Chapter 2 is finally out! w00t! Sorry if it took awhile. been a bit busy for work. I'm gonna try to update one more time before next week because I'm going to Germany for awhile on business, and probably won't have access to internet very much.

I hope you liked chapter 2. I'm just trying to kick things off right now. Rest assured it's about to get very interesting!

For her entire life, Kushina could not think of a time she hadn't hungered for...something more. She wanted more than to be a normal shinobi, she wanted to be above the rank and file. She wasn't a prodigy by any means, definitely not a genius, and she didn't pick up techniques faster than any of her peers. There was one thing that separated Kushina from almost every shinobi in the village. Heart. Her father had once told her that she had the heart of a lion.

Looking back on that, she had to agree with him. She had lost count of how many times she had pushed her body to the limit in training, how many times she had pushed her opponents past their breaking point. She simply refused to give in, refused to lose in any situation that was put before her. And she hated when people tried to help her, like she was some sort of invalid. The surest way to get on Kushina Uzumaki's bad side was to treat her like a child.

But however much heart and drive to succeed she had inside of her, Minato was still her superior, and she had no idea why. There was something extra there...something she couldn't put her finger on, couldn't pinpoint. He had something that she didn't have...and she was dying to know what it was. What am I thinking? In a few years I'll surpass him and I won't have to worry about it anymore. At least she told herself that, and wanted so badly to believe it. But what was with him anyway? She never saw him training. For all she knew, he just stood around looking cool all day.

So when Minato left last night, she had thought about the mission for hours. She had come to the conclusion that it was a great opportunity to finally show him up at something. If she managed to be the hero in this mission, she'll have showed him that she is a force to be reckoned with, that Kushina Uzumaki is no laughing matter, and be one step closer to finally being his equal, as well as the best Jonin in the village.

She had been sitting against the wall on the side of Konoha's north gate, her brain full of such thoughts, for nearly half an hour before Minato finally showed up, carrying a backpack with a sleeping bag and ground pad secured to the top of it.

"I'm not here because you told me I had to go. I'm coming because I want to for my own reasons." Kushina said, standing up, crossing her arms, and fixing him with a glare.

"Fair enough. Either way, the mission has to get done." Minato said, ignoring her glare and setting his backpack on the ground, He unzipped it and began looking through its contents.

"What exactly are we doing, anyway?" Kushina asked, curious when Minato pulled out a map and laid it on the ground.

Minato proceeded to lay out the entire mission to her. It wasn't all that complicated, but it was definitely dangerous. She knew now why the Third had picked her for this mission. They would probably see some combat, and Kushina had always done well in combat. Apparently, some Leaf and Grass shinobi had been sent to reinforce a small village on the border between Kusagakure's lands and Iwagakure's lands, and large numbers of Rock shinobi had surrounded the entire village and have everyone trapped. They wouldn't be able to hold out much longer. She and Minato were tasked with reaching the village and helping the allied forces there defeat the enemy, as well as make sure the village is safe and undamaged.

The mission outline gave the number of enemy shinobi, the number of allied shinobi, the number of civilians in the village, and projected enemy troop positions.

"Any questions?" Minato asked, looking from the map to her.

"Yeah, one question. How the hell do they expect us to beat all these guys? There's like...what? A hundred of them?" Kushina asked, thoroughly convinced that someone had fucked up something in this whole business.

"We'll figure that out when we get there." Minato said calmly, starting to walk towards the gate.

"...are you kidding me? I don't care if you are the Yellow Flash...this mission sounds fucking crazy! Is the Hokage trying to get us killed?" She exclaimed as Minato walked away.

"Listen Kushina..." Minato said, turning around and looking at her calmly. "The Third isn't stupid. He assigned this mission to us because he knows we are capable of doing it. I'm not leading you to your death. We'll have allied shinobi fighting beside us. They just need two seasoned fighters like us to...bring the whole thing together. Just relax and follow my lead and you'll be just fine."

Kushina's brain was trying to comprehend exactly what was going on right now. She was leaving on what seemed like a suicide mission with Minato, whom she couldn't stand to be around, and he was telling her everything would be fine. But...he seemed so confident, so sure of himself. He hadn't even hesitated when he said not to worry.

"I don't know what you're planning Namikaze...but if it gets me killed, I'm coming back to haunt your ass for the rest of your life."

"No one is going to get killed. We're both coming home from this. If everything goes according to plan, we should be back in the village within a few days, if not earlier."

