His cheeks began to flush, quite without his permission, and he quickly averted his gaze for a moment.

"I-- hope that's a good thing."

Man, why was talking to girls so much harder than talking to anyone else? How had he managed to get through having her as a leader without stammering his way through every mission? It was probably easier, he reasoned, if he'd been introduced to her the same way he had been introduced to Minato, but here... that wasn't the case.