So two days passed by. Everything was normal except for Ryume's strange behavior. Something was definitely up and I wanted to find out. I tried asking Neji but he said he thought Ryume went on a mission. I told him that she decided not to go and he gave me a look saying You're kidding, right? Then he got busy and abandoned the subject. No answers there. So doing what I hate doing, I started to think about it at a table where Ryume works. I didn't know where she was this morning but I just needed some time for myself.

I'd ordered what I always get. A cinnamon smoothie, thing. Cinnamon is my favorite thing ever to eat. Cinnamon cookies, cake, toothpaste, gum, anything, you name it. I took a sip outta that and leaned against the back of my chair. Once I leaned all the way back with my head hanging off the back of the chair, I came eye to eye with Ryume who was smiling. I did a small low yelp and came back up, facing her still in my chair.

"Hey Hikuro!" She said happily. You know, I was getting a bit annoyed of the unusual happiness.

"Are you okay?" I suddenly asked. Oops, not too smart of me.

She frowned and stared at me, "Why you ask?"

I shrugged. Didn't know I'd get this far. I was hoping for a straight answer, but that was never going to happen with Ryume. "I dunno. You've just unusually happy lately."

"You don't like me happy?" She sat down across from me and stared at me, the smile gone for once in the past two to three days.

But the question got me off guard, "What? No, no! I always want you to be happy. It's just that I've never seen you this happy before is all. But it's all good." I laughed weakly while scratching the back of my head; something I do whenever I'd just made a mistake and was trying to cover it up. Go me. Hikuro super detective.

So I spent the rest of the day with her again, just walking around the village and talking. She kept staring at me like she wanted something. I felt pretty guilty that I still had no idea what she wanted. It sucked having someone you love hiding something yet hoping someone would help them out. I did a mental sigh and acted normal. Didn't want her worrying about me worrying about her. She does that a lot. But she didn't notice anything and kept walking.

Then I stopped short and grabbed Ryume's hand, pulling her back towards me. She looked up at me, confused, then followed my suspicious stare to the entrance gates. There, in front of the gates talking to Kotetsu, was a Ryume look-alike. Except, she looked exactly like Ryume. Brown hair, slim body, fan on her back, black gloves, bandages on her left arm, black and red boots, same outfit as usual: the clothes she wears on a mission with battle in it. I looked back down at the Ryume I've been with for the past three days. What the hell?

She stared at the Ryume in front of the gates and took a step back.

"What's wrong?" I asked, "You know her?"

"No." She muttered, still staring at her. "She looks exactly like me." She said quietly.

"Yeah I know." I muttered back, "Let's get a closer look." I took a step forward but was pulled back by Ryume.

"No! Don't go! She might be dangerous."

"What the hell, Ryume? I can take a girl." Why was she worrying like that. Usually she'd just shake her head and let me go.

"It's not that…" She said sadly, looking down. Then a tear rolled down her cheek. Crap!

"Hey, hey! Why the water? Come on Ryume, don't cry!" I hugged her with her face against me.

Then a voice came from behind me, "Hikuro…?"

Ryume?

I turned around and faced the Ryume look-alike. "Who do you think you are to make yourself look like Ryume?" I almost yelled, pointing a finger-less glove at her. That was it. I snapped and was too confused as it is. I was tired of thinking and just wanted some damn answers.

She was taken back and held her palms up, "What are you talking about? And who's-" She gasped. She stared at the Ryume under my other arm and her arms fell to her side.

"Umm… Hikuro, who's that?" The stranger asked.

"This is Ryume. Who the hell are you?" I growled.

"What? Ryume? But I'm Ryume. I went on a mission, remember?" She was totally confused and I laughed because she was a pretty good actor. Too bad she didn't know that I knew everything that was going on.

"Pfft. Yeah right. You said yourself that you came back." I hugged Ryume closer to me. She snuggled against me and glared at the look-alike.

"I never said that. I went to help Kasaigaru. But he said he never needed me. It was all somehow a mistake so I helped out everyone else with Sasuke. After that, I came back here since they were all done. They should be here soon-"

I cut her off. "I don't need your story. It's all fake anyway."

"What do you mean fake? I'm telling the truth." She replied.

Ryume wriggled out of my grasp and marched up to the look-alike. "Stop lying to Hikuro you jerk. Just take the mask off and show us who you really are before I get really angry." She glared at her.

"I'm sorry but I really have no idea what you're talking about." The look-alike said. Then all of a sudden, Ryume raised her hand, brought it back, and slapped her in the face. The girl was shocked and took a step back while holding her red cheek. Damn. That was hard.

