"Honestly, what a drag...I'm stuck around in an endless circle of boring missions...What is the Hokage even thinking? I'm an ANBU not some Genin who has to rescue cats and take out weeds. I mean, I have my own self-missions! ...And that other stupid cat hasn't replied in a week...Don't tell me Gaara gave him a mission? Come on, Neko-chan, don't scare me for no reason...Ah! Nevermind, I'm close to the Country of Wind anyways, better pay my friends a little visit~!" The red-head smirk widely under her fox mask, changing the direction of her running completely, now super excited to surprise her dear friends she hasn't seen in a long time.

Much to her shock, however, she wasn't welcomed by either of the Sand Siblings at all, but in fact, one of the officials told her that Temari was on ambassador-business in Konohagakure, while the Kazekage got kidnapped, and Kankuro got injured trying to rescue him, and is in grave danger.
Having already taken off her mask, her jaw hung open as she didn't let him finish his sentence, already being on her way to the Hospital.
There, in one of the beds, was a single patient, writhing in pain, eyes closed, groaning in agony as if he was having a nightmare.

It was Kankuro.

But not Neko-chan, the Puppet Master that she used to tease endlessly and play around with.
This wasn't him.
This was Kankuro, a normal person with an injury that could end his life in the blink of an eye.
A person who was struggling to keep on going, to save his little brother from an inevitable demise.

The sight in front of her made her realise that, despite being in the ANBU, the Konoha teaching and the Will of Fire stuck to her tighter than she'd have ever wanted to admit.
For the first time in ages, she could feel something.
A sharp pain in her chest, as if her heart was being stomped on and crushed in front of her very eyes

A shinobi shouldn't have emotions, or it would destroy the completion rate of the mission.

"Guess I should just quit, then?" those thoughts rung in her head.

Trying to calm down, she softly made her way towards him and sit on his bed, pushing away the hair from his face and wiping the thin layer of sweat forming, as she held his hand gingerly, kissing it.

"Damn it, Neko-chan...If only I knew this happened...I should have realised much sooner...I'm...I'm sorry...Please don't die...Gaara needs you...And Temari too...And all Suna, of course...And well...I guess I need you too...Tsk, who was the imbecile who dared mess with you?! Once I find out, I'm going to...Goodness, what am I not going to do to him! I will avenge you, that's certain...But...Is there anything I can do to help, I wonder..?" Kitsune mumbled aimlessly under her breath, the words addressed more towards her than anything else, as she could barely look at the brown haired boy in front of her, instead settling for searching for a medical nin so she could understand the situation better and see if she could possibly give any help.

Kankuro knew that it was a bad idea. He knew that he shouldn't go after Gaara because the individuals who had abducted him were dangerous and if Gaara couldn't defeat his abductor, then he knew that he had no chance going up against the guy, let alone two of them. And yet he'd still gone because Gaara was his brother and he loved him. And Kankuro had become extremely protective of his younger brother after that, so to see Gaara be taken away and not do anything about it was out of the question even if he knew that it was a lost cause and that he was probably going to end up dead.

Maybe he didn't end up dead but his current condition really wasn't all that better. He hadn't thought that being poisoned could hurt quite so much. But that was probably the point; to leave the inflicted victim in as much pain as possible before they eventually died. What had he been told? Four days? Two? Kankuro was having a really hard time remembering how much longer he had to live when he couldn't even figure out how to breathe properly. Each breath felt painful and his entire body was searing with pain. All he'd been able to understand was that the doctor's had no idea how to help him. But he wasn't afraid because the only worry that he had was focused on Gaara. He wanted to know that his brother was alright and that he was going to come back home. If he was told news like that, then he could die happy.

He would fall asleep from time to time. Restless sleep that was plagued by nightmares. And when he'd open his eyes, his vision would be so blurry that he'd just close them all over again and try to make sense of the voices around him. One voice surprised him because he hadn't heard it in awhile.
He couldn't understand most of the words but Kankuro was interested enough in the voice that he had to force his eyes open to see who it was.
He was in too much pain to get his brain to connect the voice to a person unless he actually looked. "Oh. It's you...you've picked a bad time to be a tourist.."
Just getting those words out caused the pain in his chest to increase and so Kankuro stopped talking after that and squeezed his eyes shut against the pain.

