Chapter 75 - Half Truths

Kensei couldn't believe Daichi was involved in something so dangerous. The next second he looked around the house and then back to Daichi. "Based on the fact that Anbu hasn't surrounded this place and you're not in an interrogation room right now, I'm guessing the village doesn't know you were there?"

Daichi shook his head.

Kensei let out a sigh of relief. "Good! Then we need to keep it that way."

"Gramps! There's something else." Daichi began in a somewhat apprehensive tone.

"What is it?"

"The Hokage or the village officials don't know about me but one person does…. Aiko."

"What?... How?"

"I saved Ren's daughter and took her to the orphanage." Daichi replied. He needed to make sure Kensei would convince Aiko to keep everything that happened a secret.

Daichi thought long and hard for the whole day about what and how much he would say to his grandfather. And after several hours he decided to tell the truth, mix a few lies and omit some information.

'What the heck happened while I was gone?... If Aiko knows then I need to speak with her before she reports to the Hokage.' Kensei closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He let out several breaths and then calmed down.

"You need to tell me everything that happened. I need to know all the information so I can do damage control."

Daichi nodded and began retelling his tale with a bit of a twist. He made sure to keep his chakra calm and had to make sure there were no holes in his story.

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"And then I left the orphanage and headed straight here. I dispelled my clone and made sure everything was fine. Then I just went to bed." Daichi finished his explanation.

Kensei let out a breath as he looked at the boy. He let out a sigh as he thought about the events.

"So let me get this straight… After your training, on your way back, when you got near the Uchiha clan compound you saw a dead body and you went to call for the police force, but then you saw more bodies on the street?"

"Yes." Daichi gave a curt reply.

"Then you decided to head for Ren's home to tell him what happened?"

Daichi nodded.

Kensei sighed. He continued with the questioning.

"There, you saw Ren packing and making preparations to leave the village."

Daichi nodded again. "I told him someone was killing people in the clan and then he checked the chakra of everyone in the compound." He once again explained to his grandfather.

"And this was when he sensed what was happening and told you about the supposed coup and their decision to leave the village?!" Daichi nodded to the question.

Kensei couldn't believe the Uchiha would decide to do something this drastic.

'It should have been obvious in hindsight. The tension has been rising between the villagers and the Uchiha clan members. Still… To think they would plan a coup d'etat. Did they seriously expect to take on the village and win?'

Kensei then looked at his grandson and continued. "Then you convinced Ren and his wife to hand you their daughter with the promise of keeping her safe."

"Yeah. They knew they couldn't escape so they put their faith in me." Daichi remembered what happened to them and was only calm because of the gamer's mind skill.

"Yes. About that! You mentioned that you had a cloak that turns you invisible to all senses? I want to see it." Kensei was shocked when Daichi said he was in possession of an item that could essentially be the greatest stealth tool in the world.

Daichi got up and went to his room to get the cloak. 'I knew the old man would ask to see this thing when I told him about it. I don't want him to know anymore about my ability than absolutely necessary.'

Daichi liked his grandfather very much but his fear of death and paranoia of a village full of killers stopped him from trusting people around him. Even those closest to him. Daichi knew he had to tell Kensei about the cloak but he wanted to keep its information to a minimum.

'I have to use Mana Puppetry on him if he asks too many questions about the cloak. He'll want to know where I got it. I'll have to keep my answers vague.'

Daichi got down and gave the cloak to his grandfather.

Kensei inspected every inch of the cloak. He saw the Uzumaki insignia on the back. 'Does this kid have some kind of relationship with the Uzumaki clan?'

"Where did you get this?" Kensei was curious and wanted to know how Daichi got his hands on something so valuable.

"I got it shortly after that Yota debacle."

Daichi chose every word he spoke carefully. He didn't want Kensei or anyone else to know about his gamer ability.

"Who gave this to you?" Kensei asked, looking at the cloak and studying it.

"I don't know the person who sent it. Just that this item was addressed to me?"

At that Kensei looked up. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at Daichi. At that moment an old memory resurfaced in his mind.

Flashback.

September 3rd. Almost 4 years after the nine tails attack.

Kensei was standing in front of the gravestone of his wife Fumiyo Aya. It had been a year today since she passed away. As Kensei stood alone contemplating his life, a figure joined him.

"I'm sorry for your loss Kensei."

Kensei was startled as he heard the sound of that voice. 'It can't be!'

He looked up and saw the man who saved his life during the third world war. "You…"

"Been a long time. Wow! You sure have gotten old." Kensei could see the smirk on his face as he managed to surprise him.

The man then turned to the grave stone and the smile on his face was gone. "I'm truly sorry for your loss."

"What do you want?" Kensei wasn't in the mood to tolerate anyone.

"I'm here to collect my debt."

Kensei narrowed his eyes as he heard those words.

"Walk with me." The man said and turned around.

Kensei decided to hear him out. "You saved my life and helped me out when I needed it. That's the only reason I'm doing this."

The man nodded and they both left the cemetery.

Flashback End.

