A/N: Wow, this took me a long time to write. I'm not sure why, but I might have freaked out a bit about putting my writing online. Well, here is the next chapter. Tell me what you think?
The heavy silence that followed the horrifying story and revelation was suddenly broken by a concise knock on the door.
Shaken from his depressing thoughts by the piercing noise, Naruto slowly rose from his seat and moved to open it. A few words are murmured quietly between whoever knocked and the goggled man.
"Two," he said as he turned back into the dark room, "we're leaving."
Without a word Two stood and followed Naruto out of the door into a hall unseen by the two captives. The door swung shut with a resounding thud and the sound of a lock sliding into place pierced their ears before quiet footsteps faded away.
Sasuke huffed, shaken by the story told, but too prideful to admit his weakness. Kakashi could tell, he knew, but there was no chance of him acknowledging the suffering told to them.
As they sat, they both contemplated what their next move would be. There was no escaping, that much was clear. Their bindings were tight and their hidden blades out of reach from numb fingers tied too tightly. Kakashi still kept the thought of torture and death as an option, but rethought his previous notions of the 'barbaric' Scavengers.
It could have been minutes, or hours, later when three hurried pairs of footsteps and excited and indistinguishable chatter reached both captive's ears.
The lock slid back and the door flew open as a small body threw itself into the room with two bowls in hand.
It only took moments for Kakashi and Sasuke to recognize the boy, how could one forget their captor? As Sasuke opened his mouth to utter a scathing comment, two more bodies ran in almost causing the boy to drop his cargo and spill the contents on the floor.
"Moegi, Udon! You almost made me spill!" The boy cried indignantly, sticking his lower lip out into a – not that Sasuke will ever admit it – cute pout. He wore a dirtied long-sleeved shirt and long pants. The most noticeable article of clothing he wore was a blue scarf, so long it dragged upon the floor.
"Oh, stuff it Maru, who cares if you spill a little anyways. Its not like anyone is going to care what they eat." The girl, Moegi, answered with a hand placed on her small hip. Her orange hair was tied in two pigtails that defied gravity, and she had incredibly rosy cheeks. She wore a tattered dress that reached her bruised knees with a shirt underneath. All three teens seemed to wear goggles on their forehead, just like a certain blonde haired man.
"Moegi, they need to eat just like the rest of us." The second boy, Udon, spoke as he wiped his running nose on his dirty sleeve. He wore similar clothing to Maru, but the only difference was a pair of glasses with a small crack on one side.
"Yeah, Moegi, cut them some slack," Maru interjected, "I mean they had to have been incompetent or in serious trouble to be stuck with the Waste patrol."
At this Sasuke visibly tensed. He seethed outwardly, hissing a bit in his anger.
"Who do you think you are, calling us incompetent?" he spoke angrily.
As he said this all three teenagers, tensed, then laughed or giggled towards him.
"Hehe. You would have to be pretty awful at your job to be beaten down by a couple of kids." Moegi choked out between giggles.
"Hey! What gives Moegi? We're not kids no more!" Maru shouted, taking personal affront to the comment.
"Oh stuff it, Maru. You know what I mean." She replied exasperated at her friend's speech.
"Um, you guys." Udon tried to interject.
"Moegi, we're soldiers now. Boss said that means we're adults according to law. Not dumb kids." Maru stated, hands on hips and pout forming on his lips.
"Guys." Udon spoke louder this time, but was again unnoticed by his friends.
"Whatever, Maru. I'll start treating you like an adult when you start acting like one." Moegi spoke condescendingly. She knew the law, but that didn't mean they were that old anyways.
"GUYS!" Udon yelled this time, hoping to get his teams attention. During the entire conversation both Kakashi and Sasuke had large drops of sweat slowly making its way down their face. They couldn't believe how childish the teens seemed arguing amongst themselves. Kakashi, and especially Sasuke, was ashamed to have been bested by a couple of kids.
The two arguing teens turned to Udon and shouted, "WHAT?"
"Um, we have to go report to Sensei, we were supposed to be there three minutes ago." Udon stammered out to his fuming teammates.
