Sasuke had finally been released from the hospital. He despised being in the there, he was left with absolutely nothing to do except to talk to his one actual visitor, Sakura. Sure Kakashi and Tsunade checked up on him but for some reason they didn't seem really focused on him but rather on his mission.
The raven haired boy preferred not to remember his latest mission in which he, Sasuke Uchiha had been rescued by some psychopath. He was one of the most promising and skilled shinobi in Konoha, respected and honored by everyone. The whole village knew who he was and how great he was, and they didn't mind letting him know it. Everyone referred to him as 'Lord Uchiha' with an exception of the rest of the rookie 9 and Team Gai, who rarely talked to him. His superiors refered to him as Sasuke, and many respected him for his success in the field, completing almost every mission without problems, leading to his promotion to jonin.
This really didn't help Sasuke's already large ego as he felt he was superior to everyone in the village. However, Sasuke's ego took a huge hit with his latest mission. He was basically useless, him, the last Uchiha couldn't save himself or his team and needed help from some wandering and homicidal maniac.
Sasuke had also gotten a lot of attention for all he had been through in his life. Many felt sorry for what he had gone through, and rightfully so. Sasuke watched as his older brother slaughtered his entire clan, including his parents and that was one of the worst possible things too experience in a lifetime.
Now based off this event it would be fair to say Sasuke had experienced a great deal of blood shed in his life, not to mention his life as a shinobi. Sasuke had dealt with and seen gruesome and terrible things throughout his life. Sasuke's older brother, Itachi had probably committed the most gruesome event he'd seen and it haunted him his entire life. Witnessing his clan killed before his eyes by his older brother caused Sasuke to become a slight bit grief-stricken but mostly angry.
However, throughout his life he had never been 'scared' of Itachi, nor had he had nightmares about Itachi himself, but rather the massacre itself. Never before had Sasuke actually been scared of someone before. This is why it was so absurd for him to be scared of a pesky masked swordsman. Sasuke had encounters with two S ranked criminals, being Itachi and Orochimaru on multiple occasions and fought countless other feared shinobi such as the Demon of the Mist, Zabuza, so why was it that this masked man made him so scared?
Sasuke's thoughts had often traveled to the masked swordsman during his time in the hospital, despite his wanting to avoid the most recent additions to his memory. As stated earlier, Sasuke had seen people commit terrible crimes and do terrible things. However, Sasuke had never seen anyone in his entire life seem to revel in killing as much as this man did.
Sure, Itachi eradicated his entire clan, but even Sasuke could tell he wasn't enjoying what he was doing. This masked swordsman had apparently reveled in his killing, his laughing seemed to highly support that claim. In fact, Sasuke couldn't even call the man a swordsman, he didn't use any type of sword technique he had ever seen, he was a sewer. He actually sewed his enemies together into a bundle of bodies, one of the most inhumane things Sasuke had ever seen.
The man's blade pierced through everything with ease, vital spot after vital spot was penetrated by the needle blade, and with the pull of a wire, the man maneuvered the bodies into one huge bundle of bodies.
One of the most scarring things about this particular event was that Sasuke couldn't see any of it, all he heard were those blood retching screams of pure terror and dread. When Sasuke saw the bundle of bodies attached by wire, he nearly threw up. The man's next technique in which he seemingly crucified his enemies was even more gruesome. Sasuke had heard of methods of torture and painful ways to die, but nothing he'd heard of or seen compared to the absolute cruelty of the action the man committed. The shinobi world was unforgiving and gruesome, but Sasuke didn't believe anyone in the world would look upon this in a positive light in any fashion.
Images of the complete slaughter of the kiri nin played continuously through Sasuke's mind while in the hospital. The man's laugh echoed in his mind with seemingly no end, while Sasuke seemed to experience the man's excruciatingly painful techniques first hand, finding himself being crucified with wire by the man in many of his nightmares. Sasuke felt the needle blade enter in and out of him repeatedly throughout his dreams while listening to the masked man's psychotic laughter, often causing him to wonder if he was under the masked shinobi's genjutsu, only to awake to the sight of an ordinary hospital room.
