NOTICE: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. NOTHING! NOT THE STORY, NOTHING! Just Ryume, Kasaigaru, and Hikuro. Thank You. Oh, BTW, If you like Ino, i suggest you DO NOT read this!

"Are you really sure about this?" Ryume asked her best friend, TenTen.

"Sure! It'll be fun. Come on, it'll be boring without you!" She begged.

Ryume had been out all morning training –like she does almost every morning- and she met up with Neji while on her way back home. He told her TenTen was looking for her and was probably at her door right now. So Ryume ran to her apartment and managed to catch up with TenTen who was about to leave.

She said that all the girls were going to the pool and asked if she wanted to go. Unfortunately, the person who planned it was non-other than Ino Yamanaka. It's not that Ryume didn't like her, (well, she actually didn't) but it was just that no matter how hard she tried, she never seemed to get along with her. She's tried so many times to get along with her, but would always end up arguing with her about the most pointless things. Then, just to end the useless argument, Ryume would always walk away to calm herself down and not try to start something else. Even when Ino would call her names behind her back, she'd continue to walk confidently and ignore her.

That's how it's been for a while now. Ryume had no idea how to fix the problem. So she just decided to keep her distance from her. She sighed at the thought of arguing with Ino at pool about something ridiculous, like bathing suits or how she'd ask why her 'boyfriends' weren't with her. That was probably the worst of them yet. Ino always calling her best friends (which three of them happened to be boys and crushes) her boyfriends.

"So what do you say? I'll try not to stay too close to Ino." TenTen urged on again.

Ryume sighed again and leaned on the counter in her kitchen, her palm under her chin. "I don't know, TenTen." She said for probably the third time.

Then a voice came from the doorway, "You could use some fresh air, Ryume. I suggest you go out, stay away from Ino, and have fun with the rest of your friends." Kasaigaru: Ryume's guardian, even though he was an enormous wolf, he was the only family Ryume had left.

"Yeah, I guess." Ryume said.

"So you're coming?" TenTen asked excitedly.

"Yeah, sure, I'll come." Ryume said and smiled calmly. She walked TenTen to the door and said she'd see her tomorrow at the pool. It was new and there was most likely to be a lot of people there. Great. So if I do have an argument with Ino, it'll attract attention. Ryume thought.

Kasaigaru read her thoughts and added, "Sorry to break it to you, but I have more bad news." Ryume looked behind her at the giant blue and black wolf sitting on the couch. "It seems that Risu and Rynn are out on a mission. So it's just you, Sakura, Ino, TenTen, and I'm not sure about Hinate."

Ryume's mouth fell to the floor and she burst out, "WHAAAAAAT?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! RISU AND RYNN AREN'T GOING TO BE HERE?! WHY DIDN'T THEY TELL ME!?"

Kasaigaru stayed his clam self and spoke in his boring voice, "It must've been important. Really. Do you actually think they'd go off without telling you."

"They'll probably be even more sorry once they find out that I punched Ino in the face." Ryume said darkly.

Kasaigaru smiled calmly and stretched, "Now, now, Ryume. You wouldn't do that. You'd probably yell at her then leave the pool. You'd never lay a hand on anyone besides an enemy."

Ryume didn't say anything at first but then started to laugh. "Yeah, you're right! She's lucky I'm so nice!"

"Who is?" A voice came from the door-again.

Ryume looked back and saw one of her best friends (or in Ino's perspective; 'boyfriend'); Hikuro. His dark mahogany-reddish-brownish long hair covered the top of his eyes and he was looking mysteriously at Ryume. His hands were in his very deep pockets of his oversized tan jacket, covering his tight black and navy blue shirt, which clung to him, exposing his muscles. Other than him having a major crush on her, she just acted like he was a best friend when she actually loved him as a best friend. It was complicated.

Ryume jumped slightly in surprise and rubbed the back of her head, "Oh, nothing, I mean, no one!"

Hikuro raised his eyebrow and looked at Kasaigaru instead for an answer. He answered as if it was the most boring conversation, "She was invited to the pool tomorrow with the girls and Ino planned it. So we were just discussing how lucky Ino is to have Ryume being so nice so she wouldn't beat her if they had a big argument in front of a lot of people." He noticed Hikuro's slightly confused expression. "Risu and Rynn aren't going to be there to backfire at Ino. You know how they usually take care of Ino for Ryume in an offensive way, while Ryume acts her nice self."

