Ino checked her watch. "He's going to be really late."

"Yeah," agreed Chouji. "Do you think we should go in and get him?"

Ino considered that for a while, and then slowly shook her head. She dug around in her backpack for a while, eventually coming up with a handful of snacks. "Twizzler?" she offered.

"Thanks."

"So, he's busy with what, exactly?"

"Well, he and Kakashi were playing chess, and then…well. You know."

"And they're still at it?" Ino checked her watch again. "We're all late, now. I'll go make up some excuses."

"I'll tell you how it turns out."