Kushina was in the process of formulating a reply when all of a sudden something or someone sped past her, nearly knocked her over, and headed straight for Minato. She was still trying to get a good look at whoever it was that nearly bowled her over when Minato just...disappeared. There was no other way to explain it. He was there one second, and the next he was gone. Was that his Shunshin? I must have missed it...

"Minato-kun, where are you? Where have you gone?"

Kushina looked at the source of the voice and realized that this person was the one who had bumped into her. The girl couldn't have been any older than eighteen, maybe even younger. She looked as though she was trying to look in every direction at once, searching for something. Finally, her eyes rested on Kushina, lighting up with hope, and she practically stumbled over to her. Kushina drew one conclusion from the look on the girl's face; she was batshit crazy.

"Hey, you there! You were just talking to Minato-kun a second ago. Did you see where he went? Please! I have to find him!"

Kushina gave her a look similiar to what she would give a bug when getting ready to squash it. "No. Now get the hell outta my face before I break your nose." The girl backed up slowly, looking terrified.

"I need to find Minato. Minato...please! I need you! My heart aches for you! Without your sweet love, I will die and wither away like a plant without water! You are the sun in my sky, you are EVERYTHING! MINATOOOOOOOOOO!"

"...what the hell?"

Kushina turned slowly to look upon a large group of what seemed to be all women coming towards her. Oh shit...this lunatic brought friends.

"Minato! Come out and play with us!

"Come on sexy man! You can't keep us waiting all day!"

The large group of women passed right by Kushina and the young girl and back into the village, running and leaping over everything in their path and causing innocent bystanders to jump out of the way to avoid being crushed. She looked after them in awe...and her mind finally processed what was going on. Those are...Minato's fangirls?...what? The girl standing in front of her sped off after them, the crazed look still in her eye.

"You ready to go Kushina?"

Kushina spun around to see Minato standing there. He took a quick glance at the stampede that was running down the main street of Konoha in the opposite direction, and looked back to her, waiting for her response. For a minute she just looked at him in disbelief.

"...What the hell just happened?"

"I have a hard time putting that together myself. Let's get out of here before they come back." Minato said, setting off once again towards the front gate. Kushina, on the other hand, was not ready to leave. She was chock full of questions for blondie here.

"Were those your fangirls? Do they always follow you around? Where the hell did you go just now?"

"OK, first of all, one question at a time. Secondly...yes...they were fangirls. I've been avoiding them for months. We should get going before they decide to come back." Minato said, looking around warily.

Kushina continued to stare at Minato in disbelief. "You're telling me...that you have a mob of girls that constantly follow you around trying to capture you and do god knows what?"

"...yeah. I mean...yeah, that's about right. I mean, I don't know exactly what they'd do if they caught me, but I don't imagine it being very enjoyable for me...what's that look for?"

"I just think it's completely ridiculous that all those girls would have a thing for a girly man like you." Kushina said.

"A girly man? What are you talking about?" Minato asked, confused.

"Never mind, geez. Let's get out of here and get this done. I don't have all the time in the world to be wasting on this mission."

She felt Minato's eyes on her for awhile longer as she began to walk towards the front gate, and seconds later he fell in beside her. They walked silently for awhile. The front gates closed as they left, and Minato waved a goodbye to the gate guards. They climbed their way up a huge hill and once they started going down the other side, Konoha disappeared from view. Kushina wondered for a moment whether that was the last time she'd ever see it. She often wondered that before she went on a mission these days. Nearly all of the lands outside of Konoha's territory were dangerous.

As much as she tried not to, she couldn't help but think about that mob of girls that had been frantically searching for Minato. There were so many of them...and the one she had run into...had been so desperate to find him. Did he know any of those girls? How many of them had he slept with? Why were they so obsessed with him? She stole a glance at him out of the corner of her eye. He's not THAT attractive...

All these questions flooded around in her head, but one floated above all the rest. Why didn't guys go after her like that? Sure, she usually got asked out a few times a month by various males around the village, but she sure as hell never had a mob running around trying to win her love. Was this just another demonstration of Minato's dominance over her in every aspect of life? ...what the hell? What am I thinking? His dominance? Stupid, stupid, stupid!

"What was that? Did you say something?" Minato asked, looking at her.

Oh my god in heaven, I was talking out loud...

"Stupid...er, I mean...NO! You must be hearing things." Kushina stammered, her face going red as a tomato.

"But...I could have sworn you were just talking to yourself."

"I wasn't."

Minato looked at her for a minute. She just kept looking ahead as she walked, totally ignoring his stare. The color started to drain from her face, but she still felt humiliated on the inside. Shit...shit! He probably thinks i'm batshit crazy now.

"Let's stop for some lunch."