Hikuro smirked and looked back at Ryume who had an Anime Cramp on her temple. "Looks like you're in major trouble. And I'm not making it any better." He grinned and Ryume eyed at him suspiciously. "Well, you see, I was invited too."

Ryume froze. Her mouth fell to the floor again but was brought back up as he surprise turned to anger. Her hands clenched into fists and she gritted her teeth. She spoke almost to herself, "That little… When I get my hands on her… Grr! How much does she love torturing me!?" Ryume cried out and flopped onto the couch with her hand on Kasaigaru's head, ruffled in his hair. She stared at the ceiling with her head back and glared.

Hikuro came from behind her, leaned over her and laughed. "Poor little Ryume. Getting picked on by Ino." He received another glare and grinned, showing his shiny white teeth and a little fang on the side.

Ryume gave up and laughed at her friend. She lifted her hand and flicked him on the forehead. He mumbled an 'ouch' and rubbed his head leaning away. Ryume got up and helped herself to a glass of water.

"I don't have to go, you know." Hikuro suddenly said and looked directly at Ryume.

Ryume almost dropped her cup. "What? What are you talking about? Why wouldn't you go? If it's because of me, forget it! If you're not going, I'm not going."

"That's not fair." Hikuro said stubbornly.

"Sadly, life isn't fair. And I don't want you to miss out on something because of me." Ryume said.

Hikuro raised his eyebrow again and didn't say anything at first. Finally. "So you're saying you'll go only if I go?" His answer was a nod and he shook his head. "Why?"

"I don't know." Ryume mumbled and played with her empty cup on the counter. "I guess I just want a friend to be there with me or something, I don't know." She sighed. "But I guess if you really don't want to go, it's okay."

"So you'll go for sure?"

Ryume wasn't happy at her reply. "Yeah, I already told TenTen I would anyway." She looked away, upset. Then she heard Hikuro groan.

"You're not making this easy for me, Ryume." He said and rubbed his head. "Now If I don't go, you're going to make me feel guilty."

"No, no! It's okay! Don't worry about it. Besides, why would you want to go when you only know girls there?"

"No, I'll know one other person there, and he's a guy."

"Oh, really? Who is it?"

"Itazura."

Ryume thought for a moment and pictured Itazura. She's only seen him a couple times; he had very dark brown hair with red stripes and welded a bow and arrow. He had simple clothes like Hikuro of blue and red shorts, a red sash and a white shirt of red and blue designs. His shirt had slits on the shoulders, revealing his bandaged arms, followed by his blue fingerless gloves. Rumor said that he had a crush on Ryume's best friend, Rynn Kuragari.

"Itazura, the one on your team, right?" Ryume confirmed.

"Yeah. The one that likes the annoying one on your team. Rynn, right?"

Ryume laughed. "Yep. That's her!"

Hikuro smiled and shook his head. "So, he'll give me company. But the thing is that I didn't tell the others that I invited him. So it's kinda gonna be a shock for them or something." He shrugged and grabbed a seat next to the counter. Then he started to look around. "Hey is Kasaigaru still here?"

Ryume looked over to the couch across the tiny room and saw Kasaigaru's tail hanging off the cushions and his head rested on a pillow. She nodded and said quietly, "He's asleep. Poor guy, he's always so busy, never home, always doing missions or attending meetings."

"He attends meetings? Wouldn't be a little weird for a wolf to be at a meeting?"

"No, sometimes he turns into his human form. Remember? Oh, you've only seen it once, right?"

"Yeah." Hikuro said. "And that was when he was angry. Sheesh, he creeped me out."

Ryume shrugged and said simply, "Just don't get him angry. Simple as that."

"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind." He said and leaned against the wall, closing his eyes.

Ryume looked over at the clock, "Looks like I gotta go to work. Hey, Hikuro, I'll see you later, all right?"

Hikuro raised his hand, "Yeah, yeah. See you tomorrow."

Ryume nodded and went out the door, already not wanting tomorrow to come.