A/N: BeeTeeDub-izeeee! How's everyone doing? :D So I'm back in school. (cries) I feel so bad for myself. But anyways, I'm gonna try to put this story on the top of my list as of the moment. I've stated that I was also working on this super long oneshot but I'm gonna put that in the back burner for now. :D Also, 2 COMPLETE STORIES FOR OLIE! Huzzah!

Now on the matter of sequels for Remember Confessions and Fast Car: Presently, I don't have plans on making sequels for both stories (mostly because I don't have ideas for plots) but the prospect of sequels isn't completely unlikely. Hooray! While we're on this, I'd like to thank each person who reviewed, favourited, and followed these two stories. Your support and thoughts make me really happy! (Hopefully they see this note. Aheh) Hearts for all of you!

Ayt! Ayt! Let's get a move on with this story! Again, self-proofread. I betcha there's still some typos in there.

*DISCLAIMER APPLIES*

BEFORE THE WORST

What Works?

Yuck.

Naruto wiped the grime that was all over her face. The stuff was gross, sticky, smelled bad, and did she mention gross? It didn't help that the gunk had that phlegm-y green color.

Double yuck.

To explain as to why Naruto was covered in slime, she was on her way home from school when she passed by Sakura standing by the lab room. The emerald-eyed lass was conversing (arguing) with one Yamanaka Ino. And as expected, the two were quarreling about...

Take a guess.

It's total no-brainer.

I'll give you a hint: It was about a cold-hearted asshole.

Naruto rolled her eyes at the two girls blatantly having a dispute about Sasuke. She steadily made her way towards the older girls. You'd think that Naruto would have known better and steered clear away from her pink-haired teammate. Nope. The blonde was still hell-bent on making her female teammate accept her.

"Hey Sakura-chan! Hi Ino!" Sakura twitched in displeasure at the name Naruto chose to call her. Sure, most if not all of the students in the school were of Japanese heritage so she understood that the 'chan' was some sort of term of endearment. What bugged her was the fact that it was Naruto (of all people!) who was calling her as such. Naruto was lucky that she was Sasuke's best friend otherwise Sakura would have seriously pushed the blonde around like no one's business.

"Hey Naruto." Ino greeted while daintily flipping her ponytail back to its rightful place. The pale blonde, although could get quite sassy every so often, was actually fairly nice to people. Naruto had fortunately gotten Ino to not dislike her by getting Sasuke to actually attend the older blonde's birthday parties.

"What do you want?" Sakura heatedly glared at the shorter girl's arrival. The pinkette was truthfully getting very infuriated with the blonde pest. Ever since they had become teammates two months ago, Naruto constantly insisted on hanging out with Sakura. It was starting to grate on the older lass' nerves! The Haruno girl had turned Naruto down time and time again. It's like Naruto didn't even know when to quit!

"So Sakura, do you want to hang at the arcade at the mall? I heard they had a new game there!" Naruto's enthusiasm had Ino giggling. It was cute how the bright girl tried so hard to get Sakura to like her. The gesture was endearing in a way. "That's sounds fun, billboard brow. Why don't you go with Naruto, huh? While you two are having a blast, I'll be in charge of keeping Sasuke entertained." Ino teased her childhood best friend slash rival for Sasuke's affections.

"Put a cork in it, Ms. Piggy!" Sakura rumbled out. The pinkette, in her gesture to retort at Ino, spotted a fellow seventh grader making his way into the lab. The boy was carrying what looked to be a science experiment. In his possession was something that looked to be a clear container of green-ish slime. Sakura smirked as she keenly eyed the disgusting liquid. She just had the perfect idea to turn down Naruto and to finally get the message across that she, Haruno Sakura, did not want anything to do with Uzumaki Naruto.

Once the boy was within their range, Sakura quickly grabbed the container of slime and swiftly dumped its contents on top of Naruto's head. Heh. Naruto would be reeking for days!

"Sakura!" Naruto yelled the name as the slime easily covered her girlish form. The gunk was everywhere! It got in her eyes, in her mouth, inside her uniform, all over her bag; everywhere!

"Consider that the answer to your invitation, runt." Sakura stuck her nose in the air and walked away. Ino, feeling a little bit awkward over the situation, opted to simply offer Naruto a sympathetic smile before retreating.

Going back to the present, we now find our favourite blonde inside the women's washroom trying to clean herself up. "Geez. Sakura-chan could have just said no. She didn't have to dump this crap all over me." She pouted as she used a handful of tissues to wipe the water off her face. Thankfully, she was almost slime-free save for the gunk that seeped into her uniform and her backpack. It was alarming how long it actually took her to get the stuff off her person. It didn't help that the substance smelled funky which in turn made her smell equally as bad. Sigh. So much for getting Sakura to like her. Maybe she should just give up? She gazed at her reflection on the mirror.

...No way! Uzumaki Naruto never gave up on anything and she wasn't about to start now! If she couldn't get her own teammate to acknowledge her then how did she expect everyone else to do the same? Once she deemed herself clean and somewhat fragrant enough, she exited the washroom with renewed determination. She'd just have to keep trying, right?

