disclaimer: i do not own naruto. just the plots & dragons i created- in this work of fiction (or is it?) & in my own heart.
dedication: to saraa & les- Long live the walls we crashed through.
notes: inspired by "long live", one of the songs on taylor swift's recently released album, speak now. even if you don't like her singing, i highly encourage just looking at the lyrics. :)

They stand in front of the dragon's cave, smoke sneaking its way into the air they breathe.

For a second, she chokes and he gives her a worried look. Waving it off with a swift movement in her neck, Sakura gives him her usual worry-free smile. Her tunic and loose britches are so incredibly ashy from a mile high trek, her bow and quiver of arrows in a similar state.

"Promise me something?"

Itachi, of course, hesitates. Promises- something not to be broken. Alarm is ringing in his head- a bigger din than anything he'd ever heard. Even those large All Hallow's Eve festivals could not compare to what his head- or was it his heart?- was telling him.

But he relents (only to her- maybe) with a sharp nod, dark eyes of slate glancing at her warily.

"That you'll tell people about me. About our adventures. How, no matter how this ends, we broke through so many… perils. Walls. Armies more powerful than the greatest king has known. That we will be remembered for centuries."

Her green eyes are steady- fearless, with a hint of sun- as she presses upon him with her aura.

"Promise me."

There is just a small shift of cloth as she brings her arm out and sticks her pinky out at him.

"Promise."

Truthfully, he does not want to promise this. He wants to tell her that, instead, there is going to be no need to make such a dark promise. That they were both going to make it out okay and that she's worrying about nothing.

But that's a lie.

Because Itachi is the worrier and Sakura charges forward with this light in her eyes. She's fearless because she worries less about death than what'll happen if such a penalty isn't granted to the enemy of someone she loves. He overanalyzes and sees all the things that can go wrong.

They're two sides of the same coin- each powerful in a different way.

But the sun is going down behind them and time's awasting and…

He doesn't want to say good-bye.

Because that's really what Sakura's looking for.

"Promise me that… when your children- the future queens," she says, not sniffling as her feminism comes roaring through even in what might be her last words, "ask who I am, tell them my name. What I did."

"You know, you're not the only walking into the cave," he points out. "I'm just as likely to be burned into a crisp or cinders as you are. It's not like the dragon will be more partial to snorting flames at you than me."

That's when she levels a look at him… and he understands.

That Sakura would do her duty as one of lower rank and be a stupid human shield if the dragon even tried such a thing.

And his throat goes dry.

After half a year of their little adventures- fantastical as the little fairies that permeated the countryside every full moon or as mundane as a night in a pub- Itachi can't imagine a world without her.

He wants to say something- like "I'll save you" or "I might love you, you know, so I don't appreciate your great 'offer'"- but he knows she won't be moved by that. She'd think even less of him, the refusal of the near-greatest gift she can ever give him.

So he does all that he can.

He brings his pinky finger up and links it in hers, that last symbol of dying childhood just before Sakura moves forward.

Looking back with a shadow of her old self, she says, "I bet you I can touch one of its scales before you."

And she's off, just like a spark, leaving him to follow her.

To anywhere.

er, a possible universe i'm considering exploring... tell me what you think? :)