Chapter Thirty-Two

Epilogue: Promise

-&-

"WE'RE GONNA MISS YOU!" Naruto sobbed as he threw a bone-breaking hug around Rilo.

"You're going to kill her," everyone said, simultaneously.

Naruto sniffled.

"I can't believe you're leaving- TODAY! RIGHT NOW! WAAAAAAH! TWO WEEKS WENT BY TOO FAAAAAST!"

Rilo went red as everyone in the class started to stare at them.

Sukaino immediately ran over and hugged her as well.

"We're going to miss you!" she cried.

Rilo weakly laughed.

"Me too guys- don't worry. I'll be fine."

Neji walked over and took the red cap of her head.

"I take it we can put this on now?" he said, smirking.

Rilo beamed.

"Yes."

"ME FIRST! ME FIRST!"

The hat was passed around as Sukaino took a last look, fingering the singed brim.

"Where's Sasuke?" Sukaino mentioned, a little too obviously.

Everyone looked at her.

"I-I have to get to the airport," Rilo said, fanning herself.

She quickly walked out of the classroom, but not before squealing as she slammed into the doorpost.

Neji and Kiba grabbed a sniffling Naruto by the collar and dragged him outside, with Shikamaru behind them.

Outside, Rilo slammed the trunk of her father's car and she turned around to find her five friends looking at her.

"I'm going to miss you," she whispered, under her breath.

"WHAT ABOUT SASUKE!" Naruto bellowed.

Rilo swallowed. They had started hating each other- and what about now?

She waved once last time, as she slammed the door, and the car slowly drove away.

-&-

Naruto burst into tears again, and Sukaino went back inside.

She sighed, and leaned back in her chair. She hoped Rilo was making a right choice for herself…not to mention Sasuke.

"Hey- Sukaino."

Sigh.

"Sukaino!"

"Whaaaaa!"

The girl bolted up in her chair to find Sasuke looked rather urgent and desperate for some advice.

"I need to tell you something."

"Sasuke…will you name 10 good qualities about me?"

"She really asked that?" Sukaino said in a strange, warbly voice. Sasuke had his head in his hand, and he stared at his desk.

"Yeah."

"Did you answer?"

Sasuke looked at her.

"Well…no."

Sukaino got immediately to her feet.

"WHAT?"

"I-I didn't know what to say! I mean, come ON, it wasn't exactly a perfect moment, was it?"

Sukaino gaped at him.

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT," she shrieked. Sasuke stared at her.

"Um…excuse me?"

"She was using it as a tactic to find out…" Sukaino looked around and lowered her voice down to a dead whisper.

"to find out if you really like her for being her, or not," she hissed.

Sasuke blinked.

Sukaino was clearly on the verge of crying. Her grip on the desk was so strong, her knuckles were white and shaking.

Sasuke felt frustrated.

He felt angry.

But he did not know why. He knew he was overlooking something. Rilo couldn't mean THIS much to him…could she?

A perfect analogy would have been a ray of sunshine hugging a large block of ice.

Sasuke shoved his chair back and stalked off.

The sky had turned a deep gray and blue, and an off-sound of thunder rang warningly around.

Sukaino ran after him, immediately. She had less than half an hour to go before Rilo left for the million-mile trip back to America.

At the worst scenario- she would break his wrist and then drag him to the airport.

"SASUKE!" Sukaino screamed.

He turned around, slowly, taking time to revolve on his foot. Sukaino never screamed like this before.

"What," he said shortly.

Sukaino boldly walked up to her friend and glared at him in his dark eyes.

"Name ten things about her. Now."

"W-What!"

"Do it!"

"You're mental," Sasuke muttered as he shuffled away.

"Do you love her?"

Sasuke stopped, his usually quick feet rooted to the ground.

"Name ten things about her, right now, Sasuke," Sukaino commanded, her usually gentle voice taking control.

This time, Sasuke whipped around in anger and glared down at Sukaino, who did not step back in fear.

"Number one," he said loudly, "her favorite food is an orange."

A tear appeared in Sukaino's sparkling eye.

