Ishizu’s Questionable Decisions

General POV

"What do you mean, he isn't dead?" asked Ishizu to the eldest of the Uchiha when they met up.

His voice carried more disappointment than anger. He couldn't believe Danzo escaped them both,

"He escaped by using the Aburame as a suicide bomber. He should have no Sharingan's left," explained Itachi, and Ishizu could only mentally scream at this failure.

This was not what he wanted. Danzo proved himself to be like Orochimaru. A cockroach that one had to step a few times before burning it down with a flamethrower and putting the ash into an acid container before one was sure it was dead.

"Haaah," Ishizu sighed as he calmed down. "This is certainly not good news, but we can't do anything at this moment. As you can see," Ishizu pointed at the current state of Konoha.

"While you were fighting Danzo, Pain attacked and now Konoha is dealing with rebuilding its village."

Itachi and Sasuke saw the destruction of Konoha and were shocked. Itachi knew Pain wasn't the leader of Akatsuki, but he didn't think one man could do something like this.

"Thanks to Naruto, this threat is gone and you two can finally return to Konoha."

Itachi saw Ishizu looking at the village with a small smile.

'And while you can, I am still seen as a ninja that betrayed everyone.'

"My senses also picked up the new Mizukage coming to Konoha to make a new alliance."

Sasuke looked happy to finally return to Konoha with Itachi, but the elder brother knew something was up with Ishizu. That smile. That smile he had on his face was fake. Itachi had seen hundreds of faces such as Ishizu's. Ishizu missed his village, but the older Uchiha couldn't do anything to help him.

"I am leaving. Be careful of the fake Madara, or the peace that is about to happen will crumble like dust."

Before Itachi could call out for Ishizu, the latter reversed summoned himself to the pandas.

Scene Change

Tsunade knew that being Hokage was a tough job, but so many things happening at the same time were even for her too much. She just needed the perfect opportunity to give the hat to somebody else, but right now, there were no peaceful times to do so.

First, it was Ishizu Sasaki's questionable betrayal of the village, followed by Pain's attack.

If that wasn't enough, then the fact that Sasaki came back right in the middle of the invasion. There were speculations, mostly from Danzo, that he sided with the Akatsuki but those were quickly dropped when she saw Ishizu bringing back her friend Jiraiya, of whom nobody knew if he was even alive.

On the matter with Danzo... he disappeared, and the ANBU found a destroyed secret base of what was ROOT. Dozens of corpses littered the ground, but no sight of the counselor.

And to top it off, the last two Uchiha stood before her. She really needed a drink and abdicate this position. It just wasn't for her.

"I don't know if I should kill this bastard or put him on this seat just to make him suffer first," Tsunade sighed before looking at the paper in front of her.

Her teacher, Hiruzen Sarutobi, signed the document, saying that it was he and the elders who ordered the execution of the Uchiha Clan. Her teacher was dead, killed by Orochimaru, but somehow Ishizu found out about Danzo stealing Sharingan during the massacre and did his own thing.

It did not surprise Tsunade to hear Itachi talking about getting cured by Ishizu before he and his brother were sent by Ishizu to kill Danzo while Pain was attacking the village.

She could see the shock in the brothers' eyes when she explained to the Uchiha's the current status Ishizu held in Konoha.

While both knew Sasaki was a missing-nin, Ishizu lied to Itachi and Sasuke, saying some crap about Danzo, and the council branded him as a traitor for teaching Naruto. For all the genius Itachi was, such a lie fooled him.

Tsunade quickly explained the truth about Ishizu. The reactions were different. Sasuke was stunned, clearly not expecting his teacher to leave by his own means, but she could see Itachi expecting such an answer. He was using everyone as true Shinobi should, but his way of using was not like everyone else's.

"Sasuke!" a shout came through the door before they could speak further and Naruto rushed through the door while Jiraiya followed behind. Naruto was excited to see his comrade back in Konoha. Sasuke also told them the story about the deal he made with Ishizu, who helped him to escape to Orochimaru.

"What is wrong with this guy?" finally Kakashi asked the very important question everyone wanted to know. Naruto spoke first.

"When I was fighting Pain, the Kyuubi tried to use my pain to unlock the seal. If it wasn't for him, I would have done so."

"Who is he?" asked Tsunade, concerned.

"I've met my father."

Everyone looked shocked. Minato Namikaze was dead for more than a decade, so how could Naruto meet him? Naruto explained to everyone present that Minato fused part of his chakra into the seal in case the Kyuubi ever tried to break through.

"You can't blame me for trying to break out," mumbled Kurama, but Naruto ignored it.

