Leader, Where Art Thou?

~ ҉ ~

Iruka glared pointedly at the Jounin across from him. He sat with the Jounin at his home, talking to him about overtaking Team 7.

"So… you're telling me that you have a team who has two members with impeccable eye abilities, and then one other who can't even hear?" The Jounin seemed amused.

"Well yes, but the team is balanced as is."

"Oh really? How so?"

"Although Naruto cannot hear, he can still communicate with his teammates through sign language. He can speak aloud and read lips, too."

"And what happens if he is out of sight of his teammates? How will he communicate then?" The Jounin leant back, eyes pinching in the corners. He was amused.

"…" Iruka felt a sweat droplet roll down his temple. He actually hadn't thought of that. "Well, Naruto could speak to them through a wireless communication device. I know that some other Genin teams use them in their beginning missions."

"And how will he know if they reply to him?"

Iruka glared harder, if it were possible. Whatever he said, he knew that this conversation would be going around in circles.

"Besides that, how will I know if you were good enough to train this team? There are three amazing students on this team. One who is the only heir to the Uchiha family, one who is part of the Hyuuga main family…"

"And the other?"

"You know damn well who the other is. After all, you're the one who convinced me to teach him." Iruka sighed, rubbing a hand over his face.

"But just so you know… he's my favorite student. He's like family. So if you hurt him, I'll come after you. If you hurt any of them, it'll be on your head."

The Jounin seemed amused. "… You know who I am; I know who you are. I think we both know you're in no position to threaten me."

Iruka laughed, eyes closed and head shaking. "It's been a few years since we've last met. I can assure you… I am not the same as I once was. I am not as weak as I once was." There was a dangerous look in his eyes when he looked up to the Jounin.

The Jounin had the decency to look sheepish, his eyes widening a fraction.

"But you also know how I work, my methods… I'm not weak either. I've also improved."

"Improved? I'd say cheated your way up."

The Jounin laughed. "Using my techniques is not cheating, Iruka."

"…I've heard of your methods in teaching Genin… Are they as bad as people say they are?" Whatever teaching methods the Jounin used, caused a big stir amongst the Jounin. Some Jounin teachers had even asked the Hokage to reconsider; after all… the only students he had, had failed each and every one of his tests.

"Mm…. No. I wouldn't say they're as bad as everyone is saying."

Iruka sighed in relief; it was actually a bit worrying with what he had heard.

"…No… they're much worse!"

The damn Jounin almost sounded happy.

~ ҉ ~

Naruto stretched lazily as the sun breached through his curtains, washing him in golden light. He really had no desire to wake up that morning, but a small wiggle in the back of his mind reminded him that his team, Team 7, was supposed to be meeting their Jounin teacher today.

Naruto was curious to see what his teacher would be like. He had no idea what to expect – would the teacher be as kind as Iruka? Or a total dick like Mizuki?

He decided to get ready; moving around his apartment at his own pace, steadily getting ready for the day. With a heavy yawn, he pulled on his headband, tightening as he walked out the door.

His hands were stuffed in his pockets, eyes shut as he strolled through the village. A few villagers watched as he passed, curious. They were all still adjusting to Naruto wearing a ninja headband – and that he had suddenly stopped playing all his pranks.

The class was told they could meet their Jounin teachers at the school, but Iruka had specifically told team 7 to meet their teacher in one of the trainer grounds. Apparently that's where their Jounin teacher told them to go; and by the look on Iruka's face, he wasn't too pleased with that decision.

So Naruto found himself strolling into the trainer area, finding his two teammates sitting beside three vertical logs. Hinata seemed to be talking quietly to him, face blushing furiously, while Sasuke only really nodded in response. Hinata looked up when she noticed her teammate approach, while Sasuke simply ignored him.

Naruto's facial expression was similar to a fox, eyes narrowed into a slit, cheeks round and mouth curved. He was really looking forward to meeting their Jounin teacher; he wondered what they'd be liked, their personality, their looks… almost like a blind date. Well, actually, no. Let's not use that reference.

