Because We're a Team

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Chapter One

Training

Sasuke had been given a curse mark.

That Orochimaru person had inflicted a wound upon Sasuke that he would not soon be healing from. The chunin exams had been a frightening experience for team seven and even now it was far from over. They'd managed to make it through the forest of death miraculously, but even then came a sudden death elimination.

Sakura had tried to stop Sasuke, to keep him from fighting being that the mark had been an unknown to them, but he refused to let her tell anyone about it and he fought against her wishes. Even in his current state, he won, but as soon as the match was over he was taken away by Kakashi.

Though thoughts of him were in the back of her mind- and she was worried about him, Sakura forced herself to keep her mind on her own battle, which happened to be against Ino. It was a battle of rivals and once best friends and in the end, they both felt they'd grown as kunoichi by the time it was over. However, it ended in a draw- and neither of them would be going to the final rounds.

Disappointed as she was, Sakura knew she wasn't ready and she was also undeserving of the title chunin. She'd watched her two teammates win their battles and she knew if anyone could do it, it would be those two. Even Naruto, he was a fool but he never gave up and he was always surprising people, even her.

There was to be one month of preparation for the genin before the final rounds would begin. Sakura found herself feeling quite miserable since she was never able to visit Sasuke before he was whisked off by Kakashi for further training. Naruto was doing training as well and so over the course of that month, Sakura would visit Lee in the hospital, or take to her own training.

She had to get serious.

It would be sometime before she'd ever be prepared to take the chunin exams again, but she knew sitting around wasn't going to get her ready. So, while she knew her team was fighting hard to better themselves, she tried to do the same.

Sometimes Ino would find her on the training grounds and even help by sparring with her and as the days passed, Sakura could feel herself becoming stronger, though not nearly as strong as she needed to be. She didn't know how, but some way she wanted to learn other things, she wanted to have her own special abilities to use in battle, but that seemed like a farfetched dream she'd never realize.

…

The final rounds came and nothing could have prepared any of them for what was to happen. Naruto amazingly won out against Neji, and Sakura had been both nervous and excited about seeing Sasuke's fight with Gaara, but just in the middle of their battle, Sakura started to become groggy and noticed that many of the people around her had fallen asleep, including Ino. Realizing a genjutsu had been cast, she quickly released it to prevent herself from exposure only to realize just how quickly so many people had been affected.

Immediately, Sasuke went after Gaara when his siblings ran off with him and Sakura was left to bring Naruto out of the genjutsu and then Shikamaru, who hadn't been affected at all, but rather pretended to be asleep in a feeble attempt to keep himself free of any work. Unfortunately for him, he was sent along with Sakura and Naruto to go after Sasuke and aid him in his battle with Gaara. There was no time to think or complain, only time to act. Something major was brewing in the leaf at that time.

Shikamaru stayed back when a group came and held them up on their way, though he claimed it to be a huge pain, he shooed the other two genin off knowing it was the only way for them to catch up to Sasuke, and they hurried along knowing they had to do just that.

When they finally made it to Sasuke, he was already in bad shape, stuck to the spot laying on his front on a tree branch with Gaara coming for him. Naruto sent a kick to his face, protecting Sasuke and giving Sakura space to join him on the large branch.

"Sasuke-kun…" The mark had returned and he seemed to be in an awful lot of pain. Just seeing him like so had Sakura's heart wringing. As he grunted in pain she laid her hand on his back in a mild attempt to comfort him, though she knew nothing she could do to help him.

This was Gaara, he was a jinchuriki and he was strong. She didn't know how the three of them would fair against him, especially with Sasuke already hurt. Each time he moved even the slightest bit, he groaned in pain and was unable to fight through it to get up. Sakura called him name again, worried and helpless as she watched him struggle.

"You guys…" Sasuke seemed surprised to have them there at all, though there was a look of relief in his eyes.

He held tight to his neck, obviously trying to subdue the curse mark that had activated and just as Sakura went to speak to him, Gaara came charging past Naruto, straight for Sasuke.

