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Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, Konan would have a little albino chinchilla named Robert that knew how to play the harmonica. But she doesn't. If I owned Naruto, Sasori and Deidara would still be alive….and married. 3 Oh, and Zetsu would be a vegetarian, and Sasuke would be dead, and Kakashi would have orange hair, and Kankuro would have a candy-corn for a puppet, and….and….

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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The arrangements for lunch with Meri were made the very next morning. It was planned that she was to come to Itachi's at one-thirty that afternoon for lunch with him, his brother, and his mother. With Fugaku conveniently out of town, Itachi didn't have to worry about constant yelling and scolding about things that Itachi would rather not talk about in the company of other beings. But no, Fugaku was in Iwagakure, away for three weeks. Neither Itachi nor Meri had anything to worry about.

Oh, how very, very wrong they were.

The moment Itachi entered the door, his body stiffened. His dark black eyes found the one person he couldn't have wanted to see less. His father stared questioningly back at him, wondering why on earth his son looked so frightened.

"You okay, Itachi?" Fugaku asked. Itachi nodded slowly.

"I thought you left for Iwagakure yesterday." he managed to say, running his tongue along the inside of his cheeks and lips in a sad attempt to wet his now completely dry mouth.

"No, that's next Friday." Fugaku said, an eyebrow arching upward. "Is there something going on that I should know about?"

"Meri is coming over for lunch." Itachi said quickly and breathlessly. Oh, how he wanted to get this over with.

There was a long, long silence, and Itachi was almost positive that Fugaku could hear his heart thumping loudly as he awaited his father's reply.

"Sasuke already told me."

Fugaku's cool words sliced through the thick atmosphere in the room, cutting through the air like butter. Moments before Itachi could respond, Fugaku turned and left.

---

Three sharp raps of knuckles on wood made Itachi jump about a mile from the couch on which he was so comfortably sitting on moments ago. He leaped up immediately and ran for the front door, wrenching it open…yet attempting to appear casual at the same time. How pathetic he was.

Meri stood there, dressed in casual Saturday clothes. She wore a slightly faded pair of denim jeans that was torn at the knee. A pink t-shirt covered her torso except for part of her chest where a small silver chain with a tiny charm hung. Itachi stared at her, wondering how on earth clothes so casual could make an average looking woman appear so…so…sexy.

"C-come in." he finally stuttered, opening the door more and stepping to the side. Meri smiled and walked inside.

"Hi, Itachi!" said the brunette cheerfully as Itachi closed the door behind her.

"Hello, Meri."

The two stood silently in what would amount to become the most awkward silence any of them had ever endured. They each stared pointlessly into the other's eyes, breathing quickly. Both of their minds buzzed with memories from the previous day where they had nearly kissed, and where Itachi had for the first time lost his temper. The air in the room seemed to thicken, and neither spoke as the silence grew louder, pounding in their ears and ringing in their brain. Itachi would give his life (well, not his life…maybe Sasuke's) to break the silence by grasping Meri's arm and pulling her into a close embrace, trying to put as much emotion and regret for his actions into that hug as was possible…but he knew that it would be extremely awkward, considering that his little brother and both his parents were under the same roof.

"Are you Meri?"

Sasuke's voice made both of them jump, in their silence, neither had noticed him walk casually into the room and stand beneath them. Meri coughed and tore her gaze away from Itachi and stared down at Sasuke.

"Why, yes I am." she replied kindly. "And would you be Sasuke, Itachi's charming younger brother that he has told me so much about?"

"Mhmm." he said, staring up at Meri with wide eyes, before opening his mouth and asking the question that he had clearly been sitting on for a long time. "Do you really not have any cooties? Because I think you're pretty enough to have a lot of them."

Itachi could've picked Sasuke up, broken his neck, and thrown his body out the window. But surprisingly, Meri smiled and giggled, bending down and kissing Sasuke on the cheek.

"Thank you." she said kindly as she stood up straight. Sasuke reached up and numbly felt his cheek with his fingertips. Soon, the shock wore off and he glared up at Meri.

"I'm almost a ninja now, okay? Don't treat me like a baby!" he shot, wiping the kiss off of his cheek with the back of his hand.

"Oh. I see." said Meri gravely, nodding as her brow furrowed. "And I suppose fully grown non-baby ninja don't like lollipops anymore?"

She held up her hand, now holding a fairly large pink lollipop with crimson red swirls that she had produced from absolutely nowhere.

