A couple of ideas begin to form in my mind. It's my mandatory day off after a mission back in Konoha, and I'm resting on my bed, arms folded on my stomach. Today, after the training and stress of the last couple weeks, I actually want to rest, instead of my more normal off day activities.

That was how it started, anyways. A nice soak in the village's hot springs was my intention, but the watched feeling crawled all over me and I didn't stay as long as I'd wanted to. I think of the girls I freed on my mission, and how they're doing- well, I hope. They were so dirty and malnourished, it was like they'd been treated as animals. Their restraints had begun to wear at their skin. Hopefully the money in that satchet I'd given them would be enough to get food, and perhaps shelter. It's certainly possible that they could be recaptured, but there are plenty of places to hide in Tanzaku Quarters. The situation is like a shogi match, I think. The people the girls were stolen from was expecting something like what had happened, and in turn, the kidnappers had had a second drop-off point in case the first was too risky; each party thinking a move ahead. And then I set the girls free. Unexpected breakthroughs are no guarantee in a shogi match, though. The sudden opening might just be a trap.

I think of how to work the match as a third player, but it becomes too tedious to plan out without an actual shogi board, which I don't have, so I abandon the thoughts for now. I come back to the first of my plans, which hopefully I will be able to get started on before my next mission. I sit up and sigh. I'm not in the mood to see the person right now, but they're the first person I think of when it comes to sealing jutsu, so I'll have to give it a shot. I get up and quickly comb my hair, then pick up my pen and ink and leave.

The way is familiar, and I'm soon there. My hand hesitates before it nocks on the door, remembering the last visit. I steel myself and knock, looking down and taking a step back. "Hey... uh, Hinata. Come in." Naruto smiles, and invites me in. "So... what's up? I was gonna talk to you the other day, but I heard you were out on a mission."

My cheeks need to learn to behave themselves, and not redden at the simplest phrases Naruto speaks. "Yes; I came back to Konoha yesterday. Um... I... need your help with something."

"What kind of help? Like, a jutsu or something?" Naruto eyes me suspiciously for a second.

"Yes, a jutsu. " I say, perhaps too quickly. I clear my throat, and continue. "Naruto, what do you know about sealing jutsu?"

"Oh, sealing jutsu? Well, they can be kinda tricky. They're kinda of like writing a wall with words and being really careful to not leave any loopholes." Naruto levels another suspicious squint at me. "What do you need a sealing jutsu for? I heard from Konohamaru you were working on some misty sensory jutsu thingy and fu- erm, 'freaking evil' genjutsu."

"First, the genjutsu isn't evil- Konohamaru is just afraid of heights- and second, the mist sensory jutsu went well. Perhaps I could show you sometime. Anyhow, I wanted to ask you about sealing jutsu that deal with spirits, because... well..."

It takes a second for Naruto to get it. "Ah, yeah. Ha ha. Well let's see, spirits..." Naruto looks around, then walks over to his nightstand to get a scrap of paper and a pencil. He grabs his old team picture and sits down on the edge of his bed. "I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure that the part of my seal that deals with Kurama's spirit slash chakra goes like this..." Naruto sketches out the seal language, stopping to erase a few small bits. "There, like that. I got stuck with the Yang half, so it's probably a little different than normal, but that's basically it, I think. I'm sure you've seen tons of seals that held physical stuff, right? You just need to write the wall around the spirit part."

I nod, and ask, "Are there any other seals you know besides this one?"

"Let's see... yeah." Naruto begins sketching again, this time a simple torii gate. "This one I did with the key from the original seal, it just kinda seems like a less complicated thing, to me."

"Where's the key?"

"On a frog's stomach." There's a short silence, and Naruto shakes his head. "Nevermind, forget about the Torii Seal." Naruto scribbles out the gate, and I sit down beside him.

He looks over, and suddenly I know he's thinking about what happened, too. "Naruto, about what you said the last time, I wanted to thank you..."

"Oh, uh, you're welcome." He smiles, absentmindedly scratching the back of his neck.

"...And also, I wanted to say I think Sakura feels the same way about you."

His eyes bulge out for a second before he catches himself. "Wow, that's, wow. I thought that confession back then was a fake..." He says, a dopey grin spreading across his face.

I stab the comment into his happy moment's neck. "It was a fake," I say, looking down at my lap for a second. When I look up Naruto is nonplussed, and I wonder how he hasn't seen it. I guess we both had the same problem. "What... what I mean to say is... she wants you, and she needs you, but there isn't any way that she's ever going to love you the way you want her to..."

Naruto looks away to the wall, expression sagging into melancholy. "Yeah... I've thought about that a few times... but people can learn to love each other, ya know?" My heart skips a beat, but I merely bow my head to Naruto's unbelievable determination.

There's silence for a few moments, and in my heart I shout to Naruto "But I will!" "Well, do you think I could borrow your sketch of the seal?"

"Yeah, sure." Naruto smiles and hands it to me, and I return his smile. With this done hopefully I'll be able to relax the rest of the day.