"Kakashi's got some sort of complex where he has to prove it to everyone," Ryouma said. "Mostly it makes him bossy. Kuromaru said... He was babbling when we first met up. Talking about puppies. He thought you and me'd have really cute ones." He tried returning her grin; it fell a little flat. She was looking down at her toes again.

He said, slowly, "He told me about another time you smelled like something was wrong, too. Said you ran into Kakashi today and lied when you said you were glad I slept with him. Er, mounted him, or something, which isn't quite accurate, but--" He rescued that train of thought before it devolved any further. If Tsume hadn't been happy to hear of it, she certainly wouldn't be pleased with the details. "It sounds like Intel isn't all that's upsetting you these days. And maybe Intel isn't supposed to make you happy, but I'd hate to think I'd... Is that why it matters I was gone?"

The leap in logic wasn't one he'd thought anyone but one of his less-stable former girlfriends would make. It made a little more sense from the point of view of a jealous girlfriend, but Tsume wasn't either of those. Had insisted she didn't want to be anything like a girlfriend. She'd shot him down too many times to count. Why should she care that he'd turned to someone else?