"Nice." I said. She smiled and went back to me but was stopped short as the girl grabbed her arm and twirled her back towards her, her eyes fierce. And the really weird part was that those were Ryume's real eyes. Weird.

"Listen to me," She said sternly, her voice hard, " Who are you? I know you're just acting like me, now what so you want?"

Then Ryume cried out in pain, "Ow! Let go of me! She's hurting my arm!" I rushed up to her and jerked her back towards me, "Don't you dare touch her ass-hole!" I spit, getting in front of her while yelling at the fake.

Once I yelled at her, she looked at me with surprised and sad eyes. Her eyes softened and she relaxed, standing up straight and looking at me straight in the face, examining me. "You think she's me?" She asked.

Ryume had enough. "That's it! I've had enough of your stupidity!" And she grabbed her hair and jerked it. Whoa! Ryume was pissed at the fake!

The fake yelled an 'ow' and tried to get out of her grasp. After a while of turning around and arguing and fighting, some people had gathered around and I started to panic. I didn't know which one was the real Ryume.

"What is going on here?" A soft yet stern voice came from behind me. Everyone stopped and turned to see Neji walking towards us holding a bag of something. He paused in mid-step and stared at the Ryumes. "What on earth…?" He breathed.

"One of them is an imposter." I said simply.

"Yes, I'm aware." He said, obviously ignoring me, nearing the two girls.

The one with the red cheek and slightly messy hair edged forward, holding her cheek, "Neji! What happened here? I just got back from a mission and Hikuro says that look-alike is me."

"That's because she is Ryume you dumbass. We don't need you. Get lost." I said. Idiot. I hate stupid people. But hey I wanted to get my point straight!

Then she stared at me and her lip trembled slightly. She bit her lip and looked away. Ugh, great. Fake tears. But gullible Neji fell for it. He dropped her bag and went straight to fakie. Ryume went to me and cringed to my arm. She was getting annoyed too.

"Hush now, Ryume." He said to the girl. "It's all right. I know who you are." This made her look up at him with watery eyes. She held herself for a minute then looked over at me.

I resisted the urge to doubt that it wasn't her. Her beautiful eyes had a beautiful tear run down her cheek and fall slowly to the ground. The whole time she looked at me, I'd held my breath. Ryume shook my arm and I snapped back to reality. She whispered one word to me, "Genjutsu." I nodded and glared back at the girl who turned back away with Neji coming to her, holding her.

Great, I'd just made an idiot out of myself and almost gave in into a girl who wasn't the real girl I loved.

Then to make everything jolly better, Mr. Uchiha, Rynn, Risu, Kinaga, Itazura, Shikamaru, Rock Lee, Ino, Sakura, Naruto, Kiba, Hinate, and Shino all entered the gates and went straight to us. Rynn and Risu instantly ran to us and stopped, looking from the fake with Neji, to me and Ryume.

"What the hell is going on?" Rynn burst out, her extremely long blonde hair swishing as she turned her head back and forth. She's the one I didn't get along with too well.

Risu kept blinking while staring at one Ryume, then the other. Her finger went up weakly and she said almost feebly, "Two… Ryumes?"

My pals Itazura (who has a big crush on Rynn) and Kinaga (who liked Risu) came up behind them with Naruto. Itazura raised his eyebrow at me, his long black and red streaked hair covering part of his face like mine. Except mine was stringier. Just pointing that out. Soon enough, everyone was there, staring at us. The fake covered her face and looked away. Ha. Busted.

Sasuke suddenly growled. Everyone looked at him and found him glaring directly at me, his black eyes burning into me. I glared right back. "Got a problem, Uchiha?"

"Yes." He said nastily.

"I'm listening." I said, keeping my cool, but still clearly angry.

"What the hell is going on?" He asked, finally turning his gaze to fakey.

"Wrong one dumbass." I almost laughed and brought Ryume closer to me. "This is the real one. She's been with me for three days.

"Impossible." Shikamaru said. "Ryume was helping us out on a mission. She wasn't here in the Leaf Village."

"Well looks like you've been working with the wrong Ryume."

Rynn coughed under her breath and said very quietly, "That's not what Sasuke's seen…"

I gave her look. What she said had two meanings to it. One if you didn't know her too well. The other was if you did know her and felt like hitting her on the back of the head at that very moment. I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. I say this is the real Ryume." I said and hugged her again. She stayed quiet, observing everyone's reaction.

