"Naruto?" Itachi asked as the blond girl pulled on his arm with a surprising amount of force that matched her eagerness. She had ambushed him just as he had finished the day's paperwork after verifying with his secretary that rest of his day was unbooked. "Where are you taking me?"

Naruto gave him a toothy grin and continued forward without looking back, she didn't even slow as they rounded a corner towards a busy Konoha street. "I just got my first paycheck from a real mission! So, as a thank you for being an awesome hokage, I wanted to buy you lunch! And I won't be taking no for an answer!"

"Shouldn't I be the one treating you to lunch? For your first, successful C-rank mission?" The words fell out of his mouth without a thought.

His questioning was rewarded as Naruto stopped dead in her tracks. For a moment she did nothing, then quickly turned around and began dragging him in a different direction. "I like that idea more, let's do that one!"

Any protest Itachi had died in his smile, though once again he found himself surprised at Naruto's strength. She probably had a mean left hook. However, something seemed off. Then it hit him. They weren't going toward Ichiraku's! "What, no ramen tonight, Naruto?"

"Oh, well I know you want sweets and Sakura showed me this one place, and then Mikoto said you would like another place, and since you're paying I kind of thought," Her ears tinged pink, as she mumbled incoherently. She shook her head violently and began to stomp towards their destination. "Look, I just don't want ramen right now!"

"But, what if I was in the mood for ramen?" Itachi couldn't help but smile, teasing Naruto was just as enjoyable as it was easy. Probably because of how exaggerated her reactions were.

Naruto let go of his hand and spun on her heels to face Itachi. With her hands on her hips she glared up at him in a way that only made Itachi want to tease her more. "Then stay in that mood until dinner and we can have ramen later!"

"Yes ma'am." Itachi's amusement doubled as Naruto broke out into another grin. She quickly grabbed his hand once more and continued on her quest.

Their destination was a small bakery cafe that Itachi had been eying for awhile. They had opened recently and he just hadn't gotten around to visiting, namely because Shisui had stopped dragging him to places; now that he had Futaba.

If it wasn't for Naruto bringing him here, he would not have stepped inside. It smelled of fresh bread, tea, and soup.

They were seated quickly and given a table next to the window. Naruto simply sat there blushing as they waited for their drinks to arrive, contently quiet. Itachi's sweet tooth was throbbing at the idea of eating everything.

"So, how did your mission go?" Itachi inquired for no other reason than to fill the silence. He already knew the details from Shisui's report, but he was keen on getting Naruto's side of the story.

She looked up from her tea and blinked twice before looking back down at her drink. "Oh, well, Shisui-sensei taught us some stuff while we were there, and me and Sasuke fought against a really tough opponent, we almost didn't make it."

Shisui had failed to mention that.

"But I don't think that Haku would have actually killed us, at least I don't think that he really wanted to kill us," Naruto said quickly, taking her cup in both hands and swirling its contents about. "Haku was too nice for something like that."

"Did you speak to Haku much?" Itachi asked with a raised eyebrow.

Naruto nodded. "Yea, I met him in the woods. I thought he was a girl at first, but it turns out he's just a really pretty boy like you!"

Itachi placed his cup down, unsure of how to respond to that. Nobody had ever called him a pretty boy. He was used to people being afraid of him; with his harsh looking eyes and deep lines marring his face. "I'm a pretty boy?"

Naruto bristled. Her hands fell below the table and she fidgeted slightly, cheeks flaring pink. "I, well, yea. You have long hair and… look, you're just a pretty boy, okay?"

"Okay, okay, I'm pretty." A few of the other customers that had realized the Hokage was in the shop snickered at that. Itachi found it easy to ignore them and focus on Naruto. However, his companion was all too aware of the looks and glares the others gave them; she was fidgeting more than before, far too nervous.

"Anyways, what happened to this Haku?" He asked to distract her.

"Oh!" Naruto nearly jumped out of her seat. Though, because of their food suddenly appearing or due to Itachi's question, was unknown. She took a giant bite of a meat bun and, with her mouth full, began to talk. "Yea, Haku wanted to wander around a bit. He said he wanted to see the world before he came to stand by my side when I become Hokage, or something like that."

"Oh, is that so?" Itachi was very aware of the pang of jealousy that sparked through him, followed closely by acceptance that he wouldn't be able to stand by Naruto once she became hokage.

Naruto nodded and took another bite of her food, successfully devouring it in two more bites. "Yea-huh, I said he could come to Konoha because I have an in with the Hokage but, he said some other time. I think he'd like to join us once he's ready!"

Itachi sat back in his chair and pressed his palms against the table. He would very much like to meet this Haku and… assess his motives. "Well then, I'll have our patrols look out for him but, is he a ninja from another village?"

"No." Naruto shook her head. "Zabuza was, but Haku was never part of a village. Besides that, he's really smart and nice he'd be great for the village! He even taught me an important lesson!"

Itachi smiled and rested his cheek in his hand. He casually grabbed a bite of his anmitsu. "And what lesson would that be?"