Hinata hesitantly signed hello to him, face almost as red as before.

'H-hello Naruto-kun!'

'Good Morning, Hinata-chan.' His voice was almost as happy as his smile. He didn't bother with Sasuke though – he wasn't worth the time.

Hinata's face went a little red, but a small smile graced her lips.

Sasuke blinked slowly, eyes rolling under his lids until they settled on the new arrival.

"You're late, dobe."

'Shut up! I am not!'

Sasuke gave him a blank look. Naruto growled under his breath, hands coming to sign words as he went to speak aloud –

"I said-"

"I know what you said, idiot. But you do realize you were supposed to be here two hours ago."

Naruto threw out a finger to point at the Uchiha heir, face contorted with anger.

"You bastard! I knew you knew sign language!"

"Hn." Sasuke turned his face away, apparently bored with the situation. Naruto huffed, arms crossed over his chest. And swiveled on his foot, turning to walk towards Hinata before planting himself beside her. He absently pulled at the grass beneath him. Hinata's face went red, once again, at Naruto's closeness.

"H-how are you, Naruto?" Hinata shyly asked, her hands moving slowly with her words. Naruto tilted his head, which reminded her oddly of a dog, before he shrugged his shoulders.

'I'm fine.'

Hinata and Naruto talked idly for a minute or two, Hinata stuttering and mixing up her signs. Naruto tried not to get frustrated. But once again, he appreciated her effort.

Through the midst of their talking (or, whatever it could be called) he noticed a strange contraption a little ways away. He asked Hinata was it was, exactly. She seemed a bit surprised.

"Oh! That's a sundial." Her hands weaved strangely, making the words. "It's a clock that uses the sun." She stood and hesitantly pulled at his arm. He followed her, as they both walked over to the sundial. Strangely enough, their movements even caught the attention of their other teammate. Rolling his eyes and standing with his hands in his pockets, he followed them over too.

Naruto asked a few questions, but only got one or two answers. Hinata was so flustered; she couldn't really sign or speak her answers without mucking up one way or another. Eventually though, he figured out what the heck it did. At present, the sun was arching over the sky, casting a shadow that pointed halfway between ten and eleven. So it was about ten thirty.

They all stood there, looking at the sundial; no one spoke, no one moved away. For the next eight hours, no one spoke; wondering just where the hell their teacher was.

~ ҉ ~

It was approximately 6pm, when someone finally approached them. Sasuke was leaning back against the logs at this point, and was first to notice them coming. Hinata had dozed off around an hour again, her head curled between her shoulder and the log she was leaning on. Naruto was lying on the ground, spread eagle as he watched the clouds drift lazily across the sky.

Sasuke acknowledged their presence with a nod, standing up and brushing imaginary dirt from his clothes. Naruto noticed him, cocking an eyebrow. What the heck was he doing?

Sasuke just rolled his eyes, looked at the sleeping Hyuuga and shook her shoulder lightly. He didn't really care if she woke up or not. Actually, he didn't know why he was bothering. When Hinata begin to wake, he pulled his arms away and pointedly ignored his two other teammates.

Hinata squeaked in surprise, not actually realizing she had fallen asleep in the first place. She saw the new face, her cheeks burned lightly. She shook Naruto's leg – since it was closest to her – and he lifted his head to look at her. She pointed across the both of them and Naruto followed her hand with his eyes.

And that's when he saw the Jounin.

He instantly scrambled up, arms flying nonsense by his side. By the time he was settled standing, his arms began to furiously speak for him.

'Where the hell have you been? We've been waiting here all day!'

The Jounin cocked his head to the side, turning a confused look to the two other Genin.

"Eh… can you translate that?"

And that pissed Naruto off even more. Who the hell was this guy?

"The dobe wants to know why you're late." Came Sasuke's stoic reply. He had no emotion in his voice and he looked decidedly bored.

Naruto squinted, looking at their 'teacher' closely.