Akamaru (or mutt) jumped out of dog-boy's jacket and ran to the fake who was still with Neji. He sniffed her then barked for dog-boy. "Well," Kiba said, "Looks like that's the real Ryume."

"Yeah right." I said.

He shrugged and walked over to her asking if she was all right. She didn't answer. She just stared at me. Our eyes met and she looked away, her eyes building up slowly again.

Soon, Shino, Hinata, Rynn, Risu, Kinaga, Rock Lee, and Shikamaru were all at the fake's side. Sakura and Ino went to my side, unsure at the turn of events. Itazura was still in the middle. My best friend other than Ryume. Then I can't believe it! He stared at me, shook his head, and went to the other side. Rynn gave him a high-five and stuck her tongue out at me.

Soon everyone was waiting for my answer. I was about to give a smart remark when Kasaigaru appeared in his human form. Here's the thing with Kasaigaru. He's normally a big-ass wolf but recently learned how to transform into a human. Kind of like a jutsu. But this particular one can only be learned by his breed or whatever. Anyways, he stepped out of his poof of smoke and walked straight to me. Now, I'm a pretty tall guy. But this guy is freaking tall! Too tall! So he glared down at me and snarled.

"You stupid kid." He growled. Then he glared down at the Ryume who still had a hold of my arm. "And you," he said, "You have no right to perform such action. You're causing a lot of problems at the moment. I suggest you fix things right now before I force you to."

Geez, does he ENJOY talking like that?

I stepped in front of her, blocking her from his view, "Listen, this is your own Ryume you're talking to."

"Don't be stupid you idiot." He snarled again. "I share a very powerful bond with Ryume and I know where she's at right now at this very moment. Right now she's with all her true friends who know who she is. But not one of her best friends. Oh no. He's been calling her names and ignoring the facts of all the things he doesn't want to believe."

He stopped and there was a silence. Rynn broke the silence and started making 'woo hoo' noises and everyone else joined in and started clapping. I stared at them, lost for words. Ryume next to me was quiet and wouldn't look at Kasaigaru in the face. Then I caught sight of the possibly-fake Ryume moving away from the crowd, still holding her cheek. I saw her wipe her eyes and keep walking.

Then my eyes met Sasuke. He had a death glare set upon me. His mind made up. He walked to the other Ryume, dragged her back to the group and hugged her tightly from the side while she kept trying to hide her face.

I zoned everyone out (who were still yelling at me) and thought for a moment. Yeah, so what I hate thinking. This was important. I'm missing something…

Okay, this Ryume was always too happy. Her eyes sparkled too much, too much smiling. And what's she doing now? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Ryume wouldn't be doing that. She wouldn't just be standing there doing nothing. And what about her and Kasaigaru's bond? That's a fact and I missed it. Kasaigaru's right about that one… But what about everyone else?

I came back to reality and looked back down at the Ryume near me. Kasaigaru had taken a step back and was observing me. He nodded to me. I swear that guy can read minds. Then I looked over to the other Ryume who was still trying to hide her tears. I walked over to her and everyone stared at me. The sudden change in volume made the supposedly-real Ryume look over. Once I got to her, she was halfway turned around so I took that opportunity to grab her and take a good look at her. She tried to get free but I held her to firmly. Sasuke gritted his teeth at me and tried to get me, but Kasaigaru held him back. Did I mention that that guy was freaking fast?

"Look at me." I said to her. She stopped squirming and looked into my brown and golden-rimmed eyes. I stared right back into her amazing green emerald eyes. Her long lashes and cheek wet from tears. Her hair partially in her face from trying to cover herself. Her slightly parted lips I wanted to taste that very moment…

Another tear slid down her cheek as she awaited my answer. I sighed without shifting my eyes away from hers. I let her go and walked back to the old Ryume I was with before.

Everyone let out a big "HUUUUUUH????" as I walked back to her. Everyone but Kasaigaru, that is. All he did was smirk and let go of Sasuke who'd calmed down, watching, observing, and thinking.

I reached the old Ryume and she put on a big smile while running towards me, arms out to embrace me. I stopped and waited for her with no expression on my face. Once she was about a foot away from me, I grabbed her arms, turned her around, and locked her arms behind her back so she was on her knees with her back facing me.

"Hikuro! W-what are you doing? Let me go! That hurts! Let go!" She cried out. She squirmed but all I did was tighten my grip. Everyone behind me cheered and patted me on the back. But I was not happy. I was way too pissed to be celebrating just yet. I gritted my teeth and flipped the fake over roughly and she fell on her back. I stood over her and showed my teeth.

