Team Mates

~ ҉ ~

Naruto never had a really good sense of time. He never had the use of an alarm clock – he couldn't hear it even if he had one. He usually got woken up by Iruka before school started and they would walk together there once Naruto was ready. But when Naruto noticed that the sun was higher in the sky than usual, he was curious.

He stretched rather gracefully, somewhat like a fox in the sun. His sheets were crumpled around his waist, sleep clothes dishevelled and a few buttons undone. His walrus hat was perched atop his head, looking almost as sleepy as its wearer.

Sleepily, Naruto turned his head to view the clock beside him and almost had a heart attack. He was half an hour late!

He scrambled into action – pulling on his orange outfit (and then putting it on again once he realized it was both back to front and inside out), shoving some money in his pockets and grabbing his goggles off his table. He hesitated. The goggles were cold in his hands and he fiddled with them in his fingers. He didn't need to wear this, did he? A fond smile lifted his face, as he caught eye of his headband. It was special to him, even though he had only owned it for a day. It was special, because it used to be Iruka's. Iruka was special to Naruto – almost like a father. Although he was too shy to admit that to his teacher, he really did believe it.

And now the headband was his. Pride swelled in his chest and he was quick to swap the goggles for the headband. His hands cupped the cool metal in his hands, eager to wear it. He slipped it on, making sure the metal plate was correctly atop his brow and the navy cloth secure against the top of his neck.

With a quick glance in the mirror – and feeling as though he really belonged to the village – he ran for the school.

~ ҉ ~

He made it just in time! The class had assembled in their seats, but Iruka was nowhere in sight. Relief flooded his system, lucky that he wouldn't have to face Iruka's wrath at his tardiness. He quickly spied an open seat, next to a girl with navy hair that he couldn't quite identify. She had on a large white hoodie, and her hair was cropped rather short. He shrugged to himself, slipping in beside her.

He missed the startled gasp beside him; how her face lit up like a beacon at his presence. He scratched the back of his head absently, before he scanned his eyes across the class. There were a lot of graduates here, enough for at least nine teams. Maybe more, he wasn't sure. A head of black hair caught his eye and he found himself glaring at it. He knew who the person was without even seeing their face; Sasuke.

Only God knew how much Naruto despised Sasuke. Most people believed it was because Naruto was jealous of the protégé student. He was the best in their class, after all. Yet it was something much deeper than that. Although he wasn't quite willing to give out that information at the moment.

He also spied a head of pink hair – Sakura. He used to have a crush on the girl a while back, but you get the hint that someone doesn't like you after the fiftieth rejection. She was a nice enough girl; pretty and smart. However, she also had the tendency to be quite violent – and Naruto had had quite enough of being on the receiving end of it, thank you very much.

A movement beside him drew his attention to the girl on his right. He was slightly curious and confused to why her face was the colour of a tomato, but what surprised him most was her attempt at talking to him.

'H-hello Naruto~kun,'

He appreciated the effort, but laughed a little when she didn't quite spell his name right and mixed up her hands when trying to say hello. She had accidently signed an 'm' instead of an 'n', so he re-signed his name for her. (1)

'It's spelt N-a-r-u-t-o.'

'Sorry.' If it was possible, her face went much redder. Her fore-fingers poked together; and Naruto found himself very confused. Was she repeatedly saying 'e' weirdly, or was it a habit she had?

'It's okay. I didn't know you knew sign language.' He signed, face slightly blank. He wasn't sure if she was teasing him or not. She looked flustered, face burning. Her hands came together, making nonsense, and Naruto sighed and plopped his head in his hands. He turned his face away from the fumbling girl, eyes running the length of the room.

Hinata realized his attention was elsewhere and felt herself become slightly disappointed. She was too embarrassed to reply and she felt annoyed at herself for spelling his name wrong. His name! She couldn't even get that right…

She took in a breath and tried to calm herself, trying not to get too worked up. It's okay though, she'll have another chance to talk to him later, right? Her attention was caught when she noticed her teacher come into the room.