But he didn't have to talk anymore because a frantic doctor stepped up to Kitsune to explain the situation. "Kankuro-san has been poisoned and we aren't able to do anything for him. We can't even give him something to numb the pain because it might react badly with the poison and cause it to spread faster. We had Lady Chiyo, our best healer, look him over but she wasn't able to do anything either. Hopefully someone from Konoha will be here to help but it's up to a three day walk...more if there are sand storms."

"Poisoned...You said? There's someone who could go against even Kankuro, at poison? Poison...Don't tell me you somehow managed to run into Akasuna no Sasori?! Gods...If not even Lady Chiyo managed to cure him, then there's no other. Hang in there, Kankuro, if Sasori did this to you, I have a shot at keeping you stable until Sakura comes. If Konoha sent help, I'm sure the Hokage sent her. Sakura's the best, okay? She can save you, no doubt. Do you hear me, Neko-chan?! Hang in there, fight, and show Sasori that you're the best!" Kitsune said, fired up by the information given to her by the doctor, which made her nod and ask the medical nin for the medical report and for the laboratory, so she could create a temporary relief for the boy.

She wasn't a proper medical nin, not like Sakura, but she knew a bit more than average.
Most shinobi are unaware of the dangers that lurk every second while on missions, dangers that can cause wounds.
Wounds can be treated, but most teams don't have a medical nin, which is why the death rate is pretty high.

Although she started learning medical jutsu for noble causes, she felt like a traitor.
A traitor who betrayed not only herself, but Konoha, Suna, Kankuro and her old friend...Sasori.
As much as she admired the puppeteer, and thanked him for teaching her the basics of chakra strings, he also taught her about poisons and antidotes of every type.
She's been using weapons bathed in lethal poisons for years, but now, the poisons she prided herself with, were threatening her Kitten's life, which meant she had to destroy every principle she had, to save him.

But it was worth it.

She only had to wait a day before Sakura arrived, and once she did, she knew the information she had would help the pinkette work fast and efficient.
Until then, she knew she had to work tirelessly to create the antidote.

That day passed as slowly as a year, it seemed to the girl, as she could barely think of anything else but the state Kankuro was in when she arrived.
She was determined to ease away the pain in any way possible, by any means necessary.

Wiping her brow, she smiled softly at the jade-green antidote in the small vial, and getting up shakily, she made her way to the patient and sat down besides him, gazing at him as she caressed his face, before looking at the doctor and telling him about the antidote, a formality needed in order to be allowed to get the patient to drink it.
She only hoped the antidote would work fast enough for him to feel less pain, and that Sakura would come faster so she could take away the poison from his system, before it was too late.

"Hang in there, Neko-chan. I'm here. Kitsune is here, okay? I won't let you leave me before you can finally beat me at sparring. I'm like a parasite, y'know that. You can't get rid of me, even if you wanted." The fox-like girl chuckled weakly, trying to ease her own mind before kissing him hand once again before administering the liquid.

"Urgh...Couldn't you make it taste better...?" he uttered, choking on the serum, still not able to properly open his eyes, and so, not being able to see her face.
In truth, he has never seen her face.

They first met when the Hokage assigned her, an ANBU, to show him around the village, in a way to make her take a break from all the difficult missions, and despite being rather socially awkward, they got along really well.
Her fox mask was hiding all her fox-like features, the sly smirk, the mischievous glint in her emerald eyes, the beautiful, flawless porcelain skin...
Or at least, that's how he imagined her.

The first day they met, they agreed to take each other's mask/hood off, but she tricked him, so she got to see him without his hood, but he couldn't reciprocate and from then on, he's been trying endlessly, but to no avail, to see her face.
It was maddening for him, and it got to the point where he'd just randomly get caught daydreaming at how she'd look like.
Maybe once he gets better, she will allow him to see her face, as a reward for not dying...If he indeed doesn't die, that is.

