"A pebble in the water makes a ripple effect."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
My eyes fluttered open, and I instantly shut them again. The sun had been shining too brightly into my room.
It took a few moments for my eyes to adjust to the brightness. I looked next to me, and I instantly began smiling.
I leaned over and placed a soft kiss on Gaara's lips, knowing he wasn't really sleeping. His eyes opened instantly, his seafoam green gaze landing on me.
"Good morning," I greeted happily, smiling at him.
"Morning," He muttered, planting a kiss on my forehead. He looked at my balcony, noticing the sunlight streaming down on it. "I'd better get going. Temari and Kankuro should be waking up soon, and I need to be there when they do."
"Temari and Kankuro aren't going to be up yet," I said easily. "It's way too early. Not even Kimi gets up at this unholy hour, and she's like... This really creepy morning person."
"So you do want me to stay, then?" He inquired.
"Of course I do," I said. "I mean, no one's even up yet- Oh, holy Lord." My eyes widened as I heard shuffling from next door, which just so happened to be Ryuu's room.
Now, I'm going to be honest here. If Ryuu realized that my boyfriend had just so casually appeared into my room at night, he would have a heart attack and probably never let me out of his sight again. I didn't think Gaara deserved to be on Ryuu's "Must Die" list so soon.
"Okay, forget I said that," I said quickly, sitting up. "You need to leave. Like now. As in two seconds kind of now."
He sat up with me. "What's wrong?"
"Dude, my brother's in the next room! If he finds out that you're here, he'll-"
"Minxie?" Ryuu's voice inquired from the other side of the door, knocking. "Can I come in?"
"Eek!" I squeaked, rolling off of the bed and landing on the floor.
"Uh... Sis? Are you okay?" My brother asked.
"Holy chizz!" I whispered, turning to Gaara. "Disappear! Now!"
"I just don't get it. I haven't met your brother yet. Why not let him get to know me now?" the redhead inquired.
"He can't get to know you while you're in my bedroom, for Pete's sake! He'll hate you!" I exclaimed. "That paints a terrible picture!"
"Uh, Minxie?" Ryuu inquired. "Who are you talking to?"
"My imaginary friend!" I blurted quickly. "His name is... Roberto!"
"And why do you have an imaginary friend named Roberto?" He asked.
"Because he likes cookies!" I answered, making no sense whatsoever. I turned to Gaara. "Roberto! Leave!"
"I don't know if I should be concerned that you're lying to your brother, or that you're pretending I'm an imaginary friend and named me Roberto," Gaara said.
I facepalmed. "That's not the point! Roberto, exit! Fast!" I ordered, getting off of the floor. I pulled Gaara off of my bed, opening my balcony's doors and pushing him out on it. "Bye!"
"Wait," He said, and before I even knew what had happened, he had pulled me back, spun me around, and planted a kiss on my lips.
I was immediately lost in the kiss, my arms wrapping around his neck instinctively. It wasn't until I heard my brother's knock on my door that I knew I needed to stop.
I pulled away from Gaara, who had a hint of a smirk on his lips. I scowled at him. "Ugh! Roberto! Quit doing that!" I whined, stomping my foot.
"I'll see you soon," He said, kissing my cheek. And with that, he made a single hand sign and teleported away into sand.
I was still drunk simply because he had kissed me, and I closed my balcony's doors warily. I walked to my room door, opening it.
"Oh, hey, Ryuu," I said, waving at him with a smile. "Roberto had to leave urgently. He's fighting in the Spanish War. It's gummy worms vs. Spanish candy canes. Very serious. But, don't worry, he'll be back! He promised to bring cookies, too."
Ryuu stared at me, wondering if I had gone completely insane. "Um... Right," He said, suppressing an eye-twitch. "Look, we're all gathered in the living room. We're waiting for you so we can have this whole meeting thing."
"Right," I answered. "Just give me a few minutes to get ready."
He nodded, walking towards the staircase and disappearing down the hall.
I closed my room door, getting myself ready by doing my normal morning routine. I found myself checking around me randomly, afraid that Scarlett might just pop out of nowhere and push me off of my own balcony.
