Sum: He didn't know what he wanted, she couldn't wait for him forever…but they both knew…that was a lie.

A/N: Woot! Glad you all love the story so far! Thanks for all the wonderful reviews, please...continue! :)

enjoy.

THE PROMISE

CHAPTER 2: Return

"Stupid science…who really needs it, right?"

Sasuke hmmed softly, stopping short to retrieve the mail. A habit for him. Naruto glanced over his shoulder as Sasuke shuffled through the letters. "Are you listening, Uchiha?"

Sasuke glanced up briefly, "Uh huh." he muttered, glancing back down at the mail. Naruto shrugged and continued babbling about science and how useless it was for him to learn. "Bill, bill, more bills…for me." Sasuke raised his eyebrows slightly in shock, he wasn't expecting another letter so soon. Especially since he hadn't written back to her last letter. Another thing amiss was there was no return address on this letter, like all the others. His heart pounded slightly, had she really moved now?

Naruto glanced back at Sasuke, "You're being very quiet you know?" Naruto pursed his lips, "Well, you're always quiet…but even more so!"

Sasuke scoffed as they entered the house, "Shut it, Naruto. I'm thinking."

"Sasuke, is that you?"

Naruto ran over to the kitchen door, "Mama Uchiha, hey!" Naruto greeted.

Sasuke's mother laughed, "Hello Naruto." she greeted warmly. Sasuke glared softly at Naruto, a hollow threat.

"Naruto, stop calling her that." he murmured, handing his mother the bills and keeping the letter to himself. Sasuke's mother touched Sasuke's face in a motherly gesture before returning to her business in the kitchen.

"Sasuke, you know that it's alright with me." she smiled at the boys, "How was school?"

Naruto shrugged, "Like usual, Mama Uchiha. Boooorrring!" he glanced at Sasuke, "Right, Sasuke?"

Sasuke gave a faint nod, "Mhm." Naruto noticed the letter in his hands and smirked, sneaking over to him he snatched the letter from his fingertips.

"What's this Sasuke?!" he glanced at the envelope with his name written in neat cursive. "A secret admirer?"

Sasuke glared hard at Naruto, smacking his on the head with his fist before snatching the letter back. "Knucklehead, didn't anyone tell you that it's rude to take things that belong to others?!"

"Ouch! Sasuke…you…!" Naruto bit back the swear, "…jerk."

Sasuke's mother sighed, "Sasuke, you know I taught you better than hitting someone. That's rude too."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and Naruto stuck his tongue out at Sasuke. "But it's probably just a letter from Sakura."

Naruto raised his eyebrows, "Oooh, Sakura, huh?" he leaned towards Sasuke, "Who's she?"

Sasuke glared at him again and shrugged, "Just, someone I've known for a long time." he folded and stuffed the letter into his back pocket as if it were nothing. Anxiety made his fingers twitch at his nonchalant attitude. Naruto cast a glance towards Sasuke's mother who simply nodded with a small smile on her lips.

Naruto sighed, "Hmph, why haven't I been told?" he asked, "I thought I was your bestest best friend!" He pouted childishly before chuckling at Sasuke's disgruntled look.

"Just shut up," he uttered with a deep exhausted sigh.

Sasuke's mother giggled softly from where she stood. "Why don't you two take these snacks and be on your way, huh?" She pushed the plate of freshly cut up fruits towards them. Sasuke smirked lightly at his mother, thanking her under his breath as he picked it up.

Naruto snatched the plate from Sasuke and grinned widely at his mom. "Thanks, Mama Uchiha!" She laughed lightly in response.

Naruto turned with an apple slice in his mouth as he easily made his way to Sasuke's room. Sasuke sighed, shaking his head softly but smirking nonetheless. Before Sasuke followed, his mother stopped him. "Sasuke wait…" she smiled faintly, a small twinkle in her eyes that only appeared when she talked about Sakura. "The Haruno house was bought yesterday."