There wasn't much she could do. Sakura knew as well as anyone just how weak she was. Defeating Gaara wasn't something she could even imagine herself doing, even taking him on was impossible for her, but even if she died doing so, she would try to protect Sasuke.

Kunai in hand, Sakura threw herself in front of Sasuke to block Gaara's attack, or take it upon herself rather than sit by and watch Sasuke be hurt even further. She was snatched up immediately and pinned against the trunk of the tree, being slammed and squeezed too tightly. Naruto and Sasuke yelling out her name was the last thing she heard before the pain became too much and she lost consciousness.

…

Never had Sasuke thought Sakura to be more annoying than at that moment. Anger coursed through his veins as she jumped before him and all he could do was watch as that monster captured her none too gently and secured her against the tree. Almost instantly she was out cold and Sasuke ground his teeth together, trying with all his might to push back the curse mark and his pain so he could save her.

Even as the fight went on, Sakura was stuck just there and getting her free seemed to be a difficult task indeed. Sasuke was finally able to get to his feet, to fight alongside Naruto, but even after a while he didn't see any way for the two of them to defeat Gaara and make it out alive. To Sasuke, the most important thing at that point was to save Sakura, and for his teammates to get away unharmed.

"Naruto… you have to save Sakura, no matter what." Sasuke said, his eyes narrowed as he thought over what was to come. "I can buy you some time. You get Sakura and run… I lost everything once. I never want to watch those most precious to me be killed right before my eyes."

Naruto was taken aback by Sasuke's words, and as much as he respected his feelings, the last thing Naruto would ever do was run away. They'd save Sakura together, they'd defeat Gaara and the entire team would go home to fight another day.

It wasn't easy for Sasuke to watch Naruto take the initiative, to feel helpless as his teammate fought on a whole new level against a foe he himself could not seem to win against. Annoying as it was, still the most important thing to him was for them to be safe and eventually the sand arm that held Sakura tight to the tree dispersed and Sasuke jumped over to catch her as she fell.

Carefully, he laid her down on the trunk, his eyes full of emotion as he looked down at her unconscious form. She would be okay, but Sasuke was not happy with himself for letting something happen to her once again, not after he'd sworn to protect her. Pakkun was there, and knowing he had to get back to assisting Naruto, Sasuke spoke to the ninja dog, though his obsidian eyes never left his pink-haired teammate.

"Take care of Sakura."

Leaving her was hard, but they had to defeat Gaara above all to prevent any further damage.

In the end, it was Naruto who'd done most of the fighting and came out the victor in his fight against Gaara. It had been a long and strenuous battle for all of them and by the time everything was over and they made it back home, they found that many other things had been happening in the village as they'd fought Gaara.

…

It was raining that day as team seven, along with every other villager- shinobi and civilian, attended a memorial service, having lost even the Hokage during that time. Everybody was distraught and saddened by this, even the skies were crying for the loss that had come upon them all.

Sakura was standing beside Sasuke. Since returning to the village things had returned to normal for him it seemed. She watched him, noting the fact that he seemed to be painless and mostly himself. She hoped that mark never came out again, it was bad for Sasuke, it hurt him- and Sakura didn't like that. She stood close to him, but kept a distance enough to be sure they didn't touch. After a while, the rain let up and she looked up at the sky as the clouds parted slowly, revealing the sun for the first time that day.

"The rain stopped…" She murmured, and Sasuke looked up as well, seeming to notice only then.

"Hn."

"I wonder what will happen from here… I think a lot is going to change in the village."

"Yeah."

Looking back to Sasuke, Sakura bit her bottom lip as she thought about what was to come. For now, they'd go back to their usual missions and training. She wanted to spend a lot of time with Sasuke, to watch over him and make sure he was okay, but she knew that what she had to be doing was training and bettering herself. If she wanted to become useful, and be able to be proud of herself being on her team, then she had a lot of work ahead of her.