Sakura visited his room multiple times while he was in the hospital and although he acted as if he didn't care if she was there, he was actually extremely relieved have someone there with him. Her constant attempts at conversation which he shot down with short one word answers made him feel relieved that he wasn't alone, he no longer had to deal with the nightmares or be plagued by the thoughts of this masked man.
Sasuke had been released from the hospital today, and of course Sakura was there to escort him home. Sakura signed him out of the hospital despite Sasuke's still visible injuries. He had taken two kunai, one in the shoulder and on in his stomach. Luckily the wound to the stomach area hadn't hit any vital organs. Sasuke was still suffering from severe chakra exhaustion and blood loss. He was in no condition to do any training or go on missions but he was presumed healthy enough to return home and ordered to not do anything rigorous. While the two were walking towards the Uchiha complex Sakura asked if Sasuke wanted to go to Ichirakus.
Sasuke and Sakura had both begun going to Ichirakus about a year after Naruto's departure from the village. Sakura had thought of the idea around the time of Naruto's anniversary of departure from the village. This was around the time that both had began feeling somewhat guilty for the blonde boy's sudden exit from Konoha.
Neither were big fans of the restaurant but after one or two visits the two teammates began to take a liking to it and made it a monthly tradition as a way to remember their lost teammate.
The restaurant's owner and his daughter, Teuchi and Ayame were always somewhat hostile towards the two. They had seen the way the two treated Naruto and even called the two out as the reason for his departure during one of Sasuke and Sakura's meals there. Despite the rather cruel treatment from the two owners, Sasuke and Sakura continued to go as a way to mourn the loss of their teammate.
Sasuke refused to be insulted about pretty much anything in his life, he never felt vulnerable or really felt saddened by anything besides his clan's massacre. The only event that he was willing to take criticism for was Naruto's departure. He remembered the pain he inflicted upon his one time best friend. Constantly insulting him and looking down upon him, treating him as if he were nothing. Sasuke never understood the blonde boys terrible life until he asked Kakashi about the red chakra cloak he saw when fighting Naruto. Now that Sasuke had seen the fox in combat, Kakashi felt obligated to tell his student about Naruto's burden.
Kakashi explained that Naruto was the jinchuriki for the nine tailed fox that had attacked their village all those years ago. Sasuke remembered learning about jinchuriki in the academy and the words that struck him about these people were that they were considered 'human sacrifices'.
Sasuke remembered all the glares, snickers and verbal assaults that the blonde had received while in the village. He began understanding the pain Naruto felt, and the hell he went through every day from the villagers. The last Uchiha now knew why Naruto said he was similar to him. Naruto was all alone, no family and a scarce amount of people who cared about him or even considered him a friend, just like himself.
Sasuke had to deal with this pain for the past three years. The pain of loosing his entire family was terrible, but being the one who pushed Naruto away was nearly as bad, his best friend, gone. He became motivated to try to find his blonde friend and constantly asked Tsunade if there was any news. Every week for two years Tsunade would give the same negative response.
After those two years passed, Sasuke gave up on his goal to bring Naruto back. His one times friend was gone, and if no one had seen even a glimpse of him in nearly two and a half years, chances are the boy had died. This pain of the loss of his 'brother' was what ultimately caused him to obtain the mangekyou sharingan. The feeling of pain at the loss of his best friend and closest thing to family he had since his clan's eradication was what elevated his sharingan to the next level. Sasuke still wasn't very skilled in using it but he had the mangekyou at his disposal.
The thoughts of his believed to be dead ex teammate flashed through his mind as he sat down at the booth to Ichirakus with Sakura. They sat quietly for a short while, only talking to give their orders to the somewhat displeased Teuchi. The two teammates sat quietly for around five minutes, not wanting to interfere with each other's morning of their lost friend.
Sakura sat at the booth, thoughts intertwining between Sasuke and Naruto. She knew she shouldn't be thinking about Sasuke while at their monthly remembrance of Naruto but she couldn't help it. He was acting different then normal. Sure he was always extremely cold towards her, but that was how he was to everyone. She shrugged it off and figured it best not to interrupt her crush as he was in thought. He was so mysterious, which she figured was what she liked most about him.
