Because We're a Team

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Chapter Two

Growing

Time changed many things as it passed by. Weeks seemed like months because so much was happening. The village had still been in chaos after losing the third, and the genin of the leaf were busy with odd jobs, but other than that, life was simple.

Not for Sasuke, though. He was annoyed that Naruto had been lucky enough to go off on an adventure with that sage, leaving him along to deal with the ever-changing Sakura. She was changing so drastically in such a short amount of time that Sasuke could worry about nothing but her. All his own ambitions had been put aside while he spent every free second he had, searching for her, and trying to be there for her through this phase she was going through.

For the life of him, he could not figure out what had happened to her, or what was bothering her so much that she felt the need to be someone else, but it concerned him enough to drop everything else. His vengeance was forgotten, and the curse mark hadn't been thought of in weeks.

Not since Orochimaru had sent a gang of goons after him, to convince him to join them in a quest for power. Sasuke couldn't agree, appealing as the offer may have been. He would get stronger right where he was. He had a new family, team seven, and somebody had to look after Sakura.

Sasuke felt responsible, for she'd looked after him for so long before then.

Nowadays, the only thing Sakura thought about was training, and getting stronger. She was more power hungry than Sasuke had ever thought about being. He couldn't understand. But, with every day that passed by with him seeing her grow, he admired her more.

She was always exhausted when she joined him and Kakashi for simple missions, and every other time he found her (and he literally had to go looking) she was in the forest somewhere, or the training grounds. She never gave herself a break. Sasuke didn't know where all the motivation had come from, but she was certainly pushing herself, and her efforts were already paying off. He could see a big difference in her, and not just in her attitude towards him.

Today he was just wandering aimlessly through the village after his early morning training when he overheard that Naruto had returned with the sage, and they'd brought back a woman, who was to take the place of the next hokage. This news had him searching for Sakura, because he knew she had to be in the outskirts, and for some reason he felt she should learn about this newfound information.

The woman was apparently a healer, and would be seeing to Lee and all the other people still in the hospital after the attack on the leaf. He knew Sakura had gone to visit Lee often, so he was sure she'd be pleased to know someone had come along who could possibly help with his condition.

After finding the training grounds empty, he searched the surrounding area of the forest, but Sakura was nowhere to be found. Sasuke found this odd, but didn't think much of it as he then made his way towards her home.

Just as he walked up to her door, it swung open, Sakura barreling out so quickly she ran straight into him. Reflexively, Sasuke's arms went around her to hold her in place before she could fall backwards. She squeaked in surprise, green eyes opening wide as she cocked her head back to look up at him.

"Sasuke-kun!" She blinked rapidly at him in surprise. "I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there and-"

"It's fine." He cut her off, arms falling away from her then. When he stepped back to put some space between them he noticed that for the first time in weeks, she didn't look tired, or dirty. Her hair was clean and silky looking. She smelled nice and was dressed in her normal attire. She looked like the old Sakura. "Going somewhere?" He found himself asking, unable to keep from wondering what was so different about today.

"Oh, yeah. Well, Naruto is back and there's a lady who is going to examine Lee. I'm going to pay him a visit while it's on my mind and then find Naruto since it's been a while."

"Hn." Sasuke almost rolled his eyes, but instead he just turned on his heel and started walking away. Sakura was right behind him though.

"Is something wrong? Did you need me?" She asked curiously, walking along beside him. He didn't know why he was going in the same direction, because he suddenly wanted nothing more than to go home.

"No." He grumbled, wondering idly why he was so annoyed all of a sudden.

"Oh… If you wanted to train, I don't mind. I just want to see Lee and Naruto first."

Sasuke shrugged, not daring to glance over at her. "Whatever."

Sometimes it really irked him when he thought so much about her, only to feel like she had become the oblivious one. She'd always been so attentive when it came to him, that it was odd for him to think her attention was always somewhere else. It did bother him, but Sasuke would never admit that.

"Sakura-chan, Sasuke!"

They both stopped in their tracks and turned to look to their right at the sound of Naruto shouting their names. He still had his backpack strapped on as he ran towards them, waving frantically with a huge grin on his face. Sasuke's hands went into his pockets, eyes narrowing as Sakura waved back excitedly.

"Hey Naruto, you're finally back!" She smiled so happily at her blonde teammate that Sasuke couldn't keep from turning his nose up at the scene. Why her excitement annoyed him so, he wasn't sure. But, it did.

"Yeah. The journey was insane, believe it! We finally found Granny and she's on her way to see Lee as we speak."

"Oh, Lee." Sakura gasped. "I almost forgot. I've gotta run guys, I'll see you later!"

Sasuke frowned deeply as he watched her run off, refusing to go after her even though he really, really wanted to. Once she was out of sight, obsidian eyes looked to Naruto, turning to a glower as he noticed the stare he was receiving.

"Problem, dobe?"

"Maybe, teme."

Sasuke's quirked a brow. "Don't get ahead of yourself, loser."

"You've been giving Sakura-chan a hard time while I've been gone, haven't you?"

"Tch." Sasuke rolled his eyes, unable to believe how wrong Naruto was. It was Sakura who was giving him the hard time, not the other way around. "Get lost."

"You better start being nicer to her, teme!" Naruto shouted after him as he walked away, with no particular destination in mind.

He ended up wandering around for an hour before his feet led him to the forest and he proceeded to train alone like he usually did. Perfecting his lightning style was his current goal. Change in nature would develop his jutsu beautifully, so it was a smart goal to have.

