Meeting the Animals

"This is stupid," Neji said bluntly. He was following Tenten, who waswandering aroundthe carnivore section of Mammal Barn.

"Hush Neji. It's Gai-sensei's orders. If we don't follow them, Lee will volunteer to make the team do a million laps around the world."

Neji's face darkened at the "Hush" but arguing against Tenten gave him headaches, so he just grunted.

"Wow," Tenten breathed, looking into a stall.

Neji read the label, "Sand Cat, Order Carnivora, Family Felidae, Genus Felix margarita." Looking into the stall, he didn't see anything. Suddenly, something small and furry leapt at him. Neji jumped back, startled. Tenten laughed, "It seems to like you. I'm going to call the specialist on this one. It's so cute."

Kiba held Akamaru close to him as he traveled along the stalls, peering into each window. Akamaru barked. "I know Akamaru, why do WE have to get a pet? I've already got you and Kurenai-sensei should know that I take good care of you."

Akamaru barked again. "Seriously, this is stupid. Let's play a prank on these weird hillbillies."

Kiba pressed a green button, then went to the next stall and pressed that button. He went down the entire row, pressing buttons. Akamaru barked and Kiba laughed, "I know, that'll mess them up. We should have some action soon."

Kiba stood and waited for the horde of specialists to come, but only one made her way down to where Kiba was standing.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

Kiba stared, "But, but, huh?"

The specialist smiled, "The hillbillies saw what you did through the secret cameras we have installed. They only sent me because the stall you're standing in front of is for the Gray Wolf, Order Carnivora, Family Canidae, Genus Canis lupus."

Hinata giggled, watching Kiba's predicament. She was standing directly opposite from the gray wolf stall, looking at the small herbivores. The carnivores scared her.

"Hmmmm. Mouse, Hamster, Guinea Pig, Gerbil, Chipmunk, Squirrel, Prairie dog, oh-," Hinata bent over a stall where a baby jackrabbit was huddling in a corner. It stared at her with wide eyes.

"You shouldn't be old enough to live on your own little guy," Hinata said. Rabbits ate up the garden and her father really wouldn't approve, but… Hinata quickly pressed the button before she could change her mind.

Sasuke had immediately gone looking in a section he had noticed when the man on the intercom was talking, big cats. They were the kings of the prairie, the jungle, the rainforest. They had power, and Sasuke liked power.

He bypassed the lion, which was lazily chewing on a bone. He skipped the tiger which was sleeping on its… back., with its legs waving in theair.And then he came to the leopard. It was prowling back and forth, occasionally leaping up and pounding the walls. Sasuke read the yellow sign that lay above the information, "Danger! This animal is extremely violent and has not yet adapted to his environment. Retain extreme caution around it."

Sasuke pressed the button; this was the animal for him.

Lee was staring into the stall at Sasuke's right. "White Tiger, Order Carnivora, Family Felidae, Genus Panthera tigris tigris." The tiger was prancing about in the stall, pawing the air, as if trying to show off its mad skills. Lee nodded, "Yosh! I can feel your energy radiating towards me. You show the sign of the Beautiful Beast. I choose you."

Lee dramatically stretched his finger towards the button. The tiger inside stared at him, theatrics forgotten. Lee pressed the button and shouted, "COME, LEARNED PROFESSOR OF THE TIGER. TEACH ME THE SECRETS OF THE BEAUTIFUL BEAST."

Beside him, Sasuke scoffed. Everyone else in the barn stared and edged farther away as if a centimeter more space would save them from the obvious contagious disease the "BEAUTIFUL BEAST" possessed.

Naruto didn't know what he was doing there. The only bit of money he had was the bit Iruka-sensei had loaned him. Iruka had thought it necessary that Naruto find himself a pet.

Naruto wanted to buy one of the big cats, but he didn't have a humongous inheritance or a family that really wanted him to find a pet with YOUTHFUL GLOW!

As Naruto neared a stall, something inside him shifted. He stopped, staring at his stomach where the change had taken place. Then he looked up and started walking towards the stall, seeminglydrawn towards it."Arctic Fox, Order Carnivora, Family Canidae, Genus Alopex lagopus."

Naruto laughed, "So that's why. You want a buddy right… Kyuubi."

He pressed the button.

"This is so troublesome," Shikamaru said. He was sitting with his back to a stall, staring out the window he had situated himself in front of. It was rather irritating because he couldn't quite cloud-watch with the walls restraining most of his line of vision.