Sasuke's face turned smooth and stoic all too fast. His eyes went blank as he stared at his mother. He couldn't think of anything to say to her and his mind was reeling with all the possibilities of what that could mean. Sasuke's mother tilted her head to the side as she leaned forward and whispered, "I think that letter is important, Naruto should understand."

All of sudden, Sasuke's back pocket felt very hot.

Sakura stepped out of the car, thankful to let the blood rush back to her limbs. She could only sit in a car for so long and in a car that was stuck on an all country station got tiring after the first hour or so. Sakura was very tolerant of several genres of music, but now she wasn't so sure.

She didn't remember when she first moved that it was this tiring. Sakura frowned lightly before her emerald eyes swept the location. It was still the same as ever, a few houses built further down the road some extensions on older houses. Simple renovations. All but the house in front of her, her old house…

"New house." She reminded herself. Sakura glanced back her blonde haired aunt.

"Well, Sakura, I guess we beat the moving van." she smiled broadly, "That's a win for us, huh?"

Sakura gave a faint smile and nodded before shifting her eyes back to the house. "You bought it?" she asked her.

Tsunade dropped a few of the luggage on the ground near Sakura. Scratching her head, she nodded. "Yeah, I bought it cause I thought you could use a familiar place, ya know?" Tsunade stood next to her, staring at the house as well. "It is…still familiar right?"

Sakura smiled softly, "Yeah, it is. Thanks." Sakura knew that her aunt cared if she had bought the house for them.

Tsunade grinned, "No problem, anything for you Sakura." she placed her hand on her shoulder, "Here's the key, now let's start taking these bad boys inside!"

Sakura nodded faintly, her eyes wandering the area again. This time her eyes landed on the Uchiha home and she couldn't help but smile a little. With her fingertips, she traced the outline of the necklace and then finally turned her attention to her luggage.

Sasuke stared down at the letters. A sigh escaped his parted lips and he threw his head back, his eyes squeezed tightly shut. She came to his mind so easily, but of course it was the picture of her when she was younger. Short shoulder length pink hair with huge bright emerald eyes. A genuine smile that reached ear to ear and was contagious.

He opened his eyes slightly, "Her mother was the closest person to her." he whispered softly.

He really didn't think he'd ever see her face again, at least not so soon. Only a few years, he had expected to be out on his own before he saw her again. God, how he wished it was a scenario like that instead of this one. This one where he had to carry himself, to push himself from the shadows of the Uchiha men. Sasuke had no time to relieve the embarrassment of having a girl as his best friend.

He frowned completely now and she always knew her way around him. Always had and he knew that she always will. He ground his teeth in thought, he hadn't changed much over the years, except for physically. Inside, he was still that adventurous fun loving boy, except hidden. That was part of the reason he was friends with Naruto. Naruto was just like him, except talkative and a tad too honest.

But over the years, Sasuke had grown smarter, he knew what to hide and knew what to say. He knew what to share with others and that he should always watch his back. The other two males in the family taught him that and now he felt a slight tinge of fear that this girl could break that. Break the wall he built to stay strong, to be strong.

A wall not even his own mother could break, but this girl could. Sasuke knew why, but he refused to acknowledge the petty reason. There was only one way out of the whole dilemma and he felt weak just by thinking it, but he had to. Perhaps with time she'd understand…

Sasuke shook his head, the letters suddenly felt heavier than they really were. He roughly folded the letters together and shoved them back in his desk before lounging on his bed. Naruto came in then, poking his head first before chucking an apple slice at him.

"Mind telling me why you kicked me out of the room?" he asked, only semi glaring.

"I had some things to take care of." Sasuke responded with a shrug. His eyes were locked squarely on the ceiling.

"Is it about this Sakura--chick or whatever?" asked Naruto, taking a bite of the apple slice.

Sasuke scoffed, "Who?"

Naruto stared at Sasuke with a smirk, "Don't lie, bastard." he chuckled, "You know, love letter Sakura…your girlfriend? Does that ring a bell?"

Sasuke hmmed under his breath before shaking his head, "No, don't remember."