Kensei thought about the encounter he had with the man for a while. 'Could it be him?'

Kensei then tried to activate the ability of the cloak. Seeing that it was not responding to him, Kensei decided to ask Daichi for help. He wanted to see the invisibility of the cloak.

"I can't seem to get it to work. Can you show me how it's done?" Kensei handed the cloak back to Daichi.

"I can't right now. There are certain conditions for this cloak to work. There were some instructions that came with the cloak."

"Tell me."

"First of all, it can only be used by me. Second, once used the cloak can't be used for a long period of time."

"So it's like some kind of cooldown time between each use… How long?" Kensei asked.

"Sometime under 90 days." Daichi replied with a straight face.

Kensei had a pensive look. 'If this is him, then it might be true that Daichi may not know who sent it. Afterall he told me to keep his involvement in everything a secret.'

"And you told Aiko that you got this from me…?!" Kensei raised an eyebrow as he looked at Daichi.

The boy had a slightly sheepish expression on his face. "When she asked me where I got it… I kinda panicked. It was the first thing that came to mind."

The old man sighed, hearing the boy's answer.

"Alright. Enough about the cloak... So after that Ren gave you his daughter and some scrolls they prepared for her." Kensei continued with the questioning.

Daichi nodded. "The coup would have happened today and their plan was to leave the village in the middle of the chaos…"

"But things didn't go as they planned, did it?... Still… I can't believe Itachi would do something like this." Kensei couldn't believe such drastic measures were taken against a clan.

Seeing Kensei's face, Daichi wanted to know what Kensei thought about the Hokage and the people close to him. "Ren said that originally Itachi was in the Anbu as a spy for the clan but he must have turned and sided with the village. He said that Itachi was most probably killing the clan on orders of the Hokage and higher ups… Do you really think the Hokage is capable of something like this?"

Kensei sighed hearing his grandson's question. "If necessary Hiruzen would do what needs to be done to protect the village. But this is too extreme even for him. If I had to guess… The man behind Itachi would most probably be a man named Danzo Shimura. He is one of Hokage's advisors."

Kensei looked at Daichi as he spoke. "Daichi! You need to be careful. You can't trust Hiruzen or Danzo Shimura. Both of them are dangerous."

Daichi nodded in agreement. He saw how serious Kensei was and was slightly relieved. 'So he doesn't trust them too huh… Seems like I have someone in this village I can count on if I ever have to go up against them. Not that I intend to do that… But I suppose anything is possible.'

"Then I hid in a corner of the room with Reo and I saw Itachi kill both Ren and Kimiko."

Kensei saw the clenched fists and anger on Daichi's face as he spoke those words. He felt sympathy for his grandson.

"I'm sorry for what happened to them and that you had to see it happen… I always thought you would only experience this part of the ninja life only after you became a genin."

Both of them sat in silence for a while. Kensei then spoke.

"So then you took the baby to Aiko's orphanage and convinced her to keep her there. And you also managed to have her create a new identity for the baby and helped you falsify records?... I have to admit… That's impressive. She's usually a stickler for the rules." Kensei was skeptical when he heard that part but he trusted Daichi.

"She said she'd keep Reo safe for the moment but she wants to talk to you. If things don't go well there is a chance she'll tell the Hokage and that would be trouble for me." Daichi was concerned and wanted to make sure Kensei knew the stakes of the situation.

"Don't worry. I'll head there right now. Something like this can't be delayed any longer." Kensei got up and was ready to leave for the orphanage. But before he left he had one last question for Daichi.

"Why did you rescue the girl? You could have left and no one would have known you were there… Why take that risk?"

Daichi took a moment before he answered. "I've always wanted a little sister. When Ren first introduced her to me… When I first saw her… I don't know myself but… The moment I held her in my arms, I felt protective of her. It was the first time I felt an emotion like that…"

Daichi paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. Then continued. "When Ren said Itachi was killing everyone, I couldn't let that happen to her. She didn't deserve it. So regardless of the risks I took her with me."

"You realize that when people find out… when the Hokage finds out about her, you might be in trouble, right?" Kensei said.

"I know. But if I had to do it all over again, I would without hesitation." Daichi replied with a resolute voice.

Kensei saw that Daichi had no regret in saving her life. He smirked at the choice his grandson made. "You're a good kid Daichi… And don't worry. I'll make sure Aiko keeps everything that happened a secret."

"You can't tell her about the coup. I kept that part a secret." Daichi wanted to make sure Kensei didn't say anything that would poke holes in his story.

"Don't worry. I'll keep that part to myself. That's the kind of information that could cause chaos within the village. So the less people know the better. I know how to handle this situation. So don't worry… Stay here till I get back."

Kensei left his house a minute later. Once he was gone Daichi let out a breath of relief. 'Looks like that takes care of that.! I was sure he was going to be more suspicious or something… But it seems everything worked out in the end.'

Daichi looked at the setting sun as he sat on the back porch. 'I'm sorry Gramps. I wish I could tell you the truth about myself but… That's one secret I'll take to my grave.'