"Ultimately, a person must pay the price for their choices—regardless of whether they made them willingly or not."
Hatani spoke softly, his eyes fixed on Akiren as Nawaki's silhouette appeared in the distance. He knew the time for a final decision had come.
"I know."
Akiren's body stiffened for a moment. Then, the tears on his face were replaced by a faint, hollow smile.
"If it weren't for you and Big Brother Nawaki, those cannibals would have killed me a long time ago, just like they did to Big Brother Yuki and Saburo. Now... I'm just giving back the life I already owe you."
He smiled with a sense of strange liberation. Reaching out, he picked up the shuriken that had fallen into the mud and handed it back to Hatani. Then, he slowly closed his eyes.
Perhaps his heart had already died the moment Hatani and Nawaki were forced to leave him behind.
Hatani looked down at the boy, feeling as though a thousand-pound stone was pressing against his chest. He raised the shuriken, his fingers tightening around the cold metal, but then he let it drop.
No matter how many logical reasons he gave himself, no matter how many excuses he formulated to justify the act, at this moment, he simply could not bring himself to drive the blade home.
"Hatani!"
Nawaki had spotted the "standoff" from a distance and sprinted forward, his voice thick with anxiety. He shouted Hatani's name, desperate to stop him from doing something impulsive. Even if Nawaki didn't fully understand the complexity of Akiren's feelings, his heart revolted at the thought of the boy being executed.
Huff... huff... huff!
Nawaki finally reached them, doubled over and gasping for air.
"Hatani... I... I got him. The last Ame ninja is dead. We're... we're safe for now."
He reported the news urgently, but his real intent was to signal Hatani that the immediate risk was gone. They didn't have to kill Akiren for security reasons anymore.
"Hatani... Akiren, he... I mean, I... about this..."
Nawaki struggled to find the right words. He wanted to excuse Akiren's betrayal and convince Hatani to show mercy, but he couldn't form a coherent sentence. After all, Akiren had sold them out. Even setting aside revenge, the boy remained a massive security risk to their survival.
"Heh."
Akiren looked at the silent Hatani and the stuttering, sweat-drenched Nawaki, and he couldn't help but laugh again. This time, however, his laughter was accompanied by fresh tears.
"Big Brother Nawaki, you don't have to say anything. It's like Big Brother Hatani said: a person has to pay for their choices. If you want someone to blame, blame the fact that we had to meet in the middle of a war."
With that, he lunged forward, throwing his weight with terrifying force toward the shuriken in Hatani's hand.
"Akiren!"
Nawaki gasped in shock. He lunged to grab the boy, but he was a split second too slow. His fingers only brushed the fabric of Akiren's ragged shirt as he watched the boy hurtle toward the blade.
Thump!
Akiren kept his eyes squeezed shut, bracing for the cold sting of steel piercing his chest, but the pain never came. He didn't even feel much of a collision.
"You've owed us so much on this trip. Did you really think you could just die and call it even?"
A voice, feigning cold indifference, rang in his ears.
Akiren opened his eyes to see Hatani waving a hand, dispersing the cushion of wind that had halted his momentum. The shuriken had already been tossed aside, landing harmlessly in the mud.
"Big Brother Hatani?" Akiren looked at him, bewildered.
"We killed the Rain ninja, but our trail is completely blown," Hatani said, his face a mask of stern pragmatism. "It's nearly impossible for just the two of us to break through the blockade and reach the Leaf camp on our own."
He stared at the confused boy. "Nawaki and I need your help. You owe us two lives now—it's time you paid up."
"I... I can help you?" Akiren's face lit up with a spark of excitement, but it was quickly overshadowed by doubt. He wasn't a ninja; he wasn't even as strong as a normal kid his own age.
"Different tools for different jobs," Hatani replied flawlessly. "The same goes for people. No one will suspect you. Nawaki and I can't slip past the Ame cordon, but you can walk right through it."
Nawaki, who had finally processed the sudden 180-degree turn in the "plot," let out a gasp of realization.
"I get it!" He slapped his palms together, looking at Hatani with a mix of excitement and gratitude. "You want Akiren to cross the lines and reach the headquarters! He can tell Sis and the others where we are so they can come and get us!"
"Can I... can I really do it?" Akiren, who hadn't feared death a moment ago, was suddenly trembling with a lack of self-confidence.
"As long as you believe you can, you will," Hatani said, pumping him full of "Chicken Soup for the Soul" style motivation.
"But... what if the Leaf ninja don't believe me? What if they kill me?"
"That is a potential issue." Hatani frowned. He thought about the brutal discipline of wartime shinobi and the fact that Danzo's "Root" operatives might be lurking in the camp. They might kill the boy just to suppress the news or frame him as a spy.
"It's a shame the necklace Big Sis gave me is gone," Nawaki added, his expression falling into regret. "If we had that, it would prove Akiren's story instantly."
Hatani's inner monologue immediately went into overdrive: 'If I hadn't chucked that cursed necklace, we'd probably be charcoal by now.'
"You don't need the physical necklace to prove a memory," Hatani said, suppressing his urge to roast Nawaki. "Nawaki, is there anything that only you and Lady Tsunade know? A secret?"
"You mean...?" Nawaki blinked, then a look of pure joy broke across his face. "Wait, let me think. Let me think!"
"Akiren, I'm going to teach you a set of codes," Hatani said. While Nawaki was having a mental brainstorm to find a secret only he and his sister shared, Hatani focused on ensuring Akiren wouldn't be killed on sight.
It wasn't complicated. He used the identification codes Mimura-sensei had given them before his final stand.
"The moment you see a ninja wearing a Leaf headband, shout this code at the top of your lungs. They'll probably arrest you, but they won't kill you. Once you're at the camp, start screaming that you have news of Nawaki and that you must see Lady Tsunade. If you do that, there's an eighty percent chance you'll live—and save us in the process."
"I understand."
The look of resignation vanished from Akiren's eyes, replaced by a burning sense of purpose.
He could finally do something for Hatani and Nawaki. He could finally be useful.