Chapter 10: A Promise

The recording of my second song "Can't Say Goodbye" went well, and we finished an hour early. I told Gaara it probably wasn't a good idea if he and I showed up at the party together.

"I understand…"

"Thanks, it's just that… I don't want Sasuke to be angry at me before he leaves…"

"It's ok, don't' worry about it. And even if he did get mad, I'm sure Sasuke couldn't stay mad at you. Nobody could, you're too cute."

I didn't even blush. I just smiled accepting the compliment. I guess the effects of the mighty Gaara on me were only temporary after all.

"Sasuke… he's never been mad at me before, at least, I don't think so."

"I guess. With your relationship it's no surprise." He replied smiling at me.

I thanked him and walked across the street to my house. I plopped down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Two days… Sasuke was leaving the day after tomorrow. I remember him telling me that his flight was 6:00am, since it was a flight; I knew he had to be at the airport at 4:00am. The gang and I decided that we would drive him there for a last goodbye. Sasuke had promised that he would be at the competition the night before…

"Really?" I said with a smile.

"Front row center" Sasuke winked and gave that famous Uchiha smirk of his..

"Promise!"

"Would I ever lie to you Saku? Would I ever break a promise?"

"So you'll be there for sure!"

Sasuke chuckled. "I wouldn't miss it, even if it cost me my life" He smiled at me and I hugged him tightly.

The hot water trickled down my back washing the shampoo out of my hair. I smiled. Sasuke had promised to be there. I was so happy that he would. His promise meant everything to me. This competition was all I had. The door to my future! I couldn't afford to mess this up. And Sasuke being there was my assurance that I'd be alright.

--

After a good 30min shower, I turned of the water and dried myself with a towel. I was drying my long pink hair trying to figure out what to do with it for the party. Hey, I can be a girly girl sometimes right? I remembered Ino and Hinata saying I should cut my hair. Sasuke and the other guys objected saying there was nothing sexier than a sexy girl with extremely long hair. My hair was thin and one length, so I thought layers was a good idea.

"Maybe a trim?" I thought to myself. After all, my hair was almost down to my knees, and it took nearly an hour to dry with the blow drier on max. I smiled at my reflection imagining what I would look like with shorter hair, deciding I would chop off a few inches.

"Shizune?"

"Yes?"

"Can you get the scissors?"

"How come?"

"I'm going to cut my hair…"

Shizune didn't' like the idea, but she did anyway. She cut my hair for me, until it was a little bit past my shoulders. She layered my thin hair for me, so if I flared it, it'll have volume, for once. I was happy that it was much lighter and it only took me 20mins to dry it afterwards. I didn't look so bad with shorter hair! I actually kind of liked it. I put in some hot curlers and went to my room to pick out something nice to wear.

I've been thinking a lot of what Sasuke means to me… Ino was right; Gaara was kind of "in the moment" kind of thing. And for the past year all I could think of was Sasuke. It's true what people say, 'you never know what you've got until you loose it'. I'm going to loose Sasuke… It hurt so much to even think about it. I shook my head free from that thought, bringing myself back to reality. I wore a white off the shoulder dress that cut off at mid-thigh. It had puffy sleeves and that part covering my chest had pleated ruffles as well. The rest of the dress flew down freely and had a frilly trim at the bottom. Yet another pretty ensemble Sasuke had gotten for me. I looked into my mirror at my reflection, something I haven't cared to do the past few months. I did my makeup, and took out the hot curlers and let my hair bounce down in waves. I was happy that my hair was for one co-operating with me. I remember I wore my hair like this once, on my birthday when Sasuke gave me that rose. Remembering that night brought the smile back onto my face. I put on the earrings Sasuke gave me and the matching necklace, a silver bell. Funny thing is that bell never did ring. The earrings were silver too; they were long dangle earrings with a tiny bell with wings at each end. They made my neck look longer; I guess that's why I wore it. I knew Sasuke liked girls with long necks, legs and hair. Something about, making them look more tempting to the touch. I looked at my reflection and was happy with it. I wanted to look good for Sasuke. I looked in the mirror one last time before I left. I noticed that my Emerald eyes seemed a darker green today. Maybe because the dress I'm wearing was white.

"Sakura-san? Are you ready now?"

"HAI!" I said and dashed out the door to the drive way.

