i lost faith in you

After the written exam of the Chuunin Exam, the Forest of Death was next. What we got to see in the following chapters made a very big impact on the relationship between Sasuke and Naruto, as this was one of the roots of the problem which would be emerging very soon. What I'm talking about, is the cursed seal and thus the appearence of Orochimaru..

First however, we should not forget about the scenes when Naruto left off for a few moments and a replacement (one of the Mist ninjas) came back transformed as Naruto.
Sakura didn't notice anything at first, but Sasuke knew from the very first moment on this wasn't Naruto, as the fake Naruto had his shuriken holster on the left side and Naruto is right handed. Furthermore there was the scratch (from Anko before) missing. Sasuke, your power of observation once again puts us in awe, but was this really the reason you noticed this so fast? Yeah, shoot me. :D

When Naruto returned, they decided on a password to play safe. Sasuke chose an extraordinary long codeword, which Sakura was able to remember immediately, but Naruto had his problems with memorizing such a long codeword. Seconds later they got attacked and separated again, and once Naruto recured, surprisingly he was able to repeat the whole password correctly.

Sasuke immediately thew a kunai at the, again, fake Naruto, since it was clear for him Naruto wouldn't be able to memorize such a long password at all - and as we know, the new opponent this time was Orochimaru, source of all evil, former member of the 3 Sannin and now, greatly searched missing nin. Not to mention, he's also extremely dangerous..

While Sasuke and Sakura tried their best to stand up against Orochimaru, Naruto was stuck with a gigantic snake, which he was only able to escape in the last second, because of his strong will, which told him he couldn't lose there if he wanted to become Hokage. He hurried back to his teammates, once again just right in time.

"I'm sorry Sasuke.. I forgot the keyword."
Naruto, Chapter 47

Naruto being overly self-confident as always, didn't understand Sasuke's behaviour once he had come to rescue them. He was shocked when Sasuke suddenly pulled out the scroll, ready to hand it over to their opponent. Just before the enemy was able to get a hold of the scroll, Naruto jumped in between to save the scroll - and smacked Sasuke right across his face.

Naruto was furious and enraged because there was no guarantee the enemy would let them go, even if he had gotten what he wanted. But even worse than being stirred up was, that he had lost faith in Sasuke. He told him that he can't make sure of the following, since he had forgotten the password - but Sasuke must be a fake Sasuke. Sasuke didn't understand at first what he meant, but Naruto gave him a reality check saying that such a coward like he's pretending to be now, can't be the Sasuke he has known.

Having lost all respect for Sasuke, Naruto started to fight Orochimaru with his own power to its fullest.
Sasuke only watched, shocked and confused about Naruto's sudden change of energy and power- this was definitely not like he had estimated his teammate. Suddenly though, Orochimaru saw an opening to attack Sasuke once again, who only stood there shivering and not being able to move. In the last moment, Naruto stroke in and saved Sasuke.

"Hey.. you alright.. scaredy-cat?"
Naruto, Chapter 48

Don't we know this line from somewhere? Right, Sasuke had said exactly the same phrase to Naruto during their way to the Wave Country. Sasuke's memories started to spin around and countless emotions rushed into his mind- how should he be able to defeat his brother when he wasn't even able to survive here? Taking those thoughts to heart, Sasuke finally regained his old self, awakened his Sharingan and started to fight like he's used to.

As mentioned above, those chapters as well as the following, had a lot of meaning to the two boys. While Sasuke was fully dominated by angst and fears first, Naruto was the one to show his true strength. Personally I think the scenes when Naruto told Sasuke he had lost faith in him, were really affecting seeing as even Naruto who had admired Sasuke the most was disappointed in his actions, although at the same time he clearly stated this is not the Sasuke he had known. The Sasuke he has looked up to for such a long time is completely different from the one had has seen at that time and I'm sure, he was just as confused as Sasuke till a certain point.

The words Sasuke told Naruto in the Water-Country-Arc were also used by Naruto on purpose. Through them, Sasuke got reminded of how he should really act and on what he should concentrate, and finally, he got over his own inner barrier, defeated his fears and found his fighting spirit again.

As for Naruto, he was really remarkable and also admirable in those scenes. Even if he might stand sometimes in the way, or isn't a big help, at times like this he shows how important it is to focus on the right things, and make the right decisions. Naruto truly has excellent instincts, which might be because he always relies on his heart and believes in what it tells him to do, no matter how hopeless the situation might seem - and this is exactly what differs him from the rest and makes out his real strength.

Found at Chapter 47-49, Episode 28, 29