Hey there! My last one-shot was in August, and I just finished this chapter (though I have 15, 16, 18, and 19 written already), so I thought I'd just share right now. I haven't written snippet17 yeat, but it is supposed to be the Gai-Kakashi meeting, so wish me good luck or if you have an idea for that, I'd love to hear it.

Special thanks to: VampiteDoll666, Prescripto13, and MythologyGirl, who left wonderful reviews!

Remember! This is chapter 12 from the perspective of the genin!

Now, on to the story!

Speaking Louder Than Words

Twenty-six years old

When two men showed up to pick them up, Sakura went into high alert. Her academy teacher had only mentioned one person that was to be their teacher, and she only let her fear fall back when she noticed the Clan Symbol stitched on the sleeves of the black-haired man's uniform. She was glad, after that, that Sasuke had stepped up to make Naruto drop his childish plan for a prank, or else they would have an angry Uchiha to deal with, plus another person to boot.

"Team seven," The Uchiha man called. It was highly unnecessary—they were the only ones left in the classroom—but it still filled Sakura with giddy excitement that she would be on a team with Sasuke Uchiha of all people. "You guys join us on the roof. We'll be waiting."

The Uchiha grinned at them and, as though they had practiced for perfect coordination, both men disappeared in identical puffs of smoke.

She blinked at the men, but Sasuke was already moving as if he had not found it even a little strange that there was an Uchiha with their teacher at all, or that said teacher had not bothered to even speak to them instead of letting the other man do it.

"Oi, idiot! Don't leave without us!" Naruto yelled from where he had found a way to prop himself on the ledge near the ceiling. He jumped and fell on his face, and Sakura had to resist the giggle that threatened to erupt from her mouth. The orange boy stood with a whine, rubbing at his nose, and turned to the girl "Come on, Sakura-chan!"

She followed because Sasuke was waiting impatiently by the door, and not because Naruto had called her out on her slowness.

"Hey, Sasuke, you think Obito-nii will come on missions with us? They almost always go on missions together, right?" That was Naruto, grinning from ear to ear as he bounced up and down on the flight of strairs.

Sasuke regarded his question with a noncommittal grunt, then muttered a quiet "who knows? He didn't tell me." And Sakura blinked because, well, she was expecting more insults and banter and less of this sort-of-friends-but-not-really-but-yes-we're-totally-friends sort of conversation. Because, honestly, that's what they did in class, and she had never seen them together outside the academy.

"Um," She interrupted as the blond was about to make another comment. The group took a turn to take the second-to-last flight of stairs leading to the roof. "Do you… Sasuke-kun, do you know them?"

Naruto, who had brightened at being included in the question, deflated visibly when the girl amended her wording, pouting. Sasuke merely looked at her and sighed like he did when Kiba was asked a question in class; like she was hopeless and didn't even deserve the time of day. He pointed at his back, motioning for the symbol that branded him as an Uchiha, and left it at that.

Of course Sakura should have known better, and that's what she told herself. She knew—everyone did, really—that something had happened to all of the Uchiha when she was seven, and now it was only Sasuke and some other unknown man. She should have figured they were living together after the tragedy. Or that they knew each other, at the very least.

She shut her mouth, and ignored Naruto when the boy tried to pat her arm, moving it away from his grasp and crossing it over the other in front of her chest. Naruto whined, but he was a bright ball of orange energy and soon perked himself up, quickening his pace to catch up to Sasuke who was further up the stairs, grabbing a fistful of his shirt and trying to convince him to let him sleepover the next few nights.

The men were waiting at the roof. The silver-haired man managing to look thoroughly uninterested even with the mask hiding half his face. The Uchiha, on the other hand, grinned wildly and waved a hand at the newly appointed Genin.

Both Sasuke and Naruto walked to the steps in front of them without much of a care, and Sakura had no real choice but to trail behind them, sitting alongside her new teammates. From her seat, she looked up at the Jounin, and she couldn't help but feel tiny.

The silver-haired man walked forward, only a step in front of the older Uchiha, and raised his hands, looking at both boys and then focusing mainly on Sakura as his hands began to move.

