A/N: This is a collection of drabbles and short stories featuring various pairings, themes, and genres. No flames please, and reviews are appreciated. Thank you.

A story for Team 7, because I love them and would love for them to restore their friendship.

Drama/Angst

The Heart of Home

Home is neither here, nor there, nor anywhere. Tears are the heart of home, and home is where you make it.

Sasuke could never cry, and Naruto and Sakura knew that.

It was alright, because they cried for him. They cried for his losses, they cried for his pain, cried for the lost moments they could have shared as friends. They cried because he couldn't.

Naruto cried because Sasuke was his best friend, and his best friend was lost. He cried for the brighter times long gone and the lingering shadow of revenge. He cried for a child stripped of a childhood and thrust with a destiny of blood. He cried for the break-up of a team shining with potential, and he cried for his own failure.

Sasuke was lost, and Naruto had become lost trying to find him.

Sakura cried because she loved Sasuke, loved everything about him, and because he was her friend. She cried for dreams never fulfilled and the scars her own hands could never heal. She cried for a child bathed in darkness who walked on a road of thorns. She cried for the pitfalls of defeat, and she cried for her own foolishness.

Sasuke was lost, and Sakura had become lost in loving him.

Team 7 was dead.

Naruto and Sakura cried for the death of the Team. It had been a haven of friendship and warmth, a refuge from the bitter claws of darkness and descent. But when one fell, the others fell with him, and so, the Team had died.

Naruto and Sakura cried for that death, because they had loved the Team, had loved Sasuke.

And they knew that deep inside, Sasuke would have cried too.

He knew how they for his pain and bled for his wounds.

He swore that one day, when he had found his way back home, he would pick up the bonds of Naruto and Sakura and resurrect the Team.

And Sasuke swore that until the end of time, he would fight for them to the death.

Maybe someday, he would learn to cry for them too.

The journey home is a tough one, especially when the people who made up home were lost too.

It wasn't just fate that Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke found each other first.

It simply happened one day. A moment where time froze and three souls connected. Finally, when the ice shattered, and Sasuke slowly picked up the bonds again, the tears spilled from Naruto and Sakura in an ocean of relief and happiness. Three bodies fell against each other in an embrace and didn't let go. Ever.

Some things were still the same, but some were different.

Naruto still smiled sadly at the way Sakura looked at Sasuke, and the way Sasuke looked back sometimes.

Sakura still sighed as she glanced out of the corner of her eye, observing the undying friendship between Naruto and Sasuke.

Sasuke said nothing but felt the twinge in his heart as he saw Sakura and Naruto exchange gentle smiles. He knew something they didn't.

But everything was alright, though, because Sakura would have shed all the tears in the world for the Team to come back.

And as Sakura cried and Naruto kissed away her tears, and Sasuke buried his face in her hair, they knew things were alright, even if they were still lost. The only thing that mattered was that they had found each other, and the heart of home was with them.

The Team was still alive, and this time they would make it home together.

Tears and all.

-Owari-