104 Back to Kiri

General POV

Ishizu walked towards the place where Sasuke and Itachi were, only to find Po and the Snake Sage arguing.

"Oh, how I missed you, Azara. You look just as beautiful as your mother, Viper," Po smoothly talked to the snake, who definitely wasn't happy at all to see the panda.

"Silence, Po. I have come here for my Sage candidate because my snakes couldn't find him. You will explain to me why MY SAGE is in YOUR realm?" the Snake Sage scoffed.

Sasuke and Itachi were baffled as they both looked at the two Sages arguing. They released a sigh when they saw Ishizu emerging.

"I was the one who took them here."

Azara turned her head and hissed at the human who casually spoke to her. Her head snapped towards Ishizu and her eyes opened up just before him.

"Then tell me, Ishizzzzu Ssssassaki, why is my precious Uchiha with this b… panda?"

Ishizu ignored the slip at the end while Brother Tau placed a paw on Po's back to comfort him, who was crying silent tears. They apparently had history.

"They had their battle, and I took them with me to aid in their injuries and to stop a crazy man from having his way."

The Snake Sage looked at Sasuke and his brother before her eyes settled on the newcomer and elder Uchiha.

"So you are Itachi Uchiha? Your eyes are calm as a fire burning in a silent forest. You don't fear death and would embrace it with open hands. How... uncommon."

"I love my brother very much, thank you," Itachi nodded.

"I have healed everything except your eyes, Itachi. You both have to decide if you want to exchange your eyes to gain the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, EMS for short."

"Eternal? There is another step after the normal?" asked Sasuke.

"If a person uses his Mangekyo too often, they will go blind. Itachi is blind because he overused his Mangekyo.

The only person who has ever achieved the EMS is Madara Uchiha. He and his brother got it during the Warring State, and Madara saw the power he had.

He used and used the Mangekyo before realizing he went blind. His brother offered him his eyes to see again.

When Madara put the new eyes inside, the curse of the Mangekyo lifted and Madara grew even stronger to the point. He controlled the Kyuubi and fought Hashirama," explained Ishizu.

"Then let's do it," spoke the younger Uchiha, only for a snake's tail to coil around him.

"Not if I have a say in this. The fight between you and Kabuto grows closer and right now, you aren't his match. I don't want to see a one-sided battle. You will have your power-up after you have masted Sage Mode. After you finish your training, I will allow you to do the surgery."

"Lady Sage is right, Sasuke. You have time before that," spoke Itachi, agreeing with Azara.

"And I need you after the training in Konoha. Sasuke's training should match the one from Naruto. After that, you both have to infiltrate a village."

"You mean Konoha?" asked Itachi, confused.

"That's right. Pain will invade Konoha. And since Kakuzu and Hidan are still part of the organization, I believe they will play a part too and go after the Jinchūriki. Konoha has enough information about them, but the problem comes from the inside."

Everyone knew about whom Ishizu was talking about.

"That's right. You and Sasuke have a single mission. Kill Danzo Shimura. After all, he was the one who let Shisui's plan fail, took a handful of Uchiha's eyes. If you don't know, he has a whole right arm full of Uchiha eyes. Orochimaru did a good job of implanting them."

"He has what?!" shouted Sasuke in rage. Hearing that his clan's eyes were worn on somebody's body like trophies made him boil in anger.

"I don't know how many but he has a lot of them."

"You know the reason?" asked Itachi.

"I look into it. Danzo had an incredible fear of death. It's one of the forbidden jutsus of the Uchiha Clan; the Izanagi."

"Izanagi?" Sasuke was too uninformed about that, which wasn't a surprise. It wasn't common knowledge.

"For the price of one Uchiha eye, the user can rewrite reality and escape death," explained Itachi in simple terms, keeping in mind how Ishizu and Danzo knew about this Uchiha secret.

"Both of you will have the EMS, so I doubt you will face many problems with ROOT, but Danzo and his close guards are always together. I will give you the information I have about them later. For now, Sasuke should go, or else a fight between pandas and snakes will escalate."

"Oh please stay, Azara. It was so long since I've last seen you dance," spoke Po before casually dodging a snake tail aiming for his head.

"If you weren't so goddam strong I would have killed you."

Po sighed.

"Many have said that and tried. And to this day nobody did it."

Azara turned to Sasuke.

"We are leaving, Sasuke. Come."

Ishizu looked at Itachi, who didn't know if to stay or to go.

"While you were here with Sasuke, I had a pleasant view of seeing how Kisame operates. I don't know about you, but he wants to see how his partner is doing. Will you accompany Sasuke or not?"

"Even if I see him now, I doubt I will see him," stated Itachi without even a smile.

"Was that a joke?" asked Ishizu.

"Itachi Uchiha can visit you while you come with me. A snake will stay by his side. When he wants to come, he just has to ask," spoke the Snake Sage before she left with Sasuke.

