A/N: Short and to the point drabble in Sasuke P.O.V. This has been posted on livejournal a few years ago, but I edited a bit, and decided to post it here as well.

Paring: Unrequited Sasuke/Naruto

Warning: None

Summary: Sasuke returns to the village with every intention to leave again...

Caged Bird

He doesn't know.

No one knows.

I'm his friend, the person he goes to when he is in need, his 'brother'. I'm the one he calls his 'important person', the one who is so important that he put his own dreams on hold to chase after. The one that caused him countless amounts of pain, and yet he still pushed on.

He was so determined back then. I admit to myself only, that I enjoyed the attention that he gave me at the time. No matter how much I pushed him away, verbally and physically, he still chased. He was a constant that I never wanted to see disappear.

So when the time had finally come, I went back to them, him.

Just as I suspected, Konoha was no home for me.

As much as he liked to believe so, I knew better. In fact it seemed everyone but him knew better. It was only for his sake that I hadn't been killed on the spot. Only for his sake that I let them imprison me, and put me on trial. It was only for him that I decided to remain in the place that seemed to have never been my home from the beginning.

I ask myself everyday why I put up with it.

Why did I live in a village that obviously loathed my presence? My very existence pissed a good percentage of them off, and I knew they had every right to be angry. You just didn't let the man who destroyed your village and put you through hell and back, live with you. It simply wasn't done.

In yet, here I am.

I didn't return to the village because I thought of it as my 'home'. I knew for a fact that Konoha would never again have the title of my 'home'. It's a nice thought that someday I will learn to forgive Konoha for what they did to my deceased family, and Konoha forgive me for what I did to their village.

But it was simply that, a thought. One would also think of it as a dream, but I don't hope to accomplish it nor even try to reach such a thing, there for it's not much of a dream.

I knew such a reality would never come to be since the hate I have for the very village I now live in, burns as bright as the day it was born. No matter how much he and they wished, I would never be able to live comfortably in the village that killed off my clan.

But it wasn't entirely impossible.

I was doing it now without much effort. Yes, the surveillance was annoying, but ignorable. Yes I would much prefer to be able to go on missions, or for that matter, leave the village, but for my probation both weren't an option. Yes, there were many time were I felt like a caged bird whose wings had been clipped off. Yes, there were many times that I ponder on exactly why I wasn't traveling the world, or working as an assassin far, far away from the village.

There still are many times were I wanted to do nothing more than too flea the village and never look back. These times were getting more frequent as the days passed.

In yet, I still stay.

For him I stayed for he deserved at least that privilege of being able to finally have me where he wanted. For him, his life was now complete and he could move on to accomplishing his life goals now that I was no longer a distraction. He was happy, and for that I stayed.

The feelings I carried for him wasn't clear to anyone who wasn't me. Others either thought that I hated him or was simple indifferent to him, and because of that I was hated even more.

No one knew but me.

And I would like to keep it that way.

I would stay in the village for him.

But I would not stay forever.

He had chased, and chased after me over the past three years. During the chase I had caused him great pain. The pain I caused him was something I regret. It's the only regret I have.

I cared for him deeply, and hate that I was the main cause of his pain for the last few years.

So in my own awkward way, I was trying to make up for it by retuning to a hostile village.

But again, I do not plan to stay forever.

He wanted me by his side, and I simply plan to grant him that wish for now.

When I see for my own eyes that his lifelong dream has been accomplished, and then I will leave. For this village may be a home he always wish to return too, but it was nothing short but a prison in disguise for me. I loved him, but not enough to be his guardian until my last breath.

So until the time came for me to leave, I will help and support him until his life goal is accomplished.

But afterwards…who knows?

R/R!