Naruto sighed over exaggerated, "The pink haired girl…"

Sasuke glanced quickly at Naruto, "Wha--"

Naruto pointed at the trophies and other miscellaneous objects above his bed post. "You have her framed, dude. Behind all that manly looking stuff, I've seen it. Cute, really, what were you? Like six?"

"Seven." Sasuke mentally bite his tongue for answering heatedly. Naruto smiled at that.

"Oh ho! Seven, what an age!" Naruto's eyebrows raised, "So this Sakura…she's what?"

"Nobody important." Sasuke turned his body so he was facing away from Naruto.

Naruto laid on Sasuke's floor, the plate of fruit laying in front of him as he ate. "Right." Naruto tilted his head as he picked up a slice of fruit, "Is she your long lost sister?"

"No." Sasuke groaned, already annoyed.

"Twin? Cousin?"

"No…!"

"Lover? Girlfriend?" Naruto wiggled his eyebrows at that and Sasuke shook his head, bolting upright in his bed. His right hand dug deep into his pillow as he glared down at his blonde haired friend.

"No, Naruto! No, no, and no! She is nobody!" Sasuke blushed lightly before throwing himself on his bed to try and cool off. He pressed his hands hard over his eyes as he breathed in deeply. Why was simply talking about her getting him all riled up?

Naruto chuckled, "Smooth, Sasuke. That was very convincing." Naruto chucked another apple slice at him, "Just drop it, okay? Mama U has already told me the details of it all."

Sasuke sighed, rolling his head to the side. "Naruto, you are so fuc--"

"Shhh!" Naruto leapt up from the ground dramatically. He put his hands out as he glanced out Sasuke's window--which had the view of the front street and the neighbors. Naruto rushed quietly over to the window and leaned his head out.

Sasuke was very tempted to push his friend out the window but dismissed the thought. He watched as Naruto looked outside, trying to find something but Sasuke hadn't heard anything. Sasuke shook his head, "Okay, I'll bite, Naruto. What?" he sat up straight now, his hand pressed to his forehead as he watched Naruto all but climb out his window.

After a few seconds rolled by without a response, Naruto smiled broadly again. Sasuke stared at him, not liking the smile at all. "What?" asked Sasuke again, growing impatient.

Naruto leaned back into the house and smirked at Sasuke, with a thumb, he pointed out the window. "I spy your pink haired neighbor."

Sasuke bolted upright in his bed, the movement sent a dizzy shock through his skull but he pushed it aside. Trying to keep his composure, Sasuke quickly and nonchalantly scurried off his bed and towards the window. Both teens stared through the glass at the car that was once not there, parked across the street.

Sasuke watched as he briefly saw a flash of pink before he was blocked again by the car. He noticed a rather pretty blonde woman get out from the passenger seat and he heard Naruto to the side of him gasp. Sasuke raised his eyebrows and glanced at him.

Naruto smirked, "Dude, she's got some huge--"

Sasuke glared at him and Naruto reluctantly shut up. Almost as if their spying could be easily discovered…or almost as if they were in a bush outside rather than Sasuke's window.

Naruto sighed softly, "I'm only saying…MILF…!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Naruto…" Sasuke turned his attention back out the window, "That's not her mom."

Naruto glanced out the window, "Still…she's hot." Sasuke shook his head and ignored Naruto's lame attempt to back up his reasoning.

Sasuke watched, finally able to see Sakura a little better now. She was taller--of course--not that he had expected her to stay the same height she was at the age of seven. Her hair was longer as well, mid back now instead of that cropped short length she once had. Sakura spun slowly, her eyes traveling to the houses before it landed on Sasuke's.

Naruto and Sasuke felt their heart beat pick up pace and they both quickly stepped away from the window. A similar way a child would when almost caught doing something they shouldn't. Sasuke rolled his eyes, she couldn't see him from his window…that was a known fact since they were children.

He resumed his position again, still slightly paranoid as he peeked around the edge of the window. Naruto crawled and peeked over the window ledge. Sasuke's eyes made contact with her emerald eyes, even from the distance he could easily make out the color, the intensity, the emotions reflected.

