Falling into the fire, there had been a moment when Ginta felt as if he were being stretched to infinity, his body preparing to be incinerated and his soul to leave it. He was shocked to realize he even had a soul, but in that instant before death, he could feel himself lifting out of his body. There he was, smaller than he would have thought, in the black underpinnings of his ANBU uniform--it looked wrong without the bone white armour. He looked vulnerable, covered in blood and bruises. The flames reached up to embrace him, greenish from the chemicals that fueled them.

He wondered if it was going to hurt.

And then something darted in and snatched him from the air. In an instant he was back in his body, and it did hurt, but it wasn't the pain of burning alive. He was held tight against that same armour he'd wished he'd had. Enveloped in fierce blue-white chakra that he knew.

How ironic. How ironic that at the very moment of his death, he managed to hallucinate being rescued by that bastard.

There was a flash of metal, a screaming woman. Kakashi holding him ducked. Kakashi charging in from the side tackled the attacker before her blade could bisect them. Kakashi rushed up, holding Tsuyako.

Ginta tensed, arched his back, and tried to get away.