"Do you even see right now?" asked Ishizu, waving his hand in front of Itachi's face.

"I am almost blind but I can differ between people and Kisame is not your common person."

Ishizu took a map out to find where Kisame was. After they separated, Ishizu marked Kisame in case he ever wanted to see him again.

"It looks like Kisame took my advice by heart and is walking to Kirigakure," commented Ishizu.

"Why does he want to go there?" asked Itachi because he knew about Kisame and his view of Kiri.

"He is a criminal, but after this whole Akatsuki problem is over, there will be peace. People like Kisame lived their whole life in a war, so they have to either die or be reeducated. He chooses the latter. We can see him if you want."

Itachi nodded and both former Konoha Shinobi left the summoning realm.

Somewhere near the border of Kiri

Kisame POV

Seeing the seas flowing around me and smelling the salt, I knew I had reached the Land of Water. After Sasaki-san left me, I had enough time to digest his words.

On my back, Samehada purred. I knew she didn't want to be separated from me because she knew where I was going.

I grabbed Samehade from my back and pointed it in a certain direction.

"Your stealth is good, but I am not some runaway Jonin. Show yourself or I will have Samehade have a taste of your flesh."

A Kiri hunter ninja jumped out with senbons in his hands.

"Well, who do we have here?" I asked before a glowing paper seal activated on my back.

Flashback

"I will plant this teleportation seal to come to you if I ever need something from you," spoke Ishizu as he placed the paper seal on Kisame's back.

Flashback end.

General POV

With a flash, Ishizu and Itachi teleported next to Kisame.

"We are here," stated Ishizu as he looked around and found Kisame looking at them.

"A bad time coming here," muttered Kisame before spotting Itachi. He was happy to see his colleague again.

"Hahaha, Itachi, you look awful. I've seen enough to know you had a bad day."

Itachi had a small smile as he nodded to Kisame.

Meanwhile, Ishizu looked at the hunter nin.

"Time sure flies fast by. It has been a while, Haku."

Haku bowed, recognizing the man in front of him.

"It is good to see you again, Sasaki-san. We received your message about Kisame and, while many have a problem with his situation, our Mizukage wishes to see him. I hope you can follow me peacefully."

Ishizu looked at Kisame and Itachi.

"Let's go, you two. Itachi, you can later join Sasuke but in the meantime, we can follow Haku to Kirigakure and see what the Mizukage has to say."

The former Akatsuki Duo nodded, and they followed Haku.

Sometime later

General POV

"I would have never imagined seeing Kirigakure like this. It is so quiet, nobody is screaming for another to die and not even a bit of blood lying around though the smell is still there… but less," said Kisame as he looked around, recognizing the village from before he left.

"We had enough time to reconstruct the village. After Mei-sama came to power, she changed a lot of things. No more fights against Kekkei Genkai users and no more war. We stopped sending people outside of the Land of Water to focus on the economics," explained Haku.

Entering the Mizukage office, Ishizu spotted the two bodyguards of Mei and Mei herself.

"Ah, the Tailless Tailed Beast, Kisame Hoshigake returns to Kiri. I hope there weren't any problems. How do you feel?" Mei greeted him in a friendly tone.

Kisame frowned. He was still ready to fight in case something happened. It was an instinct one had to have to stay alive in Kirigakure or else you die.

"If I am being honest; I am confused. Never in my life have I imagined seeing this village so… quiet."

Mei smiled, seeing she had an effect.

"Oh, you can thank Sasaki-san for that. He was the one who got rid of the late Mizukage. Without him, the rebellion won and we could establish peace."

Kisame looked at Ishizu like he was mad while the latter shrugged.

"Don't interpret things. I did it for myself. Don't expect me to help Kiri just for the good. I got what I wanted, and that's all. What happened afterward is their doing."

Then a young man appears before the Mizukage.

"Lady Terumi, I have finished everything."

Mei smiled as she petted the person on the head. A small smile formed on his face.

"Good job, Kimimaru. You have done well."

"We are now ready to leave for Konoha," said Kimimaro.

Now that caused Ishizu to freeze. This was not good. Not good at all.

"Wait for a second, Konoha? Why do you want to go there?"

"Why? Because we want to establish a good relationship with your village. Itachi Uchiha is still wanted, and I thought you could escort us as a Shinobi of the Leaf. You, a Konoha Shinobi, who helped Kirigakure," Mei replied with a smile, showing how happy she was living without a civil war.

Ishizu cringed as the others looked at him.

"Weeeeeell, I don't think I can help you with that."

"And what is that Ishizu-san?" asked Itachi, his eyes narrowing.

Slowly, Ishizu reached behind his back to scratch the back of his head.

"It might have to do with this tiny problem. See, I left Konoha, and I am considered a rogue-nin."

"YOU DID WHAT?!!" everyone shouted.