"Oh!" Naruto's face went red and Itachi felt his blood freeze. If Haku did anything intimate with Naruto on Shisui's watch, there would be hell to pay. He'd let Mikoto know about it first, let Shisui deal with that for a few days before he went in for the kill. Assuming Mikoto hadn't already killed Shisui by then. "That I fight for my precious people!"

There was a wisdom in those words that resonated within Itachi. He understood full well the lengths one would go to for those precious to them. There wasn't anything he wouldn't do for Sasuke, and now Naruto as well. "That's wonderful, Naruto."

"You're one of my precious people!" Naruto blurted out loudly. Her entire body seemed to blush and she quickly clapped her hands over her mouth. Her blue were wide and, while they stared at him, she seemed to be looking into the past to take back her words.

Itachi leaned across the table and touched Naruto's shoulder. "You're one of my precious people too, Naruto."

Though the blush remained, Naruto's face lit up with her giant, toothy smile.

XXXX

In no time at all, the Chunin Exams were upon them. Normally such an event would be a minor thing, primarily with only ninja from the affiliated villages bordering Konoha. However, this time, Suna would be sending a few squads to compete. Furthermore, this would also mark the Sound Village's first foray into the exams, which meant two things for Itachi. One, more paperwork. Two, he would need to tread very carefully. It was imperative that he be a welcoming host to the allies of the Leaf Village while maintaining vigilance with the foreigners.

With such a large group, it would be difficult.

Itachi clicked his pen for the twenty-third time in a row before he placed it down and took long sip of Futaba's coffee. The beverage was exactly what he needed right now. There was so much he had to make happen in such a short amount of time.

Shorter still when his illness was taken into consideration.

"How you feeling?" Shisui emerged from a window despite the fact that his office door was open.

"I'm not some sick puppy, Shisui. I'll be fine for a while now." Itachi waved off Shisui's concern like it was nothing. "I already have the medical director working on finding a cure, though I'm honestly more concerned about the upcoming Chunin Exams. Are you certain your team is ready for this?"

Shisui snorted in a way that seemed to say that Itachi was an idiot. "Of course I'm certain, my kids are little monsters! Sasuke, like you, is silent, contemplative, and being a badass comes naturally. Sakura's smart and keeps her head in the game and eyes on the prize."

"And Naruto?"

A wide smile came across Shisui's face and he gave a hapless shrug. "She's stupid, headstrong, argues with Sasuke all the time, and tends to be hit or miss. But, she's learning and hates to lose."

Itachi nodded. Those were all things he already knew about Shisui's team, hearing it again only reassured him slightly. He was far to emotionally invested in Team Seven. Perhaps he should have taken that into consideration when formulating the team instead of letting Shisui have his way.

At least on paper they were a solid team.

Itachi let out a sigh. It was in the past now, there was nothing he could do except wish them luck. "Anyways, did you come here for a reason, or just to make my office a mess again?"

As if the words reminded Shisui that he was indeed in Itachi's office, he went to work by resting a few of the chairs on their back. "Oh, that's really the only reason I need but, really I'm here to tell you that Jiraiya finally got back to us. He'll be here within the week."

"And you're certain you're okay with him taking over Naruto's training?" Itachi folded his arms in front of him, leaning back in his chair. He bounced his right foot for no real reason.

"Are you certain you're okay with the biggest pervert ever teaching your adorable future wife all manner of things?" Shisui countered and began the process of transplanting one potted plant into another.

There was no part of Itachi that was fond of the idea; he wanted to be the one to train Naruto. It was his duty as the Hokage that would make that difficult, especially with the favoritism he'd already shown Naruto. Jiraiya was simply the logical choice to train her, the man was a previous hokage's sensei and perhaps knew more about sealing than anybody in the village. "Jiraiya would be the best fit for Naruto," he concluded.

He so wished that he didn't believe those words.

"Whatever you say, Itachi. But hey, take it easy! Remember all of Konoha is here to support you if you'd only ask. Oh, and take Naruto out on more dates, you both seemed happier afterwards." With the light bulb taken out of Itachi's lamp, Shisui left through a different window.

"It wasn't a date!" Itachi slammed against the windowsill, ready to throttle Shisui. He glared at the retreating form of his friend; he could practically hear Shisui's giggling. He and Naruto had simply gone out for lunch, as friends, and no matter how right Shisui was about his mood afterwards, it didn't make the event a date!

Once his flash of anger vanished, Itachi sighed and walked to the roof. The view from the top of the Hokage Tower was one of the many perks of the job. Before him stretched Konoha in all its glory, a village truly hidden in the leaves.

"You're a great hokage."

Naruto's words rang through his mind as clearly as a shrine bell. He still didn't see it himself, all he had done was try to fix things. He had yet to create his legacy, something that would make his short term memorable.

Brushing a hand through his long hair, Itachi pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind. The Chunin Exam was upon him and, for whatever reason, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen.

AN: Beta'd by Maethoriel

Hey look fluff! Now go read my fic A Thousand and One Dreams and make my soul needs it!