Both of the teammates thoughts were interrupted when Teuchi began speaking in a mumbled tone, with a nervous expression upon his face.
"C…Can I help you Sir?"
Asked Teuchi trying to act as polite as possible while trying his best to not act scared. He knew who this man was and what he'd done since his return to the village. He didn't really mind the poor treatment of both Sasuke and Sakura, after all he wasn't big fans of them, but the blonde haired man was definitely a scary guy.
Sasuke turned his head to see who could have aroused this kind of reaction from the restaurant owner. Unfortunately for the young Uchiha, his eyes fell upon the white and red kiri ANBU mask with the small Konoha symbol etched into its forehead, the same mask that had haunted his dreams the past couple of nights.
Naruto glared at the last Uchiha through his two eye slits, anger slowly building but he quickly attempted to regain his composure. Images of Sasuke shoving a chidori through his chest through his head. The constant insults and blatant disrespect aimed at himself from Sasuke throughout his life had definitely affected Naruto. He was no longer going to simply take the Uchiha's insults and cocky attitude. However Naruto could tell Sasuke wasn't himself, in fact he looked scared. Naruto grinned under his mask at the terrified look on Sasuke's face, eyes bulging and mouth slightly trembling.
"Sasuke what are you looking at?"
Sakura turned her head to see the masked man who she had encountered the previous day in Ino's room. After the man scared her shitless, she simply went home. She didn't go and visit Ino like she planned, she was to scared that the psychopath would return and frighten her even more. But now, here he was again.
Sakura began shaking a little at the sight of the man but quickly turned her head back to face her ramen in front of her, trying her best to make it seem like she never saw him. Naruto noticed the fear both of them had and his grin widened under his mask. Naruto really didn't want to see either of them. The sight of the two made him furious, but it also provided entertainment. It was obvious that the two were definitely fearful of him. Sakura was obviously terrified, which could be seen from her clearly visible trembling. Sasuke was definitely a little intimidated by him. Naruto could see Sasuke had some fear of him, the appalled look on his face supported this but he seemed to be holding himself together better than Sakura.
"Hehe, well, well, well, look who it is.. the great and magnificent Sasuke Uchiha, and the apprentice of the Hokage, Sakura Haruno, what an honor it is to see the both of you!"
The sarcastic tone in his voice was evident. Naruto then proceeded to take a seat two seats to the right of Sasuke.
Sasuke's eyes followed the masked man as he took a seat to the right of him, making Sasuke relatively uncomfortable. That high-pitched laugh had already screwed with his mind, bringing back memories of their past mission. Sakura was obviously not doing well, continuing to shiver in her seat.
"Can I have one miso ramen please."
Asked Naruto in a calm tone towards Teuchi who nodded his head and quickly went to the back of their restaurant to get ingredients for the meal, extremely grateful to finally be able to leave the masked man's presence.
The three ex teammates sat quietly at the ramen stand for a couple of minutes. Naruto was bothered by one thing, why were Sakura and Sasuke at Ichirakus, they had despised going there when he was a genin. Naruto wanted an answer but he'd have to be careful not to reveal anything about himself, these two definitely couldn't know who he was, but he also had to mess with them, it was simply too much fun. Sakura was easily frightened, as seen with his past encounter with her in Ino's hospital room. It would be more of a challenge to get Sasuke to show visible fear or sadness.
"It's not very polite to ignore someone wouldn't you say?"
Said Naruto in a mocking tone, causing Sasuke's head to dart towards Naruto. Naruto smiled under his mask at the reaction he got from Sasuke.
Sasuke gathered up his courage. He was the last Uchiha, he would no longer be intimidated by some skinny prick. He had fought Orochimaru and Itachi, this guy was nothing compared to S class criminals. Sasuke then responded to the masked man, trying his best to sound as composed as he normally was.
"Why would my teammate or I want to converse with a freak who enjoys killing people in the most painful way imaginable. You're a monster who doesn't deserve to talk with anyone."
asuke turned back towards his food with a stoic face, trying to hide his fear for the man sitting besides him. Naruto smiled under his mask, Sasuke clearly thought he was insane.
"I think my killing methods are pretty humane."
This was great, Naruto knew his killing methods were extremely painful and inhumane. However, he was dying to hear Sasuke's reaction to this.