"Goodness, Sakura, honestly, I've never been happier to see you! Please save him, I've done all I could! I need your help to extract the poison from his system! I've seen it done at the hospital before, but it's incredibly difficult and I wouldn't trust anyone else to do it. The antidote...I did it already. If there's something I'm a Goddess at, it's poisons. I-I'll fill you in on the details as we go, but let's hurry and prepare! I know, and I'm sorry...I know you've been running for 3 days straight, but if we stay much longer, who knows what might happen!" the fox-girl yapped frantically, hugging her pink-haired best friend, green eyes staring into green eyes.

Sakura realised the gravity of the situation in a second, as she knew Kitsune never took off her mask, and now that she saw the obvious signs of sleep deprivation and general self-neglect and overwork, she realised that she was incredibly worried for the boy.
She realised the signs of desperate emotions better than anyone else, for she would have been the same, were it Sasuke in Kankuro's place.
The pinkette nodded firmly and rushed to the bed, reading briefly the status report, as well as hearing what Kitsune had to say and then started ordering the other doctors around, since she needed all the equipment ready.
As she instructed the fire-kissed girl on the procedure, and they began to take out the lethal poison from his system and although the method was incredibly advanced and difficult, there was nothing those two couldn't do together.

Kitsune ignored everything around her, including Temari, her dear friend, Naruto, Kakashi, even Lady Chiyo and the others who had to restraint Kankuro from thrashing around too much, as the girls used water to take away the poison from his system, and after hours, as soon as Sakura declared that there was no more poison left, she fell to her knees, holding the boy's hand tightly in both of hers, praying to whatever deity existed out there for the first time in her life.

Soon, she found herself alone - she had no idea how much time passed since it was night outside, until she heard a grunt which made her shot up to her feet and look him him.

"Kankuro, how are you feeling? Are you in pain? Do you need anything? Water, food, some fresh air uh...Your puppets? Just tell me and-" she asked faster than the brown-haired boy could even process, which made him roll his eyes and facepalm annoyed at her antics, until he realised that the one in front of him had nothing to conceal her face, and he could only stare at her with wide eyes, trying to usher any sound, but not being able too.

"Kankuro? Kankuro, answer me! Can you hear me? Is there something wrong? Oh my god, what if the poison got to his brain and fucked up his synapses...Or or maybe it damaged the temporal lobe? Or-...Oh my God, I must go get Sakura -" much like a meerkat she rambled and rambled, until she heard a quiet "Shut up", which had her stop in her tracks, slowly looking at him, concern still obvious in her eyes.

"Gosh...You're just as annoying as usual...Do you ever shut up?" he tried to joke, but his voice was still hoarse.
"Oh uh...Sorry I...I was just worried and uhm...I...I'll just go get Sakura and leave you alone. You need peace and quiet to recover and she's better suited for that. I'll...Uhm...See you." biting her lip, she tried to turn away to leave, but was stopped by Kankuro who grabbed her wrist.
"Don't be stupid, I never told you to leave. Not now, when I finally get to see your face. And it only took...What? 3 years? Gosh, you're hard to get. And it only took almost dying for you to forget to put your mask on when around me. Haha..." he smiled softly, motioning for her to sit on the bed next to him.
"You almost died, Kankuro. I don't think this is the right time to joke or point out the fact that I let you see my face. It's no big deal, after all. It's just a face, nothing extraordinary, everyone has one." she shrugged, not understanding why he'd talk about that and not of other things more important.
"Do you remember how we met?" he asked with a soft smirk, analysing her mimic very carefully.
"How could I forget something like that...?" she muttered, slightly offended that he thought she would forget the day she met him.