…

With the Hokage deceased, things in the village were a mess for a while. Missions weren't being given to the genin often and if they were, it was the same old boring starter missions they were given so long ago. Even those only happened a few times and so for the most part, team seven were separately doing their own training.

Naruto had taken to training with Jaraiya, a legendary sannin just like that Orochimaru person who had been the one to take the third Hokage's life. He'd left on a journey only a few days after the memorial service and with Sasuke relentlessly training himself, Sakura could only do the same.

So today, she was on the training grounds, working on her taijutsu skills. Her legs were bruised and aching as she delivered one kick after the next to the stump before her. The pain had gone on so long that she was becoming numb and she was pushing through with tears in her eyes because she just couldn't stop, she couldn't give up.

How would she ever become stronger if she always stopped when things got hard?

When her legs finally threatened to give on her completely, she made herself stop, but immediately switched to punching, using both fists to hit the stump. She was tired, she was breathless and she was hurting, but she would continue to do this every day. She would push herself, and slow as it may be, she would become stronger. She would make it to where Sasuke and Naruto could depend on her as well. She wouldn't be useless forever.

"Sakura?"

Startled by the voice calling her, she jumped and fell flat on her backside. She winced in pain, eyes closed tightly before she felt him walk closer to her and she opened her eyes, blinking rapidly as she took in her black-haired teammate. His brows were pulled together, his jaw tense as he looked her over.

"Um… Hi, Sasuke-kun. What are you doing here?"

His hands went into his pockets and he looked away from her before answering. "I was looking for you actually."

Sakura blinked, taken aback. Sasuke never looked for her, so she figured it must be important. "Is something wrong?"

His eyes turned back to her. "What are you doing to yourself?" He changed the subject completely, leaving her baffled momentarily.

"What do you mean?"

He glared sharply at her before his eyes trailed down to her bruised and dirty legs. "You shouldn't look like that."

Sakura frowned as she looked down to take in her legs as well. They looked bad, they hurt and were trembling from overexertion, but Sakura was proud of pushing herself. Still, it was embarrassing for Sasuke to see her in such a mess so she pulled her legs under her to hide them.

Sasuke mirrored her unhappy look. To him, Sakura was never supposed to look like that. Her training should be simple. Seeing her sweaty and dirty and all cut up was new to him. He didn't like it. This didn't seem normal for her. She'd trained before, but her hair was always clean and neat. She was never dirty. She was always smiling when she saw him. Ever since the exams though, she was working herself endlessly, she was always dirty and tired and never around. She never came to bring him food like she normally would, didn't even try to strike up a conversation when they ran across each other. He was worried about her. For some reason, he missed the old Sakura. He hated it every time he looked at this new version of her, even every time he saw her hair.

Sakura just wasn't the same.

"I have to get stronger." She whispered after some time and Sasuke found himself sighing and taking a seat beside her on the ground.

"And you will… but you don't have to push yourself too hard. You should take care of yourself more."

Sadly, Sakura no longer felt that way. She'd spent her entire life taking care of herself above all else, depending on other people to keep her safe even when she was so determined to be a kunoichi. Her looks had always come first because she always wanted to look her best in front of Sasuke, but she knew she couldn't be that girl anymore. She wanted to make him proud, she wanted him to recognize all her hard work, but instead he just seemed upset with her.

"I'm only doing what I must do." She assured him before taking a stand. Sasuke's eyes widened at this.

Was she really going to leave him, after he came to spend some time with her?

"I understand, Sakura. You don't need to get defensive." He said, unable to explain his feeling to her. He couldn't just come out and say that he wanted her perfect like she always had been, that he never wanted to see her hurt, that he would always protect her. He would get stronger, so would she… but he never wanted to see her like he'd seen her that day in the chunin exams. And he didn't want to see her pushing herself unlike she ever had been before. She wasn't setting a pace for herself. At the rate she was going, she'd kill herself.

