Blue Blood; Red Hands

A week had passed. The girls had only just become gennin and, already, there were so many missions. Today was Kitty and Leeto's day off and they were so relieve for a break. They started the day off by walking through the park, enjoying the scenery as they passed it. Kanoha was beautiful. Kitty and Leeto ended up lounging beneath a tree to enjoy doing..well, nothing at all for once.

All of a sudden, a white ball of fur jumped into Leeto's lap. "Hey, Akamaru!" Leeto giggled. Kitty smiled. "And where there is a dog, there's a-" she began.

"Hey, Leeto!" they heard Kiba yell from across the field to their left. "-A second one!" Kitty finished, laughing. Leeto shot her a playful glare and replied to Kiba's greeting. He caught up to Akamaru and picked him up again. "Sorry." he repeated for the millionth time. He rubbed the back of his head, smiling. "Uh..Leeto," he started again after a slight pause. A blush crossed his tan cheeks before he began again. "Uhh..I was wondering if.. umm..if you'd like to go on a date with me?" He stared at the ground, still rubbing the back of his head.

"Of course." Leeto replied, smiling.

"Oohhh." Kitty teased.

Leeto blushed and, then, looked back at Kiba. "So, when do you want to go?" she asked him. He paused. "Well, if it is okay, now is fine with me." he said. "Oh! In a hurry, are we?" Kitty asked, laughing. Leeto shot her another glare but it failed. Leeto just giggled. "Cut it out. " she mumbled.

"It is fun making fun of you guys!" Kitty giggled. Leeto ignored her friend. Then, she stood up. "Now is fine with me." she told Kiba, smiling. "You're leaving me?" Kitty cried jokingly and stuck out her bottom lip. "Yup! I'll see you later!" Leeto giggled.

Kitty watched them leave, listening to as much of their conversation as she could. "So, where are we going?" Leeto asked Kiba. "I thought we could go to the top of the Hokage faces and hang out, get something to eat after and do whatever we feel like. Maybe, we could go to the.." Kitty couldn't hear anymore. She just sighed and laid her head on the trunk of the tree.

Only a few minutes later, Kiba and Leeto had made it to the top of the Hokage faces. Kiba plopped down and Leeto sat beside him, breathing in the fresh air. Akamaru jumped to her lap once more and she smiled down at him.

"He likes you a lot." Kiba informed her. "Well, I like him a lot as well. He is cute." she said and glanced over to Kiba shyly. "Where did you get him?" she asked and stroked the dog's soft fur.

"My mom gave him to me. I had to take care of him, feed him, train him..He is my best friend." he said. He smirked, making Leeto smile. "How about you? Do you have any pets?" Leeto's smile faded immediately. "No. Never had any pets." she responded. "How about siblings?" he asked her. "No.." she started, sighing. "No family at all, actually." she said, slightly laughing. "Oh, I am sorry." Kiba replied. A genuine apologetic look glazed over his features.

"Nah. It's okay." Leeto said and sighed, looking down at Akamaru. A single tear fell over her cheek. Kiba looked over at her. He crept his hand over hers and wrapped his fingers around it. Her head shot up with surprise. The only times Leeto could remember anyone taking her hand was when one of her father's enemies tried to drag her off or when her father was stealing her off from danger. She pulled her hand away quickly.

"What's wrong?" Kiba asked, his voice dripping with concern. "If it is something I said, tell me." Leeto stood. "I don't see what this affection is for." she whispered as Kiba stood up beside her. "I never needed this before. Why do I need it now?"

"Leeto." Kiba said. "Calm down. You're okay." He was unsure of what to say to help in this kind of situation. He really liked her and he didn't want to lose her over something stupid that he said. Leeto dropped to her knees. "No..I'm not okay..I've never met my mother because she was taken away before I could. My father left me because he thought I'd be better off without him. I'm not okay because I am alone. I have always had Kitty but never a real family. I've never had anything more than a friend." she whimpered.

Kiba knelt down beside her and hugged her to his chest. "Calm down." he soothed, running his fingers through her midnight hair. "My father is gone, too. It may not be my whole family but I think I understand a bit of what you are going through." he whispered to her until she calmed down and relaxed in his arms.

Leeto sighed. "Kiba..?" she asked, suddenly breaking the silence. "Yeah?" he asked. "Sorry." she replied, laughing slightly while mocking him for constantly apologizing for Akamaru.