Iruka's face was drawn tight, as though he hadn't slept at all the night before. While Iruka looked perfectly fine now, the class knew he had spent the night in the infirmary with several small wounds and a particularly large one on his back. No one knew how he had come across such injuries, but they knew not to ask.

Iruka cleared his throat, drawing the attention of the whole class. Whispered conversations dropped, and students who were out of their place returned quickly. Iruka smiled to his class, although she could tell his smile was specific to someone close by.

"Congratulations to everyone who graduated! You've completed all your exams and are finally a qualified shinobi! However, you are only Genin. You still have a long way to go." A few of the students giggled at that, "As you all know, Genin are grouped together in groups of three; two boys and a girl. We tried to even out the team members, to create a core of balance. Each squad will be led by a Jounin teacher."

The class broke out in whispers, talking about being in teams of three, about who their Jounin teacher's would be and some even being a little rowdy about who they'll get teamed up with. Hinata picked up a particular conversation between Sakura and a blonde haired girl called Ino, about being in a team with Sasuke.

Hinata's heart fluttered at the thought of getting teamed up with Naruto and she mentally crossed her fingers.

Naruto looked pretty bored at this point. He had been following what Iruka said up till then, but his mind drifted to who his potential team mates. While he hadn't any particular preferences for the girls, he definitely decided that he would not, under any circumstance, be partnered with Sasuke. Nope. No sirree.

His thoughts had drifted so much, that he had missed half of the teams that had been called. His mind only caught on when he felt a nudge in his shoulder. He turned his head to see the navy haired girl; her face was blushing profoundly as she motioned towards the front. Naruto flicked his eyes to the front, face still towards the girl.

Iruka had an eyebrow raised and rather than speaking, he placed the clipboard he was holding on the desk and decided to sign.

'Naruto. Are you paying attention? I called out your team.'

Naruto blinked several times and made a huffing noise, which sounded somewhat like 'huh'.

'Oh. Why who am I with?' He signed, turning his whole body towards his teacher. There were a few snickers around the room at his obliviousness, but he didn't hear them. Iruka did, however, and told the class to shush. There were also several people upset and raging, that Naruto didn't hear – he could see them sitting up in their seats and complaining though. Wow, he sure did miss a lot.

Iruka rolled his eyes, but there was a small fond smile on his lips. He had realized Naruto wasn't paying attention, but there was only so much he could do. Although he was also hoping Naruto wouldn't kill him for the team selection.

"You are partnered up with Hinata Hyuuga and Sasuke Uchiha."

Time. Stood. Still.

Well, for Naruto at least. The boys fit into a fit of laughter, the girls screamed in protest. Sasuke Uchiha grumbled under his breath, clearly irritated, while Hinata Hyuuga was blushing once again.

And then, after a moment or two of utter silence from Naruto, he launched into a furious tantrum. Hands flew in front of his body, a whirl of utter nonsense. His words, however, made a little bit more sense.

"I can't be partner up with that bastard; he's a total jerk-face; I am way to awesome to be in his team!" and finally, "Who the hell is Hinata!?"

~ ҉ ~

What happened next wasn't much of a surprise. He had marched down to Sasuke's desk, engaged in a one-sided verbal battle (Sasuke just sat there and glared), got dog-piled by the girls and was now sitting awkwardly in the space between the desks. He was sporting a few bumps from where the girls had 'attacked' him. Iruka had yelled at the class and was the one to pull them all away; unfortunately not before damage had been dealt.

Naruto wasn't beaten too badly, just a few bruises here and there. His face was also a little puffy, and he tried to hide how much it bothered him. He hadn't even heard any of the girls coming, and he was really embarrassed that the girls were the ones to attack him. And he lost. But he wasn't really the kind to hit a girl anyway.