The day when Kitsune went back from her highly important mission, she went straight to the Hokage's office to get another one, but was surprised to see a person she's never seen before, and even worse, Tsunade's smirk.
Apparently, the blonde wanted to give her a break and had her mission be just showing the Sunagakure ninja around, only knowing that his name is Kankuro and he's the old Kazekage's son.
The red-head cursed herself mentally since she was a terrible conversation-maker, but the time spent with him proved to be incredibly fun and soothing, since he was a sociable and friendly person.

"So, haven't seen ya around. Are you one of Naruto's many friends too?" he asked barely stealing a glance in her direction.
"I used to help him cheat in the Academy. Then, we got separated, him with his team, myself with the ANBU and we didn't get to speak much. Then again, we meet once a month to eat ramen from Ichiraku." she said as a tint of nostalgia hit her.
"Heh. That sounds like a lot of fun. Wish I had as many friends as him, sometimes. He's so obnoxious, though, I'd rather leave that one out." he chuckled, shaking his head.
"Why do you think we only meet once a month? There's only so much hyperactivity one can take before it gets exhausting." the fox girl smirked behind the mask.
"How come you don't take your mask off? What, scared to charm me to death~?" he smirked at her, stopping abruptly.
"Supposedly, I'm on a mission. By ANBU rules, I have to keep it on. And not kill the one I'm supposed to protect, if it matters." the smugness in her voice was evident, as she too stopped, getting closer to his face. "Besides, it's not like I see you taking off your hood, kitty-cat."
"Kitty-cat?! Wh-What the hell?!" he stuttered, looking at her wide-eyed in shock.
"Well, clearly, this hood and the paint make you look like an innocent, harmless kitten. Can you prove me otherwise~?" she tried to provoke him.
"I don't look harmle-...Wait a second...You're trying to provoke me! Oh, no no no, missy, it's not gonna work with me! I'm a calm, collected person-" he tried to say, but was cut off by Kitsune pinching his cheeks and saying 'hey, kitty, kitty, kitty~!"
"I'M NOT A CAT! STOP THAT!" but the second he grasped her wrists, trying to make her stop, he halted and smirked. "How about a truce? If I take my hood off, I get to see your face. Deal?" he tried to reason.
"Okay, fine. That sounds like a fair deal." she stated calmly, slowly taking his hood off, then ruffled his messy hair.
"That was uncalled for. I said I was going to take my hood off." he pouted, trying to arrange his hair back.
"Ah...You're right, I'm sorry. I was going to tell you that you might be the one charming me to death, after all, but...The deal was broke. Sorry, my fault~! Won't happen again~!" she said, giggling at his betrayed face.
"Y-You...! You tricked me! You evil vixen!" he said desperately, trying to reach for her mask, but she quickly leaned back, inches away from his fingers.
"Sorry, love. I guess I won't be able to kill you with my charm, just yet. After all, my mission is to protect you~." she was biting her lip, trying to stop herself from laughing.
"You're going to be the death of me..." he sulked, hanging his head and crossing his arms.
"Keep waiting and I might just be~." Kitsune said, pinching his cheek and walking in the direction of Ichiraku's, willing to treat her new kitty friend to the best ramen in town.

Remembering their first encounter, she smiled softly, closing her eyes and shaking her head, grasping Kankuro's hand again with both her hands.

