Naruto. Best friends, bitter rivals. Our first encounter of these two together is a rather funny one (for me, I loved it, haha). These two go off on each other, and it's freaking hilarious XD At first, they hated each other. Later, they started helping each other out, and at least tolerating each other's presence. As, Kishimoto states, he's a boy as lonely as he is. However, it doesn't mean that they have had the same experience. For instance, Naruto has had nothing in the first place. Their loneliness might be the same, but they're triggered by different situations. Naruto is lonely because he's never had the comfort of having someone to look after him since the day he was born. Sasuke, on the other hand, has had that comfort, and is lonely because he's lost it. These two are also rather jealous of each other. Naruto wants what Sasuke has, which is attention and popularity. Sasuke wants what Naruto has, and that's immense power. Sasuke probably thinks he and Naruto are on the same strength level, but in actuality, Naruto has the potential to be far more powerful with that Kyuubi of his (if he uses it to it's limit). Frankly, Naruto's storyline wouldn't be interesting without one of them.

Sakura. A girl who loves Sasuke from the bottom of her heart, yet her love isn't returned. Like most girls, Sakura is an annoyance to Sasuke, or at least, what we know of now. Sakura once pissed Sasuke off by saying that kids without parents are selfish. She was referring to Naruto, but probably unbeknownst to her, she was insulting Sasuke as well because he didn't have parents either. There were also some positive moments, such as Sakura staying by his side every time he fell into unconsciousness or into a coma. She also helped him retract the effects of the cursed seal. The one thing I felt disappointed about, was the fact that Sakura lost a friend because of Sasuke. It was rather silly (or insert another strong negative word here) of her to choose rivalry over friendship; friendship is not supposed to be about competition.

Kakashi. He knows exactly what kind of pain Sasuke is going through. He's lost everyone close to him as well. It's speculated that Kakashi rather favors Sasuke than the other two, only because he knows Sasuke's strength and potential through his own personal experiences. During the third part of the Chuunin exam, Kakashi chooses to personally train with Sasuke for one month. He also helps put another seal over his cursed one, so that it wouldn't manifest itself when Sasuke uses chakara. During that time, he trains Sasuke to reach the same speed of Lee, and teaches him the Chidori. Yes, I guess Kakashi does picks favorites. When Sasuke leaves Kohoha to join Orochimaru, he battled Naruto, and defeated him. Kakashi tried to save Naruto, but he was too late. It's a little bit hinted that Kakashi became extremely disappointed in Sasuke, as well as himself for not being able to save both of them.

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