He sat up, Iruka fussing at him slightly while he rubbed gingerly at his ears. One or two of the girls, the ones he didn't know the names of, had actually dug their finger nails into his ears and twisted them all at different angles. Either they had forgotten they were sensitive to him, or they had done it on purpose, but Naruto covered them both with his palms. Other than that, no other physical damage was done, except for a few girl smacks here and there – the ones they do when they're annoyed. His eyes were hard, mouth smoothed into a thin line. No matter how much Iruka tried to distract Naruto and talk to him, Naruto would just not comply. His eyes squeezed shut, whispered words nearly inaudible.

"Leave me alone…"

And with that, Naruto shoved past Iruka and out the class room.

~ ҉ ~

The class had never seen Iruka so furious in their lives. They had seen him angry before, sure. He was a teacher, so it was a given. But he was so angry, it was completely different. He just stood up. He didn't say a word; didn't do anything. He just walked back to his desk, sat down on the edge and crossed his arms over his chest. He looked down his scarred nose at the students he was now so thoroughly disappointed in.

"Tell me. Why did you all do such a thing?"

His words were short, clear and edged. The class remained silent.

"No one will be in trouble if they speak up. But someone had better tell me what had happened."

A few moments hesitation, before a few students spoke up.

"Sir… he was annoying Sasuke!"

"Yeah, he was being annoying and yelling at him and stuff!"

Several girls yelled out similar excuses, some standing up to further their explanation. But they all died out once they saw the expression on their teachers face.

"So you went up and physically harmed him!?" Iruka spoke up, voice rising in volume but not in pitch. He wasn't yelling, but the effect was similar. "We are Ninja! Shinobi of Konoha! What do we do if we have a disagreement with one another in our village?"

There was silence again, whilst Iruka glared; voice returning to normal. "We let the two who are in the disagreement spar. We do not get involved in disagreements that do not concern us. We do not beat up others who cannot fight back. We definitely do not harm them in ways that are also psychological. Naruto is deaf. That means that he is sensitive about his ears. WHY would one or more of you use that against him? I have never been more disappointed in this class." Iruka was handling the situation so calmly, which made it a million times worse.

The class knew what they had done was wrong, and they regretted it once Iruka had begun speaking. Several of the girls were crying. No-one wanted their teacher to be disappointed in them.

"Once Naruto returns to class, you are all to apologize to him." The class murmured in agreement. "And Sasuke; you and Naruto will settle your disagreements and both of you will take Hinata out and all of you will get to know each other. I don't want another reoccurrence of this, alright?"

Sasuke eyed him for a moment, before nodding slowly. Hinata nodded too, but raised her hand. Iruka nodded for her to speak.

"Iruka-sensei… c-can I go see if N-Naruto-kun is okay?"

Iruka nodded, watching as she quickly moved out the door. He knew the Genin had much to learn, but it seemed they needed to go over the basics of Human nature. He shook his head. They had much to go over.

~ ҉ ~

Hinata had an idea of where she would find him. She had often seen him sitting there, by himself. She would have loved to go join him, except that her shy nature kept her from approaching him. She'd been shy from a very young age and she had gotten her habits from her family. She never really learnt to approach others and she was often incredibly guarded around her classmates. Her shyness got her into sticky situations, where she couldn't reply properly, or she couldn't do what was required. She was weak in a sense – physically and emotionally.

While she may not have been the legacy of the Hyuuga clan like she was meant to be, she did have a large heart. She cared deeply for people and could understand them better than some others could. She could understand Naruto in a sense that he felt useless – she felt the same.

Her inner musings were cut off when she spied the blond ninja. He was where she was expecting – the swing. She wanted to approach him, but her nerves got the best of her. She held a deep breath; feeling it expand her chest and fill her lungs. She needed to do this.

She fought against her instincts to run, instead taking several steps closer. She was close enough to reach out and touch his shoulder and she did just that – surprising herself.