Kiba kissed her cheek and smiled at her. "Can we forget this part of the date happened?" Leeto asked. "I really like you and I don't want to lose you over my stupid freak out." she said.

Kiba laughed and hugged her. "Of course..and you should know that I'd neve let you go over that, even if you wanted me to." Leeto laughed and sat beside him. They let five minutes pass in silence.

xAt The Training Groundsx
Kitty has nothing on her mind but becoming a better ninja. Okay, maybe there were a few other things weighing down her thoughts. She was upset. She felt obsolete compared to Leeto. It wasn't that Kitty was upset that Leeto had a date and that she was prettier and strong- It was just that it made Kitty feel so..unwanted. Kitty had always been defeated by her emotions, clumsy and self-conscious. Now that her best friend- her only friend was out on a date, she realized how unloved she truly was. It seemed that Leeto was the only one who cared and she wasn't there right now.

Kitty's thought's were disrupted by a familiar voice. "Hello." Kitty turned to see Sasuke Uchiha standing above her with kunai in his hands. She welcomed the distraction. "Hi." she said nervously. How was she supposed to react? The only person she ever had to for the last few years was Leeto. "Would you mind if we trained together? Its a lot more of a challenge if I have to defend as well as attack." he said. Kitty wasn't much of a people person but she could sense some nervousness in his voice as well. She nodded. "Sure." she said.

Not long into their training, she realized that Sasuke was an extremely good ninja and Sasuke noticed the same about Kitty. Soon, they grew tired and rested on a rock in the forest.

"Sasuke?" Kitty asked hopefully. She was bored now and decided she'd find some entertainment. He looked over at her signaling that she had his attention. "Do you happen to know where the Kanoha faces are?" she asked him. He nodded. "Yes. Why?" he asked curiously. "Would you mind taking me there?" she asked. Sasuke didn't know why she wanted to go to the faces but he did know that he wanted to spend time with her. He stood up and offered her his hand. Gladly, she took it and followed him to the faces.

When she got a glimpse of Kiba, she grabbed Sasuke and ducked behind a bush. "What are-?" Sasuke began but Kitty shushed him. "I just want to make sure Leeto's first date goes well." she said and averted her eyes to the scene taking place before her. Sasuke sighed and remained quiet. This wasn't exactly the way he'd planned on spending his time with her. She was just a girl and, yet, he found himself unable to leave her.

Leeto and Kiba felt new presences. "Kitty's spying." whispered Leeto. Kiba smiled and nodded. Each made clones and discretely disappeared while Kitty wasn't looking. They went to the Hot Springs to continue their date, unspied on.

Kitty and Sasuke were completely oblivious to their actions, however, and continued to watch the immobile clones sit. Ten more minutes passed and Kitty grew impatient. "Grr! How long do dates last?!" she hissed. "It is just suppose to be a dinner, a kiss and go away."

Sasuke looked up at her. "You know, not all dates are like that." he pointed out discretely. She looked over at him with shock in her wide, violet eyes. "Really? I thought all dates followed rules of sorts.." she mumbled, confused.

"It depends on how much they like each other. If they like each other enough, they could end up spending the entire night together. Have you been living under a rock forever?" he asked her. He was surprised that she knew nothing of romance. She was a very beautiful girl. "Well, not under then. We've lived in some, though. What does that have to do with anything?" Kitty asked him, confused.

He stared at her. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Well, not to feed you a sob story or anything but Leeto and I were abandoned by our fathers when we were about 8. It seems they thought we'd be safer with rabid bears than we would be with them." she said, quietly. Sasuke was surprised, really. She had a rough childhood just like he did. She didn't have her entire family killed by her brother as far as he knew but, nonetheless, she was raised without family. Then, it hit him. How could she be safer with bears than her own father. "What do you mean by 'safer'?" he asked her.

"Well, we used to be attacked often when we were little. Awful people came and tried to kill our fathers. I didn't think we were safer but they did what they thought was best for us, I suppose." Kitty explained. Sasuke nodded. "I-I haven't had the best childhood, either." Sasuke said. "So, I slightly understand. I don't want to bore you with the details, though, so I'll take you home." he said and stood up. Kitty trailed along behind him understanding that he didn't want to talk about it. Once they got to her door, she said, "Thanks for tolerating me, Sasuke." and nervously opened her door. He gently grabbed her arm and said, "My pleasure." Hesitantly, he kissed her on the cheek and left. Kitty had never felt butterflies before.