By some miracle, I got through my morning routine without dying, and I made my way downstairs. All of my friends were there, even Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji.
"Hey, guys," I greeted, entering the living room. They all waved a hello to me, and I stood in front of the t.v.
"Okay, so, you guys know you weren't called here to eat chocolate," I began, putting my hands on my hips. "Because, trust me, if I had chocolate, I wouldn't share it with any of you. Chocolate is just too important."
"I worry about you sometimes," Mitchell said, shaking his head at me.
I grinned. "Why, thank you." I took a little bow. "Anyway, we're here to talk about Scarlett."
"Ah, her," Mitchell said. "That impossibly hot, but very evil copy of you, right?"
My eye twitched, and Kylie smacked him in the back of the head. "Idiot! Don't call her hot! She's evil!" She shouted.
"Hey!" He objected. "Look, it's not my fault. She's hot, okay? She's actually hotter than you, which sounds impossible because you look exactly alike, but I can assure you, it's very true. There's not much to argue about."
"She's the evil reincarnation of me," I stated flatly. "She's trying to ruin my life!"
"Yeah, well... She's still extremely sexy," He said. The guys, minus Ryuu, all nodded eagerly, beginning to talk about Scarlett's hotness like it was something they heard about every day.
I got a major eye twitch. "People! Okay, so, now that we've established that she's hot, and, apparently, hotter than me -thanks for that, asshole-" I shot Mitchell a withering glare then, and he winked back at me. "-can we please get back to the point of this conversation?" They stopped talking, and I nodded. "Thank you. Now, I have no idea what Scarlett's up to. I'm not even sure what her ultimate goal is. All I know is that she's preying on each of us, and we're all her targets."
All of my friends began talking, telling me that I had said something to practically all of them. That meant Scarlett had encountered them all at least once, and she had pretended that she was me.
"Well... That's not good," I noted after a while. "I thought this would be easy... But it isn't. Scarlett and I aren't exact replicas. She has red eyes, and I have green eyes. That's our distinctive trait. But, apparently, she's found a way around it... And her acting skills are perfect."
"Then there really is no way to tell you guys apart, huh?" Sakura said, sounding disappointed.
I shook my head. "I don't think so. I mean, we can always try to psyche her out and get her to admit to who she really is... But the only one who can do that is Rin, and even for her, it's difficult," I said.
"So then what're we supposed to do?" Ino inquired. "We can't let her keep messing with us like it's okay."
"We aren't going to do anything," I said easily, and all of their jaws dropped.
"Say what!?" Naruto exclaimed.
"Minxie, you can't expect us to just let this happen," Kiba said sternly.
"She's screwing with all of us," Ryuu said.
"She has to be stopped," Sakura agreed.
"Did you all just suddenly forget what happened yesterday?" I asked, my tone equally as fierce. "Scarlett almost killed Rin. She pushed Hinata off of a roof, for crying out loud! She framed me, lied to Sakura, and God knows what else, since you all have stories about her! There's no end to what she's capable of."
"So we're supposed to just wait until she strikes again?" Kylie asked, dumbfounded.
"No," I said. "This time, we'll be ready for it. I have a plan." Before they could ask what it was, I continued on, "I just needed you guys to know about her. So whenever you think it's me telling you something terrible... Know that it isn't, and it's Scarlett. Okay?"
There were murmurs of objection, but eventually, they all nodded.
"Thanks," I said, smiling gratefully at them. "Now, Ryuu? We should head to the hospital."
My brother nodded, and after saying goodbye to my friends, we began walking to the hospital.
"Minxie... What did you mean when you said you had a plan?" He inquired to me after a while of walking in silence.
"I meant exactly that. I have a plan," I said easily.
"And that plan is....?"
"Look, Ryuu... Scarlett is my doppelganger. She's my problem. I'll take care of her."
"Minxie...."
"I'm going to be fine, Ryuu! Just trust me, okay?"
He sighed. "Okay... Fine."
I gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks, bro! Now, to the hospital!"
And with that, I grabbed his hand and pulled him along the road.
~*~
"Do you girls want anything?" Ryuu inquired, standing up. He just told Rin and I that he'd be heading to the cafeteria, and he wanted to know if we wanted anything from there.
"Chocolate chip cookies," Rin and I answered at the same time, and he sighed.
"Why'd I even ask..." He muttered, exiting the room.
I immediately took the chance to ask Rin what I really wanted to ask her. Surprisingly, she hadn't been mad at me in any way. She knew Scarlett already, and she knew I would never do anything like that to her. I'd never try and hurt her intentionally.
She had been improving quickly. She wasn't up to her full health yet, but she was pretty close. In fact, she could be released today.
"Rin," I began, leaning forward in my seat by her bed. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure," She said, picking her hair up into its usual high ponytail.
"If you wanted to lure Scarlett somewhere... How would you do it?" I asked.
"Why the heck would you want to even be near Scarlett?" She inquired.
I laughed dryly. "Oh, I don't. It's just a question."
"Well... It seems that she appears whenever something's happening between people in our friend group," she answered, "Wherever there's drama, you'll find Scarlett, ready to manipulate it to her own will."
I nodded, muttering, "Mmhm..."
Suddenly, her eyes widened. "Minxie, please tell me you aren't thinking of-"
"Girls," Ryuu interrupted, entering the room. "Here you go." He handed us our cookies, and I smiled at him, secretly thanking him for interrupting when he did.
Rin was too sharp for her own good. I didn't need her to get involved in my plan. She had been involved with Scarlett too many times, and it wasn't good for her.
"I spoke to the nurse," Ryuu said, putting his hands into his pockets and doing that cool guy hair flip thing. "Once you're finished eating that, Rin, you can check out of the hospital."
"Thank God," Rin said, sighing. "It's so boring here, and I've been dying to- Oh my God, these cookies are amazing." She completely went off her train of thought, now that she was focused on the chocolate chip cookie she had just eaten.
Curious, I picked up a cookie, taking a bite of it. Instantly, I knew what she meant. These cookies were heavenly! It was like the sky was a brown abyss of cookie dough and the clouds were heavenly little chocolate chips.
... Or maybe that's just my thought.
Ryuu sighed. "I bet they're not even that good," He scoffed, rolling his eyes.
"Oh, yeah?" Rin challenged. "Try one, Ryuu. Maybe it'll take care of whatever you have up your ass all the time."
I busted out laughing, not even stopping when Ryuu started glaring at me. "You heard the lady," I said through giggles, eating some of my cookie.
Ryuu glared at me, snatching the bag of cookies from my hand and making me scowl at him. He took one and ate it. His expression mellowed, but then it harshened again.
He threw the bag back at me. "So, what. They're delicious. Who cares," He said, and Rin and I smiled triumphantly.
"Aw? Are you mad, bro?" I inquired, grinning at him.
"Oh, shut up," He said, pushing my face away with a smirk on his lips.
Rin and I giggled again, and the three of us spent the rest of the hour eating cookies and joking around with each other.
Ryuu's POV
"Are you sure this is what you want?" I asked Rin, who was seated on the couch.
I had taken her to her new home. Her parents had finally stopped being control freaks, you know, after I spoke to them... And they'd decided to let her live on her own and away from the Mori Compound.
But the house was impossibly huge, and she would be staying by herself.
"Are you kidding? I've been wanting this since I was five," She said easily. "I finally don't have to be the sheltered baby of the Mori Clan anymore." She blew her bangs out of her face. "I still have no idea what you said to them, nor why they even listened to you."
I shrugged. "I have a way with getting parents to love me, even parents like yours," I said easily, and she facepalmed.
"Thank you, Ryuu," She said after a few moments of silence.
I raised an eyebrow at her. "For what?"
She shook her head. "You've done more for me this week than my own parents ever have," She said, and I felt my face straighten.
"... No problem," I said. I looked around the large living room again. "And you're going to live here all by yourself?"
