The next day, the exhibition began. Koji had left early in the morning with Tsukasa-sensei, dressed in his best clothes, his back a little straighter than the day before. He carried his masterpiece with him, a promise he had to fulfill.
The previous afternoon had been spent in a fog of exhausting bureaucracy. The Capital's ninja police had interrogated them one by one, recording every detail from the ambush in the forest to the fight in the sewers. Ritsu Company, of course, remained safe. As Tsukasa had predicted, there was no solid evidence. The attackers they had captured, the ones still alive, were just low-level hired thugs. They didn't know who employed their superiors, only that the orders came from "someone important."
Kiba, in a moment of frustration, had complained that they should have brought back one or two of the men Tsukasa had thrown off the cliff as proof. However, Tsukasa just shook his head with a tired smile. "And what would they have said?" he had retorted at the time. "It would just be considered a mere accusation from the mouth of a bandit trying to save his own skin. No one would believe it in court against a company as large as Ritsu."
Yuji understood that logic too. This world wasn't always about the truth; often, it was about who had the power and connections. However, Tsukasa said that after this incident, Ritsu would likely be more careful as well. A failed kidnapping attempt in the Capital, involving Konoha shinobi, would attract unwanted attention. They wouldn't cause trouble for a short while. It was a small victory that felt very hollow.
Today, Kiba and Masami were eating out. Kiba, although still not fully cleared for free movement by the medical-nin, kept insisting on the grounds that "fresh air is good for healing ribs." Masami, whether out of pity or because she herself needed a break from the smell of antiseptic, agreed to accompany him.
Meanwhile, Yuji was inside, taking his turn to watch over Akane. The room was quiet, only the sound of Akane's regular breathing and the monotonous ticking of the clock on the wall. Yuji sat in a chair near the window, reading one of the books on Fūinjutsu theory he had brought in his storage scroll. But he couldn't focus. The words on the page were a blur, his mind kept drifting back to the events of two nights ago.
Then, in the midst of the silence, he saw it.
The woman's fingers on the blanket moved slightly. Just a small twitch.
Yuji put down his book. He leaned forward, his eyes fixed on Akane. Her fingers moved again, this time more clearly.
Yuji blinked. And then, Akane's long eyelashes fluttered. Her eyes opened slowly, looking confused and unfocused at first as she tried to adjust to the dim light in the room.
"F-father?" she whispered, her voice hoarse and fragile, a barely audible whisper.
"Akane-san," Yuji said softly, not wanting to startle her.
Akane's eyes shifted to him, it took her a few seconds to recognize Yuji. "Yuji... kun?"
"Water," Akane pleaded, her chapped lips moving with difficulty.
Yuji immediately stood up. He took a glass pitcher of water from the bedside table and poured it into a glass. He returned to Akane's side, carefully slipping one arm under her shoulders to help her sit up a little. The movement was clearly painful; Akane winced, but she made no sound of complaint. Yuji handed her the glass, and Akane drank the water quickly, each gulp seeming like a blessing.
Finished, she leaned back against the pillow, letting out a long sigh. She winced again as she felt a series of dull pains throughout her body.
"Yuji-kun," she asked, her tired eyes scanning the unfamiliar room. "Where... where is my father?"
"He's at the exhibition," Yuji replied. "With Tsukasa-sensei."
Akane's eyes widened slightly. "Oh," she whispered. "So... the exhibition has started?" There was a hint of relief in her voice. Her eyes suddenly welled up, and she bit her swollen lip, trying to hold back her emotions. "Thank goodness," she whispered again, more to herself. "Thank goodness I didn't ruin everything for him."
Yuji looked at her in silence. After everything this woman had been through—kidnapped, beaten, tortured—was that the first thing on her mind? Not her own pain, not her trauma, but her father's dream. Yuji said nothing about it. Instead, he said something normal, something simple.
"Would you like to eat something, Akane-san?"
Akane looked at him, and a light, sincere, though slightly painful, smile appeared on her face. "Honestly," she said softly. "I'm craving an orange."
Nodding, Yuji moved to the table in the corner of the room. There, there was a basket full of fruit, probably a delivery from the inn or from Tsukasa. He took a clean white porcelain plate, picked up a small knife, and began to peel a few oranges. His hands moved steadily peeling the skin. Then, he carefully separated the segments. Yuji also added a few slices of crisp, red apple, slicing them thinly. It was his own doing, a small, unrequested addition.
