Disclaimer: I don't own anything, everything belongs to Kishimoto sensei :P

Chapter 14 – One Last Dance

"So, are we correct in guessing that Neji will be escorting you to the graduation ball?" Ino asked as she twirled around in front of the mirror.
The girls had been in the same boutique for the past three hours waiting for Ino to pick out an evening gown. Sakura had no idea what a graduation ball was, at her old rundown school she used to go to they would hold a small graduation ceremony in the school's courtyard and maybe have a few snacks and drinks laid out for the guests. But apparently Konoha Academy goes all out and booked an impressive ball room to throw a huge ceremony for the graduating class.
"Actually, no, I'm going by myself," Sakura spoke with confidence.
As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt four pairs of eyes on her. TenTen, Hinata and Temari all looked at her like she was crazy. Ino's jaw almost hit the floor.
"What?!" Ino screamed melodramatically, "There's no way we're letting you go by yourself! Girls, I'm making it our first priority to find Sakura a date."
"No, I'd rather go by myself actually, I've decided to stay away from boys for a while," the pinkette sighed.
"What happened with Neji nii-san?" Hinata asked quietly.
"Oh, your cousin was a sweetheart, but after our date the other night we both realized it wouldn't work out, my heart wasn't really in it," she sighed, truthfully, she knew she wasn't over Sasuke.

Finally, after sampling rows and rows of dresses, Ino settled for a gold, figure hugging gown. It had a sweetheart neckline and fanned outwards at the knees in a mermaid style. Sakura rolled her eyes jokingly, it was perfect for her, with that dress she would definitely be the centre of attention the entire night. Hinata ended up buying a black gown with lace detailing at the bottom, it was modest and didn't show too much skin, and Sakura thought the black brought out the light lilac of her eyes perfectly. Temari's gown was a simple navy blue one with a deep V neckline, and TenTen's dress was the simplest of them all: plain, red and strapless. Sakura smiled at her friends, she had no doubt that they would look absolutely amazing in their dresses. As for herself, Sakura was planning to just dig out an old dress from her closet. Unlike her friends, she didn't have a spare three-grand to spend on a dress that would end up collecting dust in the back of her closet after one wear.

"I can't believe this is it," TenTen sighed, "next year we're all going to go our separate ways."
They had finally finished shopping and settled down at the local cafe, chatting about non-sense and enjoying their last few days of high school together.
"Oh stop being so dramatic," Temari laughed at her, "We're all going to be at Konoha Private College next year anyway. It's going to be like nothing's changed."
"I'll see all you bitches at college next year!" Ino laughed, holding up her cappuccino in celebration. The three other girls followed suit and raised their coffee cups, knocking it against Ino's, laughter filled the small cafe.
Sakura looked down at her lap, she was happy for her friends but she had to come to terms with the fact that she would probably never see them again. After graduation, she'd have to move back home and apply for a second rate college that her parents could actually afford. She didn't have many friends back home either, she had always preferred sticking to herself or having her face buried in a book.
As if sensing her discomfort, Hinata quietly nudged Ino. The laughter quickly died down and all eyes were on her.
"We'll definitely keep in touch Sakura," Hinata touched the girl's shoulder tentatively.
"Can't you like, just get a scholarship for K.P.C?" Ino's eyes looked down in sadness.
"K.P.C doesn't offer scholarships," Sakura forced a smile, "But don't worry, I'll text you every single day." She tried her best to sound happy.

The last few days of high school flew by in a daze. There were tears, celebrations and endless hugs. Sakura relished the last few days she had with her friends, spending as much time as she could with them. She didn't see Sasuke around much after her encounter with him at Ino's door step, his words to her still echoed in her mind. She was still confused about what he had meant about her dating his family's rival, she wanted to go up to him and ask him, but she wanted to end her school year on a high note, and didn't want to get into another argument with him. It was best to just let it go, she thought.

The day of graduation finally arrived and Sakura stared in the mirror, applying a final coat of mascara, she looked at her reflection and was happy with the result. She had opted to do her own hair and make-up while the other girls had made appointments to get everything professionally done. She opened her closet to dig around for her old plain white maxi dress she knew she had stored somewhere in the back, when someone kicked open the door to her room.
"What the hell Ino!" she gasped, "You almost gave me a heart attack!"
"You are not going to the ball in that dress," Ino took one look at dress Sakura was holding and scrunched her nose in disgust, she swiftly threw a package at the pinkette.
Sakura stared stupidly at the little white box Ino had pegged at her.
"Well, open it!" The Yamanaka ordered.
Sakura gently pulled the bow off, and opened the lid. She gasped when she saw what was inside. Slowly, she lifted it out, it was probably the most beautiful dress she'd ever seen. Sakura stared in awe as the silver dress sparkled under the ceiling lights, it was a halter neck with a plunging back and a high slit in the side to show off her legs. Ino knew her too well, she laughed, she had picked just the right dress to show off her assets while not clashing with her pink hair.
"It's beautiful," Sakura sighed, "Thank you, Ino."