Sasuke cringed, this man was without a doubt a monster. Sasuke knew his last comment was sarcastic but he couldn't restrain himself. This guy was in the same class as Orochimaru and Itachi, murderers and monsters. None of them deserved to live and this masked man was just as bad as the both of them.
"You sew people together! You shouldn't even joke about your killing methods! You kill in one of the most gruesome and painful ways imaginable! You even crucified those kiri nin! What is wrong with you!? You've done some of the cruelest things I've ever seen, and as a survivor of the Uchiha clan massacre I've seen some terrible things! You deserve to die!"
Yelled the Uchiha. He had lost his cool, this guy was poor excuse for a human being. Sasuke thought about killing the man right then and there, he didn't deserve to live.
Naruto listened to the Uchiha's outburst and cringed. Sasuke Uchiha, the guy who had shoved a chidori through his own teammate's chest was calling him cruel! Naruto kept his cool though, he couldn't reveal himself. He had to get under Sasuke's skin another way. Naruto grinned wickedly under his mask, sure his next statement would sound evil, but it had to be done. Naruto began with his high pitched laugh.
"Hehe, you bring up a good points Uchiha, I guess my methods are pretty gruesome. For some reason I just get a rush when my blade pierces someone, their final yell of pain and terror mixed into one, its music to my ears. The looks on their faces are priceless, mouths wide, eyes bulging, trembling, much like your pink haired teammate is now. The only trouble with my methods are all the blood that get on my wires, its such a bother to clean. It's just too much fun to stop my ways, I'll admit they're cruel, but just way to much fun to stop."
The cold and threatening tone in which Naruto spoke caused Sakura the shiver. Naruto grinned wickedly under his mask at the appalled looks on both of his ex teammate's faces. Sasuke stared at him wide-eyed, mouth agape, he couldn't even think of a response to what the masked man had said. This man, no this monster was beyond words. Sakura looked like she was about to throw up, or even faint. Her shaking had increased as her appetite had vanished. There was a short minute long pause where nothing was said, Sasuke and Sakura simply tried to digest everything they just heard this guy say. Naruto then started talking again.
"I'm sure you two have done some pretty cruel things in your life as shinobi, correct?"
Asked Naruto, hoping that the two would continue to play along with Naruto's questions. Sasuke couldn't believe what he just heard. This guy was saying what any shinobi did was similar to what he did. This masked shinobi was clearly insane! Before Sasuke could respond, he heard Sakura mutter out a statement.
"W…We haven't done anything nearly as… as cruel in our entire lives as you did in that short f..fifteen minutes. Don't you dare compare us toy you!" Sputtered out Sakura in a timid tone. This only seemed to amuse the masked man.
"Oh really Sakura Haruno? You don't think you've done anything as bad in your life?"
Questioned Naruto. He was cringing and his temper was beginning to flare. Had these two bafoons simply forgot the pain they put him trough? Naruto quickly attempted to restrain himself, knowing that loosing his temper would result in Sasuke and Sakura possibly finding out who he was. He had to stay undser control.
"We haven't done anything as terrible as that, you crucified five people! And enjoyed it!" Screamed Sasuke. This guy was ridiculous! Naruto grinned under his mask at the response. He had played Sasuke perfectly in order to maximize the amount of pain and guilt Sasuke felt.
"Well 'Lord Uchiha' word has spread across the lands about you,"
Sasuke's face began to shift to a questioning look, what was this guy talking about?
"People have heard of your skills, missions and your team, after all you are the last Uchiha. It would make sense for other villages to keep track of you."
Naruto paused as Sasuke and Sakura both continued to look at the masked man in a confused manner. They still didn't know what he was getting at.
"Correct me if I'm wrong but I do believe most genin squads consist of three genin and a jonin sensei. For the past couple of years, the only news I've heard about your team was about the 'Last Uchiha' and the Hokage's new apprentice, Sakura Haruno. Of course there are always talks of the famous copy-cat ninja Kakashi Hatake, but what about the third member of your team?"
Sasuke and Sakura finally realized what he was getting at, and it struck them hard.