Their teacher was probably in their thirties. His eyes were crinkled lightly in the corners, his mouth set in a straight line. His eyes were identical colors, although from this distance Naruto couldn't quite tell what color they were. He wore the typical Jounin Ninja garb. The only distinguishable feature about the man was… well, he was smoking.

A long wisp of white smoke spilt from his lips, rising lazily into the sky. Naruto glared.

'Who the hell are you?'

The Jounin raised an eyebrow. "Still can't understand you, kid." He turned to Sasuke, "What did he say?"

"N-Naruto-kun was wondering w-who you were…" Hinata stuttered instead. "I-I think we all a-are."

"Ah. My name's Asuma." He said, plucking the cigarette from his lips. He tapped it once or twice against his fingers, flicking away the ash, and replacing it in his mouth.

"So you're our teacher? Tch." Sasuke couldn't help but glare. Seriously?

"Ah... no. I'm not you teacher. I was actually thinking of bringing my team here tomorrow. I'm in charge of your classmates Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji." Asuma nodded, agreeing with his own statement. Sasuke rolled his eyes, Hinata nodded too, while Naruto just stared.

'If you're not our teacher, then who is?'

Asuma shook his head, motioning a hand to Hinata so she could translate. Naruto was getting pretty pissed off.

"Who is o-our teacher?"

"Ah. That'd be right… He's late, isn't he?" Asuma cricked his neck, planting his hands on his hips. "Well, knowing your sensei as well as I do, I'd say… he's not coming."

"WHAT!?" Naruto burst out, completely forgetting the use of sign language.

"Oh hey! He can speak-"

"Why isn't he coming!?" Naruto stressed, expression comically identical to Sasuke's. They both held 'you have got to be kidding me' expressions, eyes set in hard stares. Hinata was just as shocked as they both were, but managed to hide it a little better.

"Who can say?" Asuma shrugged, chewing absently on his cigarette. "Anyway, I'd say you should all head home for now."

And with that, Asuma shooed them all off home. It was safe to say the Genin were pretty unhappy with the turn of events.

~ ҉ ~

The next morning, Naruto found himself being lectured by Iruka. Well actually, his whole team was but that's beside the point. Naruto found it a bit difficult to follow Iruka as he lectured, since his mouth was moving too quickly at times, and sometimes he didn't use sign language.

Naruto sat at his school desk with his cheeks puffed out, arms crossed over his chest. Sasuke sat with his elbows on the desk, fingers in a steeple before his mouth. His eyes were cold and hard. Hinata sat, embarrassed and guilty, face red and hands twitching nervously in front of her.

Iruka was mad, madder then he usually was.

"Eight hours! EIGHT!" Iruka threw his arms out, an exasperated expression plastered on his face. "You were there for eight hours, and you didn't do a thing!? That was a perfect opportunity to get to know each other, go find your damn teacher or to at least spar!"

"Iruka-s-sensei is right…" Hinata mumbled, feeling upset. She should have done something…

"Why would I spar with these two? It'd be a waste of time." Sasuke simply stated, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Surprisingly, Naruto remained silent.

Iruka shook his head, was about to say something, when the door to the classroom opened up and a person walked in.

Naruto lifted his head when the person waltzed – yes, literally waltzed – into the room, head held high and reading what looked like a porno book. Upon closer inspection… yes, it was.

Sasuke simply raised an eyebrow at the stranger.

Hinata tilted her head to the side, slightly confused.

Iruka… well, he looked annoyed.

"'Kashi, what the hell were you thinking!?"

The Jounin raised his head, eyes twitching as though they demanded to go back to the book. "Hm?"

"You left them there all on their own! For eight hours!"

"Ah yes… that." The Jounin closed the book with a light thud, moving to hide it in his back pocket. He addressed the Genin, "I'm Kakashi Hatake. I was going to be teaching you."

Of course, both Sasuke and Hinata understood what the Jounin was saying; Naruto however, just sat there like a fish out of water.

The damn Jounin was wearing a mask!

How the hell was he going to understand him? Before he could voice his complaints, Iruka sighed and started to translate whatever the Jounin had said, into sign language.