"No, Sasuke-kun. You don't understand. I'm weak. I've been nothing but a burden to you and Naruto… even Kakashi-sensei. I'm not going to be that girl anymore. You just sit back and watch, one day I'll be fighting alongside the two of you."

And Sasuke did watch, in disbelief as she walked away from him for the first time in their lives.

…

"What's on your mind today, Sasuke?" Kakashi asked his pupil as they continued their training.

It was a few days after Sasuke had spoken with Sakura and he hadn't seen her since. She was on his mind a lot and he couldn't stop worrying about her. Confiding in Kakashi about his thoughts wasn't something he wanted to do though, so he shrugged it off claiming it to be nothing and they continued on with their training for the day without any further questions.

Strange as it was, Sasuke found himself thinking more and more about his life and how different it had become since team seven was formed. They'd become his family, they made him happy- even if he didn't show it sometimes… and he'd been thinking about revenge less and less these days.

Of course, he still had all intentions of fulfilling his need for revenge. He would find and kill his brother, but he knew that reality would take time. He had to gain much more strength before he could ever hope to face Itachi. His training happened daily, and he knew he was getting stronger each day, but the process was slow. He could only imagine how Sakura must feel about herself, so in a way he understood what she meant, and he was glad she'd gotten motivated. He just wished that motivation hadn't changed her so much.

It was a week later when he seen her again. He was on his way to deliver a message to the shinobi that watched the gate given to him by Kakashi and on his way through he spotted Sakura sitting on the bench, bandaging her legs. She looked exhausted, pale and had dark circles under her eyes, something Sasuke had never seen on her before. She'd lost weight and altogether looked as if she hadn't eaten, bathed, or slept in days.

Sasuke walked over to her, deciding to put his mission on hold, which was unlike him as well. But, could he really ignore his teammate when she seemed to be in such a bad state of mind. What was she really doing to herself, and why did he feel so guilty every time he saw her?

"Sasuke?" She looked up and called to him when he just stood there silently. She'd finished her bandages but she looked so horrible, Sasuke didn't know what to do or say to help the situation.

"Are you hungry?" He asked after a moment, eyes downcast as he looked to her.

Her brows raised and she regarded him curiously before answering. "Yeah, I was just thinking about food actually. Why?"

Sasuke shrugged and averted his eyes to look anywhere but at her. "I just thought we could go for food together."

"Really?" Sakura asked in surprise and a slight smirk pulled at his lips at her reaction. Maybe all hope wasn't lost, maybe his Sakura was still in there somewhere.

Not that she was his or anything…

"That sounds amazing."

"Hn." Sasuke agreed, finally looking back at her with a genuine smile in place. "Why don't you go home and get cleaned up. I have to deliver a message to the gate, so I'll just meet you at your house."

Sakura got up, her cheeks reddening bashfully. "Um, okay… I'll see you in a bit then."

Sasuke only nodded in response before she hurried off in the direction of her home and he didn't miss the way she had to limp on her way. He sighed and turned in the opposite direction to make his way to the gate and complete his mission. He hoped somehow that Sakura would come back to herself.

…

Sakura was beside herself as she stripped off her clothes and hopped in the shower which she had running and ready to go. She couldn't believe that Sasuke wanted to go and eat with her and she was so excited. Maybe it wasn't a date or anything, but it had to be a step in the right direction. She thought that maybe Sasuke was acknowledging all of her hard work and maybe he respected her more. After all, she wasn't that clingy annoying little girl anymore.

Or she was trying hard not to be anyway.

She washed her filthy skin vigorously, her hair as well. She'd been so exhausted the day before that she'd passed out without a shower and then the moment she woke up she started her training again. Being clean wasn't one of her concerns at the time, but if she was going to get food with Sasuke, she had to look decent at least.

After brushing her teeth, she dressed in her usual wardrobe and then brushed her hair before tying her headband in place. Her legs were sore, but didn't look so bad since they were cleaned up. Bruising was evident and the scrapes were healing slowly but Sakura was proud of every blemish she had. She'd worked hard and those soon to be scars only helped tell that.