The sharingan was second nature to him by now, but he was still learning to use it wisely, for it consumed a large amount of chakra during use. His fire style was already close enough to perfection, as was his shuriken skills. Still, Sasuke pushed himself when it came to his training daily. He would never lose to Naruto, he would become strong enough to always protect those precious to him, and he would eventually obtain enough power to end his brother's life, and exact his revenge.

/

Sakura had been lucky enough to arrive at Lee's room just as Tsunade, one of the three legendary sannin was seeing to him. He didn't receive good news, but Sakura could see how skilled that woman was, and without thinking twice about it, she asked if she could observe her work while in the hospital that day. The older woman gave the girl a curious look before ultimately allowing her to do so. Even she could see the headstrong look in the young girl's eyes.

The more she could learn, the better. Meeting Tsunade made Sakura realize there was so much more in the world she could learn. If she could become stronger, and learn to heal as well, she would be one step closer to becoming a better kunoichi. She was sure if she showed how dedicated she could be to learning, the woman would eventually accept her as an apprentice.

So, Sakura spent the next few weeks studying Tsunade's every move. When she wasn't training, she was following her, watching her. After a while, she finally got the nerve to bring up her request. It was early morning and the fifth hokage was yawning sleepily as she made her way to her office, and for once her assistant wasn't tagging along.

Just as she made it to the office door, Sakura jumped in her way, arms stretched wide across the door. Tsunade gazed down at her unfazed for a moment before she sighed. "Can we at least go inside?"

Though she hesitated, Sakura nodded and together they entered the room.

"So, what's this all about, Sakura?"

Sakura's fingers twined together behind her back nervously and she almost lost her resolve before the words just spilled from her mouth. "Make me your apprentice."

The older woman just smirked in response. But after that, Sakura was training specifically under the fifth hokage, and she knew that soon enough, she would reach her next goal.

/

Another year flew by and by then, Sakura was more confident in her abilities. She didn't scold herself as much, as long as she wasn't failing at anything anyway. Of course she still had a long way to go, but every day she progressed. She'd already learned so much, and was still learning on a daily basis. Growing was thrilling to her, and she'd grown a lot in the last year.

She was happy. Team seven was doing amazing. Sasuke and Naruto had their disagreements at times but that was to be expected. Sasuke had learned to control his curse mark, but had yet to come across Orochimaru again. They were all aware that the snake sannin had a plan to steal Sasuke's body for himself, but none of them were willing to let that happen. It helped that they were all getting so stronger together so quickly too.

Today Sakura was doing her normal early morning hospital rounds. As Tsunade's apprentice, she saw to all patients and reported back to her when needed. However, Sakura was a quick learner, and she'd become quite capable in a short amount of time. When she walked into one room though and found Sasuke there, her heart skipped a beat.

"Sasuke-kun?" She looked over her clipboard in surprise, having not even checked whom she would be examining. There was no information besides his name and date of birth. "I thought you were in Suna."

"I was. Got back today, but I was hit with a poison kunai during the mission."

"Oh?" Sakura laid her clipboard on the table and walked over to him, until she was standing just before him. "Show me the wound."

Swiftly, Sasuke removed his shirt and raised his right arm to reveal the nasty gash on his side. Sakura sighed as she looked it over. Another day and his skin would have been decaying around the affected area. It was a poison that would attack his insides, giving him a slow, painful and eventual death. It was early own and could be healed easily enough, but she knew he was lucky the poison wasn't so potent.

"The wound is ugly but it could have been a lot worse. I can clear all the poison and infection here, but I'll send you home with some antibiotics just to be safe."

"Hn." Sasuke grunted as she began to pour her chakra into him. It was a strange sensation that he would never get used to. Being both unsettling and soothing at once. In a matter of minutes, she'd removed all toxin from his body, leaving his side feeling good as new. "Thank you." He told her, pulling his shirt back on then. "I keep forgetting how good you've gotten with your healing abilities."

"Oh, yeah?" Sakura giggled. "There's still a lot I need to learn before I can start bragging. Not that I'd ever brag."

"When does your shift end?" He asked suddenly, having not moved from his seat.

"Not for a couple more hours. But, I can take lunch if you're interested."

Sasuke looked her over suggestively before smirking. "Fine, but no ramen."

Ramen was always a lunch favorite for team seven, but Sasuke had to have a taste for it to want it at any time. "No problem." Sakura smiled sweetly at him. "We can just go to your place and have miso soup."

Sakura knew Sasuke wouldn't argue with that, and she was already planning to make some special things for him while at his home as well. She always felt so bad for Sasuke being all alone, so she would visit him at times and on rare occasions she and Naruto slept over at his place. Life was good for the most part, Sakura had moved past her insecurities and she'd gotten over her ridiculous crush on Sasuke. Not that she didn't love him, because she did. She loved him from the bottom of her heart, but she would never fawn over him again. She would never be a desperate little crybaby again. She would be strong enough to protect him. She would be wise enough to help him, and she would love him quietly until he was ready for something more.

Right then, they enjoyed being friends. Sasuke was proud of how far Sakura had become and Sakura was always striving to become more for her team. She didn't seem to be killing herself anymore, even though she did work and study all the time. She was happy, and that satisfied Sasuke, and the rest of her team too.

Now she would go have lunch with her beloved teammate, return for the remainder of her shift, do a few hours of training and then have a late night studying. She may have never given herself a break, but she knew all her hard work would eventually pay off, so she did all she could every day to work towards her future goals.

A/N:

Thanks for reading!