"Talking"

'Thinking'

"Talking on the radio"

Welcome to Konoha Zoo

Chapter 1

-Prologue-

Konoha Zoo is one of the world's best zoos. They have captured the world's attention by taking in every species of big cat that was mistreated or abandoned. They had everything from lions to cheetahs and they even had a pair of sibling white tigers that was always calm and friendly.

Everything at the zoo was going great until they agreed to take in a rare species of tiger that no one had heard of. It was the rarest breed in the world, a black tiger.

-Chapter 1-

It was 6 o'clock in the morning and the sun was just coming up as two men walked through the empty zoo. They were both wearing the employee uniform of tan shirt and pants. They both had leashes in hand and the taller of the two was pulling a large wheel barrel that was stacked high with buckets.

"Do you think this new tiger will be alright with the others?" The man with the wheel barrel sighed.

"You have to remember Iruka. no matter how many new tigers we get they will love it here. Remember when we got the Leopard at was hit by a car…Gaara?" Iruka nodded and stopped walking.

"We'll see… just remember Kakashi we are the head care takers of the big cats and this new one is going to need careful monitoring." Kakashi stopped next to Iruka and raised an eyebrow.

"I take it, it's another sob story." Iruka frowned but sighed. "I haven't gotten the full story yet but it was taken from a man who has previously had exotic animals taken away from him. all the animals have been temperamental so I'm not sure how it will act."

Kakashi frowned but started to walk again. "Well, no matter what it's been through we'll be sure to treat it better. Now let's get this food to the other before they get restless."

Iruka smiled and caught up with Kakashi as they walked into one of the holding areas. The moment they walked in they were met by growls and hungry faces. Kakashi smiled as Iruka walked in front of him.

"Alright guys calm down." Iruka smiled as he stopped at the first pen that held a big orange tiger. "Hello Naruto you ready for breakfast?" the cat growled and rubbed his head on the bars of his cage. "Alright here you go." He opened up a small door and slid one of the buckets inside. The tiger happy started eating, letting Kakashi and Iruka continue with feeding the others.

The last animals to get their food were the two sibling white tigers, Neji and Hinata. Neji was the male sibling and was a good four inches bigger all around then Hinata. They were the only two tigers that could be placed in the same area while they eat.

Iruka placed the empty buckets back in the wheel barrel and they left the big cats to their breakfast. As they walked back to the food prep room a call came over the radios they both had on their belts.

"Kakashi come back." Kakashi grabbed his radio and called back.

"Kakashi here, go ahead." There was a pause before the radio went off again. "We need you and Iruka out at the back gate in 10 minutes. They're bringing in the new tiger and you two are needed." Kakashi glanced at Iruka who nodded and quickly placed the empty buckets into the sink.

"Alright we're on our way." He clipped his radio back on his belt before following Iruka out of the building. There were five golf carts sitting next to the building so Kakashi climbed into one with Iruka and pulled away from the building. 7 minutes later they pulled up to the back gate of the zoo where a good portion of the zookeepers where gathered with the head vet, Tsunade.

Kakashi walked up to the blond vet with Iruka next to him. he was about to speak when a big truck rolled up to the gate with a large wooden crate on the back that had holes in it. Tsunade stepped forward and cleared her throat to get everyone's attention.

"I know you all want to see the new tiger but there are way too many of you here. If you are not needed, please return to your sections." Almost everyone left leaving Kakashi, Iruka, Tsunade and a few others. Tsunade sighed and started to direct the truck farther into the zoo.

They eventually backed up the truck to a temporary holding area that had another door that lead to a smaller than normal habitat, the door was closed so they could check over the new tiger before letting her out. The habitat was separated from the tiger's regular show case so they didn't have to worry about how they would react to each other.

Tsunade made sure the crate and the holding area door were lined up before nodding to one of the keepers who was waiting to open the crate. The man nodded back before unlatching the door to the crate and moving it out of the way.

They were all quiet as they waited for the animal to come out. They waited 15 minutes before Tsunade sighed and looked to Kakashi. Kakashi walked up to the crate and looked through one of the holes in the side, but he was too close because a loud growl came from inside. He stepped back but stayed close enough to look inside.

Even though it was light outside the inside of the crate wasn't visible. All Kakashi could make out was a dark shape pressed against the back of the crate. "Dr. Tsunade was this the crate it was found in?" the blond walked up and slowly nodded.

Kakashi sighed and looked back at the man on the crate. "Put the door back on. We're going to open the back instead." He got confused looks so he explained.

