Naruto (c) Masashi Kishimoto

Dedication: CCRox4Eva for being reviewer 300 on BKP :)

The setting sun was casting various shades of golden orange and red and the encroaching night lent its shades of blues and purples. Sasuke and I were on our backs atop a grassy knoll, giggling; well I was giggling, my head rested on his shoulder, one arm across his stomach and he held my hand while my other hand played with the grass besides his head, the warm breeze kissing our skin. Summer was fading and autumn was coming swiftly.

“You are so weird sometimes Sakura. Me, with hand-like wings? Please,” Sasuke rolled his dark eyes.

“Hey idiot, key words: It was a dream!” I shouted.

“Whatever,” Sasuke shook his head, and raised my hand that he was holding. He looked at my fingers, and I wondered what he was thinking, before he suddenly sat up, and I sat up too, looking at him. “This finger looks ugly,” he stated.

“What!?” I glared at him, torn between laughing and killing him.

“Because it doesn’t have this,” he pulled out a simple ring with a flower pattern etched into it.

“Sasuke, I’m sixteen,” I growled.

“No, really?” he gave me a deadpan look. “It’s a promise,” he slipped it on my ring finger on my left hand. “That I’ll always love you and we’ll get married one day,” he said. I stared at the ring then at him before grinning like an idiot and hugged him, squealing into his ear. “Ow, Sakura! I want to keep my hearing a little bit longer!” Sasuke shouted. I pulled away looking at him. His smile fell to a concern frown. “Sakura why are you crying?” he wiped away a tear from my cheek. I touched my face to find he was right about me crying.

“Because I’m just so happy,” I pointed out.

“Okay,” he cupped my cheek and kissed me rather heatedly and my hands fisted in his shirt. He pulled away and was about to kiss me again when his cell phone rang. He picked up it up off the ground near him and glanced at me the screen. “I have to go,” he stood up. “See ya Sakura,” he waved at me, and I blew him a kiss. He caught it and grinned, before heading home. I watched him drive off before rolling up the blanket and heading home myself.

It was two years later; Sasuke and I were shifting through college acceptance letters. I got accepted into a very good university that had one of these best medical programs in Japan, it was in Nara. Sasuke got accepted into every college and university in Japan, and I hoped he picked he same college I was going to go to. “I can’t believe it,” he suddenly whispered.

“What? Why? They didn’t accepted you?” I asked.

“No…I got accepted to Yale,” Sasuke whispered, a grin spreading across his face. I gaped at him.

“Isn’t that in America?” I asked stupidly.

“No, its in Russia, of course Yale is in America!” Sasuke snapped, glaring at me. “And, I’m going,” he looked at me and my heart sank.

“I thought we’d go to college together,” I whispered.

“Sakura, this isn’t like high school, this is our future,” Sasuke pointed out. I hung my head.

“I understand,” even though I didn’t want him to leave me or Japan.

“I’ll call you every night before I go to bed,” he said. I giggled.

“I may be asleep,” I said trying to think positively about everything and failing epically.

“Sakura, I made you a promise and I intend to keep that promise,” Sasuke held my gaze with his steady onyx eyes.

“Okay, Sasuke-kun,” I mumbled softly, not sure why I felt like that promise truly meant nothing to him.

I walked behind Itachi as he led me to Sasuke’s room. I knew where Sasuke’s room was, and could’ve found it on my own, cause I’ve been to his house enough times, but his mother is kinda a maniac in her quest for grandchildren, so to save myself an awkward bombardment of my non-excitant sex life with Sauske, Itachi led me to his brother’s room. I politely thanked him and entered Sasuke’s room. School was over for us and Sasuke was packing for his move to America. Books on English scattered on his bed, clothes all over the room, one of the posters of his favorite bands was starting to fall off, corner by corner. He looked up at me, and set the pile of folded laundry into the suitcase. “Sakura,” he smiled nervously at me.

“You’re coming back right?” I looked up at him hopefully.

“Maybe…I may really like it over there,” Sasuke shrugged.

“What about…” I looked at my feet glancing at the ring on my finger.

“Hey, he titled my head up so I was looking into his eyes. “I told you, I’m going to keep that promise, okay!” Sasuke said. I pulled away from him and looked at something mundane.

How do you describe this feeling that I was feeling? Sasuke and I have known each other for our entire lives. He was my best guy friend next to Naruto and Suigetsu. I loved him and I didn’t want to him to go, but I don’t know what to do. “Please…don’t go,” I whispered, feeling small and alone. Sasuke blinked at me.

“We’ve been through this Sakura, I’m going to Yale! Its too late or me to back out now! And even I could, I wouldn’t,” Sasuke pointed out.

“But you may not come back!” I felt hot anger bubble up inside me. How dare he claim to keep this promise only to through it back into my face by staying in the US!?

“I don’t know, maybe!” he shrugged. I snorted, turning my back on him. “Sakura, listen, its not the end of the world, I’ll come back,” he grimaced, “eventually,” he finally said.

“Eventually translates into never! I knew it,” I had a strong urge to rip the ring off and throw it at his head as hard as I could. “I knew it was too good to be true! You never intended to keep that promise you made me! Did you?” I accused. He blinked at me.

“That’s not true! I do intend to keep my promise, Sakura! I’m a man of my word! How dare you accuse me of not loving you!?” he shouted. I felt my lip quiver at the last statement, but I refused to cry in front of him.

“You’re leaving me for some over priced school half way around the world! How do you love me if you leave me!?” I shouted.

“Absents makes the heart grow founder,” Sasuke snapped in a bitchy tone. I screeched, the flood gates breaking as my tears cascaded down my pale cheeks, and I shoved him away from me.

“I don’t care! You’re leaving me! I,” I took a gulp of air, “I hate you! I don’t’ care if you ever come back from America!” I screamed, not really caring about the tears.

“Sakura,” Sasuke tried to hold me but I just pushed him away again and ran from his room and out of his house, and I guess out of his life.

That night, curled into a corner on my bed, I sobbed; crying, I held a crumpled note in my hands. Itachi had stopped by shortly after my outburst and handed me a note written in his brother’s sloppy scrawl, without so much as a word, and he left as soon as I took the note from him. The note broke my heart but I had no willpower to see Sasuke at the moment. The next day I watched from my window as Sasuke’s brother drove him to the airport. I still remember his face through the tined window, one of hopeful longing and a promise, a promise to return.

And I cried.

For CCRox4Eva

Again, sorry it took so long. I actually wrote a different one, it was vampire themed, but I just didn’t like it. And then listening to Gackt, the phrase “and I cried.” Hit me and I knew I had to write it.

I was planning to have Sasuke and Sakura reunite after a couple of years, but the story took a bat and hit me over the head and told me to stop. So, I did. I actually like how it turned out.

R’n’R

DJ