A/N: Thanks to everyone who followed or alerted this story!

But, I would appreciate a review. I had about five notifications in one day and not even one review in five. So, you can imagine my worry.

The Children's Zoo

Chapter Two

Naruto was sure that this had to be a dream. Life just wasn't this awesome.

He had just walked into Ichiraku when old man Teuchi told him that because he was his favorite customer he could have all the ramen he wanted to eat for the rest of his life for free! Ayame placed a bowl of his favorite right in front of him and he almost cried. Life was beautiful!

He was about to wholeheartedly down his first of many, many bowls when he noticed something strange. The ramen didn't smell like ramen. Actually, it smelled a little like how Kiba smelled; he knew from the few times they had snuck out of the academy together. It was actually Akamaru's dog shampoo that the smell came from, he just had it too because he carried his dog on his head.

"My ramen has dog shampoo?" Naruto asked groggily as the ramen shop faded from his sight. He could feel that he was lying on his back on a cold, hard surface. There was something on him; that's what smelled like dog shampoo.

He looked towards his chest and saw a splash of pink. He blinked quickly. It couldn't be, but it was. There was a girl sleeping peacefully with him! He couldn't see her face but he knew from her hair color that she was in his class. What was her name?

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto remembered and she stirred in her sleep.

She turned over so that she was facing him and she smiled sweetly, "Sasuke-kun," she mumbled.

Naruto sweat dropped. Of course she was thinking about that bastard Sasuke. Why couldn't he meet one girl who wasn't completely gaga over the Uchiha?

Sakura's eyes fluttered open and she noticed a pair of cerulean blue eyes staring right back at her. Those weren't Sasuke's eyes, which was weird seeing as she had just been on a date with him. Yet here she was, laying on another guy… on that dead-last!

"Naruto!" She quickly sat up and kicked him away, "What do you think you're doing?"

"I don't know," He answered honestly, "I was eating lunch when all of the sudden I couldn't keep my eyes open, then I was at Ichiraku but my ramen smelled like a dog and then I was here!"

"What the hell does that mean?"

"I don't know!"

"Oh would you two shut up!" Kiba's voice sounded out and Akamaru barked in agreement, "It's bad enough that I'm stuck with the mute here but now I gotta listen to you two."

Sakura and Naruto looked around. They were in a cage! And all around them their classmates were also stuck in cages with varying numbers of kids in them. Some were unconscious but most were already waking up. Kiba was in the cage directly to their right and he was with Shino.

"I am not mute," Shino corrected, "I just prefer to not waste my energy with frivolous things like yelling."

"That was an insult, wasn't it?" Kiba shook his fist and Akamaru growled.

"Oh, be quiet! You think you have it bad? I'm here stuck with Lazy and Chubbo!" Ino cried from a cage two to the left. "And why does White Eyes over there get to be with Sasuke-kun?"

Sakura turned her attention toward the cage that Ino was pointing at. It was right in front of her. 'How did I miss it?'

There was Sasuke, sitting nonchalantly in the center of the cage with his eyes closed as if in meditation. The cage was almost empty, except for the tiny girl sitting in the corner trying to hide behind her knees.

"Hinata! What do you think you're doing?"

"I-I'm s-sorry," It was amazing that Sakura could actually hear her. She covered her ears as the other girls began complaining about her presence as well.

"Hey, leave her alone!" Hinata stiffened as she heard Naruto defend her, "It's not her fault she's being tortured by being kept with that bastard."

"Tortured?!" All the girls minus Hinata exclaimed simultaneously, they tried to attack him from their cages. Unfortunately for him, one of them could actually punch him with all their might upside the head.

"Ow! What was that for, Sakura-chan?"

"For calling Sasuke-kun a punishment," she replied through gritted teeth.

"So, you're all awake already?" An unfamiliar voice asked.

They all turned to see a man in his twenties standing in the center of all the cages, even Sasuke deemed it important enough to open his eyes. The man had brown hair that reached his shoulder blades, a tan long-sleeved shirt, long black shorts and traditional ninja boots. The most important thing was that on his head was a Konoha forehead protector.

"You're from Konoha?" Shikamaru asked.

Ino looked confused for a second but then a fire appeared in her eyes. "If you're a member of our village, why did you kidnap us?"

"Kidnap you? What are you talking about? I didn't kidnap you." The man answered.

"Then what do you call a stranger taking you away and locking you in a cage?" Sakura's knuckles were white from gripping her cage's bars so hard.

"A stranger? Well, that can be easily remedied. My name is Atsushi; I am a jounin of Konoha. And locking you in cages? Well, where else do you put the stars of a zoo?"

…

…

"A ZOO!"

Atsushi cringed from the general cry of outrage around him. The only ones that didn't yell were the Uchiha, the Hyuga and the Aburame. Even the Nara kid, as lazy as he had observed him to be, found the energy to yell.

"Yes, a zoo."

"W-why?" Atsushi was glad that the other kids had decided to be quiet at the moment she had spoken. In his weeks of observation, he had come to enjoy the Hyuga girl's gentle voice.

"Well, my dear, before I arrived at Konoha I was part of a family of animal watchers. My job was to overlook the safety and well-being of animals in the wild. Sadly, my family and I disagreed on one thing. I felt that the only way animals could be truly safe was by keeping them in cages where they couldn't hurt themselves or anyone around them."

"So what, weirdo?" Naruto demanded.

