Orochimaru was petting Peppermen.

"Good job, Peppermen! Did you pee on his lawn, too?"

Peppermen nodded.

"Oh, good!"

"Orochimaru!" Orochimaru looked up when he heard Hinata calling his name.

"What is it, sensei?" he asked.

"I have some urgent business to attend to," she said.

"Of what nature?"

"Kiba thought he could get away from me by going to Costa Rica. I'm going after him," she said.

"Do you want me to come along?" asked Orochimaru, "I'm sure I could help you er… punish him."

"No, I can do this on my own," said Hinata, "But I was just wondering, where did you put the bazooka?"

"At the back of your closet," replied Orochimaru promptly.

Hinata went to get it. When she came back, she said, "While I am gone, I need you to stick to the plan."

"The plan to get back at Sasuke?"

"Yes," she said, "You are aware of the next stage, I presume?"

Orochimaru said that he was indeed.

"Good. Then I expect you to execute it at," she looked at her watch, "precisely six o'clock this evening."

"Count on me, sensei," Orochimaru said, snapping to a salute.

"Alright," said Hinata, "Now, I've got a plane to catch."

!#$&()!#$&()+

Konoha airport was a rather large building – it's actually very surprising that it was never shown in the anime. Go figure.

At this moment in time, three of our characters are in this airport. These happen to be, obviously, Shikamaru, Hinata, and, less obviously, Itachi.

Itachi? Well, he was there for reasons of his own. He was going to visit a representative of a large South American publishing company.

Hinata was irritated. The airport was so STUFFY. And there was a huge line-up. She tapped her foot impatiently, and then punched out the next couple of people in line so that she could skip up a few places. There was a rather nasty incident involving her possession of a bazooka, but after threatening the families of several of the security guards, no one pursued it.

Finally, she got past and into the waiting room. She looked out the window. Her plane had just arrived. She waited. Finally, she got to pre-board because she was a minor.

"Hello!" said an airline assistant wearing a lot of makeup.

Hinata grunted.

"My name's Kimberly and if you need anything during the flight, just call me, okay?"

Hinata ignored her and lugged her suitcase onto the plane.

Kimberly followed her up. "There's another minor on this plane, you'll be sitting together! Isn't that nice?" said Kimberly.

Hinata shoved Kimberly into the small airplane washroom. No one would find her for three hours.

Hinata found her seat. Shikamaru was sitting in the seat next to her.

"Hi," said Shikamaru.

!#$&()!#$&()+

Shino was worried. He was worried about the weather, he was worried about Gaara stealing his underwear, and he was worried about Morton's broken arm. But most of all, he was worried about Kiba.

Shino was Kiba's best friend. And best friends worry about each other. Especially when one of them has an angry rapist with a bazooka after them. So yes, Shino was worried. He thought there was maybe only one thing left to do.

Kiba quickly replaced Morton's bandages and hurried outside. He stopped by a hotdog stand, where he found the person he was looking for.

"Kabuto," he said.

"Shino," replied Kabuto.

There was an awkward silence.

"Would you like a hotdog?" asked Kabuto finally.

Shino accepted. He put relish and mustard and ketchup on it.

"Haven't seen you in a while," Kabuto said nervously.

"No," replied Shino taking a bite of his hotdog, "I've been busy."

"So…" said Kabuto.

"Good hotdog," said Shino.

"Thanks," said Kabuto.

There was another awkward silence.

"So I hear Orochimaru's been living at your buddy Kiba's house," Kabuto said bitterly.

"It's true," said Shino, "Do you miss him?"

"What do you think?" asked Kabuto, a nasty smile on his face, "But he'll come to his senses eventually. He'll realize that he can't live without me."

"Think so?" asked Shino conversationally. This was going exactly where he wanted it to.

"Look at me!" Kabuto burst out, "I'm selling hotdogs now for God's sakes! I'm working for minimum wage! I hate my life! But the only way I can sleep soundly is because I know Orochimaru is as miserable as I am! He'll never find anyone who can replace me."

"Well," said Shino.

"WHAT?" roared Kabuto.

"I think he has, actually."

!#$&()!#$&()+

Shikamaru looked nervously at Hinata. She hadn't replied when he had said hello, just sat down and pulled out a magazine that she was now reading. He peered down at her magazine. The article she was reading was entitled "52 most painful ways to torture your enemies."

Wisely, Shikamaru decided not to pursue the conversation.