Kakashi would laugh, but his lung is punctured. (He manages a small chortle anyway.) How many times had he willed himself asleep in his youth, the steely promise settling on his tongue like blood?

(I will never kill myself I will never kill myself I will never kill myself I will never kill myself)

And yet, here he is.

The boy's eyes open slowly, as if this is their first time in the light.

Irony's a bitch, he thinks. Chiyo made it look so easy. The last thing he sees is the glow of his hands fading.

Then, darkness.