Elegy
"Promises Linger"
Chapter 1
"I vow to protect Hinata-hime."
A/N: As what you guys can see, I wrote another multi-chaptered fic. It's a hell lot different from the rest coz...well...its fluffy and all that. Ugh. This story can't seemed to get out of my mind an in the process, affected my other fics, which includes not be able to concentrate enough. (sigh) but now that it's here, I'll go and concentrate to my other works.
Hope you'll enjoy!
A man stood outside a glass window, overlooking the busy city in the nighttime. Even if the sky turned dark blue, almost black, with countless stars gracing the heavens and a large white orb that was called a moon, the city seemed to be busy as always, night or day. He sighed as he closed the window with heavy blue draperies as he stalked towards his bed and lay down.
"Where are you now?"
He asked to no one in particular as he carefully reached at his end table and grabbed an old photograph, worn by time and yet still clear as day, with simple mahogany frames with flowers carved on it.
He gazed down at a picture of a young girl with obsidian white eyes with a tint of lavender and bluish-black short hair wearing a small and yet delicate powder blue kimono with intricately designed white flowers. Beside her is a young boy with onyx black eyes and a spiky black hair in a small western black tuxedo with a single white rose in his hand. The boy was frowning and yet the camera captured the mischievous and glee in his eyes. The girl was wearing a small kind and yet timid smile with a faint blush on her cheeks. The two young children lay side-by-side and one of the arms of the young boy encircled the shoulders of the girl as the girl has her hands near her mouth.
The man can't help but let a small smile graced on his lips. The memories flooded his senses once again as he became the young boy in the picture all over again.
"S-sasuke-san!" A five-year young girl in the picture let out a small gasp as hands flew to cover her eyes. The boy behind her let out a small chuckle as he removed his hands from her face. The girl twirled around and as she saw the guy, she let out a small pleased smile."I-I knew it would be y-you." She stammered as he carefully placed his right hand on her head and ruffled her hair.
"Heh. Who else do that to you but I?" He said in reply. Her answer to that were a timid smile and a faint blush on her cheeks.
"A-anou…our parents are busy talking in the r-reception hall…a-anou…where a-are we g-going?" The young girl muttered as the boy named Sasuke along the empty fields was dragging her.
"C'mon, Hinata-san! Let's take an adventure!" He said in his young but boyish voice. His eyes glimmered in a mischievous way as her lips trembled in fear.
"A-adventure…? T-the last t-time we t-took an adventure…our f-father were a-angry…" She said as she remembered their last adventure in the forest nearby.
As they were taking a stroll, pretending that Sasuke was a great shinobi and Hinata as the princess he swore to protect, they ended up being surrounded by the dogs in the neighborhood. Though Sasuke still pretended that he must protect her life, it was clear to Hinata that Sasuke was scared, though not as scared as she is. It was a good thing that the servants came along and shooed the barking dogs away and the two youngsters got a scolding from their fathers.
"Hmph," He miffed as they stopped. "That one was a slip-off. If I brought a katana on that day, then both of us were safe." He continued, still obviously displeased that he was reminded of his 'greatest failure in his life'.
"D-demo…y-you d-didn't b-brought any n-now…" She muttered.
Sasuke's eyes lightened as he scooped down his small handy holster in his waist and grabbed a small kitchen knife.
"Nope. Here's my katana." He said, pleased that Hinata's lips didn't tremble anymore, as he placed the small kitchen knife in its sheath in front of him.
"H-how…? D-did you g-get caught?" Hinata asked now getting carried along with Sasuke's excitement and fervor.
"Nope! I vow to protect Hinata-hime." He raised the knife above his head, a very heroic pose indeed. Hinata giggled at the sight.
"H-hai! I'll placed my life in S-sasuke-san's hands!" She said with a smile.
Those days, he thought, back in the present, are every nostalgic. I can't even believe that I acted like that before…
He let out a sigh as he closed his eyes, placing the photograph in his chest. He was about to succumb into the deepest recesses of sleep when his phone rang. Terribly annoyed that his supposed-to-be sleep got interrupted, he stubbornly closed his eyes and tried to ignore the irritating rings from the phone.
Why do I have to place a phone beside the bed?
However, it won't stop. Defeated and yet again, still annoyed, he grabbed the phone.
Calling in this time…better have a good reason.
"What." He demanded.
"Oy, SASUKE-TEME!" A familiar loud shrill of a voice resonated from the phone and Sasuke eagerly shoved the phone from his ear. Then he placed it back and with so much fervor, shouted back.
"You don't have to yell, dobe!" It's not loud enough to compare to the shrill and yet loud enough to be stunned that Sasuke did shout.
"Ah...Hehe…sumimasen," He excused sheepishly as he rubbed his neck with embarrassment on the other line. "Demo, its really loud in here, dattebayo."
"Tch." He said as he realized that it IS loud in the other side of the phone. The loud music competed with Naruto's voice as various voices he didn't know who possessed talked.
"What do you want." He demanded once again.
"Ahh! I'm at Red Dive's disco place right now, dattebayo! It's getting great here! I just wanted if you---"
"No." he caught him off.
So much for good reasons…He is not in the mood to go have a drink or EVEN dance. No, he is not that type of guy, even if he did go there ONCE when Naruto and Sakura persisted him to do so.
"Demo! Sakura, Ino and Shikamaru are here, dattebayo!" He exclaimed. Sasuke rubbed his temples as he sensed an up-coming migraine coming up.
"I don't care. I want to sleep. Bye."
"Sasuke---"
He cut off the line and covered himself with his blankets.
"Did he say he would come?" Sakura asked anxiously as she stirred a fruit cocktail with gin in her right palm.
The continuous pumping of the loud music already got its toll on her as she felt herself go tired after hours of dancing with Naruto and other random guys. But of course, dancing with random guys didn't affect her boyfriend, Naruto at all, for he trusts her. Naruto sat beside her as Ino and Shikamaru danced on the floor with other dancing bodies hiding them from their sight. She heard Naruto sigh.
"No, he said he want to sleep, dattebayo."
She in turned sigh as she took a sip from her drink as Naruto slurped another ramen. Of course, this greatly bewildered Sakura, their friends as well as the people that surrounded them for this is DEFINITELY not a good place to eat ramen. It's already warm inside and eating hot ramen makes it worse. And dancing after and before eating ramen might make him puke. But, miraculously, he didn't.
"That guy…" She shook her head in defeat.
"Well, it's not like his fault to be under depression lately, dattebayo."
"Yeah, it's not. Demo, they promised. Its only natural that he got depressed coz she didn't return yet."
She reasoned out as she gazed at Ino and Shikamaru who now is the center of attention as they danced, though Shikamaru looked bored, awesomely.
Three weeks has passed and she, his childhood bestfriend, didn't return yet from Suna. They promised that after she finished her education in Suna, she'd come back again. But she need to return three weeks in Konoha before and yet she didn't yet. This made him worried as well as depressed. And in return, this made his friends worried for him too.
"She'll return soon." Naruto said as he finished his ramen, with no dattebayo in his sentences now.
"How are so sure then?"
"Because…if Sasuke treasured her so, then she must be special. She'll come back, because of Sasuke." He tried to explain as Sakura was stunned by his words of wisdom.
After the surprising words, she slowly smiled as she kissed his cheek, making the ramen-eating weirdo blushed. Sakura's getting romantic lately, which includes less punches and kicks.
"Hopefully…"
A/N: I'll update if I get enough and plenty of reviews (teehee) and yeah, after I'll update the rest. So please wait and bear with me. Thanks. (smiles)