The sun shone down on the gravel road, where two ninja feet and about a hundred beetle legs strode along quietly.
Shino's less-than-enthusiastic romp through the village was about to come to a close as he neared his own front porch, only eight steps away by his calculations..
Just one step.
Two steps.
Three steps.
And he stopped. Something was wrong. Shino cast his gaze toward the sky - a sunny summer picture at its best.
Or not.
For up in the sky a great thundery cloud had overtaken the light of the sun. The wind picked up, people hurried back to their homes for shelter against the roaring storm as it quickly blustered through the village.
It was a rare occurance in the Leaf Village, but no one could deny what was coming.
A hurricane.
Shino carelessly walked five more steps, leaving him exactly at his front porch when...
FWASHABLAM. An inconveniently placed two-by-four hit him square in the head. It kinda stung.
And that's when it all began...
As the taciturn leaf ninja awoke, the sun flooded into his eyes once more. His ears caught on to the merry sound of...music?
He's dead, He's dead!
The Wicked-Nin of the Waterfall is dead!
"Huh...?" Shino was quite confused right now. Why would everyone be so happy about a hurricane death?
"Much thanks, kind stranger!" an unfamiliar voice cooed.
As Shino adjusted his glasses, he saw it was a midget that had confronted him. A small, red-haired, sleepy-eyed midget.
Bug-boy saught conformation. "Just what did I do?"
The midget - or, munchkin, rather, as the sign above the village gate so colorfully called it "The Hidden Munchkin Village", looked at him as though he was crazy.
"Why, you and your horde of beetles behind you there have fallen into our happy land and killed Kakuzu, the Wicked-Nin of the Waterfall!"
"Oh. You're welcome. I'll be going, then." he replied flatly.
"Not if I've anything to say about it!" came a feminine voice from behind him. All of a sudden, Shino found himself lifted of the ground by a giant pink petunia and dragged to a skinny blonde woman in a foofy pink dress. But really, hadn't that happened to everyone, now?
"I am Ino, the Good-Nin of the North! And you, young man, have stumbled upon my territory here in Munchkinland!" she cooed in a flirtatious tone.
Shino was getting tired of all this Munchkinland and Good-Nin-Bad-Nin nonsene. "Look, can I just go home?"
"Home, you say? Why, I can't take you home..." Ino said. "But I can show you the way to someone who can. Sasori! Fetch the Yellow-Skinned Toad!"
"Yes, ma'am! Right away." the aforementioned red-haired munchkin promptly replied.
He came running back with a small yellow toad cradled in his arms. The toad spoke. "Gamatatsu at your service! And can I have a snack?" it said, quite unprofessionally in a baby-ish voice.
"Show this boy and his bugs the way home, Gamatatsu." "Of course, Miss Ino Nice-Nin." and the toad leapt from Sasori's arms, running out, out of Munchkinland and into the open country.
Shino just kind of stood there.
"Well, aren't you going to go after it?" Ino asked. "It's the only way you'll get home, you know."
Shino glanced back questioningly, then back at the toad. Without a word, he raced after it, leaving Munchkinland far behind.
Sasori watched with the others as he took off. "My, he is a strange one..."