"Wow," Sakura gasped to no one in particular, "this is amazing."
She walked into the massive ball room, dining tables littered the back of the hall while the front was reserved for dancing, the ceilings were decorated with crystal chandeliers and giant pillars lined the walls. A set of stairs spiralled upwards to meet the balcony on the second storey where people mingled and watched the dance floor below.
She walked over to her designated table, Ino sat next to her now-official boyfriend Sai, fixing up his bowtie. To their left Naruto sat flipping through the menu, complaining to a giggling Hinata about the disappointing meal choices, Sakura heard him mutter something about 'no ramen'. Next to them, Temari sat quietly, sipping champagne while Shikamaru threw an arm lazily across the back of her chair.

"Hey forehead!" Ino pulled out the chair next to her, "I knew you would look amazing in that dress!"
"Thanks pig, you're looking pretty amazing yourself," Sakura laughed as she sat down.
"Hi ugly," Sai smiled from next to his girlfriend.
Ino had found it particularly hilarious when her boyfriend adopted the nickname for Sakura, the pinkette had definitely been less than pleased about the nickname, but she grew accustomed to it after a while. After swiftly punching Sai in the arm and exchanging hello's with the rest of the table Sakura's eyes looked around the hall, taking everything in. She let out a silent breath she didn't even know she was holding, Sasuke was nowhere to be seen. She wasn't sure if she should feel relieved or disappointed. On the one hand, she wanted to see him one last time before saying goodbye, after all, after tonight everyone would be officially graduated and Sakura planned to leave as soon as possible before growing more attached to her life here. But on the other hand, she knew seeing him would hurt, and she wanted to leave Konoha Academy with a smile rather than in tears.
"Come on everyone! Let's go dance while we still have our youth!" Sakura's thoughts were interrupted when Lee ran up to their table with a laughing TenTen in tow.
"Alright!" Naruto jumped up and pulled Hinata to her feet. Ino took Sai's hand in one and Sakura's in the other, and one by one, the whole table made their way to the dance floor.

"Karin can you hurry up?" Sasuke was parked outside the convention hall, to say he was irritated would be an understatement.
Fugaku had contacted Karin's parents beforehand to arrange for Sasuke to escort her to the ball. When he broke the news to Sasuke, the Uchiha had been absolutely outraged, he wasn't planning on going to the ball at all, and now he was forced to escort Karin.
"Sasuke-kun," the redhead whined, "I want to make sure I look my absolute best when we walk in together!" she continued using Sasuke's rear view mirror to apply her bright red lipstick.
"Besides, why are you in such a hurry for anyway? You don't even like social events," she put her lipstick away and pulled out a mascara.
Sasuke grunted in response, secretly, he knew why he was in a hurry, he wanted to see her. Even if he was forced to stay next to Karin the whole night, he knew he would be watching her the whole time.

"I'm going in first," Sasuke spoke monotonously.
Before Karin could object he had stepped out of the car and locked the doors. Making his way up the stairs and into the grand entrance, he scanned the ball room for the pinkette. He walked further into the hall, pushing past all the girls who stopped by in hopes of asking him to a dance. Suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes widened when he finally found her. She was in the centre of the dancefloor laughing and dancing to the beat with her friends surrounding her. Sasuke couldn't find the words to describe how beautiful she looked to him, everyone around her faded into the background in his eyes. He could only focus on her, the way she threw her head back in laughter and twirled around to the music, her pink hair was curled for a change and styled to the side, and the glittering gown she wore stuck to her curves and emphasized her best features. He wanted to just walk right up to her and seize her pink lips in his right there and then.

He stood there in the distance, watching until the upbeat music came to a stop and was replaced by a slower tune. His heart clenched as he watched all the couples break off on their own. Naruto pulled Hinata in by the waist and started swaying to the slow song. Shikamaru led his girlfriend away to dance in their own little corner while Ino grabbed Sai's hands and put them on her waist as she taught him how to waltz. Even Lee had dramatically bowed to TenTen as he kissed her hand and spun her around to dance.

Sakura looked around at all her friends and smiled sadly. They looked so happy together, and she was genuinely happy for them, but she couldn't keep the feeling of loneliness away. She sighed and decided to make her way back to her table, she really needed a drink, preferably something alcoholic to drown her emotions away. She'd barely taken two steps towards her table when she felt someone's hand around her wrist, jerking her back towards the dancefloor. Before she could react, the stranger had pulled her in against his chest, his arms wound around her waist pulling her in. She squirmed against the man's body trying to free herself, but he only tightened his grasp.
"Dance with me, Sakura," Sakura's eyes widened in panic, she knew that voice. She froze in her spot, letting him hold her as he swayed their bodies to the tune.
"Sasuke-kun…" she breathed.

Author's Note:

Hope you all enjoyed the new update, this one was originally two chapters but I decided to join them together after a lot of you requested longer chapters. Sorry, I realized that I promised SasuSaku interaction in the last Author's Note but I noticed that there wasn't actually much interaction between the two of them in this chapter. But there's more in the next chapter I swear :P

Please leave a review if you have time! Getting a new review notification really makes my day :)

Next chapter in a week or so! Or earlier if I'm feeling extra motivated :P

Thank you all for reading!