Naruto jumped in his seat slightly, but turned his upper body around to face her. His tears startled her, but her compassion burned bright enough to hold back the blush that tried to be apparent on her face. Almost without thinking, she moved to stand in front of him, her hands fiddling with each other. Naruto recognized a few signs, most of which was a repeat of 'Are you okay?'

He knew his eyes would be red rimmed and wet; his cheeks would probably be blotched. Why she would ask if he was okay when the answer was so obvious, he wasn't sure. But the sincerity of her eyes when she asked the question showed that she was asking more than just that. He breathed in, hands clenching around the rope of the swing. In his head, he was trying to justify a plausible answer, but all his head would allow was that he was thoroughly embarrassed by what had happened, that he was sick of his ears – of how he couldn't hear.

His fingers slowly unwound from their enclosed fist, moving down to sign in front of his body.

'I'm okay I guess. Could have been worse.'

She fidgeted on her feet, and he noticed her cheeks glowing red. When she tried to reply, she made a few mistakes in her signs, sometimes using the wrong word, or having to spell out her words when she didn't know the sign. Eventually she gave up, saying instead;

'I'm sorry.'

He was certainly surprised by her words. He wasn't expecting her to say such a thing. Hell, he wasn't actually expecting someone to come out and find him. Except maybe Iruka, but that's not the point. But he was surprised by her words, because she hadn't even done anything wrong.

'It's not your fault..?' His face was questioning, trying to show her he was confused.

She repeatedly said that weird 'e' again, tapping the tips of her forefingers together. His head buzzed, reminding himself it was probably not her saying 'e', but was actually a nervous habit.

'You shouldn't have had to go through that.' She was still embarrassed, and it took her awhile to finish her sentence. While normally this would have annoyed Naruto, he appreciated the effort she was going through. He realized now that his eyes had dried and his cheeks had cooled. While he was still upset, he had calmed down a little bit. Her presence was a distraction, and her talking to him cheered him up a little – someone who actually knew sign language was rare; it was like finding someone who spoke your language in a foreign country.

'It's fine… really. I'm used to it'

'You shouldn't be!' her face was completely outraged, as though offended by what he said. And her signs and expression was clearly a shock for the both of them. Both of them were wide eyed, hands frozen. Her face blazed, her hands rose to tap her forefingers together and she ducked her head. Her eyes were hidden by her hair, and if it were possible, Naruto would have sworn he saw steam rising from her cheeks.

And for some reason, her words and actions caused a laugh to bubble in his throat. One arm rose to scratch at the back of his head, the other wound around his stomach. His face lit up in a laugh, and she probably could have died from embarrassment.

He was laughing at her, wasn't he? But when he smiled at her and signed, 'Thanks, I needed that', she felt as though maybe he was just laughing at the situation more than anything.

~ ҉ ~

She had absolutely no idea how she had accomplished it. No idea whatsoever. It was also probably the strangest sight anyone could witness. Here she sat, her first time at Ichiraku's, between the village trouble maker and the sole Uchiha heir, who were currently in a ramen eating contest. It was a sight just to see Sasuke eating ramen – usually he would stay a hundred feet away from such an unhealthy food, yet he had eaten up to 5 bowls already. Naruto had only just started and was on his fifth bowl as well, but he clearly could eat about twenty more, while the Uchiha looked as though he couldn't stomach just one more.

She assumed that Sasuke only came along because of Iruka, and even then it was only on the slimmest chance. Naruto had been rather reluctant to come, but Hinata had mentioned Iruka wanting them too, and he ungraciously agreed to come.

But with the ramen contest… well Naruto was saying to the owner that he could eat a hundred more bowls of ramen, then Sasuke told him he would die of a salt overdose if he did. Then Naruto had said/signed something along the lines of "I know I can eat more than you, you bastard, and that's a fact".

And, well, that's how it began.