"Well, I guess so," She said. "I mean, I wouldn't mind it if you guys came to stay or anything like that, but I guess for now, I am."
"I'll run it by Minxie," I said. "And you know she'll say yes."
She smiled. "Yeah, I kind of do."
"I'll be back later, okay?" I said. "I have some mission to do with Hayato and Daisuke."
She nodded, waving. "Bye, Ryuu."
"Bye, Rin," I said, and with that, I left her new house. The house was on the outskirts of the village, shaded by large trees.
I eventually reached the village roads that always seemed to be bustling with people. The sun shone brightly, positioned at its highest point in the clear blue sky.
I spotted Minxie walking through the village, Naruto by her side. She noticed me and smiled, waving.
"Hey, Ryuu!" Naruto greeted in his overly loud voice.
Minxie stifled a laugh at my face, since I was suppressing an eye-twitch at her blonde best friend. "What's up?"
"I was going to find Hayato and Daisuke for our mission... But I needed to ask you something, too," I said. "Rin's finally living out of the Mori Compound, but the house is impossibly huge for no reason. It's just dozens of rooms... And she'll be staying there by herself. I really don't want her to be alone after what happened."
"I agree," She said. "We'll pack our stuff tonight and move in with her."
"Great," I said. "I'll see you guys later?" They nodded, and they returned to walking down the streets of the village.
I met with Josh and Mitchell at the village gates. Mitchell was side-glaring at Josh, who had a very angry and unhappy look on his face. I couldn't blame him, since he believed Kylie had cheated on him. But he was stupid for believing Scarlett, even if she did look like Minxie. Kylie would never to that to him.
"Are you ready?" I inquired, and they nodded. "Let's go."
~*~
Mitchell yawned, shaking his head as he tried to remain awake. We had finally returned to the village, even though it was in the evening.
We had been escorting some bratty prince to a fort a few hours away from Konoha. Mitchell wanted to strangle him multiple times, and I considered letting him do it, too, since the prince was just that annoying.
"We should go and report to the Hokage," He said, putting his arms behind his head. "Right, Ryuu? Ryuu. Uh, Ryuu, man?"
"Oh. Yeah. We should," I said, completely distracted.
"Are you okay?" He inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah," I lied. "You guys head home. I'll report to the Hokage."
Mitchell seemed a little unsure, but Josh just nodded, and they both disappeared into a puff of smoke.
I couldn't shake it anymore. For days, even throughout our entire mission, I'd had this feeling that someone was... Watching me. Studying me.
Their presence was familiar; I knew that much. I just couldn't decide who it was.
I didn't know why they were watching me, but I knew that whatever their real purpose was couldn't be good.
Scarlett's POV (OH SNIZZEY! xD)
I watched with perfect crimson eyes as Ryuu made his way down the streets. I wasn't a fan of Minxie, but her brother was an entire different story. He was like a walking god, and he was just like me: A badass.
I knew all about his criminal past, all about him being in the Akatsuki. I knew everything. But I never said it. I waited for the perfect time to reveal it.
I walked through the shadows in Konoha, the sunset's bloody red color the exact replica of my eyes. I would've continued to Minxie's house if I hadn't heard her voice.
"Ah! Naruto, quit it!" She was saying, giggling like a child.
I raised an eyebrow, following her voice. It led me to Naruto's house. I slipped into the house easily, using my Molecular Distortion Jutsu.
What I saw shocked even me. Minxie and Naruto were close by each other, their breathing hitched. What happened next occurred in slow-motion. Their lips found each other, and I couldn't help it. I grinned.
I waited a few more seconds before appearing in the doorway, a smirk on my lips. "Well, well," I began, making them both turn to me with wide eyes, "Someone's been a bad girl."
"Poor Gaara," I said, shaking my head.
Then, something odd happened. Minxie and Naruto looked at each other and started laughing.
In a puff of smoke, they were no longer Minxie and Naruto. Instead, they were two large leopards.
"Disappointed?" Minxie's voice inquired, and I saw Minxie emerge from the open window. She turned to the leopards. "Thanks, guys." They grinned at her, nodding, and then disappeared.