Her face had also developed, but once again, a matter of 8 years could do that. They were both roughly around sixteen to seventeen years of age now, not seven years old like before. It was still hard for Sasuke to grasp and let go of the image of the childhood Sakura he knew. Now this Sakura, was evidently no longer a child. Her body told him other wise, the dip of the back, her curve of hips, the length of legs, the size of her…

Sasuke shook his head, he was thinking like Naruto now. He grunted softly under his breath but he couldn't help but feel a tightness in his stomach when he looked at her. Guilt? Pity…? It was something, but he couldn't quite recognize what he was feeling.

As he furrowed his brow, he left the window and got back on his bed as easily as he had got off it. He tried to act nonchalant about it, but his mind was buzzing aloud with thoughts that he wished he could never have.

Naruto whistled softly when the two disappeared in the house. "Damn…what a hottie."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Naruto, I don't want to hear about your sick fantasies for an older woman…"

Naruto sighed, "Ha ha, funny Uchiha…but I was talking about your pink haired girlfriend."

Sasuke felt that tightening in his stomach again, almost tighter and he felt his anger flare suddenly. Was it because Naruto called her his girlfriend, or because he was crushing on her? Sasuke wasn't quite sure. And that bothered him much too much. He pushed back the anger as best as he could and rolled to the other side so he didn't face Naruto.

"She not my girlfriend." he was able to say finally.

Naruto smirked widely and Sasuke didn't have to look at Naruto to know he had it on his face. "Well then, do you mind if I make my move?" he asked, standing up again. "You know, I wouldn't want to intrude if you feel anything for her…"

Sasuke knew Naruto was serious in the last part, but he wanted nothing to do with her. Having her would only mean disaster for possibly the two of them. He felt that pain again and dismissed it as he shrugged his shoulders.

"What do I care?" he asked, "I told you, she means nothing."

Why was it so hard to lie? He wondered hard and long about it as Naruto planned out a way to introduce himself over the next few days, quick before any other guy tried. Sasuke glared hard at the wall before him, he just couldn't make heads or tails of the way he was feeling.

Maybe he was coming down with something. "Yeah." he thought to himself as he closed his eyes, "That's got to be it…I'm sick."

Sakura let her hand run across the cool smooth wood surface. Her fingers danced through dust and small marks that jogged her memory on key events. The smallish, hardly noticeable black smudge was from the iron plug in when she had set it down wrong. The dent not too distant was from her trying to perfect her dance routine and too many spins got out of control.

The smile graced her face when she remembered. The place was nostalgic and even held happy memories from when her family was actually happy. Before the late nights started, the accusations, and verbal abuse. She frowned in memory, Sakura could still find and remember where wood floor changed colors in the kitchen. From when her father first started to yell at her mother that in his rage he knocked something over.

The wood was damaged, it was mind numbingly replaced. After all, who had known that they would eventually move? Moving didn't solve any problems, like her parents hoped and thought it would. After first, Sakura didn't know why. Just that it was her father's job that had to relocate them, but as the years passed she finally knew. But the one thing she discovered that her parents did not was that no amount of moving was going to ever erase the mistakes that he made.

And that small logic was what kindled the divorce. Too many lies, too much running around…the lies caught up. The stupid lie broke her mother and caused that one night escape for her. When her mother got behind the wheel even though they told her not to. Her mother was done with taking orders from others, Sakura squeezed her eyes shut to prevent the tears.

She didn't blame her mother, she blamed him. Because he broke her and robbed Sakura of the person she held dear. Sakura heard a sigh and Sakura jumped a little, her head whipping to the side to see Tsunade leaned against the door frame.

Sakura ducked her head down quickly, she hadn't realized until now that tears were streaking down her face and sobs were trapped in her throat. Her hands trembled softly as tried to force a smile on her face, but failed miserably.

Tsunade glanced away, she didn't know what to say or do. She had always taken care of herself-that was a lie--her sister had always taken care of her, and then her good friend Shizune after. It wasn't like she couldn't look out for herself or couldn't survive--no. Tsunade was hard, she knew what to buy, how to lie, drive, drink, gamble, flirt and con. All the things a woman usually didn't know, she did. But when it came to household chores like laundry, dishes, cleaning, Tsunade was a major mess. In a sense, she couldn't take care of herself. Tsunade didn't mind the minor flaw, since she didn't stay long in one place.