He placed the plate on the small table beside Akane's bed, where it was easy to reach. Akane took a slice of orange, eating it slowly. The fresh sweet and sour taste seemed to bring a little life back to her face.
On her second slice, Akane stopped. She looked at Yuji, who had returned to his chair by the window.
"Is that," she began, her voice still a little weak but now clearer. "Something you always face?"
Yuji frowned at the sudden question. "What do you mean?"
"Fighting," Akane said. "Fighting between life and death. Like that."
Her voice grew quieter, her eyes staring into the distance. "At that moment, in that darkness, I was so desperate, you know? It was dark, and that man's eyes... his cold, emotionless eyes, felt like the only light I could look at. And it was a horrifying light."
"Every time he asked a question about my father and the sword," she whispered, "he would always hit me when I didn't give him an answer. It was so sore, so painful. And so... it made me desperate because I couldn't do anything but take the punches."
Yuji nodded slowly, listening in silence. He could only imagine the horror. "But you didn't give up," he said, a statement, not a question.
Akane shook her head slowly, her eyes refocusing on Yuji. "I didn't give up on them," she retorted, "because every time I wanted to do that, every time the pain made me want to say anything to make it stop... I always remembered my father."
A small, trembling smile appeared on her face. "I remember how he worked from morning till night in his workshop. The sound of that hammer... a constant and tireless sound. The sound of that hammer somehow always echoed in my head in that terrifying silence. And it gave me strength."
Yuji looked at her, and for the first time, he felt he saw beyond the kind-hearted and competent woman. He saw the core of steel within her, the same strength she had inherited from her blacksmith father.
"You're just like me, Akane-san," Yuji said suddenly, a thin smile playing on his lips.
Akane was still looking at him, looking a little confused.
"You asked if we always face things like this," Yuji continued. "The answer is no, because I've only just become a Genin. But I've been preparing for this for years. Back then, every day at the academy, after the lessons were over, I would always train with my teacher. After that, I would study on my own at home, trying to understand complicated scrolls. And after that, I would evaluate myself, looking for every little weakness."
Yuji played with his fingers slowly, looking at his hands which now had a few small calluses from training. "It was tiring," he admitted. "Very tiring. There were many nights where I just wanted to give up. Stop being a ninja and just help my father at the mask shop."
"However," he said, lifting his head and looking at Akane, "when I remembered why I became a ninja, I always thought back. I convinced myself that all this pain and exhaustion... all of it would be worth it in the end."
"And why," Akane asked gently, "did you want to become a ninja, Yuji-kun?"
"To protect my parents and my friends," Yuji answered without hesitation. A sincere smile, one he rarely showed, appeared on his face. "I know that peace won't last forever. In this world, where there's someone who can destroy an entire village with just one jutsu, it's important to always be on guard, right?"
He looked out the window, at the bustling and seemingly peaceful city. "I don't want them to suffer. I don't want them to feel the fear that you felt. I always want to see their smiles. My father's laughter, my mother's kindness, Naruto's foolish spirit, even Shikamaru's complaints."
He turned back to Akane. "And that... that's what keeps me going. Just like the sound of your father's hammer kept you going."
Akane looked at him, completely speechless. Her tired eyes were now filled with a new understanding.
And in the silence of the hospital room, an unexpected bond formed between them, a bond born from pain, resilience, and a shared understanding of what it means to fight for something bigger than themselves.
…
A few hours later, the silence in Akane's quiet hospital room was broken. The door slid open with a little too much force, and Kiba's head appeared, followed by Masami.
"We're back!" Kiba exclaimed in a voice he tried to lower but failed completely, a little surprised to see Akane was awake. He was carrying a paper bag that smelled fragrant like sweet pastries. "We brought souvenirs. The woman at the shop said these are the best in the Capital!"
Akane, who was leaning against her pillows, smiled weakly at them. "Thank you, Kiba-kun, Masami-san. You didn't have to."
"It's no trouble at all," Kiba said, walking in and placing the bag on the table. "You need good food to get better quickly."
Yuji watched from his chair. Kiba, in his clumsy, noisy way, was trying to be caring. It was a strangely heartwarming sight. Masami, on the other hand, just gave a brief nod to Akane before walking to the window and standing beside Yuji, carrying a small book she seemed to have just bought.
The afternoon passed in a calm and almost normal atmosphere. They talked about trivial things. Kiba recounted with exaggeration how delicious the dango he had just eaten was. Masami occasionally commented on how crowded the city was. Yuji mostly just listened, feeling strangely content to be part of this comfortable silence.