"Congrats," I said, smirking at her. "You actually fooled me."
"I'll be sure to do it again sometime," She promised, giving me a dry smile. "We need to talk."
"Ooh," I taunted, "Am I in trouble?"
"You should be," She said, glaring at me. "You tried to kill Hinata and Rin, and they haven't even done anything to you!"
"So you're not angry that I tried to put you in prison?" I inquired.
"Oh, no, I'm pissed off about that," She assured. "But Hinata and Rin are more important."
"You see, that's why you're weak," I said, shaking my head at her. "Caring about others before caring about yourself... It's stupid."
"It's called being a friend," She said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Whatever." I shrugged. "So, what do you want?"
"I want you to stop hurting my friends," She said fiercely.
"And if I don't?" I challenged, raising an eyebrow.
"Then I'll personally hunt you down and kill you," She said.
I laughed, leaning off the doorway. I stepped towards her. "Kill me? You're bluffing, and we both know it. You can't kill me, even if you wanted to. You don't have it in you," I said, smirking at her. "Besides... You really should be nicer to me. After all, I do control the life of your brother and your friends."
"Ryuu?" She asked, her fierceness gone. "What did you do to him?"
"Rin can tell you about it," I said. "It's poison, one that can't be detected. He'll die, and all I have to do is snap my fingers."
"Now look who's bluffing," She said, her voice shaking slightly.
I shrugged. "Fine. Don't believe me. I'm not the one who loses if you don't," I sang. "Now, I'll make you a deal. Give me a place to stay... And I'll lay off your precious village. Fair enough?"
"Why do you even want to stay with us?" She inquired.
"I need a place to stay right now, since eventually, you're going to need me," I said easily.
"And if I don't agree?"
"Simple. I'll kill all of your friends and massacre half your village while I'm at it."
She glared at me, and I smirked back at her.
"So I take it we have a deal?" I inquired.
"... Deal," She muttered, and I grinned.
"Perfect."
Minxie's POV
"She's going to what?" Rin asked, tilting her head in disbelief. She had come over to my house a few minutes ago, and I had just told her about Scarlett's new living arrangements.
I sighed. "You heard me, Rin. Scarlett's going to live in the other house with the rest of us," I said.
"Oh. I get it," She said, nodding. "Have you lost your mind?"
"Quite possibly, yes," I answered. "But that doesn't matter now. She needs somewhere to stay, and we're running low on space here, so... She's staying over there."
Her mouth hung open in shock. "Are you insane? Why the hell should we house that bi-"
"Language!" I interrupted, and she sighed.
"Fine... Why the hell should we house that witch? After all she's done?" She asked.
"Because it's a nice thing to do," I answered easily.
"Scarlett is not in any way nice," She said flatly.
"Oh, I know that," I said, throwing a bunch of Scarlett's clothes into the suitcase in front of me.
"Then why the heck are you letting her stay!?" She exclaimed, almost pulling her hair out.
"At least if she stays in the other house, I'll know where she is," I said. "The house is on the outskirts of the village, so she won't be around anyone. She won't be able to hurt them."
"Minxie, it's Scarlett, for crying out loud! The evil doppelganger? Yeah, her. She doesn't give a damn! She'll hurt anyone, no matter where you put her," She argued, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Look, Rin," I said, slamming the suitcase shut. "We're all going to be staying in the other house now. She'll be right under our noses. She can't pull anything if we're all around."
"That's not true, and we both know it," she said, "She was born for this, Minxie. To cause us all a hard time? She's a pro at sneaking around and doing damage. You're underestimating her."
"I know what I'm doing, Rin," I said.
"I hope you do, Minxie," she muttered, "I really, really hope you do."
I opened my mouth to object, but she was already in the doorway. "Look, the guys are waiting for me at the house... I'll see you tomorrow." And with that, she spun on her heel and left the room.
I sighed, sitting on the bed and putting my head in my hands. Things were getting too complicated. I understood what Rin was trying to say, but she was wrong. I needed to believe that she was wrong. That Scarlett was just some bad dream that we'd all wake up from soon.
