I Will Always Be With You

Disclaimers: No, I do not own Naruto

Chapter 6: I Promise…

Sakura took in a deep breath, this was it; she was finally going to spill out the darkest secret her family had been trying to hide from everyone. How it all started.

She started off with the facts of her past; how her parents stopped loving her and how they decided she wasn't worth their love. And once she was done with her story, she looked at Ino, and all she could see was the shock in her eyes.

Ino gaped at Sakura for the longest time, "Sa-Sakura…" she finally said, "I-I didn't know, if only I'd known sooner, I could've helped you a long time ago."

Sakura smiled at Ino, "It's alright."

Ino looked at Sakura and shook her head, "You better not be lying, forehead girl!"

Sakura made a face, "Of course not, Ino-pig!"

Ino sighed, "Anyhoo, why Sasuke? What was so great about him that you fell so deeply in love with him?"

Sakura took a peak outside of Ino's window, and saw the two children she saw a while ago. As she saw the two children holding hands while walking down the road, she couldn't help but remember a certain day; the day that changed her life forever…

Sakura picked a flower from the grass and brought it above her head so she could see it in the sun.

She suddenly squealed in delight, "It's a white rose!" she said while gazing at the flower, noticing its soft, white petals.

Sakura smiled at the sight of the flower, "Ino said that the flower represents innocence, purity, secrecy, friendship, reverence and humility," she said to herself. The young girl giggled, pleased at her knowledge, and hugged the flower close to her chest. She slowly stood up and continued to skip down the field of flowers when she heard a young, feminine voice.

"Ino said this and Ino said that," the girl mocked, "Is that all you can think of?

Sakura turned around and faced the girl. And once she realized the person standing in front of her, she noticed that it was the same person that had always teased her. She quickly dropped her flowers and tried to use her hair to hide her huge forehead.

"Stop trying to hide your ugly self, forehead girl, we already see you so there's no point in hiding it," the girl teased. It was soon followed by a laugh and the rest of her group followed after her.

Sakura bit her lip, "That's not true," she softly said, "Ino says I'm pretty."

The girl had a smug look on her face and walked towards Sakura, "Don't believe everything Ino tells you, you pathetic little girl," she said while pushing a strand of Sakura's hair behind her ear. She then brought her lips closer to Sakura's ear and whispered, "Ino's just being nice, she's only pretending to like you because she feels bad for you. But when you really look at it, you have no friends, you're totally alone," with that said, she pushed Sakura to the ground, laughing and making fun of the poor girl.

Sakura's back immediately made contact with the ground. She slowly opened her eyes and saw the smug looks on all the girls' faces.

"What did I do to deserve this?" she asked herself, "Why? Why does everyone enjoy torturing me?" tears started to form in her soft jade eyes.

"I've… I've done everything I can to make everyone happy, to make my parents happy… I'm doing my best to be perfect, so why?" she asked herself, "Why do they hate me? Aren't I good enough for them?"

Sakura couldn't hold in her tears anymore as they slowly trailed down her cheeks, "I… I can't cry," she told herself, "I can't show any signs of weakness…"

"That's right," the girl said, "Cry your little heart out till its left with nothing but emptiness and sorrow…" she teased. The girls around her laughed.

Sakura couldn't help herself anymore, she didn't care if it seemed like she was weak; she couldn't stand hearing their voices, or their disrespectful words.

"Your nothing but trash…"

No…stop it!

"When you really look at your condition now, your all alone…no one cares about you…"

No…I'm not alone…I have Ino…and my parents, they both love me!

"How can anybody love such a hideous person such as yourself? If they did love you, it's probably all fake…"

Sakura gripped her head, she couldn't stand these voices anymore, she wanted to disappear; unable to hear or feel the people's iniquity and hypocrisy…

Sakura waited for more insults to come at her, but heard nothing; for some reason, everyone suddenly grew silent. She slowly looked up and noticed that all the girls were looking in the same direction. Being the curious person that she was, she turned her head just a bit, and saw the view those girls had set their eyes on. And once she focused her vision on the sight in front of her, she saw no other rather than Uchiha, Sasuke.