--

Shizune dropped me off at the café. Naruto and Shikamaru weren't there.

"Sakura! You're late!" Ino came up to me. "Well well, someone dressed to impress." She teased. I blushed.

"Where's Naruto and Shikamaru? And…"

"Sasuke?" Hinata chimed in. She gave that look. I hated that look. It was if she knew something was going to happen, and she was always right too. "It's a surprise party remember?"

"Yeah idiot. What did you think it was?" Temari snapped at me as she passed by. She stuck her tongue out at me as she skipped away to Gaara's side, giving him a drink.

"Why is she even here?" I asked my girls a little annoyed.

"Now, now Sakura." Ino said shifting her body so she could block my view of the evil Temari. "Let her ache of jealousy. Gaara's in love with you and she hasn't learned to accept that. Besides, you have someone else who wants you too remember."

I smiled. An Image of Sasuke flashed in my mind. "You're right."

"Of course I Am." she teased.

"By the way… I LOVE your hair! And your eyes seem greener tonight. You know how Sasuke loves your green eyes." Hinata told me.

"Umm… yeah…" I stumbled blushing again.

"He's coming!" Shikamaru ran in. "Everyone hide!"

Ino, Hinata and I ducked behind a couch. I could hear Sasuke's voice…

"I don't know, I still have a lot of packing Naruto! You stupid dobe"

"Oh come on! Just one more time, you have all tomorrow to pack don't you?" Naruto said grinning like an idiot. If looks could speak, Naruto no baka would have probably spoiled the surprise by now. He was practically pushing Sasuke though the door.

"Yeah, but I wanted to spend that time with Saku— "

"SURPRISE!" everyone jumped up screaming. Ino, Hinata and I jumped up yelling as loud as we could, Sasuke was right in front of the couch so it was good timing.

"Uh… wow. You guys shouldn't have…" Sasuke stammered recovering from the shock.

"But we wanted to." Ino said with a smile.

"It's not that bad right?" Hinata said shyly.

"Congratulations Sasu!" I said smiling at him.

"Thanks Saku. I'm happy you're here."

"Me too." I said still smiling. He opened his mouth to say something to me but Naruto and Shikamaru pulled him away to greet everyone else before he had a chance to say anything.

--

The guys were playing their games now. There was a game of dice going on, spin the bottle, people were dancing, and Sasuke, Naruto, Shikamaru plus some other guys from school were playing a game of poker. Ino, Hinata and I were talking to some people from school.

"I heard you're going to sing in that competition tomorrow night Sakura. Good luck." Said a boy from our homeroom class.

"Heh heh, thanks." I said. "How do you guys know that?"

"The whole school knows, they're all going to be there."

"Really?" I gave Ino a look; I knew she had spread the word. Ino just looked at me and laughed nervously rubbing the back of her head. Hinata s-dropped. I guess Hinata didn't have enough power to stop the fearful force that is Ino's blabbering mouth.

"Isn't that great Sakura?" Ino said trying to redeem herself. "The whole school's going to be cheering for you."

"Yeah! You'll win for sure!" Another person said.

"Thanks guys" I said nervously.

--

The night kept going. It was so great! Sure enough it was time for good luck presents and cake (among the other delectable foods). Sasuke opened his presents and read aloud his cards. We were all laughing at Naruto and Shikamaru's stories of when they had their "guy moments" Like the time Naruto was in charge of the science project but Sasuke ended up doing all the work since Naruto messed up the first 4 attempts and Shikamaru was cloud watching the whole time. It seemed to me that he didn't really mind. Those three were nicknamed "The Rome Trio" by some girls at school. I thought it was cute, even though they could have picked a MUCH better name for them.

--

Sasuke stood up. "I want to thank you all for being here to see me off. Really it means so much to me that you all are here." He looked at me. "I especially want to---" RING, RING Sasuke's cell phone went off. "— umm… Sorry guys, just a sec. Hello?" Sasuke picked up his cell phone. Honestly I never knew he even had one. "Oh, hi how are you? I'm good… yes I'm looking forward to it… Oh really… alright…" Whatever they were talking about Sasuke didn't look too happy about it. His voice seemed to lower considerably and his famous smirk curved into a stern frown. "Yes I understand, thank you. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye."

"What's wrong?" I asked. He all of a sudden didn't' look too good. And his eyes became cold and distant.

"I umm… I have some news."