"Number two- she knows how to fence."

Another tear.

"Number three- she can dance and act a hell of a lot better than anyone I know, but she won't do it in front of other people."

Sukaino blinked and looked up at the sky to prevent another teardrop. It began to rain.

"Number four- she thinks flowers are pretty, but hates the smell."

Sukaino and Sasuke were both getting soaked, but they didn't care.

"Number five- she wears that stupid red hat all the time to symbolize friendships she's had."

The rain was spraying against Sasuke's gentle face…and perhaps mixing in with the tears too?

"N-Number six- she's not afraid to pick a fight with anyone in the world."

Sasuke's loud voice broke down into a voice that only Sukaino could hear above the rain.

"Number seven- she can't hold a grudge for more than two days."

Sukaino choked down a soft sob as she shifted her gaze to the ground.

"Number eight- she's faster than anyone I know."

She's quicker than anyone I know.

She's shorter than anyone I know.

She's kinder than anyone I know.

She's humbler.

She's smarter.

She's clumsier.

"Number nine- sh-she couldn't care less about fashion and her skills in sewing are horrible."

Sukaino lifted her eyes to the young boy standing in front of her. Sasuke was clenching his fists and shaking slightly in frustration, as if trying to find the tenth fact.

"Number ten…"

Sukaino stepped forward and placed a small hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

"Number ten," Sukaino whispered, "She's boarding an airplane to go back to America in 20 minutes. If you don't catch her, you're going to lose the last opportunity to say goodbye."

Sasuke felt like his stomach had disappeared.

"She's what?"

Sukaion hated to be the bearer of bad news. But she sighed.

"She's leaving for New York. Probably because her dad was offered a new job opportunity and she and her brother got better chances at new schools. It was better for the family."

"But not better for her!" Sasuke yelled, angrily spinning around, and kicking at a puddle. A raindrop slid of every strand of his dark hair and he was freezing.

Sasuke blinked, and it took him a moment to realize that he was crying.

Sukaino walked around him to look at his face.

"Sasuke," she whispered, "if you really, really love her, more than a best friend, you are not going to let her go without seeing her a last time."

Sasuke was numbly listening.

"And-" Sukaino laughed, shrugging her shoulders, "if you don't catch her now, some other guy is going to get her later."

Sasuke looked at Sukaino for split second before she gave a firm nod.

Sasuke didn't move.

Sukaino groaned and then tears spilling out, she took her purse and started whacking him with it.

"GO! SHE'S WAITING FOR YOU!"

"OUCH- OKAY!"

He sprinted off and ignored the rain, the streets, stoplights and disregarded hollering pedestrians and honking cars.

What he did know was that he had only twenty minutes to get to the one thing that meant everything to him the most.

-&-

Rilo glanced at her boarding pass as the stewardess opened up a new line.

"We will now begin seating for senior citizens and families with small children now."

"Hey," Kentaro said to her. "You okay?"

Rilo blinked.

"Ah…yeah! I'm fine."

Kentaro looked at her.

"It'll be fine when we get there," he said, leaning back in his chair, "dad has a good new job opportunity and if you go to college there, then with that new acting career, you could probably do well there too."

Rilo swallowed and nodded. Not that it all didn't sound wonderful, she just wished New York was Hokkaido.

Instinctively, she turned around to look behind. Kentaro raised an eyebrow.

"You have said goodbye to all of your friends…right?"

Rilo blankly looked at him.

"Rilo?"

Rilo avoided her gaze with her brother.

"What about that boy?" her father said, tapping his foot on the floor. "The day I came back- that boy, he was carrying a pink box?"

Rilo blushed, and her father noticed.

"You haven't said goodbye to him?"

"Good," Kentaro snorted.

"Now boarding First Class Passengers, please. First Class only!"

Rilo glanced at her ticket again. They were row 29. That was almost all the way in the back. Quickly, she spun around to glance behind her again.

"Rilo?" Kentaro asked, as he heaved a large suitcase over his shoulder. "We're going soon."