Chouji was sitting next to him, eating.

Shikamaru looked up, and asked, "Chouji? Which stall is behind me?"

Chouji stood up and said, "Giant Panda. Order Carnivora. Family Ailuropodidae. Genus Ailuropoda melanoleuca." Except you couldn't tell what he said, because his mouth was full of chips.

Shikamaru wasn't even listening, "Ok, that's great, press the green button please."

Chouji pressed it and sat down with a thump, still eating. Unfortunately for him, he finished all his food. He sat staring at his last bag then saying, "What animal should I get Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru said lazily, "I dunno, what are you looking for?"

Chouji replied, "Something that doesn't take too much work to keep and that I can eat after the time period is over."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow but didn't comment, "Then I suggest you get the American Bison, Order Artiodactyla, Fmaily Bovidae, Genus Bison bison."

Chouji gasped, "How did you know that? You're so smart Shikamaru."

Shikamaru yawned, turned over and said, "Nah, it's the only sign I can see from here." And then he fell asleep.

Chouji stood up and went to press the button.

"I'M READY!" Sakura and Ino said at the same time.

They glared at each other. Their stalls were right next to each other. One saying, "Southern Flying Squirrel, Order Rodentia, Family Sciuridae, Genus Glaucomys volans." And one saying, "Sugar Glider, Order Marsupialia, Family Petauridae, Genus Petaurus breviceps." (A/N, in case you didn't know, they look exactly the same. The only difference is that one is a Rodent and one's a Maruspial.)

"My squirrel is so much better than your thing," Sakura sniffed.

"Mine has a better name."

"Mine is cuter."

"Mine will be liked more by Sasuke."

"Mine has a better tail."

"Mine has a stripe."

"Mine is…"

"Mine is…"

And so on, and so on, and so on.

Shino just sat there the whole time. He wasn't interested in mammals. He was waiting for the Insect Barn.

Neji wasn't interested in the animals at all. He didn't care if Gai punished him. He didn't want something to attach to that would be taken away from him at some point in time by the evil that is the MAIN HOUSE.

The man that sat in front of all the cameras stared at the strange scenes that were occurring right before his eyes.

He turned to the teachers who were standing behind him. "Well, I have a list of what the students have chosen. Only ten of them have made choices though."

He presented them with a list.

Name: Tenten
Teacher: Gai
Animal: Sand Cat
Sanity: Normal

Name: Inuzuka Kiba
Teacher: Kurenai
Animal: Gray Wolf
Sanity: Below normal

Name: Hyuuga Hinata
Teacher: Kurenai
Animal: Jackrabbit
Sanity: Normal

Name: Uchiha Sasuke
Teacher: Kakashi
Animal: Leopard
Sanity: Below normal

Name: Rock Lee
Teacher: Gai
Animal: White tiger
Sanity: … None

Name: Uzumaki Naruto
Teacher: Kakashi
Animal: Arctic Fox
Sanity: Slightly below normal

Name: Nara Shikamaru
Teacher: Asuma
Animal: Giant Panda
Sanity: Below Normal

Name: Akimichi Chouji
Teacher: Asuma
Animal: American Bison
Sanity: Below Normal

Name: Yamanaka Ino
Teacher: Asuma
Animal: Sugar Glider
Sanity: Not Available

Name: Haruno Sakura
Teacher: Kakashi
Animal: Southern Flying Squirrel
Sanity: Not Available

"Why did you include sanity?" Kurenai demanded. The man shrugged, "Because I'm worrying about it."

"LEE! LEE WITH THE YOUTHFUL GLOW HAS NO SANITY," Gai cried, literally.

"Wait, why do Sasuke and Naruto have below normal sanity?" Kakashi asked.

"Because Sasuke picked the most dangerous creature in the entire barn and Naruto called himself Kyuubi," the man said.

The teachers looked at each other nervously, hoping the man didn't push any farther in that direction.

"The other two, Neji and Shino, have not chosen. We overhead Shino's conversation… with himself and we think we should visit the Insect Barn next. I can't figure out Neji's animal type however. Maybe birds."

The students below, not realizing the conversation going on behind their backs were conversing with their specialists (Who we meet in the next chapter).

Everyone has made their choices except Neji and Shino. Visit us next time on Naruto Farm to find out what becomes of those choices.

A/N Wow. That was the longest chapter I ever wrote. Does the happy dance. ONWARDS! Please review. Thanks.