Still, she remembered Sasuke's face when he saw her legs before so she wrapped them up to keep them concealed even though it wasn't necessary at that point. She was just getting her shoes on when a knock sounded on her window.

As soon as she finished with her shoes she hurried to the window and slid it open. Sasuke was there, hands in his pockets, usual stoic look on his face. She came out the window immediately, not bothering to close it behind her.

"So where are we going?" She asked as she hurried along with Sasuke who instantly started walking off.

He shrugged indifferently. "Wherever you prefer."

"How about barbeque?"

"Hn. That's fine."

With their destination decided, the two of them walked silently to the restaurant which wasn't very far from Sakura's house. They arrived in a few short minutes and after being showed to a private booth, they sat down to order. Sasuke asked for extra meat and they ordered a variety of vegetables and their drinks before the server scurried off.

Sakura thought this was nice. It was actually the first time that she and Sasuke had ever sat down to eat alone together and she was very happy about it. For the first time since he'd been bitten by Orochimaru, Sakura felt some semblance of happiness. Sasuke looked happy as well. He was himself, but his eyes seemed to light up when he looked at her and he was smiling more often than usual, even if he'd only done so a couple times.

"How's the training with Kakashi-sensei going?" Sakura asked after their food and drinks had been delivered and Sasuke went about using their personal grill, placing the vegetables on one side and the meat on the other.

"Fine. There's not much too it."

Sakura watched his hands move as he expertly placed the food about, it was quite fascinating for her to watch him do anything. But, there was something special about his hands. She was so absorbed in watching him that she didn't bother asking him anything further, but by the time he flipped the meat, he spoke again.

"And yours?"

"Oh. Um…" Sakura squirmed a bit in her seat and looked down to her own hands which rested in her lap. "Good I suppose. I've been training hard every day, but it will take a long time to get where I want to be."

Sasuke nodded at that. "Ah. Me too."

"Do you think… we'll always be together?" Sakura asked, only to blush madly before stuttering, "I-I mean… well, you know… as a team."

"Hn." Sasuke smiled to himself as he flipped a few other pieces of meat. "I do." He really did believe that.

Sakura was surprised but thrilled by his words because for some reason, they were very reassuring. For a while, she'd thought that Naruto and Sasuke would leave her behind because she would be of no use to them, but maybe they didn't feel that way at all. Either way, she'd made it up in her mind not to give them reason to feel that way. She would become strong.

"Eat up." He told her and she looked down at her plate that he'd filled with several pieces of meat and two skewers of vegetables.

Her stomach growled at the sight of it but she knew there was no way she'd finish it all, even as hungry as she was. Still, she didn't have the nerve to tell him that. "Thank you, Sasuke-kun."

They ate silently and Sakura was able to eat more than she imagined. It was nice to spend time like that with Sasuke, something was a rare treat she would savor for a long, long time. Even after they'd finished having dinner, he walked her home and she couldn't help feeling that he had changed. In some way, Sasuke had loosened up, he'd lightened up, he'd grown nicer.

"Thanks for tonight, Sasuke-kun. The food was good and I had a great time!"

Sasuke gave her a nod, his hands in his pockets as he watched her skip up her doorsteps and look back at him. "So uh… Tomorrow… Want to watch me train?"

Her face fell at that and she chewed on her bottom lip as if contemplating her answer. "Um, actually I have plans with my own training for tomorrow. But, if I have time I'll be sure to find you!"

With that she'd swung her front door open and bolted inside, leaving Sasuke standing there facing where she'd been with his mouth hanging open in surprise. He could have been wrong, but he was pretty sure that Sakura had just brushed him off. Just when he thought she'd appreciated his change in attitude, and would hopefully return to the old Sakura, the Sakura he was so accustomed to. But as he turned to make his way home he realized, this was a whole new Sakura and though she was worrying him like crazy, he was starting to respect her more and more.

A/N:

Thanks for reading!