"How could I ever forget that day..." she muttered, nostalgic.
"Help me stand a bit, will you? I uh...Need some water." he tried to find an excuse to get closer to the girl, who was already there with a cool glass of water for him, helping him in a standing position slowly.
She was completely unaware of how close they are, her mind only focused on making sure he's comfortable and not in pain, but him, on the other hand...His face flushed a bit, and he could already feel his heart beating faster and faster, as she kept his hand on his lower back to support him as he drank the water.
"You're a bit flushed, Kankuro, are you sure you're feeling okay? Your face got really hot and rosey all of a sudden...Do you have a fever? Gods, that'd be horrible-" she started, putting her her hands on his cheeks and her lips on his forehead to feel if the warmth was unusual, but seeing that it was normal, she slowly backed away, her hands still on his face, looking down. "Do you...Do you like me, Kankuro?" she asked lowly, unsure of herself.
"What gave it away?" he asked awkwardly, chuckling as her scratched the back of his head.
"You don't have a fever, so if you didn't blush because of that...Well...I could only think of one other reason." she bit her lip, looking away, putting her hands on her lap, grasping them together shyly.
"Well, there goes my confession. Never try to be romantic with a girl who knows medical stuff, she'll sniff you right from the start." he chuckled, shaking his head and ruffling his hair a bit.
"I-I...Haha, Kankuro, I wasn't expecting that, to be fair. I'm...A bit shocked." she chuckled awkwardly, not knowing what to do.
"Just when did you start calling me by my name, anyways? What happened to Neko-chan? It's not like you to be so serious for so long." he gave her a mock-smirk.
"Honestly...CAN YOU BLAME ME?! You almost died! I was so worried and you expect me to care about what I call you or if I wear the mask or whatever?! Since I came here I could only think that I'd have to live without you and like?! I couldn't stop worrying and crying and all you can say is WHY DON'T I CALL YOU NEKO-CHAN?!" she yelled at him, barely stopping herself from beating him up.
"Well...Yeah, I guess that's what I'm saying. I may not like it all that much, but if it's you...Let's just say I wouldn't let anyone call me that, okay? Look, I'm not good with words, okay? Yes, Kitsune, I like you, what else do you want me to say to make it more obvious? And you not calling me that stupid nickname, it's like, you're trying to distance yourself from me. Is that what you want?" he asked, slightly pissed off at her lack of reaction.
"Do you think a nickname is going to show you that I love you? If that will make you feel better, then fine, I'll call you that. But I still love you, with or without that nickname. I love you, Neko-chan. Just...You have so many things on your head that I couldn't dare to say anything...But I had to make sure you were alive and healthy. People need you, but I'm the last person you should think about." she sighed, looking away.
"It's because there are so many things on my head that I'd want you to be mine. So many bad things...Gaara getting kidnapped, the village getting attacked...But I have you. If I have you, then I think I can brave it all. You've always been with me, so don't leave me now. Kitsune...Will you be my girlfriend?" he asked, putting his hand on the back of her head, getting closer to her face.
She looked into his eyes with her jade-green doe eyes looking wide in shock, searching deep into his soul, and seeing with how much love he's hazing at her, the soft smile on his face, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him softly, keeping him close to her.

"Guess that was easier than expected. I should get into life-threatening situations more often, if it means you get to kiss me." he chuckled, smiling shyly at her.
"Next time you say that, I promise you I'm gonna beat the hell out of you next time you say, got it, Neko-chan? If you want a kiss, go ahead and steal it. Ain't gonna make it easy for you, hope y'know that, right~?" she slowly managed to get her infamous smirk back on her face, looking at him with her usual mischievous glint in her eye.
"Better not complain when that happens then, Foxface." he teased, kissing her again as he caressed her face, feeling the soft skin.

"Hey, Kankuro, how are you feeli-...Ohh, nevermind, I'll just come back later. Lucky you~!" Temari's voice snapped the two lovers from their kiss and blushing, looked in her direction with a shocked expression, making her grin at them, leaving with a wink, putting her hand on Sakura's back to guide her out of the room. Pinkette who only gave two thumbs up and held a cheshire smile on her face, proud of her best friend.
"Well...Guess there's no way to hide it now. It's official, and there's no way to shock anyone. Ah, what a pity." Kitsune shrugged, the corners of her lips tugged upwards in an feign-innocent smile.
"I wouldn't even think of hiding it. I can't wait to tell Gaara when we save him." he chuckled mirthfully, hugging the girl close to him, laying back down on the bed, her head resting on his shoulder, closing her eyes and letting the peaceful atmosphere take over them.

They've been in love with each other for ages, but now that they confessed, their hearts are at peace.
The only thing left to do was save Gaara and enjoy life as much as possible.

After all...What's life without a little risk and love, right~?