"this is where this animal has been kept for probably it's whole life. Think about who it was taken from. He most likely treated it harshly and hurt it through that end… if we open the back it will be a different place and it'll come out."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow but nodded to the man on the crate. He reattached the door and got off the crate. The truck pulled forward so they could turn the crate around. They had about 10 people pick up the crate and turn it around before putting it back on the truck. The man got back on top of the crate and used a drill to take the screws out of the back.

When the back fell off they all held their breath and waited. They didn't have to wait long before they saw movement. They all gasped when the tiger finally dashed out of the crate. Once it was clear they closed the door and let the truck leave.

Kakashi looked over the tiger with a critical eye. It had a sleek black coat that had dark almost black gray stripes. It was as far away from the keepers as possible and when it looked at Kakashi his eyes widened. Tsunade was standing next to him and couldn't believe her eyes. The big tiger's eyes weren't the normal amber or blue, they were black and had an almost red tint to them.

"That can't be good…" Kakashi nodded in agreement and sighed when the animal bared it's large teeth in a snarl. "I hate doing this but we're going to have to sedate it so we can get everything we need."

Tsunade nodded and pulled out her radio, she called for her assistant to bring down a tranquilizer. A few minutes later a short brunette woman arrived with the tranquilizer and they were able to safely hit the animal.

Once they were sure it was out they walked into the holding area. Tsunade kneeled next to the sleeping cat with her assistant Shizune behind her with a clipboard.

"Alright first thing first we have a…" she paused before smiling. "A beautiful female." Shizune wrote it down on the clipboard and continued filling out all the information on the tiger. Tsunade did a complete check over the tiger only stopping a few times to make little comments.

The last thing she checked was the tiger's eyes, she took a small flashlight and opened the cat's eyes to shine the light in them. She looked confused when she saw that the eyes didn't seem to have any problems. She told Shizune what to write down before letting go of the cat and standing up. Shizune handed her a tape measurer and helped the blond get the cat's measurements.

When they were finished they started to leave the cat growled and staggered to its feet. Tsunade and Shizune quickly left and closed the door. The tiger shook its head and swayed slightly before it steadied itself.

Kakashi and Iruka watched the tiger as it calmed down. "So is there anything wrong with its eyes?" Tsunade smiled and continued to watch the large cat as she spoke to the two men.

"No… there is nothing wrong with her eyes, which is very unusual." Iruka looked away from the tiger. "Did you say she?" Tsunade smiled again and nodded.

"Yes, this tiger is a female… now I don't know how badly she was treated but I want to take it easy. Let her get used to us before we start introducing her to the others." Kakashi and Iruka nodded. They were about to agree when their radios went off.

"Kakashi, Iruka pick up." Iruka picked up his radio and called back. "Iruka here, go ahead." "We need you and Kakashi at the tiger exhibit now! It's Naruto and Kiba again." Iruka sighed but both he and Kakashi quickly headed toward the golf cart. "Hold on we're on the way. Try and keep them apart until we get there."

This time when they drove the golf cart they had to drive around all the people who were walking around the zoo. Kakashi quietly cursed. "I forgot the zoo opened." Iruka smiled but didn't say anything.

When they finally got to the tiger exhibit they noticed that a lot of guests were watching from the viewing deck. Kakashi quickly headed into the back entrance of the exhibit and saw some of the other keepers trying to keep two of the large orange tigers apart. Once they saw Kakashi and Iruka they smiled in relief.

Kakashi looked over the tigers and saw that Neji wasn't out but Hinata was. He stopped and did a double take before sighing and turning to Iruka. "Go recall Hinata." Iruka nodded and disappeared. Kakashi watched as the white tiger turned her head and quickly walked to where he knew Iruka had called her.

Once she was gone the two other tigers calmed down and left each other alone. Kakashi sighed and turned on the other keepers.

"What did I say? You never let Hinata out alone with those two… why were they the only three out? Hinata is one of three females we have. She should have been in the other half of the exhibit with Sakura and Ino, she should never have been with the males. The only male that you can put with the females is Neji." The other keepers looked at the ground as Kakashi yelled at them.

Iruka finally stepped in. "Kakashi I think they get it… we will watch them and they will not be letting the tigers out again." Kakashi frowned but sighed and walked away without saying anything else. He walked around and left out all the males into one side and all the females into the other.

TBC

I hope you like it because everything is about to change. You won't believe what a twist I have in store for you.

5 reviews and i'll get the second chapter up faster.