Hello my lovlies! Guess who just graduated? This girl! And who survived class night (A.K.A Hell)? This girl! And who ever went on the zipline? THIS GIRL RIGHT HERE, PEOPLE!

Well, I suppose that we shall celebrate by a new little chappie, yes? Yes.

This one is for both fearless-forever98 and X-Venom who both wanted some more Mino and Kaya. Here we go, my pretties!

Mino supposed that what he was currently doing and the way he was acting wasa bit strange. The pattern he had kept up for the last ten minutes—pacing back and forth in front of the quaint little tea shop before stopping to walk to the door and stand in front of it for a few moments, shifting from foot to foot as his hand hovered over doorknob and then turning away quickly to resume his pacing before doing it all over again—had garnered quite a few looks from passerbys, and he briefly wondered if they recognized him as the youngest of the Hokage's children. If that was so, then he had to figure out a way to explain this to his father in a way that would keep the blonde man from laughing at him for a good twenty minutes. He was already embarrassed enough as it was.

Taking a breath and determining that this time would finally be it he started back towards the door, his hand hovering over the knob for barely a moment before it was pulled open by someone on the other side of the door to reveal the very reason for his strange behavior standing in front of him.

Wide burgundy eyes blinked at him for a moment before the shock cleared and joy filled them instead, her smile beaming up at him as she pushed the loose strand of bright orange hair gently away from her face. "Mino-kun! Hello!" She said happily as she moved aside to allow him in, her voice alone easily able to calm his frayed nerves. "Would you like me to make you some tea?"

"Ah... No, sorry. I just need to ask you something before I leave. I... I don't really have too much time." He said, and she nodded in understanding. He took a breath and fidgeted a bit before looking at her nervously, watching the way she tilted her head in adorable puzzlement at his actions with increasing trepidation.

"I... Kaya... Would you like to walk around the festival with me tonight?" He asked carefully, and the girl blinking at him for a moment before sending him the most gloriously beautiful smile he had ever been presented with.

"I'd love to, Mino-kun!" She said enthusiastically, " I just need to go ask my mother." And after she had hurried off to do so Mino let out a relieved breath and looked around, noting that the patrons of the shop were all staring and smiling at him. He was studiously ignoring them when Kaya hurried back in, clapping her hands excitedly as she told him that her mother had said that she could go and that she was going to wear her new yukata and smiling at him so brightly that he swore he'd never see the dark again...

Mino couldn't help but to remember that first time he had asked her to the festival all those years ago as he walked beside her now, both of them comfortable in their little slice of serene silence amidst the happy noises of the annual Hokage festival. Looking at her out of the corner of his eye, he couldn't help but smile at the little pieces of the small girl that had found him in the rain that remained, but also the differences that shined through.

She had grown in the ten years that separated the then from the now, changing from that delicate little girl he had first met into the lovely young lady that now walked gracefully at his side, owning that spot as he knew no other ever would. She still had those same tiny little freckles crossing the bridge of her nose—four on one side and three on the other—and her hair still always went into the same familiar twist with that single piece staying out to gently fame a now older and less childishly-round face. She was only an inch or two shorter than him, and her eyes were still just as wide and were still that same pure and untainted burgundy that had met his and had scared away his demons so long ago.

But the thing that had most stayed the same was the fact that she was still the most beautiful and perfect being he had ever met.

"I thought that you were going to miss the festival again like last year." She told him when she finally spoke up, glancing curiously at the colorful masks that lined one of the stalls. "Did you not have a mission this time?"

"No." He said briefly, using the same tone he always used whenever she brought up anything dealing with his missions. He didn't want her involved even in the slightest bit with such an ugly part of his life. She was too pure, too good, for that. But he did want to tell her just one thing.

"I actually don't think that I'll have too many more missions like that. My partner and I have decided to retire from our current status" He told her shortly, and watched as her forehead furrowed as she tried to figure out just what he meant.

"And this is good?" She asked him, and he smiled at her when he nodded.

"Yes. It means that I'll be going into the jonin ranks, most probably, and will be getting more regular missions and will be able to spend more time at home."

With you.

"That's great!" She enthused as she smiled up at him, happy for his happiness and even happier at the thought that maybe he could spend more time with his friends and family and even with her. And then there was the thought that maybe with this the dark look that shifted in the shadows of his white eyes, shadows that she knew came from the missions he never talked, about to her would go away. That was the thought that made her happiest.

"Yes. Yes it is." He said quietly, nervously slipping his hand into hers as he prayed that she wouldn't pull away and that she wouldn't notice that his hands were slightly sweaty.

They walked like that for a few minutes before Mino chanced a look at her, smiling at the blush that covered her face, just like the blush that covered his, and the way her eyes were nervously lowered. Said eyes rose up to meet his after a moment of his watching her, and they both stared at their equally red faces for a long moment before mirrored smiles—nervous and sweet and the beginnings of so much more—grew on their faces.

"I..." She started, pushing the bit of her loose hair out of her face with her free hand, looking away briefly before quickly looking back when he squeezed her hand questioningly. "I'd like that bear." She told him shyly, pointing to a giant stuffed panda that hung from one of the game stands.

"Okay." He murmured, their fingers linking together somewhat awkwardly and unknowingly—and yet utterly perfectly—as they walked towards the happily smiling bear with the bow around its throat that Kaya would always fondly remember as being the same dark pink of both of their faces that night.

There we are! The first happened probably just before Mino went off for his "training", so about twelve while Kaya is about nine, and the second part Mino is seventeen while Kaya is fifteen.

And all they do is hand holding people. Seriously, their overly nervous about even that (Mino is so shy and sweet! Even when he's a murdering murderer)

Hello to my new sweeties ScarsofJupiter and JacksonKid3 (You're so sweet!) and a thank you to Hektols who explained the Minato Kyuubi thing to me (made a lot of sense, thanks a bunches!) and then proceeded to give me hope.

Also! I had an allusion to a movie in the last chapter (circa 2002 with lots of snow), and if you know what it was, then brownie points to you!

Toodle-oo!