"What do you mean, was?" Sasuke asked, looking less than concerned. It was as if this situation was not worth his time.

"Well, me leaving you alone for an extended period of time was actually a test."

"A…t-test?" Hinata inquired, completely confused. Her hands were brought up in front of her in a defensive look, fingers dabbing together.

"Yes, a test. You see, I have been observing you three for the last few days. And honestly, I'm disappointed. I get three note-worthy students, and none of them have lived up to my expectations." Kakashi's only visible eye was unamused – bored, even.

Kakashi was a strange looking Jounin, Naruto had to admit. He had a mane of silver hair, which was straight up and shoved to the side. He was taller than Iruka but was wearing something similar. His face was normal looking, Naruto supposed, but it was hard to tell because of the fact that he was wearing a mask, and his headband was lying over his left eye.

"How can be we a disappointment if we haven't done anything yet?" Sasuke enquired. He wasn't concerned, per se, but being an Uchiha, being a disappointment was not an option.

"As Iruka explained already, you were alone for eight hours. That was the perfect opportunity to get to know each other, spar – or as I intended, some find me." Iruka continued to sign, while Kakashi looked between the three students. "Tell me… what exactly do you know about each other?"

Hinata hesitantly raises her hand, but the boys did nothing. They just glared.

"Yes, Hinata?"

"S-Sasuke-kun is an Uchiha. H-he has a family k-kekkei genkai. He-"

"That's enough." Kakashi cut her off, hands resting casually on his hips. "If all you know is what is obvious, then that's just sad. As a team, you are supposed to know each other, inside and out, if you want to be a good team. As you are, you would all die on your first mission."

His words were hard, but effective. Sasuke glared at the wall beside him, Hinata ducked her head in shame. Naruto dropped his arms away from his chest, his face looking sober. The Jounin had a point. What kind of team were they?

"While you have failed in my eyes already, I will offer you one more chance." The Jounin pulled his book back out of his pocket, finding the place he left off. "If you cannot achieve it; then there is no point in me teaching you. You will have to begin at the academy all over again. If you succeed… well, that remains to be seen." With a nod of his head, a look to Iruka and a sweep of his eyes over the students, he poof'd away.

~ ҉ ~

It was late. After the Jounin had left, Iruka had talked to the students for a little while longer. While they all felt disappointed in themselves (some showing it more obviously than others), they agreed to meet earlier than what Iruka had told them, in order to 'get to know each other'. They had had this opportunity twice before, but they promised Iruka they would actually use it this time around.

Iruka had watched Hinata and Sasuke leave, slightly curious when he spotted Naruto still sitting in his seat, head looking to the world outside. Iruka sighed, and found himself moving to sit beside his student. When a hand was placed on his shoulder, Naruto turned around. His expression may have been blank, but his eyes expressed the worry he so desperately wanted to hide.

'Iruka-sensei… how am I supposed to do this?' Naruto questioned, hands moving in front of him. 'He wears a mask… I can't read his lips, and he didn't use sign language. What am I supposed to do?'

Iruka cracked his knuckles in thought, before moving his hands to speak.

'Kakashi does know sign language. Kakashi is known to be the 'copy ninja' for a reason; he learnt it by copying others. He may use it on occasion, but it will probably be rare.'

Naruto nodded slowly, not quite understanding what Iruka was trying to tell him. A fond smile played at the teachers lips, 'I think it is supposed to be a way that you can learn to rely on your teammates. You won't always have a teacher, after all. You will be relying on your teammates more often than you would him. I'll make sure Kakashi uses his sign language for you, but don't rely on it.'

Iruka sighed, expression quite similar to Naruto's.

'In all honesty, I am just as worried about this as you. But you're strong, Naruto. If you can handle this, you can handle everything.'

When they departed, Naruto felt the dark thoughts swirling in his mind. He had many doubts, confusions and worries. He knew that he would be the one who would let his team down.

A ninja who cannot hear is useless, as he had been told more often than not.

But despite these things, he knew – just as Iruka has said – if he could get past this obstacle in his path to success, than he could do anything.

~ ҉ ~