It was when the blond thirteen-year-old was passing by the entrance to the indoor basketball court did she hear voices coming from inside. Naruto, being the nosy brat she was, decided to eavesdrop on the group of young teenagers in the vast room. What usually was an entertaining affair to her became more urgent when she heard what sounded like a girl crying. It bothered her even more that the other voices were laughing while the girl was hiccupping in distress. She walked silently into the gymnasium and followed the sound.

Hold on.

She knew that voice...

"Sakura?" Naruto called as she rounded the corner of the bleachers. Lo and behold, there Sakura was bawling her eyes out and written on her forehead with black permanent marker was 'Ms. Big Head' in all caps. A group of what looked to be like eighth graders surrounded the poor girl as she tried to hide her tearful green eyes.

"I can't believe her tiny thin-ass body can carry the weight of her head. It's like seeing a stunt at the circus! What a freak show!", jeered one of the boys. The joke earned a raucous howl of laughter from his other two companions.

"Hey fat head, you'll never get a boyfriend!" The second young teen got his two cents in.

"Fat head! Priceless!" The third boy reiterated with great amusement; as if he'd just heard the funniest joke ever made.

The wild cackling of all three boys had sent Naruto over the edge. She'd had enough of this cruelty! The blonde puffed her chest out and straightened her posture to make herself look bigger than she actually was. "Yo! Assholes!" That instance marked the first time Naruto had uttered a profanity.

Thug number one (as Naruto had kindly named him) immediately turned his attention towards the blonde and sneered once he caught sight of the small frame of the girl. "Mind your own business, kid!"

"Yeah! Get lost!" Thug number two supplied. Sakura released a small yelp of pain as Thug number three tugged at her long pink hair. "She's got weird hair, huh? Who ever heard of pink hair?" Thug number three teased as he gave another yank at Sakura's locks. The sight of the pinkette barely being able to breathe due to the intensity of her crying struck a chord in Naruto. These boys had no right to treat any one in that manner! It simply enraged Naruto; the anger seeping out of her every pore.

Naruto growled and took a couple of steps back. She took off her backpack and lowered her stance in preparation for what she was about to execute. No one messed with her teammates and got away with it. She began to run with her hands above her head to gain momentum. She dived to the ground before doing a strong front handspring. Once her feet were back on the ground, she used the impetus she gained from her handspring to propel herself high into the air. The blond, while in midair, subsequently did one successful front flip; and halfway through her second flip, she stuck her right leg out and aimed for Thug number one's shoulder.

SLAM!

"OOOOWW!" The boy fell to the ground as he clutched his heavily assaulted shoulder. He wouldn't be moving his right arm anytime soon. Naruto safely landed to the ground, only staggering a few steps before glaring back at the other eighth graders picking on Sakura. Thug number three immediately let go of his harsh hold on Sakura's hair and took a step away from the pinkette.

"You little punk!" Thug number two apparently was the braver of the two and proceeded to charge at Naruto. The blonde evaded the attack by way of efficiently dodge rolling to the side. She crouched low and swept her attacker's feet using her right leg. The unattractive yell coming from the older child brought a smirk to Naruto's lips. She stood up and eyed the boy she had just recently taken out. The kid, who was wailing for his mother, clutched at his ankle. Heh; a sprained ankle. That ought to keep him somewhat immobile for a good few days. The blonde, deeming it safe enough to turn her attention away from Thug number two, turned to look at Thug number three.

The kid brought his fists up and assumed a flimsy fighting stance. "H-h-hey! I'm warning you! I took Karate back in 4th grade!" Tch. Naruto could already see that the kid's bark was worse than his bite. He was looking about ready to piss his pants.

"Naruto?" Sakura called out in a very small voice. The blonde looked at the older girl and noticed the streaks of moisture on the latter girl's cheeks. Naruto gave a relieved sigh at the fact that Sakura wasn't bawling anymore; but, boy, did Sakura look horrible what with the writing on her forehead and the overall messy look she had.

Naruto fixed her gaze on the last boy standing and, in turn, raised her fists up as well. "Let's see what you got then!" She screamed a war cry and charged for the older teen. She wasn't really all that surprised when the boy decided to turn tail and run away screaming. "Yeah. Thought so.", she said as she paused and placed a hand on her hip. The sound of the two other boys groaning on the floor caused her to smile. She did good. Naruto beamed as she literally patted herself on the back. Sakura-chan would definitely be...

"Sakura-chan!" She exclaimed, almost forgetting the reason she had fought in the first place. Naruto hastily went up to Sakura and offered her left hand so the pinkette could stand up. The Haruno girl glowered at the offered hand before softening her gaze and releasing a sigh. Sakura took the help Naruto was presenting.

