The Gallant Gamer Gal by xBUBBA1995x

Chapter Twenty-Two Half-Truths

⠀⠀"I'd like to know exactly why you lied to everyone and pretended like you didn't know Haku was Kōrudo."

⠀⠀⠀⠀I wasn't able to answer right away. At his question, my voice caught in my throat, and my heart skipped a beat. My body froze up, but 'The Gamer' stopped me from going into a panic. My mind began to race, when I spoke, it was but a word, "Oh."

⠀⠀⠀⠀"Hikigaeru-chan, you withheld information in your report, and again, before leaving the village. You failed to inform Kakashi-san and myself of what you knew. You knew the mission wasn't C-rank. You knew Haku was Kōrudo the moment he stepped through Tazuna's door." Hiruzen stepped towards the end of my bed, and his eyes looked out through the window beside me. After a moment, he locked them back into me, and asked, "What do you have to say for yourself?"

⠀⠀⠀⠀I knew I was screwed. Of course, he'd find out. If Zabuza's memories were looked through, then Haku probably told him. If Haku's memories were looked through, then they saw first hand that I knew. I did, after all, reveal myself to her. I opened my mouth, then closed it. Then opened my mouth again, and stuttered, "Hold on, I'm not trying to come up with a lie, I'm just panicking…"

⠀⠀⠀⠀"Hikigaeru," he tilted his head back, "I am giving you the benefit of the doubt. Do not test me… Please."

⠀⠀⠀⠀"It's… because…" I had looked to the floor, knowing that I couldn't lie. He would know. He was a Shinobi for longer then I have been alive, including past life and present. "I knew—it was going to happen beforehand. That's why I didn't tell anyone. Because I saw it, and I had to know if what I saw was true."

⠀⠀⠀⠀Hiruzen looked back away from me, and his finger twitched. Several people's chakra shifted away from us, and in focus on Hiruzen, I didn't notice they were there until they were gone. "You're going to have to explain yourself, Hikigaeru. Truthfully, please. What do you mean by 'you had to know'."

⠀⠀⠀⠀I gulped and knew this wasn't how today was supposed to end. I knew full well that there was a chance that I would have to explain myself. It happened quite often what fanfiction I had read, and I put on the bravest face I could. I stood up from the bed, turned to Hiruzen, and stood at attention. Speaking as clearly as I could, I said, "I can see the past and future, Hokage-Jiji. However, it's not 'the' future. It's 'a' future. The stipulation is that I don't exist in what I see. This is the third confirmation in my abilities. I have no reason to not believe what I've seen is not true, as everything I've seen will happen, one way or another."

⠀⠀⠀⠀Hiruzen didn't expect my answer but held his composure in a way I envied. He was unblinking, unmoving, and his chakra was almost unreadable. Almost, but all I could feel off of him now was curiosity. "Is that so? Could you prove it?"

⠀⠀⠀⠀I bit my lip, knowing that I had to reveal part of my hand. "In the past—you, alongside Danzō, ordered Itachi to kill his clan due to them planning a coup," I said. That broke his composure. He turned his body towards me, his eyes were wide, and what mental walls he built around his chakra crumbled. A moment later, and the signs of stress and his age began to weight down on him. It was subtle, and I almost missed it, but it was there. In his chakra.

⠀⠀⠀⠀"How do y—"

⠀⠀⠀⠀"I saw it, Jiji. Everyone he killed. Every man, woman, and every child. Every—single—one. There were thirty-six Uchiha children at the time, you know. Sasuke-kun, and twenty-five others. The youngest wasn't even a year old." I continued as I looked him dead in the eyes. "I did my best to not learn their names—so I didn't have something to associate with each of their faces. It didn't really work. Did you know Itachi and Izumi were in love? She was his girlfriend. She was the first to die."