I'd meant to ask him about it before I left on my last mission, so that's where I'm headed off to right now. The time I gave in to the watched feeling when I visited him still embarasses me, and I get nervous when I see his apartment up ahead. The feeling stays even though there's nothing to be nervous about.

Going up the steps, I think of how this would be a good time for the trip to happen. I'll be far away from the village, and with a reason besides being gone when the storm breaks over the ninja world. I knock, and it's just a moment before the door opens. "Oh, hey Hinata! You're back!"

"Yes…" I smile at Naruto, and he gives me a pat on the shoulder as he lets me by into his apartment.

"So… how'd it go?"

"It went about as well as it could have. There were some parts of it that I really enjoyed…"

"Yeah? Shizune said you were undercover as someone. Who were you?"

"I- I was a tutor to the daimyo's daughter. The tutoring sessions were exhausting; it was so difficult to stay on topic I just gave up trying to keep her on the lessons."

"She got so bad you left?"

"No… I would have liked to stay, but the contractor wanted to get me out before the situation got too dangerous. He said there were things going on with a drug dealer that had connections to one of the daimyo's sons, and that I could be a target in a revenge plot."

"Huh… last I heard, the daimyo's sons were supposed to be nice guys."

On the surface, yes; even Taizo wasn't that bad if you didn't know about his involvement with the Akiyama Group and the Black Dragons. I don't say this to Naruto, though, and the silence stretches out and becomes awkward. "Um…"

"Yeah?"

"Naruto, I was wondering… do you think you could take me to Mount Myoboku, and train me?"

"Train you? Like, to become a sage and stuff?" Naruto appears interested, and I feel myself begin to blush. I nod, and Naruto grins. "Sounds like a good idea. But, it can take a long time to get to Mount Myoboku, though."

"How long?"

"Ah, it took about a month for my first trip there. Every other time I've gone I've been summoned."

"Is there any way I could be summoned?"

"Oh, duh! Yeah, you could like, sign a summoning contract with one of the toads, and then once they get back to Mount Myoboku they could reverse summon you there."

"Um, do you think then that perhaps you could introduce me to the toads today, Naruto?"

"Yeah, sure. I just gotta get a snack, and then we can go." We head back into Naruto's kitchen and he grabs a few instant ramen cups from his cupboard and prepares them in the microwave, pouring in a bit of water from the sink first. "So what made you want to start training to become a sage all of a sudden?"

"I- it's something I've wanted to do for a while. I'm trying to become as good a sensor shinobi as I can, and I heard that things are opened up to someone who's a sage that most people can't sense."

"I guess that is true..."

"What's being a sage like for you?"

"It seems like I'm always in sage mode during battles, so I don't notice that much. But I guess, back when I was training, I kinda felt peaceful and connected, ya know?" Naruto grins an easy grin, and I the watched feeling presses in the back of my neck, pressing me towards Naruto. I open my mouth to speak, but at that moment the microwave dings, the ramen already done. He hands me one and takes the other two, and we sit down at the table. "Itadakimatsu!" As I eat my cup of instant ramen my question fades, and I just enjoy the moment with Naruto. Unsurprisingly, it's only a couple minutes later before we're headed to the training grounds. Naruto assures me it'll be easy, but I'm not quite so sure, as summoning jutsu are so different from everything else. "Ready?"

"Yes," I say with a nod. Naruto flashes a quick smile, then forms a string of hand seals and bites his thumb to draw blood. He throws his palm to the ground, and in a puff of smoke a large blue toad appears, who is wearing a black vest and a pink scarf.

"Uh, hi-"

"Hi hey hello, how are ya?" The toad interrupts. "Ah nice forest you've got here reminds me a little bit of the stream where I grew up when I was just a little tadpole."

"Uh, okay. Well, I just wanted to-"

"Ah wearing orange huh you must be that Naruto guy and hey, good day to you too miss very nice to meet you both. So what's the job, what ya need whaddya want just ask and I can get it to you top speed no problems no fuss come on let's get going!"

"Could you slow down, please..."

"Ah, ya just had to ask, miss. What can I help you two with?"

"Well, I was just trying to introduce you to Hinata here-"

"Oh, Hinata huh very nice lovely blue hair I can tell you're the toad type of ninja, definitely. I'm Gamaspeed, nice to meet you thankyouverymuch."

"Uh, n- nice to meet you too, Gama-"

"Ah the pleasure is all mine thank you thank you."

"Also, besides introducing you two, I was kinda wanting to talk about summoning contracts…"

"Ah, contracts my daddy said 'Gamaspeed son don't you let no scrub ninja trick you into signin' no fool contract and then go a chargin' off into a battle ya heyah' or somethin like that, actually I never knew my daddy but ya gotta be careful it's a rough world out there or so I hear."

"It's not so rough as it used to be," I say. "I'm not going to go charge into a battle either, I just-"

"But come on come on, ya gotta have some reason for wanting a contract right? My momma said 'Gamaspeed son there'll be a time when a girl'll be wanting you to partner up with them but you gots ta learn how to separate them ones just looking to catch flies from the good ones that'll settle down with ya and raise your tadpoles, ya heyah? And don't let no scrub ninja fool you into signing a fool summoning contract and then just let them be that weird kind that only wants you to lick them, got that?' Or maybe it was a little different actually I never knew my momma either I just descended from the clouds in a nimbus of light to be the greatest gift to the lady toads that this good green earth ever did see-"

"Hinata's a great ninja, if that's what you're worrying about. And, uh, she's not the weird kind that only wants you to lick her, either." I begin to blush, and as I don't trust myself to speak just this moment I simply nod in agreement.

"Ah, cool cool cool very nice recommendation ya got there so what ya got the contract on hand or something, so what's the deal whaddya want what can I do for ya?"

I consider asking Naruto if he can summon another frog, but from what I've heard of the summoning jutsu the particular member of a species you sign with isn't the most important thing. "I- I guess, I would like you to sign a summoning contract, if you wouldn't mind…"

"Ah, sure. You just had to say so miss but lemme think about it for a second." Naruto clears his throat and hands me a scroll, and a look reveals it's a blank summoning contract. Amazingly, Gamaspeed is actually taking a good while to make his decision. It's a relief to have a break from his constant, non-stop chatter.

"...Alright deal, ya got a deal so you got the scroll there are ya ready let's go come on come on." I take a deep breath and unroll the contract scroll, and bite my thumb to draw blood as I saw Naruto do a moment ago. I make a thumbprint on the line, and move aside so Gamaspeed can sign. He's a good two feet taller than I am, and I'm in his shadow as he makes his mark on the scroll. "Alright there ya go miss but if ya don't mind I have some business I need to finish I was summoned in the middle of it ya see, I gots some business I gotta take care of it ain't easy being blue, ya see." And with that, Gamaspeed nods and disappears in a puff of smoke.

Naruto looks over at me and grins. "He seems pretty cool. And as Jiraiya used to say, 'Naruto son, whenever you got a great ninja signing a great summoning contract ya gots ta take them out to Ichiraku Ramen to get them a bowl of some great ramen, ya hear?'"

"...I don't think Jiraiya actually said that."

"Well, I'm still kinda hungry. You wanna go get something to eat real quick?"

"That would be nice…" Naruto chuckles, and we head off to Ichiraku Ramen...