The girls squealed in delight, "Oh, my gosh! It's Sasuke!" the leader of the group said, you could hear the excitement in her voice.

The girl started to walk towards Sasuke's direction when she noticed that Sakura's gaze was focused on him. The leader of the group gave Sakura a scorned look and pushed the girl, face first, to the ground.

The girl smirked, "Don't even think about it, ugly, forehead girl," she dared, "Sasuke's mine," and with that, she flipped her hair, and walked towards Sasuke.

"Hey Sasuke," she greeted.

Sasuke looked at the girl in front of him and just nodded.

"So, Sasuke, I was wondering…would you like to go out with me?" the girl asked.

Sasuke looked at the girl, a questioning look was occupying his face. He didn't hear a word she had said for his mind was focused on the pink haired girl. He saw what the girls had done to the poor girl, and for some reason, he pitied her. And when he saw her beautiful jade eyes looking at him, he saw nothing but sadness and emptiness in her eyes.

"So will you go out with me?" he finally heard. He slowly looked up at her and saw the eager look on her face.

"No, I won't," he finally said.

The girl had a shocked look on her face, "Excuse me, why not!" she exclaimed.

Sasuke smirked at the girl, "I'm sorry, but I don't like girls who pick on other girls because they're threatened by their beauty."

The girl was speechless.

Sasuke saw this and smiled sweetly, "Goodbye now," he said.

The girl scoffed and started to walk away, "Come on girls, we're obviously not wanted here," she shouted. Her friends were startled by the outcome of the conversation between their leader and Sasuke; they had expected everything to turn out the way they wanted it to. However, they immediately walked away; not wanting to be a burden to their most precious Sasuke, and fearing their leader's fury once she was enraged.

And once the group of girls were gone, Sasuke went towards the pink-haired girl. When he finally reached the girl, he noticed that she was crying. There was mud on her face and leaves were sticking out from her hair.

"Are you alright?" he asked, he held out his hand to her, hoping she would take it.

Sakura looked up, her tears were flowing freely down her face.

When Sasuke saw the girl's face, her beauty overwhelmed him. She looked so pure and innocent, just like the flowers surrounding her. He felt a sudden need to protect her.

As Sakura gazed at his eyes, she couldn't help but be mesmerized by them. They were so beautiful, dark, and so entrancing. She didn't even notice the hand that was reaching out for her to take.

"Hey, are you okay?" the voice asked one more time.

Sakura snapped out of her daze, she wiped her tears and smiled, "Yup! I'm fine, please don't worry about me," she lied, she finally noticed the hand right in front of her and took it.

Sasuke helped her up as she dusted the dirt and leaves off her clothing and her face. "Do you want to walk with me?" he asked.

Sakura looked at the boy in front of her, and nodded, a puzzled look was planted on her face. That one question he asked her, made her heart stop. She was left in a trance. Never has anyone been this kind to her.

Sakura raised her head to see the boy's face; he was looking into the far distance of the forest. He had a calming aura around him, he made her feel that as long as she was in his presence, she would always be protected.

Sakura wiped her tears, "Maybe, this time I can finally trust someone," she thought, "Maybe this time, I can take the hands that reach out to me to bring me out of the darkness. And maybe, Ino was right all along," she reminded herself, "Maybe, all this time, all I needed was someone who'd always be there for me…"

"So, why were those girls picking on you?" Sasuke suddenly asked to break the silence.

Startled by his voice, Sakura looked away from him, her face turned red, "I don't want to tell you, it's a bit embarrassing," she slowly replied.

"Don't be embarrassed, I'm sure whatever they said probably isn't true," he assured her, smiling at the same time.

"You think so?" Sakura asked so innocently.

"I know so," Sasuke replied, showing her his victory smile.

"You might laugh at me if I tell you," she cautiously said, not wanting to hear the same insults again.

"Don't worry, I wont," Sasuke told her, "I promise!" he smiled, raising his right hand to prove to her he would keep it.

