cut out your jugular vein, which takes about 2 minutes to bleed to death if the internal jugular vein is cut which is larger than the external jugular vein. The rapid blood loss from the jugular veins is due to their relatively large size and the reflux of blood flowing back the other way because the valves in the jugular veins don't prevent the reflux of blood. Air bubbles can also enter the jugular veins when cut causing an air embolism which can also be lethal."

"S-Shut up!" One of the recruits cried as other began to scream in terror.

"Cutting out the larynx, you won't be able to make a noise, you'll be helpless, you won't be able to call for help, you'll simply lay there, in the palm of my hands. Take out the kidneys...well you could probably live, that is...if you get the proper treatment, but where the hell would you find one at this time?"

"Finally...the heart...I think it's self explanatory what would happen if I take out the heart-"

"Damn it! It's the damn doctor! Find him!" one of the roared, but the others were too paralyzed...to scared to move...the man was about to yell once more- before a croak came out instead...looking down, his eyes widened in terror as he saw a part of his neck bleeding...

"Dr. Uchiha is currently unavailable at the moment..." the voice was next to the man's ear now as Sasuke held up the shinging scalpel. "Please leave a message after the beep."

He tried to scream but to no avail as the man watched in terror, Sasuke said nothing else as he lowered the scalpel.


(Five minutes later...)

Mr. 0 watched the mist with a glare, minutes ago there were screams, but seconds later...everything remained silent...

"Enough of this!" he muttered as he whipped up a powerful sandstorm to blow away the mist. Sunday held onto her hat as the gust began to dispel some parts of the mist...

...and there...Mr. 0 had almost dropped the cigar.

Corpse. All the recruits that she had picked up earlier lay there dead, sliced from the throat to decapitiation, it was just an convention of corpse...and on the mound of the corpse...was the enigmatic doctor, wiping a scalpel with a handkerchief.

"So..." he began as he looked up at the two.

"Did I pass the test?"