"I am Hatake Kakashi," The voice of the Uchiha drifted from behind their sensei's shoulder. Sakura looked at him, but he was focused on the signs the other man was making. "This is Uchiha Obito." At this, the black-haired man grinned and waved again, like he was in front of a big crowd. "He'll be with our team until we have all learned to work as a well-developed unit. You have been taught sign-language at the academy, but I am aware of how ill prepared your teachers are to deal with it properly."

Sakura stared dumbfounded at the man. She felt a righteous anger take over her at the indirect insult to Iruka-sensei, but neither Sasuke nor Naruto seemed to think there was anything particularly odd about this whole arrangement, or found it in them to argue their poor sign-reading skills. Granted, she didn't expect Naruto to say anything, but Sasuke was another matter.

"Be warned," the voice of the Uchiha carried over her thoughts "That you are not yet an official cell. There's one more test you need to get by." The silver-haired man—Kakashi-sensei, she reminded herself—dropped his hands and shoved them in his pockets. Obito-san, on the other hand, leaned in, supporting part of his weight on the other man's shoulder. "Honestly, we usually keep it a surprise, but Sasuke has seen us screen enough teams to know about the whole thing. He doesn't know what the test is," Obito clarified, "but he knows this isn't the end. We figured it would be fair to let you two know as well."

It was the Uchiha and not Kakashi-sensei who motioned for them to introduce themselves, and if she was honest, Sakura had to say the man was thinking of something else entirely, clearly didn't care for them like the other teachers had seemed to do with their own teams. She introduced herself and very clearly made a fool of herself in front of the older Uchiha, who didn't really seemed to mind the nonsense that came out of her or Naruto's mouth in the first place.

When they were done, there were ten full seconds of silence then Obito cleared his throat. "So, any questions, then?"

Meekly, Sakura raised her hand, and the man pointed at her with his chin. She looked over at Kakashi-sensei, and the Uchiha had to hit the guy's shoulder with his own before gray eyes zeroed on her. She waited for her signal and then,

""Ah, I-I was just, um…" She blushed deeply, her gaze now stuck between the men. "Sensei, if you can't talk, how can we… um… learn from you…?"

The effect was immediate. Obito chuckled while Sasuke growled something under his breath and glared at her like he could make her drop dead where she sat, and Naruto's eyes just widened as if he had just noticed what going on.

All right, so Sasuke did know this guy, not just the other one. She couldn't figure if Naruto did, though, despite his comments earlier, because that reaction meant he hadn't known about this at all.

(And it wasn't that Naruto had never seen Kakashi before. In fact, almost every time he looked up when he was surrounded by glares and knives, the man had been standing there, had even saved him a few times. It just simply happened that Naruto had been so thrilled by the stranger that he never once thought of stopping his running commentary of the village or his day at the academy until the man patted his head in good bye. And then, When they finally met without a porcelain mask hiding the man's face, it was Obito who kept up a one-sided conversation almost every time. How was he supposed to know he couldn't even speak?)

Kakashi simply held her gaze, and Obito snapped his mouth shut, turned to his friend with what looked was going to be a comforting gesture, until he walked forward, pulling out a small notepad from the puch at his hip. She tensed as he came to crouch in front of her, showing her the written message.

You'll just have to pass the next test and find out, won't you, pinkie?"

She stared for a whole minute, then glanced at Sasuke and shrunk away from his scowl, nodding. Kakashi nodded as well, then pulled himself to his full height and walked back over to his friend, who immediately smacked his back.

"OKAY!" The Uchiha yelled. "Sasuke-chan, come on, Uncle Kakashi is taking you to dinner." Sakura had to resist looking over to see Sasuke's reaction at the nickname. "And you two, as well." The man continued, looking between Naruto and Sakura "Your sensei is honoring a big tradition and I'm following to make sure he pays up."

"You just want to eat something that's not burnt." Sasuke's quiet voice interrupted, though he had already gotten up and was dusting himself off as Naruto whooped and Sakura closed her eyes in silent satisfaction.

"Of course I do. But I am making sure he doesn't leave you the bill! He's one smooth talker, this one." Obito grinned to Kakashi's eye roll. "And a hell of a fine ninja, too. He'll escape if you let him."

See, it even ends the same way as snippet 12. But hey. I'm pretty sure this was asked by someone. Like it says, Sasuke and Naruto both knew Kakashi from before, but more on that lately.

I hope you enjoyed, don't forget that reviews make me happy! =P

Have a nice day!