"Um…I still…like…lollipops." Sasuke admitted, his face turning just as crimson as the cherry-flavored swirls. Meri beamed.

"I thought so."

She bent down and handed Sasuke the candy, which he snatched greedily from her hand and stuffed into his mouth. He sucked on the sugar hungrily for a moment before his eyes widened, and he pulled the food out of his mouth stared at it, horrified.

"I bet you put your cooties into that lollipop!" he exclaimed. "YOU MEANIE! NOW I HAVE GIRL COOTIES!"

Sasuke threw down what was left of the lollipop and stomped on it, before sprinting into the other room. Meri was obviously shocked by his reaction, but she shrugged it off and turned back to Itachi.

"Such a nice little boy, isn't he?"

But Itachi's mind was too busy to answer. Yes, he was in full on think-like-a-girl-would mode yet again. Meri had bent down casually and kissed Sasuke on the cheek, just as she had done to him yesterday. Was she simply trying to be polite, or did she go around kissing everybody on the cheek? Did this…did this mean that her kiss yesterday had meant nothing at all?

He looked down and noticed Meri staring up at him. He shrugged in response to the question he did not hear, hoping it was the most appropriate answer without making him look rude or appear stupid. Meri gave a small giggle.

"So…um…let's go." Itachi said slowly, unsure of himself. he led Meri into the kitchen, where Fugaku and Mikoto already sat, waiting for the others to arrive.

---

Lunch was the most awkward situation Itachi had ever been in. Not only did Fugaku act coldly towards Meri and Itachi during the whole meal, Meri kept getting horrible threatening glares from Sasuke, who reeked of shampoo, soap, and toothpaste. The nauseating smell wafted around the room and was inhaled by all of them, creating numerous small headaches. Mikoto had attempted numerous times to start a conversation, failing miserably at each attempt. So, the small group of five settled on eating together silently.

"So…" Mikoto began yet again. Itachi resisted the urge to groan.

"Have you two been getting along?" she asked. Meri answered this time.

"We fought yesterday." she said. Fugaku looked up, and Meri noticed. She seized the opportunity as quickly as possible.

"It was pretty bad, actually…" she said, trying to sound as regretful and awkward as she could, though on the inside, she was dancing with happiness at how clever she was. "I mean…there was a lot of yelling…I think we got over it, but we're still pretty uncomfortable."

Itachi could have kissed her. He pictured every tense muscle in Fugaku's body relaxing – and indeed, he did slump backwards a little, now appearing more comfortable than he was before. Mikoto looked a bit upset, but at least Fugaku wasn't acting as cold anymore.

"Sasuke, go roll in some mud or something, you smell hideously clean." Fugaku said, a clear sign that he was comfortable now.

The rest of the lunch went smoothly, just as Itachi had planned.

---

An hour or so later, Sasuke was off in his room and Fugaku and Mikoto were in the kitchen cleaning up from the meal. Itachi and Meri stood at the doorway, saying their goodbyes.

"I'll see you Itachi." Meri said, smiling at him. "Tomorrow, at the training grounds."

Once more, she reached up and grabbed his left shoulder, and he instantly knew what she was going to do. As expected, she began to stand up on her tip toes, but instead, aimed for Itachi's lips instead of his cheek. He was shocked…but not too shocked not to move. He pulled backwards from a would-be first kiss yet again and brushed her hand from his shoulder.

"No, Meri." he said softly. She stared at him, clearly hurt. But Itachi continued.

"There is no way I'll ever let a girl make the first move."

Before Meri could register what he said, Itachi bent his head down. His lips found hers, and they brushed softly together at first, then harder. Meri kissed him back, subconsciously bringing her hand back to his shoulder. They stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity, Itachi trying to put as much emotion into that kiss as was possible. He brought a hand up to her cheek, eyes closed. They only broke apart when a loud gasp emitted from the other end of the room.

Sasuke gaped at them, before smiling widely and singing at the top of his lungs,

"ITACHI AND MERI SITTIN' IN A TREE! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

He turned and pranced into the kitchen, screeching his song at the top of his lungs. Meri ripped her hand from Itachi's shoulder and ran out of the door, sprinting away from Itachi's house as quickly as she could. Sasuke's voice traveled down the hallway and into the kitchen—

Father! Thought Itachi, as he heard a plate shatter into pieces as it connected with the wooden floor, followed by Fugaku's loud and angry voice:

"HE DID WHAT?!"