"Why'd you help me?" Sakura asked once she was fully stood up. The girl was genuinely confused as to why Naruto would even help her considering how she had been so mean to the young Uzumaki girl. To the pink-haired lass' surprise, Naruto gave a hundred-watt smile before answering. "You're my teammate, Sakura-chan, and I'll always have your back! That's what friends do!" Naruto said, almost short of screaming the admission. Sakura flinched as a huge wave of guilt struck her. She couldn't believe she had been so mean to someone so kind. "Besides, good teammates mean good teamwork. You know what they say: What works? Teamwork!" Sakura sweatdropped at Naruto's chant. That eerily sounded like something Lee would say... Cringe.

"Hey! So I think the infirmary can help you out with the stuff on your forehead. Come on! I'll go with you." The blonde nodded her head to the direction of the gym exit. Sakura gave the other a small smile of gratitude. Maybe Naruto wasn't so bad at all.

"Fix your hair first though, Sakura-chan. You look like a train wreck."

Twitch.

Sakura swung her fist against the side of Naruto's head, effectively punishing the blonde for her words.

"Oowww! Sakura!" Naruto whined.

"Word of advice, Naruto. Think about what you say before actually saying them." The tick on Sakura's head was visibly throbbing. The older girl began to walk to the exit with Naruto following suit.

"...Eh? What'd I say wrong?"

Naruto's ineptness needed a little getting used to, Sakura thought.

The blonde picked up her backpack using her right hand, which caused her to wince and yelp. Crap...

Sakura, hearing the small cry of pain, looked back. "Hey? Something wrong?" she concerned asked. Naruto simply answered with a shake of her head. "I'm good. Let's get to the clinic!" The blonde secured her bag on back and speedily led the way to the infirmary.

Sakura giggled at the other's personality. Scratch that. Naruto in general would take a lot of getting used to.

llllllllllllllllllll

"God damn it, Sasuke! Be gentle!" Naruto exclaimed at the way Sasuke was bandaging her wrist. This caused Sasuke to lowly growl at the other. "I am being gentle, moron! You're just too wimpy! Suck it up!" They'd been at this for more than half an hour. If Naruto hadn't complained so much, they could have been finished with bandaging her sprained wrist a long time ago.

"How dare you call me wimpy! I'll have you know I just beat up two eighth graders and scared the crap out of another all by myself! I probably wouldn't have sprained my wrist if you hadn't left school so quickly. Stupid Sasuke..." Naruto cutely pouted at her best friend. It was evident that she was still bitter about the fact that Sasuke had 'ditched' her to pick up his new violin with his mother.

"Hn. I'm here at your house now aren't I? Also ... " Sasuke tightened the bandage somewhat before casting an amused smirk at Naruto. "Don't say bad words, Naruto." The look he shot her caused Naruto to frown. Stupid smug Sasuke...

"So how exactly did you sprain your wrist?" Sasuke returned his attention back to his task, being careful not to harm his friend in any way. The question sparked great enthusiasm from the blonde as she began to recount the details of her 'Super-mega-ultra-awesome fighting' (in her words). Sasuke listened with interest at the way Naruto most probably exaggerated some parts and retold the story with weird sound effects. He assumed she had gotten the sprain from the handspring she performed to 'valiantly save' Sakura from the 'villains'.

"So that's what went down!" She chirped in glee. "Y'know what, S'uke? I've got a good feeling me and Sakura will be good pals from now on!" Sasuke could see that Naruto was truly overjoyed with the notion of finally being able to get Sakura to acknowledge her.

Sasuke smirked as he successfully locked the bandage with a tiny clasp. He looked to Naruto with a sincere heart-melting smile as he tenderly grasped the girl's injured hand. "I'm glad you two are finally in good terms."

Naruto widened her pretty cerulean eyes. She had just felt the strangest thing right now; like a million tiny bubbles miraculously appeared in her stomach and decided to pop all at the same time. There was also a tingly sensation in her chest. What was going on?

"...Otherwise, Sakura would just continue to dump reeking slime on you which leaves me having to deal with you with that horrible smell." Sasuke followed up as he stood and moved away from the blonde.

And just like that, the strange feeling vanished. "Well I'm sorry for being an inconvenience, jerk! Maybe I'll let Sakura be my new best friend from now on!" Naruto threatened as she trailed behind Sasuke to the kitchen.

"By all means. You'd be doing me a favour." Sasuke, in all his smugness, smirked. The boy opened the fridge in search of something to snack on. Naruto, since she lacked a good comeback, merely hmphed. Not a few seconds later she had began to smile to herself as a thought resurfaced in her mind.

She had finally gotten Sakura to acknowledge her.

One issue had finally been resolved!

"Can't think of a comeback or did your mind start wandering again?"Sasuke leaned against the counter as he munched on an apple.

A tick formed in Naruto's forehead.

"Stupid Sasuke." She growled as she moved to the boy and swiped at his apple. The blonde angrily ate the stolen fruit as she stomped away.

Sasuke chuckled before following the girl. "Don't say bad words, Sunshine."

The bubbles in her stomach returned. Naruto, despite having resolved the issue with Sakura, found herself with a new matter to address.

What in the heck was happening to her?