A/N: it's around that time when I begin regretting my wasted summer and mule over all the stories I haven't yet written, then come to no productive conclusion.

...then I go back to watching Gurren Lagann.

DO NOT OWN NARUTO

3. Rebel

There are a few things Haruno Sakura believes: her forehead is large, Hinata's boobs are bigger than any of theirs, and traditions be damned, chastity is overrated.

She doesn't doubt her conviction as she climbs out of a bed-that's-not-hers and picks up her mediocre-size bra, only to be pulled back into sheets that smell of crushed earl grey and yesteryear's rain. And she doesn't doubt it when Sasuke's breath tickles the crook of her neck and their naked fingers lace perfectly like parasitic vines.

She also believes however, that Naruto be damned, promises are overrated.

So when everyone gathers at a bar to celebrate Neji's birthday—or really the party Lee threw for Neji—she dresses sharply in a cutting red dress and edgy heels and keeps her distance from Sasuke. Through the night she drinks modestly and shares idle chitchat, paying minimal attention to him, but she knows he operates swiftly and slyly. Before long she's naturally cornered against a wall with a drink in hand and a Sasuke leaning over her.

He places a hand on the wall behind her.

In a room properly crowded and in clear view of the general public, Uchiha Sasuke begins to lean in for a kiss, as if making the announcement. Sakura swirls her drink leisurely, inwardly amused by Sasuke's bold yet childish antics and her heart does not skip a beat; but instead she perceives the teenage high, the excitement and expectancy radiating from her friends' stares, almost hears them say finally, because though no one knows it yet, they know it, have always known it and she begins to brace her lips for contact until she thinks,

Why?

In milliseconds, she wonders the provenance of the universal presumption that Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura will inevitably intertwine.

Strangers, friends and perhaps even Sasuke himself have portended the course of her fate; the war will end, he will return, but she will eventually forgive him and he will let her in, and as all their friends begin to pair up, so will he and she and bam, Haruno Sakura will become Uchiha Sakura, like some grand ending to a trashy novel or a childhood promise that stands victorious over blood, regret and resentment.

But Sakura suspects that she's human enough to fail to rise above blood, regret and resentment, and have grown dignified enough to discredit any commitments her silly 12-year-old-self proclaimed, which in retrospect she finds humiliating. She cannot concede to such perfect outcomes without being haunted by its flaws.

So when Sasuke leans in to kiss her in front of people for the first time, half a breath before their lips meet, Sakura swivels her head away.

After all, promises are overrated.

A/N: I did shamelessly make that last dramatic line break. It actually does nothing at all.

Send me love, hate, this relationship, I can't handle it, it's too late so close your eyes, shut up and kiss me. Or review me.