"You tried to hurt Ryume and turn me against her. The one of my life. Who do you think you are to do that? Who the hell are you? And you better come up with a good answer before I beat you to a bloody pulp." Then my anger slipped and I lunged at her. Luckily Itazura and Kinaga were behind me to pull me back. They struggled to hold me back and dragged me away from the fake with me still trying to get at her. "Get that trash out of my sight!"

The fake Ryume poofed and a pink haired girl appeared. All the clothes on her were too short and showed too much skin. Slut. I gritted my teeth even more and mentally tortured myself for thinking that this thing was Ryume and I'd chosen her instead of my real Ryume. What a fool I really am.

"I can't help it…" She started and explained the reason why she did it. She did it for fun and 'wanted me'. That and her name, Kim, were the only things I got out of her. My gaze shifted to Ryume while she kept talking. Sasuke had his arms around her and had his lips at the top of her head, muttering something. Her face was hidden against him and she felt Sasuke look up at me. He just stared at me. Kasaigaru had probably told him to go easy on me. Damn it.

Ryume looked at me. Our eyes locked and I went over to her, my whole body slumped. "Ryume…" I whispered.

She bit her lip and another tear slid down her cheek. She turned away. Sasuke flinched once he saw the tear and waited for my reaction. The instant I saw it, I had her in my arms with my face buried in her beautiful soft hair. "Ryume I'm so sorry. I'm such an idiot. I don't know how you deal with me but I'm so happy you do. Thank you so much and I'm so sorry." My voice broke. "I'm so sorry…"

Then the feeling of her arms wrap around me made my insides warm up. I hugged her tighter and felt tears build up. I'm the worst. How can she stand me? How can I still be standing here with all her friends having different opinion about me and the one she loves hates me. How am I still standing here with her in my arms? Whatever it was, I'm glad I can still be with her.

"Hikuro." She breathed in my ear.

"Yes My Dear." I breathed back.

"I knew you wouldn't leave me. Thank you."

And a tear spilled. Crap. I was tearing up in front of Sasuke. I sneaked a glance at him but he was concentrated on Ryume. Kasaigaru motioned for him to leave us alone and he hesitated. Then he made a 'tsk' sound, flipped his head away angrily, and walked off not caring to find out what's going to happen next.

Kasaigaru appeared next to us and he put a hand on Ryume's head. She looked up with her sad face and hugged Kasaigaru too. He put his hand back on her head and petted her hair. "Shh, it's all right. Why don't you head on back home? I made sure it's all cleaned up. I'll take care of things here."

"Thank you." She said and went back to me.

I took her hand in mine and we walked back to her apartment. The minute we entered her living room, she sat on the couch and put her head against a pillow, tired. It was getting late and I was tired myself. This whole week was a mess. The whole thing was ridiculous but I was so happy to be back with Ryume. I sat down next to her and put her head on my shoulder. I kissed her head and put my cheek against it so we were leaning against each other.

"Hikuro?" She said after a few minutes.

"Yes Cupcake?" Another nickname for her, which she usually got embarrassed by.

"You're not angry, are you?"

I couldn't answer that question. I was angry. I was angry at myself and at how stupid I was. But If I told her that, she'd get worried and try to share my pain. I couldn't let that happen. "It matters what you mean." I said.

"Seriously, Hikuro." She said tiredly. She was too tired for avoiding the question.

"Honestly, I can't give you a straight answer."

"I have an idea." She said, putting an arm around me, snuggling against the side of my chest. "How about we forget this day ever happened?" She said. Her eyes were closed and she was mumbling. Wow, really tired. She must've done extra work while on the fake mission.

I smiled, feeling my old self come back. The happy, teasing side. I grabbed her waist and brought her on her back on the couch. She opened her eyes and gazed at me. I grinned down from over her and went for her neck. I muttered against her skin, "I agree." Then I kissed her neck, moving up to her jaw line then her lips. I stopped and hovered above her. Her face was pink and her eyes were closed from embarrassment. I smiled and lightly brushed my lips against hers. I sighed through my nose and lied down next to her, wrapping an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to me. She grabbed a line of my shirt and snuggled against me, her head under my chin. I went down and kissed her forehead. I loved her so much.

Then the next thing I knew, we were both fast asleep right next to each other. Oh how I miss the feeling of her always being right next to me without any worry of anything. Oh how much I love my jewel.