Rilo's breathing became faster as she squeezed her eyes shut and the hand holding the ticket became sweaty. It was almost now or never. She knew she'd probably never come back to Hokkaido, and if she did, what were the chances of Sasuke still living here?

"Rilo!"

And even if she did say goodbye, it would have made their separation even worse. But truthfully, she would be selfish in begging her father to let her stay, no matter how much she didn't want to leave. She'd have to sacrifice for him to be able to be offered a job in new waters.

"We are now boarding rows 1-15, only 1-15, please. And do not leave children unattended."

"Hey!" Kentaro roughly shook his sister's shoulder. "Snap out of it!"

Rilo blinked.

"What?"

"Are you ready to board?

The corner of her eyes began to mist up. This was something she'd really regret.

Please…anyone who's listening…postpone the trip…stall the airplane…whatever!

A deafening clap of thunder shook the airport and Rilo dropped her suitcase.

No. Way.

With a crackling sound of electricity, the lights flickered and one by one, they began to go out.

"DON'T PANIC!" A man screamed, with a cop's badge. "THERE WILL BE A SHORT DELAY! DO NOT PANIC! HOLD ONTO YOUR POSSESSIONS! PLEASE, WE NEED COOPERATION!"

Children began to scream and Rilo slowly took Kentaro's hand away.

"Great," he groaned.

"No worries," Mr. Miyaki said, cheerfully. "You're going to be ready to board?"

-&-

20 minutes.

It took at least 20 more minutes for order to take place and for the lights to be fixed, and with that, the stewardess called out,

"Now boarding rows 16-30, please! 16-30!"

Kentaro quickly grabbed Rilo's boarding pass and they headed towards the gate.

"We're leaving…c'mon."

"Wait…" she whispered. "No…no, wait!"

"Rilo, we're leaving. NOW."

"WAIT!" she cried. People were staring at her, but she could care less.

"What are you waiting for!" Kentaro yelled, as people started to give them annoyed looks. "Come ON!"

"Go ahead-" Rilo said, breathless, "I'll catch up!"

"It's a PLANE, you moron!" Kentaro said, as he let more people cut him in line. "We have to go- NOW."

He grabbed her by the wrist, but she wrenched away.

"But—"

"You can't catch up with a PLANE."

Rilo suddenly stopped. The airport seemed deathly quiet as everyone looked at her, some with pity, some with annoyance.

She let out a long breath, and glistening tears began to roll down her face.

"…come on."

The moment Rilo turned around, it was as if someone had tuned up the radio extremely loud, and a bang like a gunshot went off in the airport. Almost everyone dropped to the ground.

Rilo spun on the spot.

"WAIT! DAMN IT, GET OFF OF ME! RILO! RILO!"

She blinked.

"GRAB HIM! THE BOY!"

"RILO! WE GOTTA GO! NOW!

"OUCH! I'M NOT A FREAKING TERRORIST, GET OFF! I'M ONLY FIFTEEN!"

"HANDCUFF HIM!"

"Miss," the stewardess said, "are you boarding the plane?"

Rilo ignored her and all at once, it felt like her heart suddenly burst.

Sasuke was running towards her like in some old movie, and he elbowed the racing cops out of his way.

"HEY! RILO!"

Rilo didn't know what to do. Her hands were actually shaking, and finally, Sasuke was out of the guard's grasp and in front of her, in a blink of an eye.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Rilo looked up at his face. He was completely drenched and his eyebrows were wrinkled together in clear worry.

"I didn't want you to worry," she said, quietly.

Sasuke closed his eyes.

"Don't leave."

"I have to," she whispered.

"You don't have to—"

Rilo closed her eyes, and put a finger up to his lips. Everyone was watching them, and…er…it was rather apparent that Sasuke was no terrorist bomb person.

"I have to," she repeated again.

"Ma'am," the stewardess said, impatiently, "people are waiting to leave, and unless—"

Rilo quickly turned around. They were about to close the gates.

"I have to go," she said, crying. Awkwardly, Sasuke bent down so close to small face that he could see every tear hanging from her eyelashes.

