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A/N: Um, yes. My first fanfiction, Woohoo! Watch as I break out in dance and scare everyone away. If you're scared, just skip the rest of this and read the story – hey, where are you going!? I didn't mean skip the story, skip the rest of this author's note!

…I understand I just said to skip this part, so you're probably not even reading this.

Damn.

I regret my words.

DISCLAIMER: Disclaimed, but not for long.

…

Give me twenty years or so and I'll be half way there (twenty years later: "What? The series is finished!? Damn!")

EXTRA RIN: Word count. 'Tis a beautiful thing. (Just get on with the story, already!) Ah, look. More words!

Saving You From Yourself
Chapter 1

The moment that Uchiha Sasuke heard who his teammates were, his exact thoughts were, 'I'm screwed.' He knew that Sakura was a good student, but she was generally just an obsessed little immature girl.

As for Naruto? Well, if someone were to just look at that baka they'd understand Sasuke's thoughts. But as time went on, Sasuke realized that he couldn't of asked for better teammates. Naruto came to the rescue at exactly the right time, and he always seemed to come out okay. Sakura had the brains for figuring out tough things and seemed to have developed a knack for being able to see through genjutsu.

In short, Sasuke trusted his teammates.

He had thought that they'd be a team as long as his ninja career lasted before the Chuunin exams, but Orochimaru changed that.

The curse mark on Sasuke's neck brought him back to reality, made him think of revenge again, and made him forget about his gratitude for his teammates for a bit. But when he fought Gaara, and he saw Sakura getting hurt, he was given yet another jolt.

This jolt didn't last as long, and he was quickly shoved back into reality when Itachi came to town. After that, nothing could change his mind. He got angry at Naruto for being the one to catch Itachi's attention, not knowing the real reason why, and couldn't hold it in.

They fought. On the top of the hospital, they fought hard, but in the end, nothing happened. That's why he had left.

Then, the words that Sakura had spoken to him the same day had touched him, but nothing she said could've stopped him. So he knocked her out and went out on his own. And Sasuke knew that his knocking his female teammate out was signifying something.

Signifying his betrayal of Konohagakure.

Haruno Sakura, rather than thinking she was screwed, thought the very opposite. 'I can't wait!' were her exact thoughts as she heard the names of Team Seven being called. However, Naruto put her down quickly just by being on the team. She wasn't clueless to his crush on her, but she chose to ignore it, and if anything, treat him worse.

She had grown up with parents that shunned him, so naturally she would, too. She knew of a lot of people that shunned Naruto, and even though she didn't know why, she followed their example.

She hated that she annoyed Sasuke, and it pained her heart deeply, although at the time she didn't know why. However, after their mission in the Land of The Waves, Sakura was started to figure it out.

The Chuunin exams were a big thing for Sakura, even bigger for her than for the ninjas that had passed into the third round. She had grown up. Doing the second round, in the Forest Of Death, Sakura felt weak, powerless, and like there was no way she could fix what had happened with Sasuke and Orochimaru. She did the only thing she could do: she nursed him and Naruto back to health.

Thinking that this was it, Sakura relaxed a bit, but was sorely mistaken in doing this. After Rock Lee had fallen, she knew that this was her chance to prove herself. She cut her hair and put everything she had into fighting the Sound ninja, but nothing came out of it.

She was saved yet again, first by Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji, then Sasuke. She was lost, and she didn't know what to do.

When Sasuke was forced, yet again, into comatose, she was stricken with grief, but tried not to let it show. She fought herself and finally tried to visit Sasuke, but was put into more misery when she saw he was missing from the hospitals. But when Sasuke entered the ring dramatically, Sakura was abruptly pulled out of her misery and pushed into relief.

This relief was quickly replaced by horror, and Sakura was lost yet again. She found Sasuke in a fit state, and she was forced to suffocate because she tried to save him. She succeeded, of course, but with the risk of dieing, herself.

Sakura knew she was losing him.

The night when she poured her heart out to him gained nothing, and Sakura felt herself being plunged back into agony. It hurt her that she couldn't help with the Sasuke retrieval mission, but she knew there was nothing she could do but wait.

And she formed an idea. An idea that could help her become useful. So she started forming an idea. "I could ask…but she'd say no…"

After seeing Naruto come back, she put all of her worries aside and demanded training. And she became who she wanted to be.

Naruto was overcome with annoyance that Sasuke, Sasuke of all the people, had been put on his team. He was so much better than that pretty-boy Uchiha! Hell, he would've even worked with dog boy! But no, instead he was stuck with the guy who all the girls loved, the guy that his Sakura loved.

Okay, so she wasn't really his. But she would be, Naruto was sure of that! His head was immediately filled with daydreams of him and Sakura and – No, no, no. He couldn't do that; he was supposed to be thinking about his past.

So, anyway, Naruto began to think less of Sasuke as a pretty boy, and more as his rival. Sasuke was better than he thought, and Naruto felt challenged by him.

Then he found these amazing powers that helped Naruto flourish and become even better than before. He felt strong when he got to the third round, and even more so when he beat Hyuuga Neji and proved his point with pure dignity.

His fight with Gaara only made him feel better, and better.

But when he found out what Sasuke had done…the rivalry that had become brotherhood became something more.

And Naruto was willed to fight, fight for his friends, fight for everyone he knew.

A/N: Didn't like it? Liked it? Loved it? DON'T CARE REVIEW MY LITTLE LOVELIES! I know, it's weird…but…meh, I don't really care...I'm just here for the reviews.

Extra note: OKAY, OKAY. I RELENT. Naruto's was short and stupid. I get it. It's only because...well...you see...

HE HAS THE WHOLE FREAKIN' SHOW TO HIMSELF, THAT LITTLE SCREEN HOGGER!