"People have heard of your teammate's departure from the leaf, although no one knows what happened or what has happened to the boy. However, I imagine that one doesn't simply leave without reason. I'd imagine that like most missing nin, he left because he was hated for one reason or another. One can only handle so much hatred and cruelty, its only a matter of time before one cracks. You two were probably cruel towards him, one way or another."
Each sentence felt like a punch to the face for the two Konoha shinobi. They hated the memories of the pain they inflicted upon Naruto. Sakura's expression changed from shock to that of sadness as her gaze turned to her bowl of ramen. Sasuke also became saddened by the memories of his old teammate, it didn't help that they were at Naruto's favorite restaurant either. However he wasn't about to be put at the same level as this monster.
"You don't know anything about how he was treated in this village! Don't you dare put as at the same level as you."
Said Sasuke with a snarl, obviously angry with the masked man. Naruto smiled under his mask at the anger he was arising from the great Sasuke Uchiha who rarely showed emotion.
"It's true that I don't know how he was treated in the village, or what led to his departure. However I do know that many villages keep tabs on a certain man who you've had quite a history with Sasuke.."
Sasuke's cringing face to once again turn to one of confusion. What was this guy talking about now?
"Orochimaru, missing nin from the Village Hidden in the Leaves, perhaps you've heard of him?"
Spoke Naruto in a sarcastic tone. Sasuke's face cringed again at the mention of the man who attempted to take him from Konoha to obtain the sharingan.
"Many people know he is desperate to obtain the sharingan, and many villages knew he was attempting to get it. Other nations learned of the curse mark he placed on you, and many even learned of your attempt to leave this village.."
Said the masked man, Sasuke was about to yell at the man but he was prevented from doing so as the man's short pause was ended and he continued. Sasuke had a relatively good idea where this was headed.
"If I'm not mistaken, I do believe your old teammate was the one who fought you to a standstill until you managed to subdue him, but you were too exhausted to combat anyone else, thus allowing your sensei to retrieve you."
Sasuke continued to cringe while listening to this masked shinobi tell him about his final battle with his old teammate. Many of the more experienced and higher ranked shinobi in the village knew of what happened during Sasuke's retrieval so it wasn't a surprise when this man brought up what had happened. Sakura listened on with intent, still not knowing all that had happened between her two old teammates.
"Granted I may have killed those kiri nin in gruesome and painful ways, but they were enemies, I didn't know them."
Naruto paused allowing his words to sink into the Uchiha before continuing.
"I personally can't think of a more cruel act than betraying a comrade or teammate, I may have done gruesome things to those kiri nin, but you impaled your teammate with a chidori. So Sasuke Uchiha, I won't put you at the same level as me, in fact I'll put you at an even lower level than me. YOU are the lowest of the low, one who nearly killed his own teammate to obtain power."
Sasuke became both sad and angry at this final statement. It was true Sasuke had committed one of the most atrocious and immoral actions one could commit, and this man didn't mind telling him it. He had committed an action worse than anything this man did to those kiri nin.
However, another part of him was furious at the masked man for calling him out for it. Sakura wasn't surprised by what the man had said, many new of Sasuke's battle with Naruto and even how Sasuke nearly killed Naruto with a chidori. Sure Sasuke had literally attempted to kill Naruto but it wasn't like she was an angel towards him. In fact she was just as bad as Sasuke was. The more she thought about it, she had basically shoved a chidori through Naruto's heart every time she rejected him mercilessly or slugged him for no real reason.
Teuchi then walked in with Naruto's bowl of ramen. Even he could sense the tension in the air as he brought the bowl out to the masked man. He watched as the masked man took out money to pay for the meal.
"Can I please get this order to go, the company at this place really seems to get me down."
Teuchi nodded at his request, somewhat surprised at the man's polite behavior. He was still more than happy to get this guy out of his stand. He quickly boxed up the masked man's ramen and handed it to him. The blonde haired shinobi nodded at Teuchi, signifying a thank you and began to walk out of the stand, not wanting to look at or even acknowledge his one time teammates. Naruto exited the stand leaving a stunned and saddened Sasuke and Sakura who simply stared down at their food, not in the mood to eat after the chilling description of the man's killing and the reminder of their lost teammate.