"Sukaino helped me realize the 10 good qualities about you."

Rilo half laughed.

"Sasuke- you know, you have to promise me one thing," she said quickly.

"If- I probably won't ever see you again, and—"

"But—"

"Listen," Rilo said urgently.

"MA'AM. THE PASSENGERS ARE WAITING."

THWACK.

Someone had hit the stewardess to shush during this touching moment.

"Forget about me okay?" Rilo said, laughing. "There are plenty of other girls you can go after. I'm one in a million others."

"But…you're one in a million."

Rilo smiled weakly, and took of her red hat, and pressed it into his hands.

"You can keep this, I don't need it anymore. I've got enough friendships to last me a lifetime."

Sasuke swallowed. Something strange felt in his stomach. Rilo pressed her lips together.

"I'm sort of cutting off ties with everyone here."

Sasuke blinked. "What?"

"It'll help me get through life easier," Rilo said, gulping. "It sounds stupid, I know, but I don't want to go everyday thinking about Naruto or Neji or Kiba or Shikamaru…or you. Not everyday. I'd kill myself for it."

Sasuke clenched the red hat.

"So, promise me, you'll find another awesome girl and you'll take her on dates and you'll give her rides in that Vespa of yours. Okay?"

Sasuke felt nothing. But something.

"H-Hey," he said, shaking, "if you're ever in Hokkaido, visit. Okay?"

"Sure," Rilo said, smiling.

Slowly, Sasuke leaned over and kissed her slowly on the mouth, the raindrops from his face mixing in with her fresh tears. I love you, Miyaki Rilo.

Rilo blushed and quickly broke away as everyone stared.

"Hey," Kentaro said menacingly, breaking in quite suddenly. Rilo blinked as he dragged her away.

"HEY!" Sasuke yelled after her.

Rilo turned around.

Clutching the trademark red hat, Sasuke tried to smile.

"IF- IF WE DO SEE EACH OTHER AGAIN…PROMISE ME I CAN TAKE YOU ON A DATE."

Rilo pressed her lips together and smiled.

"Only if I get to pay the bill," she laughed.

The impatient stewardess closed the gate, and Sasuke dashed to the stairs and jumped over the DO NOT ENTER ribbons.

Panting, he reached the roof floor and kicked the door open, looking up at the bright sky and the airplane getting ready to lift off.

"Bye."

-&-

Rilo rushed on board to her row, and clambered on the window seat, pressing her face against it to get a last look at the airport, the city, the friends, and a boy she was leaving behind. She fingered her lips, which were still wet from Sasuke's last kiss, trying to make sure they hadn't changed.

"Uchiha Sasuke, you really are something."

Fin.

-&-

Thank you for your support on this SasuOC story!

It's been through a few roadblocks, many revisions, and a site deletion, but hopefully, now it will be up here to stay!

A note as of July 2009: In 2007, this fic was reported and deleted because of the overwhelming number of OCs (the four main boys used to be Suoh, Li, Takeshi and Hasake). It's understandable that this fic wouldn't necessarily fall into the category of NARUTO when the only canon character was Sasuke. Thus, I have changed it (the four boys now are Neji, Shikamaru, Naruto, and Kiba), took parts out, and Narutofied it, although keeping my main OCs, Rilo and Sukaino.

You may be wondering why the main pairing is Sasuke and Rilo as opposed to the usual favored SasuSaku. While SasuSaku is my definite OTP, I wrote this before I realized how much I liked Sakura. (Yes, in 2006, I didn't like her one bit.) So I created an OC who would clash with Sasuke and fit my ideals as good fit for him. You can call it Mary Sue but I love Rilo. My first, and probably last, main original OC leading lady.

(And if you'd like, you can check out the first three chapters of the sequel although it is in a HIATUS status.)

From the bottom of my heart to all my faithful reviewers,

I LOVE YOU! I seriously do. I went through a ton of criticism at the launch of this fic and to you devoted readers who stuck with me even after The Great Deletion, I can't express how awesome your reviews make me feel.

Know you are the greatest. Seriously.

Tata,

aNdreaa