"UWAH! Why didn't you say something earlier Udon? Now we're late!" Maru yelled while running in circles, clearly distressed as he ran from the room. "Come on, we have to go!"
"Wait Maru! We forgot to feed the prisoners!" Called Moegi chasing after him. Udon looked from the abandoned bowls upon the chair to the door and then back to the prisoners. He repeated this twice quickly before chasing after his friends in a hurry.
"Um, I have to go! You'll be transported in the morning, they're sending you to the city!" he called as he ran, slamming the metal door and locking it after.
Kakashi was roused from his uncomfortable sleep by movement behind him. Startled, he realized that someone was untying his bindings.
"Who's there?" he asked the dark room, not entirely expecting an answer.
"Just me, Cyclops."
As he looked over his shoulder he briefly saw a flash of long blonde hair tied into a tail. It was Two. Kakashi was impressed and slightly anxious, for he should have been able to sense someone come in the room, let alone walk up to his unprotected back. He could only discern two things from this, he was losing his touch or Two was exceptionally good. The latter seemed more reasonable.
"Where are we going, Two?" He asked sounding bored, but he could feel the tension seeping into his shoulders, ready to spring into action at any moment.
"Call me Yugito, and you two are coming with us to the city." She replied amicably. She seemed to ignore Kakashi's tenseness, which put him more on edge.
"Which city?" he asked, "Konoha?"
"Haha," she chuckled, startling Sasuke from his sleep, "No, we don't take city folk back to that hell-hole. We bring them to our city. Trust me, not many want to leave after they've seen what the outside has to offer."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Sasuke said scathingly. "What do you keep us prisoners until we'll stay anywhere for freedom? Do you brainwash us into thinking we're lowly Scavengers like you?"
"No," Yugito replied, "You'll understand more once you get there, but you'll see the mistake the Cities made the day they decided to send all those millions to death."
This seemed to be the end of the conversation. Kakashi's bindings were untied, but he made no move to escape, he needed Sasuke first and he wasn't sure if he should bring his knife out to a gunfight. There was no telling how many more Scavengers were outside the door.
Sasuke's bindings were cut and he tried to rise quickly to make a move against Yugito, but she just stood and watched as he fell on his face. His legs had given out on him, and she seemed to know that they would.
"I wouldn't be trying to move around too much," she said, smirking at the boy on the ground. "You aren't used to the air out here, or haven't you noticed the lack of breathers on your faces?"
This revelation surprised both Sasuke and Kakashi, they hadn't expected their breathers to be gone. In every training class they had, they were given graphic pictures of death by inhaling radiation.
"Oh don't get your panties in a twist. You'll be fine. You might be a bit tired for a while, but almost everyone gets used to the radiation sooner or later." Yugito seemed fine with it, calmly picking up Sasuke by his shirt and throwing an arm over her shoulder. "If you get sick we have healers who can fix you up just fine."
Kakashi was next, she helped him up by his elbow and he stood on shaky legs. Just standing made him breathless and he battled for air with each breath. Leaning on Yugito, they both slowly began the trek to the door, hoping that they wouldn't have to walk far.
They made it to the door and into a dark hallway, littered with flickering lights and mildew dripping from the walls. Yugito continued on and they passed several more doors along the way. Finally, after minutes of shuffling tiredly they made it to a staircase.
The walk up the stairs was a serious challenge, one Sasuke would never admit to years after the incident. Both Sasuke's and Kakashi's pride was lowered significantly when Yugito threw both of them over her shoulders a quarter of the way up and walked the stairs as if there was nothing weighing her down.
When they reached the top a door was waiting for them. It creaked as it opened and Yugito set them both down in time for them to be blinded by the light of the open sky.
They blinked wearily and soon they could make out what could only be described as a town. Dozens of people milled about, loading carts and walking into buildings. There were wagons filled with weaponry, food, and scraps rolling down the street pulled by strange creatures that looked like small elephants with long hair and large tusks.
Small children ran around, shooting each other with toy guns and shrieking as they played dramatic deaths.
All of this overwhelmed Kakashi and Sasuke. All of their training had defined Scavengers as scrappers who lived in the ruins of the old world, stealing from and killing anyone who came their way to survive. They had been wrong.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Yugito asked as she gazed upon the people. "This is one of our smallest towns, the border towns are always smaller. Many of our citizens don't like living so close to the cities. If they keep expanding at this rate, then these people will have to pack up and move closer inland."
