Kaji

Darkness. That's all I could see for miles. Was this what it was like to be dead? No... It couldn't be... cause I'm not dead... In my panic I had forgotten one crucial thing that Denkou had told me... Naikons literally had nine lives and since I've never actually died before I still had eight left. Crap... guess I'm stuck... Eh might as well get back to them. I open my eyes. Around me is the same cavern. I stare at the ceiling as I listen to my surroundings. To my right I hear the steady flow of the pool of water and the rush of the waterfall. To my right I hear the steady breathing of someone asleep. Must be night. Suddenly the sound of people talking in the distance reaches my ears... or rather ear holes... guess I shouldn't have torn them off...

"You ok Denkou?"

That was Kumo for sure

"Yes she just scared me. I'll be ok once the shock wares off."

Denkou

"Denkou what the heck happened here?"

This was an unfamiliar and shrill voice, likely the other chunin... Kumo's sister I think... what was her name again? oh yes Cho... heh a butterfly... I wonder if she resembles one...

"Cho! Leave her alone."

Yup definitely her.

"Heh you just want me to go away cause you like her. Kumo your so obvious that it's almost sad"

Denkou had obviously zoned out for that because the next thing I heard was her

"huh? what now?"

"oh never mind... I'm gonna go ask Kai-sensei... maybe one of you... or both... should go check on Kaji-sama and make sure Sai-kun isn't clinging to tightly to her... she still needs to heal a bit more"

Foot steps move away from the other voices, then suddenly two pairs of foot steps head toward me. I look through the corner of me eye to look over at Sai. It was true, he was clinging lightly to my side as he slept almost peacefully. As the foot steps get closer I close my eyes and pretend to be asleep still. One kneels at my side and lightly touches the bandages on my lower torso. The touch stings but I remain motionless.

"Seems she's almost healed"

It was obviously Kumo who kneeled beside me

"though it makes me wonder what she was thinking... and what actually happened..."

I inwardly smirk then surprise him by saying

"I wasn't thinking and I kinda gutted myself... literally"

I open my eyes and look up at the spiky, green haired boy above me. It was hard to tell what he was thinking with those strange purple googles covering his eyes, but by the slight downward curve of his slightly open mouth I could tell I had at least surprised him like I meant to. He brings in a sudden breath as if he'd been holding it for a bit. Ok maybe I had surprised him a bit too much... heh... he'll be ok... I hope. The boy falls lightly backwards so he's sitting down rather than hovering over me. Denkou who was standing behind him at the time placed her hand on the top of his head in an attempt to calm him down a bit. I wait patiently as he catches his breath then sneer lightly at the younger ninja.

"What? Didn't expect me to be awake already?"

Staring him in the eyes... or rather goggles... I wait for him to reply but instead get one from his teammate, in her usual quiet voice.

"Obviously we didn't... you did gut yourself after all. To anyone else that would have been fatal..."

Denkou starts stroking her teammate's back continuing to comfort him as she locks her steady gaze with mine. Her words suddenly bring up something that had bugged me since I had realized that I hadn't died, from gutting myself.

"oh yah... why didn't that kill me?"

A grin that showed that what i'd say next was a joke, crosses my face

"Am I just too cool to die?"

Amusement shows clearly in Denkou's one showing eye and the now recovered Kumo gives a light laugh before he responds to my boasting, with a sarcastic

"You wish. Actually you did die, but not for very long. Unlike normal humans... or rather humanoids since your species is closer to demons than actual humans... you have multiple lives. Naikons, as Kai-sensei has told me the species is called, usually have an average of seven, kinda like a cat. Though it has been heard of for a few to develop more. of course the only way to really tell if your one of those is to kill you over and over again till you don't revive... I personally wouldn't suggest that. You know... with the pain and the fact that when you finally find out, the knowledge is pretty much useless anyways, it just doesn't seem worth it to me."

I give a nod in understanding, making him smile. Turning suddenly to Denkou he motions for her to lower her head so he can whisper in her ear. After he does she nods and straightens up. She then bows low to me and disappears in a burst of what looks like blue lighting or something of the sort. Kumo being as close to her as he was when she disappears seemed to be mildly affected by the energy because the shorter part of his hair stands straight on end while the longer bits straighten out a bit. Struggling to keep from laughing I drag my eyes from the sight to look over at the still sleeping Sai. Unfortunately though I can't seem to keep my eyes off of the now puffy haired boy, and even more unfortunately that causes my attempt to keep from laughing to fail miserably. For the first time in what seems like years I laugh so hard my stomach and the self inflicted wound, that actually hadn't fully healed yet, start to hurt. I clutch at my stomach as I continue to laugh, making a confused expression cross what was visible of Kumo's face.

"What? Is there something on my face?"

As the ninja before me pats at his face searching for the source of my amusement I manage to control my laughing so now all that shows is the amusement in my eyes. Reaching forward I ruffle his hair, then without warning I zap him by bringing my charged fingers near his nose.

"Ow!"

He rubs his noes and I smirk in triumph. Seeming to finally get what I was laughing about he runs his own hand through his hair trying to get it to calm down into it's usual spikiness, then brings the same hand to the back of his neck to rub lightly there. He chuckles for a second then yawns, stretching his arms high above his head. He then pulls his google up onto his forehead to rub at his closed eyes. When he stops rubbing he opens his eyes revealing startlingly beautiful, blood red eyes. He blinks once before saying in a tone that seems more like an order than a request

"Go to sleep. Your not fully healed and your body needs the rest."

Then without even waiting for my response he crawls over to a bed roll and only to collapse and fall asleep instantly. I sit there for a while absently stroking Sai's raven haired head, thinking over what Kumo had told me. Finally with a sigh of exasperation I lay back down beside Sai and promptly fall into a dreamless sleep.