The silence was deafening, as I stood awkwardly off to the side in Sakura's living room. I didn't know if I was seriously interested in the pasty pink covered wall, or I was just trying to look anywhere but at the two people that was starting to give me a headache. Sasuke looked as if he was half way between strangling her, and wanting to run. I couldn't particularly blame him. If I had got slapped, then snatched into a hug, then sobbed on, I think I would feel about the same. The only difference would be that I would find everything troublesome, and probably fall asleep on the couch.

Only if everything was that simple.

But nothing ever is.

If it was, Sasuke would have never left the village. Sakura would have been noticed Narutos' pain by now. Every day would have nothing but peace because all the nations live in harmony. I wouldn't be forced to be the Hokages advisor. I could go on, but that would solve nothing, and it would never change.

The urge to really just grab Sasuke, and take him back to the compound was really taking a hold of me. Sakura was obviously too much of a hurdle to overcome for right now. I should have thought about that before I made that impulsive decision to bring him here. What the hell could I have been thinking? That if he was to have a deep conversation with the woman, somewhere down the murky line, he would slowly start to come around? I must've been inhaling too much nicotine lately.

"Sasuke, umm…have you been okay since coming back?" Sakura shuttered out, while darting her eyes around the room.

I glanced out the corner of my eye while staring at the photos on the wall, to see that Sakura looked so pained where she sat. Her back was rigid to the point of almost comatose, and if she put any more pressure into squeezing her hand, it was sure to lose blood circulation. This conversation was sure to go nicely.

"Hn. I'm not in prison."

That was true, but didn't make him okay at all. Instead of being caged behind steel bars, he locks himself within the pain and torment of his younger years. Years spent clawing his way to the top of a food chain only he has created within his twisted mind. Years spent reaching for the top, only to find its nothing there. Too many nights have pasted now where I see him out in the fields, walking past the wondering eyes of my deer, just glazing up into the sky as if still searching for answers. I fear on those same nights he might never find them.

A part of me thinks there is something wrong with myself. Somewhere down the line a decent human would have succumb to emotions that could possibly relate to him, like sympathy, regret, sorrow, anything. But not once have I felt that. Instead, I feel only anger that I have to be the one to deal with this shit. I sit on my bed and stare out the window sometimes and wonder if maybe I could blame it on Asuma's death, but then I know that's not the issue, I'm just really a heartless bastard to problems that are not mine. I'm selfish and cruel.

And that is why I know I'm in the wrong profession.

I look away from them just as Sasuke whispers,

"I'm here for good, so Sakura quit being annoying."

My eyes widen as I heard him speak. I couldn't believe he would be so insulting to the woman. Sure, Sakura was a handful at times and clung a little too hard when not needed, but she was his teammate. Or, what was left of them anyways. Team seven in the eyes of mostly everyone in the village was nothing now, but that crude joke you told at the bar when someone of honor died and to lighten the mood you would say, "At least he wasn't a prodigy."

Because at the end of it all Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke were the shining lights that held our village together. We have plenty of capable good shinobi who serve the village just fine, but you didn't itch with anticipation to see them in action. You didn't wish as hard for them to become something great. You didn't wish to be anything other than team seven, until they fell apart.

Naruto eventually stopped caring so hard about finding Sasuke and bringing him back. He instead put all of his life and emotions into missions. Every time he graced the gate he was covered in blood with a grin on his face that didn't quite reach his eyes. We rarely saw him anymore in the village until one day he was in it permanently. He had made his dream come true, by giving up on another one.

Funny enough Sakura reacted almost the same way. She was already immersed within the hospital, but it seemed she lived there after Sasuke never came back with Naruto. Too many nights I would see Ino dragging Sakura home, because she could barely breathe anymore due to exhaustion. And she thought no one saw the red lines around her eyes telling us she had cried the night before, but we saw them clearly, we just kept silent. No one could console those two, except the one they were pining after.

Now he was here, and still the bastard he always was.

They wanted him back for what?

I look back over towards them, thinking I would see Sakura near tears again. Sakura main goal after the Uchiha left was to no longer be a fan girl, an annoyance. She lived for that moment where her other two teammates would no longer leaver her behind. Leave her standing with the rest of us, the average shinobi. It was no secret what her desires were, she wore it on her sleeves as if it was some badge of survival. So I could only assume Sasuke words were a slapped in the face to all the effort she has put in.

Sakura was smiling with trembling lips, before she launched herself into Sasuke arms.

In that moment, while watching Sasuke and Sakura embrace tightly, I knew the dynamics of team seven shifted. I also knew no matter how much the village saw of team seven, we would never understand them, and they're still unattainable from our grasp.

A/N: I'm so sorry to all my readers! This came way later than intended. I've been whirling through different classes and personal issues that I honestly didn't have the time to put into this chapter. I will try my hardest to push more chapters out quicker, but some times it will go through a lengthy delay due to life. I hope you guys like this chapter!