Men often complained or joked that the signals women gave were too subtle and that it was too difficult for the average man to pick up on any signal. Itachi had long considered himself strongly in the oblivious portion of the population.

Fortunately for him, Naruto's signals were blunt. They were impossible to misinterpret, as obvious as the sky was blue.

"Itachi!" Naruto burst through his door, she smiled when saw him in the kitchen. It was one of her favorite places to see him.

They were in what Shisui had described as 'That awkward phase where she basically lives with you, expects you to feed her, but like you can't even kiss her yet because more than friends, but not quite lovers, and you're basically married without any of the benefits.`

Evidently, Shisui had gone through a similar phase with Futaba that lasted a long while because they were both shy and awkward about it.

Naruto was awkward about it, but there was no shyness in her actions.

"Good morning Naruto, how are you?" Itachi couldn't help but smile when she was around, letting her take his spare key was a wise choice.

Naruto bit her lip and looked at Itachi up and down, her face was red but her eyes smiled at him. With no hesitation she socked him hard in the arm, a habit she had developed recently. Jiraiya must have taught her something about Tsunade's fighting style because Naruto's punches hurt more than they should.

"Ow,"Itachi whined in real mock pain, he rubbed his arm already feeling the bruise that was going to be there later. "When are you going to stop punching me?"

"When I get a proposal from you!" As subtle as a blizzard in the summer. Naruto pulled back and punched him in again. She glared at her fist and like it had betrayed her. "I think it's broken."

The bruise on his arm stopped hurting when Naruto's words slammed into him like Tsunade had just dropped kicked his mind. Sure they were close, closer than friends, but Itachi had planned on taking it slow, so as to avoid a public fiasco.

Apparently, Naruto wanted to kick things into overdrive.

"Why is it this bothering you?"

"Because!" Naruto pouted, crossing her arms with a huff. She looked adorable when she pouted.

Itachi rolled his eyes. "Because why?"

"You know!" She made a gesture with her hand. "All those boys out there. I don't even know any of them and they keep asking me out! It's creepy and annoying and most of them are losers!"

"Well, most of them probably didn't expect the mousy-faced loudmouth knucklehead to come back as the most beautiful woman in Konoha." He pushed his glasses up on his nose, a gesture Naruto thought was cool, though he only did it whenever he was trying not to stutter. "You're still a loudmouth though."

For all her bravado and bluntness Naruto was easily flustered when it came to well… when it came to him. He had seen others try to make advances on her, while she was never cold, she was either grossed out or simply didn't car. But when he made an advance on her, well all of her spunk turned to mush.

It was adorable.

Naruto took a step back, her hand darted to the collar of her shirt and her face was flushed, there was something enchanting about the way her ears seemed to grow brighter than the rest of her face. Her blue eyes darted about trying to focus on anything that wasn't him. "B-beautiful?"

Her stutter emboldened him. Itachi reached forward and drew her gaze towards him by leading her chin towards him, making it impossible for her to look at anything but him. This was what Naruto wanted. She had made it no secret that she wanted to be in a relationship with him.

"The most beautiful," Itachi said leaning in close to Naruto. Her eyes were wide and she looked like a deer caught by surprise. "Though I might be biased, you're my girlfriend after all."

"Si-since when?" Naruto squeaked out, her body seemed to hang on his finger like a cloth on a clothing line.

"Just now."

"Oh." Her voice faint; barely a whisper on the wind.

The timing felt right, Itachi leaned down and pressed their lips together. It would be a lie to say that he hadn't wanted to do that since she had returned, every moment in her presence he spent wondering when to kiss her.

Her rough slightly chapped lips had a softness hidden beneath them. When she started to kiss him back he pulled away.

Naruto pouted, he was just tall enough that he could easily move out of her range by standing straight. "So I'm your girlfriend now?"

"Yep," Itachi said like nothing had even happened between them. His own heart racing faster than he thought possible. It took all his will to keep his hands steady as he continued to clean the dishes.

"And you're my boyfriend?"

Itachi nodded, the smile had yet to leave his face since she had entered his home this morning. He had passed a point of no return with her and there would be no going back on either of their parts.

The Five years between them seemed so small now, indeed the age between his own parents was greater. And they married soon after. He imagined Naruto wouldn't want to wait much longer if only to stop her onslaught of suitors. Though perhaps he should take Sasuke up on the offer to intimidate them.

A poof, followed by rapid footsteps brought Itachi's full attention back to Naruto. A clone of her was running out the door a giant smile on her face.

It was like a switch had gone off in her head. Gone was her confusion, embarrassment, and shyness. Her bashfulness became brash as she jumped on him; her legs snaked around his waist and her arms around his neck.

She kissed him that time, It last longer than before, a series of smaller kisses that led from one to the next like a chain that bound them.

"I have to," Itachi said in between Naruto's kisses. "Go to the office, soon."

Naruto barely paused her assault. "Clone."

Ah.

