She stared deeply into his eyes for a long time. He felt kind of nervous. He was fidgeting and twiddling his thumbs, whistling a tuneless song in his head. He was flushed and pale at regular intervals and a thin sheet of sweat had formed on his forehead and palms.

"So let me get this straight." she said abruptly. He gulped audibly.

"You want me, extraordinary, beautiful, amazing, unpredictable kunoichi-who-could-probably-wipe-the-floor-with-your-ass me. To marry you."

He started twitching slightly. If she wasn't so bemused, she would have thought he was having a seizure.

"Y-Yes, that about sums it up." He tried to grin, a brave feat indeed, and he thought he pulled it off quite well.

She narrowed her eyes dangerously.

"You're not making fun of me are you?" she asked menacingly. Now it was his turn to be bemused.

"NO! I mean, no. Why would I do something like that?"

She looked at him incredulously. Everyone wanted to make fun of her. It had always been that way. Had he been living under a rock?

"You're being serious." She said flatly. He nodded hastily.

She gave him a long hard look. Then she sighed in exasperation.

"Was this a bet you made or-or some sort of…I dunno, dare?" she asked speculatively. He had a hurt look in his eyes.

"Why can't you believe that I want to spend the rest of my life with you?"

"Because it's impossible dattebane!"she snapped. "I'm the 24-hour-PMS-ing-psycho-red-head-who-would have-been-better-off-dead KUSHINA! I am not someone who is considered 'appropriate for marital purposes' dattebane!"

He smiled softly. His eyes got that loving, misty look in them, the one that she just could not seem to fathom.

"Call me unconventional then."

He suddenly got the courage to kiss her on the cheek softly.

She blinked, stunned.

For a couple of minutes, it was deadly silent. Minato wouldn't be half-surprised if zombies erupted from the ground right then. He wasn't sure whether he thought that was a bad thing either.

Minato was once again nervous. And twitchy.

Kushina was thinking hard. Her face was purple and her eyebrows were scrunched up in concentration. You could practically see the gears turning in her head.

"Okay."

Minato blinked for a while rapidly.

"Huh?"

"I said, okay. I'll marry you." she said simply.

The beginnings of a smile were evident on Minato's face.

"But." she snapped, all serious and business-like.

"But?" he echoed nervously.

"I am not wearing the stupid poofy-white-miserable-excuse-of-a-dress! I am wearing orange dattebane!"

Minato was kind of expecting this. He propped his chin on his hand and smiled lovingly at Kushina, who was now listing all the things she didn't want in the wedding because "they are the dumbest things on the planet and why the heck would anyone want such a gigantic wedding cake dattebane!?"

Call him unconventional, but Minato was in love. And, judging from the blush on her face as she ranted and yelled, Kushina was in love too.