The world was much to vast and boring for her to stay put for too long. She was the aunt that would visit for special occasions. She didn't know the first thing about taking care of others. Tsunade tilted her head to the side, of course it had been a long shot to agree to take care of Sakura. But to send the kid quite possibly to ever other family until someone agreed?

That was something she'd never let happen. Running a hand through her hair, she finally glanced back at Sakura with a small smile to try and relax Sakura.

"So kid, the place still the same as ever?" she asked, she only remembered bits and pieces.

Sakura shrugged, "I can hardly remember." she answered, quite surprised at her blatant lie. Tsunade didn't even blink twice, she saw through her lie and didn't blame her. Quite opposite, she was silently thanking her for not having to deal with the tears and emotional trauma. At least not yet…

"Your ma was pretty great, kid." she sighed, "So just relax, Shizune will arrive in the morning with the movers and bring in all our crap. This place will start feeling like home." Tsunade walked over and extended her hand to help Sakura from the ground.

Sakura smiled up at her and took it, "It already does feel like home."

Sasuke stared out his window, the stars were out and twinkling high in the sky. He smiled faintly and slowly, in the back of his mind began to count the ones he could see through his window. His mind disappeared after about fifty stars when he glanced down at the Haruno household.

He could practically see himself and her when they were younger running across the streets to each others houses. Images of back then began to fade into older ones of him retrieving the mail and showdowns with his father or more recently and often his brother.

Sasuke furrowed his brows in thought, his right hand balled up and he lightly slammed it against the glass. He leaned forward and let the cool glass press against his forehead. The image in his mind twisted and formed until he saw Sakura. The image put him at ease for a few minutes before he opened his eyes to erase the memory.

"I promise that I shall not hurt her." he whispered, his breath fogged across the window as he spoke. "I promise that I will part from her…" As he stared at the Haruno house, he could have sworn he noticed a flash of pink in the window across the street.

Sakura stared at the necklace for the longest time. Memorizing every little detail about it so that when she closed her eyes she could vividly see it reflected in her head. Her lips twitched into a faint smile and she set the necklace down on the hard floor again.

It was hard to sleep comfortably on the ground and she couldn't sleep much on the first night. There were too many ghosts of the past that fled to her mind. She didn't like it. Sitting up, she could already feel the pain morning would bring to her body.

Sakura knew she could find solace outside, where the stars were seen easily and counted mindlessly. Quietly, she tiptoed past Tsunade who snored rather loudly, and decided that she would settle with watching the calm night sky from the window. She didn't want to confuse Tsunade into thinking that someone was robbing the house or worse.

Sakura shivered uneasily but smiled softly at her guardian before shifting towards the window. The dark star sprinkled night was very familiar to her, but instead of bringing her dreary, it brought her a simple joy. She found herself relaxing at the scenery, already imagining the soft wind across her pale skin.

The feel of grass tickling her skin, or sometimes, the feel of chipping wood on the porch. A small sigh escaped her lips and she stared up at the stars, counting softly under her breath. It didn't take long for her to stop counting and start counting in the back of her mind.

Sakura sighed as she stretched her fingertips to the glass window, remembering the letter she had received years ago.

Sakura,

I thought of something brillant! You should come visit me in the Summer time! It's not a hassle then, no school and your mom can come too! I'm pretty sure my mother would love to have you over and then we can see each other! Five months is just way to long…maybe then your parents will realize that you belong here! …It's silly to think, but maybe. It's lonely without you, but I swear to you Sakura, that if you come back, I'll greet you with open arms! Just you wait!

-your pal,

Sasuke.

Somehow, she had been expecting him to keep his end of the bargain. "Sasuke, I wonder if you got my letters…"

a/n: revieeeeeew! :) Please and thank you!

Next chappie: Encounter

-more wit, a better kiss, a hotter touch--- ;)