XXXX

Naruto examined herself in the mirror, red was a good color on her. She had often imagined what she would look like with her mother's long near crimson locks. But Itachi liked her blond hair so she couldn't complain too much about getting her father's hair. At least it wasn't too spiky, especially when long.

She spun again enjoying the way the dress spun around her knees. The dress was a deep red that Futaba had picked out for her weeks ago, it was a bit tight around her chest. Naruto cupped her breasts and jostled them slightly in hopes that moving the flesh around would make it less tight. "Don't tell me they're getting bigger again."

"Only slightly," Itachi's voice came from behind her.

Naruto spun around to glare at him for entering the room without knocking - sure, it was technically his bedroom, but this is where she kept her clothes now. It was only a matter of time until Itachi broke down and asked her to move in. But her anger vanished when she saw him.

Her boyfriend was already a handsome hunk even when he was dressed casually. Seeing him dressed up, was another thing entirely. With a more modern dress shirt, vest, and tie - that thin red tie was absolutely doing it for her right now - Itachi was drop dead gorgeous like he had just walked off the cover of a fashion magazine.

If she had been born a gay male, perhaps even a straight male, she would have gotten an erection so fast people would be calling her the yellow flash.

Damn him for being such a respectable gentleman and not taking her here and now. And damn her for not being able to ignore his wishes to take things at least a little bit slow. He did have a point though, maybe getting married a week after they became a couple - she still swooned when she thought about it - was not the best-laid plan.

But how could she not want that she'd had a crush on him since… since… forever! Not to mention the fact that he was the sexiest man in Konoha. "It's not fair!"

"What's not fair?" Itachi asked, his hands rested lovingly on her shoulders, a gesture Naruto absolutely loved especially when he began to rub small circles on her back with his thumbs.

"That you're the smart one, the funny one, and the sexy one in our relationship." Naruto folded her arms and pouted.

Itachi gave a soft laugh and draped his arms around like a protective cloak that refused to let any harm come to her. "You think I'm the sexy one?"

"Well duh! Oh, and you're a stronger ninja!"

With his thumb on her chin led her gaze back to the mirror. "To me, you're the most beautiful woman in Konoha, as to me being the sexy one? I think you take that title, as well as the funny one."

"And the smart one?"

"I think I'll hold onto that one." He said holding her tighter. She'd let him have that one.

Naruto smiled as she looked into the mirror. As good as he looked on his own, together they looked much better. "Fine, you can have that one but I'm going to take the title of best ninja from you!"

"I look forward to that day." He leaned down close and trailed a few tender kisses on her neck up to her cheek, she turned to place their lips together. They had both gotten better at kissing it seemed. When she looked up at him everything seemed to make sense. "You know, I think we're just a sexy couple."

"I can agree to that."

XXXX

Naruto laughed as Itachi spun her around near the center of the dance floor. The infectious happiness that was a wedding had only made her mood all the brighter that day. It was a small affair, with herself being Futaba's maid of honor, Itachi Shisui's best man, Sakura had been a bridesmaid and Sasuke a groomsmen.

It was a small but lively affair that happened in one of the gardens near the Uchiha compound, nearly all of the people that attended it were Uchiha. Or soon to be Uchiha if the way Sasuke was holding Sakura said anything about their relationship.

"I think Futaba is getting ready to leave," Itachi whispered in her ear as he nodded towards the bride and groom.

Naruto couldn't help but smile as a red face Futaba stared at her feet while trying to dance with her now husband. She took the wrong step two seconds too late without fail. "She doesn't like to be the center of attention."

Itachi nodded and pulled her in close. "And what about you?"

Naruto only smiled up at him as she glided around his practiced dance steps like a chaotic fey. She might not know the dance, but she knew how to dance. He spun her around, when she landed back on her feet, the bridge and groom had vanished. "They're gone."

"Want to go home before we get roped into cleaning up?" Itachi whispered he pulled her close. A firm hand around her waist.

"Home? As in our home? Not your house?" Naruto hoped she heard him right. Screw it he said it was home so it was true she's moving in tonight no matter what he says.

Itachi nodded. "You've basically moved in already, I think it's time we make it official, Naruto will you move in."

She silenced him a kiss. "That includes sleeping in the same bed? And a lot of cuddling right? Oh and no shirts in bed, that's a good rule."

"I can agree to that." Itachi pushed up his glasses in a failed attempt to make his blush go away. His eyes carried in them a wonderful glint. "Now let's go before my mother directs her attention on us."

"She gave me a condom earlier." Itachi spun to look at her wide eyed. "She said to get lots of practice cause she wants to spoil some grandkids."

"You're sixteen!" Itachi shouted bringing all eyes in the room onto them. For a few awkward moments, not a person in the room stirred.

Then Itachi picked her up and vanished.

AN: Hey look fluff! Next chapter? More fluff! Now to go write the next chapter of Fox's Illusion and Head Space.

Also this fic is ending soonish.