I know what I'm doing, I thought to myself.
If only I had known how wrong I was.
Ryuu's POV
It was a brand new day, and our entire group of friends were making arrangements to move over to Rin's house.
The girls were all gathered in Minxie's house, and most of the guys were at Rin's house. Currently, Kiba, Naruto, Shikamaru, Neji, and I were all sitting around in the living room, each of us doing our own thing.
"I can't believe this!" Someone shouted from down the hall. A few seconds later, Rin appeared in the doorway, her delicate features fixed into a scowl.
"Another stunt by lovely Miss Doppelganger, huh?" Kiba asked. Well, stated. You didn't have to be a genius to know that everything that went wrong was Scarlett's fault.
"She's screwing us all over, one by one," Rin stated, "and I'm sick of it. And now she's supposed to be staying here, too? I mean, are you kidding me? How sick and twisted is that?"
"Wonderful," Kiba said sarcastically, "She'll be around us permanently, now! Just what everyone wanted."
"It shouldn't be like this," Naruto muttered, shaking his head. "Here we are, some of the best shinobi in our village, and yet we're taking crap from Scarlett."
"Exactly," Shikamaru agreed, "It's only getting worse over time. What next? We'll find out that she's sold each of our souls to the devil? I'm sick and tired of her damn games. They're a drag."
"Then there's only one solution," I spoke up. They all turned to me, raising an eyebrow in question. "The simple way. We kill her."
"As tempting as that sounds," Kiba said, "There's no way Minxie would stand for it."
"Then we don't tell Minxie," Mitchell said easily, walking into the room.
"Exactly," I agreed, nodding.
"Look, I know Scarlett's done a lot to us... But should we really kill her? And to lie to Minxie about it... I don't know," Naruto said unsurely.
"You said it yourself, Naruto," I said. "You're sick of taking her crap. We're all tired of it. And you're all right. It's only getting worse. She's planning something big, and whatever happens won't be for our benefit. I refuse to just stay here and wait around for her to make her move."
"So you're saying we just kill her?" Shikamaru asked.
"I'm saying that we plan a flawless plan," I explained, "And then we kill her."
"As long as the bitch dies, I'm cool," Rin said easily, sitting down on the couch's arm.
Kiba, who was next to her, gasped. "Remember that Rin from the carnival? The one who was so sweet and quiet and longing?" He asked, looking up at Rin. "Where the hell did she go?"
"She got pissed off after being a pawn in Scarlett's games," She answered. "So, what are we going to do?"
"First thing's first: We can't tell anyone, especially not Minxie. The less people that know, the better," Mitchell said. I nodded in agreement.
"We'll need to pick a location," Shikamaru added, "Somewhere we can use to our advantage."
"And it can't be somewhere obvious or impossibly big," Kiba said. "She won't fall for it, and we can't let things get too messy. If the villagers find out about this, we'll never be able to erase it. And with her acting skills, she'll have everyone believing that she's Minxie, and we'll all end up in jail for injuring our 'friend.'"
"You can do it here," Rin offered. "It's not too spacious, but not small, either. It's on the outskirts of the village, so that takes care of the villagers. I can give you a map, and you can use it to your advantage. Scarlett hasn't been here before, so we'll have the upper hand. The day she comes to stay here is the day we take her down."
"Perfect," I said, nodding at her. "But before we start planning anything serious, I need to know one thing. No one else besides us can know about this, but you can feel free to back down now. Killing Scarlett is not only going to be dangerous, but terribly difficult. So, I need to know... Are you in or not?"
There was a moment of silence before Rin said, "Was that even a question?" I felt the corners of my mouth tilt up into a smirk, and the guys all either smiled or chuckled.
"So there's no objections, then?" I asked.
"None at all," Kiba said.
"None," Shikamaru agreed. "I think we all want her dead."
"Well... All right then," I said with a satisified smirk. "Looks like that's it. As soon as she moves in... We'll kill Scarlett."