"When I arrived in Konoha, since the differences between my family and me were irreconcilable, I sought to start a life where I would have nothing to do with wild animals." Atsushi continued with a slight edge to his voice, he didn't enjoy being interrupted. "I showed an incredible aptitude for ninjutsu, despite not being raised around ninja and quickly became a ninja and rose in rank faster than most of those in my graduating class. I enjoyed my job, I made friends, and I even met a lovely girl that I could fall in love with."

"Then what's the problem?" This time it was Ino, he didn't enjoy her voice all that much.

"She is an instructor at your academy. One day she invited me to eat lunch with her and I agreed. When I got there however I realized just what ninja kids truly are like," the kids held their breath to hear his story, "Filthy, unruly beasts!"

"HEY!" Once again, all but three complained loudly.

"You were just like the animals that I tried so hard to escape. I tried to convince myself that I was wrong, I observed you just like my family taught me to but all I did was confirm my suspicions. This class, above all others, is like a pack of wild animals! You're also the most promising."

"Then why are we here?" Naruto shouted. Atsushi wasn't sure why all the blondes had infuriating voices in this class.

"Because, people love you, but I know for a fact that the only way for you to be safe is to be kept in cages. Don't worry though, in a couple of months, once you're trained properly, I'll let the entire village know where you are so they can come see you."

This time he was met by silence. The shock of his words alone made them hold their tongues.

"Now eat up and rest, we start training in two hours!" That was when they noticed the bags at his feet. He threw one into each cage and left, happily whistling a tune none of them knew.

Hinata cringed as the bag fell two feet in front of her. It popped open and out came a weird, round substance. If she wasn't mistaken, it looked a little like what Kiba fed his pet at lunch sometimes.

"Dog food?" She cried, or at least what she called crying, everyone else would call it whispering.

"He expects us to eat that junk?" Sasuke stared at the bag venomously.

"I don't know, it's not that bad." Naruto answered between bites while Sakura looked like she was about to throw up just from watching him.

"N-Naruto-kun, I d-don't think you should e-eat that." She said as loudly as she could, which was still not much by average standards. Her cheeks burned when he stopped to look at her, his gaze was intense and serious.

"Do I know you?" He asked and her cheeks burned more. He didn't even know who she was!

"Y-yes, I'm H-Hinata."

"Oh, yeah! You're that weird girl who always looks away when I talk to her!" He said happily, he was proud he remembered, and she did just as he said.

That was what he thought of her? She could almost cry! She tried so hard to be strong like him and that was what he saw her as!

"You okay over there?" Naruto asked the tiny girl. Not only did she look scared and unhealthily red but he wanted to be nice to her. He remembered that she was the only person who didn't actively put him down. Maybe she did it behind his back, it wouldn't be the first time he met someone like that, but until he proved that, she was a nice person!

"Y-yes," She managed to say, and was proud that she didn't cry. Her head was starting to feel woozy though, and she wondered if maybe the fact that her face was so red it felt like it was radiating heat had anything to do with it.

"Hey!" Ino shouted and everyone turned to her, "What are we going to do?"

"You know, you're shrieking isn't helping anybody." Shikamaru drawled.

"What did you say?"

"In fact, it's distracting me from planning our escape."

"You're going to plan our escape?" Sakura asked, incredulously.

"Of course he is!" Chouji declared resolutely.

Kiba huffed, "That's the only thing missing. Now I have to put my fate in the hands of someone whose grades are almost as bad as Naruto's."

"Hey!" Naruto cried, feeling slightly betrayed. He knew that Kiba didn't think that much of him, but he thought he might be a little nicer to him considering how many times they had pulled pranks together.

"One would think that you would be more concerned about formulating a plan to escape than throwing petty insults." Shino calmly said and Kiba growled at him. He couldn't wait to get out of that cage so he would never have to be anywhere near the Aburame again!

"Right," Sasuke agreed, "Do you really think that you can get us out of here, Nara?"

"I do," Shikamaru nodded solemnly; looking the most serious anybody had ever seen him.

"Then of course we trust you, Shikamaru!" Sakura practically yelled, making sure that Sasuke saw that she was the first to support his decision.

Ino glared at her ex-best friend then turned to Shikamaru with a "Humph!" She sent him a look that threatened his life if he didn't get them out of there but he simply ignored her. Choosing to sit down cross-legged and putting his hands together weirdly, with the fingertips touching each other to make a circle.

The minutes dragged and Ino began to tap her foot impatiently and she overheard Chouji mumble something unflattering about her under his breath. She knew he was fiercely protective of Shikamaru and bit back all the insults she could think of; not that it stopped the less cultured of her classmates, which surprisingly did not include Naruto or Kiba.

Suddenly, Shikamaru opened his eyes and looked focused. He seemed almost impressive, not that she would ever tell him.

"Well," She dragged the 'l' and crossed her arms over her chest as if to emphasize her impatience.

"Right," Shikamaru announced and everyone quit complaining, "This is what we have to do."

A/N: Ha-ha! Sakura just imprinted onto Naruto like a mother hen!

I wonder if anybody noticed how I placed the kids in cages. Aside from the obvious Ino-Shika-Cho combo. Cookies to whoever can figure it out, although it will be revealed next chapter!

Little note, not that it affects the plot, but Atsushi means Pure Ambition, just so you can know a little about his character.

I don't want to be that type of author, so I won't bribe you for reviews. However, I will make a deal with you. If I get at least three reviews before Monday, I will post the final chapter on Monday night. If not, then it will be posted on Friday as planned.

Thanks for reading, and I hope to hear from you!

- Destiny's sweet melody