Hinata herself was still on her first (and to be only) bowl of ramen. She wasn't a picky eater, and the bowls were not actually that big – she just didn't feel up to eating. She was worried about how her team would develop, and what their purpose was to be. Were they to be scouts, fighters, back-up?

Whatever they were to become, she was confident that within time, they could accomplish it.

~ ҉ ~

Naruto couldn't help but feel a little happy about this outing. It would have been perfect, if Sasuke wasn't here (he pretty much ruined it), but it was still nice to be able to sit with new people and eat ramen. He was with someone who hated him and someone he barely knew – but at least they were here. It was usually more than he ever got. Iruka, and sometimes even the Hokage, would sit with him every other night for a bowl of ramen, but they were busy so often that it was a rare occurrence.

When Naruto thought of the Hyuuga heiress, he still felt a twinge of worry, confusion and suspicion. He didn't really know what she was trying to do, he didn't understand why she went red and weird around him, and he certainly didn't understand why she was here now. Other than the fact she was in his team, of course. He meant… how could he put it… here now. Like, why couldn't she have shown up earlier, rather than just because they were in a team? As far as he could remember, he hadn't actually met her before now.

Finishing his sixth bowl and ordering another, he thought of when she found him. He had been attempting to talk to that voice in his head. He was talking, sharing, and letting out his frustrations, but there was just no reply. It didn't help him feel better, it just made him feel… alone. It was truly a horrible feeling. But just her presence and her replies at the time made him feel like he wasn't alone then.

So now, had had five major people in his life now.

The Hokage, who checked up on him now and again. He often irritated the old Shinobi leader by calling him 'Ojii-chan'.

Iruka, who treated him like an equal, and more often than not, like a son. Iruka was probably the most important person, by far.

And now Hinata and that bastard, Sasuke. The two people who he was going to spend a majority of his first few years as a ninja with. He really couldn't imagine how things would turn out with them. He didn't know if they would have his back, or whether he would drift behind the scenes like he usually did, in class. But one way or another, he would just have to try his best for the more positive outcome.

And the fifth – the voice in his head. Maybe he imagined it all, but the voice seemed to be kind and helpful. But what Mizuki had said truly bothered him. He said he was the Kyuubi… does that mean that voice was the Kyuubi? But wasn't the Kyuubi something powerful, evil and deadly? The Kyuubi was described as nothing close to kind or helpful. It was the complete polar opposite. But regardless of that, he had firsthand experience that the demon fox had shown him a way to get around his disability – which was more than what others had attempted.

But he knew there was a sixth person to come. They had yet to meet with their Jounin teacher. He knew without a doubt that their team would not get Iruka, so that was something he knew he couldn't look forward too. He just hoped that person would be kind enough to look past his disability, and treat him like a real ninja, rather than a liability.

Naruto downed his eighth bowl angrily, crashing the bowl on the counter with a mental growl. His teammates gave him a one of two looks – either like a deer in the headlights shocked, or blank with a raised eyebrow. Which of course, he ignored. They may have spoken to him, he didn't know. All he could think of was this teacher they were supposed to have.

The person might be kind, like Iruka. They'd help him as much as they could, help him hone his skills and learn to become a ninja who does not rely on hearing, like everyone else. But maybe they would be disappointed with an impaired student, like most of the other teachers he'd had growing up.

Either way, he'd have to wait and see.

~ ҉ ~

No one saw the man sitting on the building opposite the ramen stall. No one saw the book he was holding; no one saw the knowing glint in his eyes. The person chuckled, pocketing the book, and watching the three Genin eat ramen. Eyes went from Uchiha to Hyuuga, and then pausing on Uzumaki. No one saw the smile creep on his face.

"Things will be interesting."

Then with a smile of two mismatched eyes, he was gone.

~ ҉ ~

(1) Please refer to the BSL Fingerspelling Alphabet chart, for two hands. Here's the link if you are interested. blog . asldeafined wp – content / uploads / 2009 / 07 / fingerspelling _ alphabet _ british _ sign _ language . jpg