You Kept Your Promise (Sequel to Jade And Onyx)

It could've been worse all things considered

I mean

I could've been gone for like 3 years again

It was only a few months this time

Not that it's an excuse but whatever I'll finish this one day lmao

—————

We separated with Ashton before leaving. I took Ino in my car and he went with Shikamaru for the dude-bro day out. He was a little nervous since he didn't really know any of my friends like that, but I told him not to worry. With Naruto in the group, he'd feel welcomed immediately. Either that or he'd feel attacked. It depended on Naruto's mood that day, but he was usually a good sport.

He and his sister were lucky that my friends spoke English pretty well too, otherwise it really would've been an adventure. 

Ino gave me directions from the front seat and Carolyn picked the tunes. Ino told me to park in a parking garage as there wasn't any street parking where we were going. The one thing I missed about America was the amount of street parking available. Most people there use cars while most Japanese people use public transportation, bikes, or walk. We had to walk a few minutes across the street and I saw a beautiful park up ahead.

It ended up being the Kyu Shiba Rikyu garden, which I've never been to before. It looked out of place in the bustling city of Tokyo, but at the same time it was a welcoming sight. With so much grey around, it was good to have a little green.

"Where's everyone else?" Carolyn asked us. Mostly Ino, since she ended up planning a lot of the day.

"They're waiting over there," Ino pointed them out. "We're going to have a picnic."

"What? I could've brought something besides myself and an American," I protested.

"Hey!" Carolyn whined.

I mean yeah, I knew where we would be going but I didn't know exactly what we'd be doing since no one bothered to tell me anything other than 'it'll be fun!'

"It's no biggie," she laughed. "Tenten and Hinata offered to make the food and bring the drinks."

"I owe them my life," Carolyn sighed.

Ino and I laughed and continued to make our way to our friends. They spotted us about halfway there and Tenten started waving maniacally.

When we finally reached them and sat down, Hinata started to pass around the food. All things considered, it was pretty nice day out.

You know, I almost forgot the reason why this day was planned until Ino opened her fat mouth.

"So, has anything changed between you and our favorite broody emo?"

"H-He's not that broody," I mumbled. "And anyway I thought we made a deal. You're telling them for me, I'll fact check if needed."

I crossed my legs and leaned against the tree behind us, taking a bite out of my club sandwich. I'd added a little extra tomatoes that Hinata sliced earlier since she didn't want the sandwiches to get soggy.

I wonder how the guys are doing.

I was brought out of my daydream when Ino started narrating the events I'd told her of the other day. We'd decided beforehand to speak in English the entire day so Carolyn could have a chance to participate and not feel ignored, I could only hope the boys were doing the same for Ashton.

"So obviously by now all of us know that Sasuke is engaged," she started. "But we didn't really know any details about it. It turns out that this engagement was made for advantage, right Sakura?"