"During this time, I asked my father about Ishizu, who imagined such a scenario to happen. Ishizu had planned all of this way ahead when he was young and all of that just to get his wife."

All but Kakashi had a confused expression. Who would think about such things when they were young? Children didn't think about wives at an age like that.

"I remember Ishizu saying such things only for Kushina-san to chase him. After Minato-sensei and Kushina-san died, he stopped talking. Though, I never heard he wanted to leave Konoha," spoke Kakashi.

"My dad told me that my mom would discipline Ishizu to never harm Konoha in the absurd case he decides to leave Konoha. I think this is why he, despite being a missing-nin, came and aided Konoha when we needed it. Just think about it. He went with Sasuke to help him fight Itachi while simultaneously sending his summons to save Jiriaya's life from Pain and he brought Jiriaya back, alive," Naruto explained his theory.

Some were understanding Ishizu, while some were even more confused. How can Ishizu be everywhere where things are going to happen? It was as if he knew the future.

"So, what do we do with him? He is clearly helping us but in a crazy way that isn't normal," Tsunade closed Ishizu's file before an ANBU appeared.

"Hokage-sama, the new Mizukage Mei Terumi is here and wishes to see you."

Tsunade would have liked to slam her head, but she signaled the Anbu to let her inside. The Anbu left before a beautiful redhead woman entered with two bodyguards. One was Ao, while the other one was Zabuza.

"Terumi-san, what do we earn your presence in Konoha?" Tsunade forced a smile upon her face as she greeted the new Mizukage.

Mei didn't expect to find Konoha in such a state. Mei has never seen Konoha, but it shocked her to see buildings destroyed left and right. There was clearly an attack on Konoha, but upon entering the village, there wasn't any grief for fallen loved ones or anything similar. Sure, people were sad due to material loss, but those were mostly things that could be replaced.

"I came here to discuss Konoha's and Kiri's relationship. It was only thanks to one of your shinobi that our village can finally have peace."

People were confused. What was going on?

"I am sorry, but can you clarify what happened in Kiri because I never sent any shinobi?" asked Tsunade, her hands gripping the Hokage table, and a few could see cracks forming on it.

She was 100% sure who it was because a certain panda told her.

"Ah, silly me. He is a former Konoha shinobi now. Well, one year ago our village had its final civil war battle and the rebellion only won because he helped us defeat the Yondaime Mizukage. If it wasn't for Ishizu Sasaki, we wouldn't have done it so easily. He helped us win the war and persuaded us to come to Konoha to make a peace treaty. Not to mention we also want Utakata back," explained Mei with a smile that turned to shock when Tsunade slammed her fists into the table, breaking it into 3 parts.

Mei's bodyguards quickly appeared before her, ready to fight. It was Itachi who dissolved the misunderstanding and explained that he and Ishizu went to Kiri to help Kisame Hoshigake to return to Kiri after leaving Akatsuki.

Yet again Naruto spoke up.

"I think I know why he went there. Wasn't Kiri's Yondaime Hokage a Jinchūriki? Ishizu probably used the Civil War to gain a benefit for himself while also providing help for Kiri and Konoha altogether. With the Sanbi free, he got his chakra."

Naruto's explanation made sense, but there were still holes in Ishizu's motivation for all that.

People knew that Ishizu was roaming the elemental nations looking for the chakra of Bijuu's like the Akatsuki but instead of taking everything he takes as much as he can and then leaves.

For the Sanbi, Ishizu once went to Kiri to help and the second time he came with Konoha to seal it. All his actions had a positive outcome for someone else besides him.

The question was how his crazy actions were linked to this mysterious wife?

Scene change

An old man was running through the forest before turning around and blocking shuriken. He looked as if one leg was already inside his grave. His hair was white as an albino and the skin on his face looked like it was dragged down by force.

"Stop hiding!" the man shouted into the forest. His face was covered in sweat and dirt, but even in such condition, his eyes had flames burning in them.

"He, he, he. Why should I? This is much more fun, but I agree with you. Stalking my prey is good for some time before it gets boring after a while. I have waited a long time for this," spoke a voice from the dark before a hooded figure. A huge snake was hovering over his body.

Danzo's eyes widened as he recognized the person who was stalking and playing with him like a child. Bringing his hands together, Danzo attempted to form a wind jutsu to blast his opponent away, but before he could do so, a snake bit him in the thigh and the venom made him fall to the ground.

"Don't worry, Danzo. You are not going to die, but I have to ask if death isn't the better option. Your right arm will help me a lot," Kabuto grinned as darkness took over the former Konoha shinobi.