Sakura nodded, "Okay. Um… they were teasing me because me forehead is so big," she shyly replied, "And they told me that I'm very ugly."

Sasuke turned around and faced her. He leaned in a bit into her face and looked at her face. He took his hand and measured the size of her forehead and placed it in front of his.

"How can you say that?" he asked, "My forehead is even bigger than yours," he told her.

"Really?" she asked. She measured her forehead with her hands and measured Sasuke's and it was true, his forehead was bigger than hers.

"You're right!" she gasped, "My forehead isn't so big after all!" she happily told Sasuke while jumping in the air.

Sasuke laughed, "Yup, and don't worry, I think you're very pretty, so don't listen to what those other girls say, okay?"

Sakura smiled, "Yes sir!" she replied, giggling at the same time.

Sasuke smiled back at her. "You know what…"

"What?" Sakura asked.

"You should smile a lot more, you look cuter that way," he told her.

Sakura blushed.

"Besides it's not good for girls to cry."

Sakura smiled, "Don't worry, I promise you I won't ever cry ever again!" she assured him.

Sasuke laughed, "You better not, and I'll beat up anyone who makes you cry!" he promised her, "I'll protect you no matter what!"

And the two started to laugh in unison.

Sasuke looked at the girl, she looked so precious and fragile, like one wrong move could cause her to break into tears. And for some reason, he wanted to protect her, he wanted to see her smiling at all times, smiling at him, and smiling because of him.

Sasuke watched the girl as she started to pick some flowers once more, and when she looked back at him and showed him her sweet smile, he couldn't help but remember what his mother told him.

"Sasuke-kun," his mother said, "When you find someone who is precious and important to you, you should do your best to make them smile all the time; make their happiness yours…Protect that person with all you heart, and let them know you'll always be with there with them, right by their side; no matter what…"

Sasuke smiled, "Maybe, I've finally found that someone," he mumbled.

"Did you say something?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke shook his head, when he suddenly heard someone calling his name. For the first time from the time he met her, he took his eyes off her and looked back in the direction he came from.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked as she noticed that Sasuke's attention was suddenly focused elsewhere.

"Ano… um… I have to go…" Sasuke regretfully told her, "My mom's calling me."

Sakura's smile turned into a frown, "Already?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm sorry."

Sakura smiled, "It's okay! I'll probably see you again, right?"

Sasuke smiled, "Ya."

Sasuke started to run back in the direction he came from. However, before disappearing, he suddenly turned around to face Sakura, "Hey, what's your name?" he called out.

"My name is Haruno, Sakura!" Sakura replied, "What's yours?"

"I'm Uchiha, Sasuke!"

"Hey, Sasuke!"

"What?"

"Will I ever see you again?"

Sasuke smiled, "Of course!" he replied, "And when we meet each other again, I promise you I'll permanently replace the frown on your face with your smile!"

Sakura giggled, "You promise?"

Sasuke smiled, "I promise…Goodbye…"

-All promises are made to be broken –

Sakura looked at Ino, a smile was planted on her face, "I believe in Sasuke. He was the only truth in the lies of my life," Sakura told her friend, "And I believe that the Sasuke I met a long time ago is still there somewhere in his heart. Like the way he held out his hand for me take in my time of loneliness, I want to reach out to him, and take him out of the darkness he's currently in… I want him to feel the same way I did a long time ago…"

Finally, after staying for a few more hours at Ino's place, Sakura left. And on her way home, she looked up at the skies and suddenly remembered.

"Oh, I forgot to tell Ino something," she mumbled, "I forgot to tell her his most important promise to me… What really made my heart fall for him and never let him go..."

"Hey, Sakura,"

"What is it Sasuke?"

"Whenever you're feeling lonely, never forget…I will always be with you…"

"When I remember those words, I always felt protected and never alone…"

--

Hey there… ShamanShadow here… I hope this chappie didn't seem like I was rushing through it… cause I was… a little bit… sorry! I'll try my best to update the next chapter sooner!

R&R Please! And thank you to all the reviewers!