Then, as evening began to fall and the lanterns outside began to be lit, the door slid open again. Tsukasa-sensei and Koji entered. They both looked tired after a day at the exhibition, but there was a glint of energy, a sort of suppressed excitement, in their eyes.
Koji's eyes went straight to his daughter. Seeing Akane sitting up and conscious, his hard, weary face immediately softened. Tears instantly welled up in his eyes, and with an emotional groan, he rushed forward, his hands outstretched, ready to hug the daughter he had almost lost.
"Akane!"
He was just about to hug her tightly when an arm suddenly blocked his path.
It was Yuji's arm. He had risen from his chair and was standing between Koji and the bed, his hand outstretched with an open palm, a calm yet undeniable barrier.
"Don't," Yuji said softly, his voice flat but firm.
Koji stopped, looking at Yuji with a mixture of confusion and anger. "What are you doing, boy?! Move aside!"
"Her ribs are cracked," Yuji explained, his eyes not wavering. "Several of them. If you hug her now, you'll only make it more painful. Very painful."
Tsukasa stepped forward and placed a hand on Koji's shoulder. "Yuji is right, Koji-san," he said gently. "He knows what he's talking about. He was the one who stabilized her down there."
Koji looked from Yuji to Tsukasa, then to his daughter, who was looking back at him with a trembling smile. The struggle was evident on the old man's face, a father's instinct to hug his child versus the cold medical truth. Finally, he let out a long sigh, his shoulders slumping in defeat. He could only stand there, a few feet from his daughter, his hands hanging helplessly at his sides.
"So," Akane's slightly trembling voice broke the tense silence. Her large, hopeful eyes were fixed on her father. "How did it go, Father?"
Instantly, all the sadness and exhaustion on Koji's face seemed to vanish, replaced by a pure and unrestrained pride. A wide smile, the first truly happy one Yuji had ever seen from him, bloomed on his wrinkled face.
He covered his face with his calloused hands for a moment, as if trying to contain his overflowing emotions. Then, he lowered them. "It was good, Akane," he said, his voice hoarse with feeling. "More than good. It was... amazing."
He pulled up a chair and sat beside his daughter's bed, taking her hand gently, being very careful not to touch her bandages. "There were many of them who were interested in our project. Weapon merchants from all over the country. Even some samurai who serve the nobles."
"They've never seen steel like that," he continued, his eyes shining with the passion of an artist whose work was finally recognized. "They saw its potential. The strength, the chakra efficiency... they all knew what it meant." He paused, as if saving the best part for last. "And... and a representative from the Daimyo himself came to see it. He was very impressed, Akane. Very impressed. He said," Koji's voice trembled, "he would recommend giving us full mining rights in those hills, if... if there's someone interested in funding a large-scale production."
Akane could only stare, her tear-filled eyes now streaming tears of happiness. She let out a soft chuckle, a laugh mixed with a sob. "Of course," she whispered. "That's how it should be, right? It's a good weapon. Anyone who isn't interested must be a fool."
"Awesome, Old Man," Kiba exclaimed from the corner of the room. "You did it."
"Congratulations, Koji-san, Akane-san," Masami said, and this time, her rare smile was clearly visible, sincere and warm.
Yuji just stood there, observing the scene. A father and daughter, crying with happiness, their dream a step closer to becoming a reality. All the pain, all the fear, all the blood spilled. It all led to this moment. A moment of fragile yet beautiful hope.
"That," Yuji said softly, his voice drawing everyone's attention. He looked at Koji. "Is a sharp sword."
It was the highest praise he could give. Not about the business, not about the potential, but about the work itself. An acknowledgment from one craftsman, however hidden, to another.
Koji looked at him, and between his tears, he smiled at Yuji, a smile full of gratitude and understanding.
"Yes," Koji said. "Yes, it is."
The atmosphere in the room became light. Tsukasa began to joke about how he would be their first investor with his "very large" Jonin salary. Kiba started demanding Yakiniku again as a celebration, claiming that this victory was also partly due to his bravery. Masami even suggested they buy a cake to celebrate tomorrow.
Yuji just leaned against the wall, a small, almost invisible smile playing behind his mask of indifference. He saw the warmth in the room, the relief on Koji's face, the happiness in Akane's eyes, and the silliness of his teammates.
Their mission, with all its complexities and brutalities, had been a success. Yuji understood now that being a ninja might not just be about survival. Sometimes, it was also about helping others to start living.