Before Kakashi or Sasuke could utter words that were stuck in their throat, they were interrupted. Excited yelling could be heard along with the beating of large feet upon the ground. Up ahead citizens began parting along the streets all smiling and shaking their heads as if this was an everyday occurrence.
"Oh not again. Must he do this every time?" Yugito asks no one, shaking her head and hiding her amusement behind an annoyed expression.
Around the corner came a large, orange fox, taller than a large horse, with nine tails waving behind it like a banner. Behind it a raccoon-like creature of the same size barrels down the road with a large cat with two tails, tied to its saddle.
Kakashi and Sasuke could make out the blonde haired man on top of the fox smiling and yelling to the redhead on the raccoon.
"Come on, Gaara! And here I thought you were number One! They might need to call you Two-sama after this!" Naruto taunted his redheaded friend over his shoulder as they raced down the road.
"Baka," the other replied calmly, unruffled by his friends taunts, "must you be so energetic. Who said we were racing anyways."
Naruto squawked, "Who you calling baka, teme!" They both came to a stop in front of their speechless captives and an irritated, but amused Yugito.
"Obviously you." Gaara replied towards Naruto. He then turned to Yugito, "Are you sure this baka should be leading us?"
Naruto flailed as he squawked again, almost falling from his saddle.
"Well, beggars can't be choosers." Yugito answered with a lift of her shoulders, much to the ire of her leader.
"Ungrateful. Should respect me more…" Naruto muttered obscenities towards his subordinates as he sulked.
"What the hell are those things?" Sasuke finally finds the courage to ask, as he leans away from the orange fox eyeing him distastefully.
"They are called Biju, or the Nine tailed beasts." The redhead named Gaara explains. "Each one is different and each member of the Nine has one that represents their number."
"Yeah, Gaara has the Ichibi or the One-tailed raccoon. I have Nibi, the two-tailed cat. And Naruto has Kyuubi, the nine-tailed fox." Yugito said as she pointed to each person and their mount.
"We're called by our number to show respect. Each of the Nine governs and protects the waste and our people elected us as leaders. Naruto, or Nine-sama, is the leader of us all." Gaara finished the explanation seemingly bored or uninterested in the conversation.
Sasuke scoffs at the thought of the blonde leading anyone, let alone every living Scavenger, but he did not speak his protests out loud. Kakashi looked upon them with respect, he could feel the power radiating off of them, their very posture spoke of untold confidence.
Yugito passed Sasuke unto Gaara's mount and tied him to the saddle. The same was done to Kakashi on her's. Each Jinchuriki then began riding down the road towards the edge of the town, which could be seen as the people moved out of their path.
"Goodbye One-sama, Two-sama, Nine-sama!" "We'll miss you!" "Come back soon!" "Be safe!" The peple cried out to their leaders as they made their way out of town.
"Hey boss, wait up!" A young voice yelled. They halted and Naruto turned around to see the Maru Corps chasing after them and waving their hands.
"Boss! Boss! Can't we come with you?" They asked him, pleading with pouted lips and puppy eyes.
"I'm sorry guys, but you're on patrol out here. I'll see you in a few weeks at the city when you're shifts over." Naruto replied, looking sincerely regretful.
"Awh." All three bowed their heads, looking miserable.
"But I gave you a mission. I want this town to be kept safe and I have given this task to you. Don't disappoint me." Naruto said in his 'leader voice' – according to Yugito - that gave no room for protests.
"You got it boss!" Maru yelled pumping a fist in the air. Moegi and Udon both nodded their heads excitedly saying, "We'll do our best!"
The three Jinchuriki turned again and began their trek through the waste, waving their hands behind their heads in farewell.
It would be a long journey home.
A/N: I forgot to say: Thank you! to enoix27. They were a real help in giving me suggestions! So Thank YOu Very MUCH! Please, if you could, review and tell me what you think. Should I make these longer? This was my longest yet and I could have added more, but I didn't know where to stop. Whoops.