So I was in the mood for some more Naruto/Sakura fluff, hence the reason I decided to write this little story...I hope you all enjoy!

Masking Tape and Paintbrushes

Naruto sat in the study of his large abode, attempting to concentrate on a report about the annual crop yield of Konoha so that he could make a decision on whether or not a new irrigation system should be installed, an action that quite a few of the local farmers were in favor of. However, Naruto could not seem to move beyond the same line that he'd been looking at for the past twenty minutes, since the words all began to blend together on the page. He didwant to do his best by his people, though, which was the reason he could not give up on the report altogether, and so resorted to some rather unconventional methods to keep his eyelids from closing.

Rooting through his desk drawer, he discovered a lone roll of masking tape, a few writing utensils, and some other assorted rubbish that he shoved in at various times when his wife was on the prowl for clutter. Sakura did not approve of messiness, and, as Naruto was a rather messy person, the drawer often received the brunt of his efforts to 'clean' in order to avoid a scolding.

There was not much that could be done with the pens and pencils, nor with the wads of paper and candy wrappers. The masking tape was a different story. Tearing off two pieces, Naruto made his eyes wide and stuck a piece over each. Granted, it wasn't very comfortable having one's eyes taped open, but Naruto could not think of any other way to solve the problem.

"I'm so intelligent sometimes, I make myself sick," he said smugly, and went back to his reading, which was a bit easier once he became accustomed to the tape. The desire to blink was maddening, as was the dryness in his eyes, but he did his best to ignore both. He'd gotten nearly halfway through the first page when the door opened and Sakura walked in, wearing a tank top and a pair of overalls. Naruto had become so absorbed in his task that he didn't notice her, not even when she sprawled in an armchair across from him.

"What have you got there?" Sakura asked, slinging her leg over the side of the chair. She squinted at her husband, trying to figure out what was different about his appearance. She sensed something odd.

"Huh?" Naruto made to lift his eyes, but met with resistance, and had to pick up his entire head to look at Sakura, who let out a little yelp that was a cross between laughter and shock.

"Is that...tape?" She said in disbelief, leaning forward in the chair with both brows raised.

Naruto's cheeks flamed. When she talked like that, he felt rather stupid, not intelligent. "Er...yeah."

"Why on earth do you have tape on your eyes?"

Maybe I'll redeem myself when I explain, Naruto thought, hoping that his prediction would come true. He motioned to the paper in his lap.

"I think if you had to read twenty pages about dirt, you'd tape your eyes open, too," he said, a bit of a pout in his voice. "I don't have any control over what reaches my desk, but that doesn't mean I can just fob it off. This is an important issue to the villagers, so I'm doing my duty!" He crossed his arms over his chest to appear Hokage-ish, though the effort was lost on his tiny wife.

After staring at him for a few more seconds, Sakura began to laugh so hard that tears streamed from her eyes and her breath came in choking gasps.

"Oh Naruto," she wheezed in between giggles, "I love you."

Normally, those words were enough to make Naruto melt like butter, but he was in a stubborn mood today, and schooled his features into blankness. "Humph," he said, sticking his nose in the air.

Of course, Sakura was quite used to her husband's mannerisms after three years of marriage, so she was very aware of what he was doing at present. Standing to her feet, the pink-haired girl walked the few inches to where Naruto sat, plucked the papers out of his lap, and replaced them with herself. She knew that he wouldn't be able to put up resistance for long while the two of them were in this position, and her fingers inched toward his scalp.

On cue, Naruto's carefully manipulated facial muscles began to twitch as Sakura's hands moved through his hair. Naruto loved it when Sakura played with his hair, and he found it very unfair that she would use that against him when he was supposed to be irritated with her for making him look silly.

Though I suppose I did that all by myself, he conceded as the pleasant sensations filled him with the urge to let his eyes close and relax, though there was a slight hitch to that plan. The relaxing part he could manage fine, but the eye-closing would be a bit trickier with the masking tape.

As if she had read his mind, Sakura paused in her ministrations and gave her husband an appraising look. "I think we should get rid of that," she said, pointing to the tape. "Though I'm surprised you put it on in the first place. Do you have any idea how much it's going to hurt taking it off?"

Oh...I never thought about that... Naruto gulped, and Sakura sighed.

"Look, I'm going to count to three, and then I'll rip it as fast as I can, okay?

Determined to be strong, Naruto nodded. I am Rokudaime, after all, and the Hokage doesn't flinch from a little sting!

"One...two...three!" Gripping an edge in each hand, Sakura yanked.

The 'little sting' turned out to be a white-hot bolt of pain that made Naruto's eyes water, and he blinked them furiously while unleashing any number of curses at the same time.

"I think we've learned a very important lesson here," Sakura said once her husband had calmed down a bit. She grinned. "Masking tape is dangerous stuff when used on body parts."

Naruto could not help but laugh. "You're right, as usual," he said, and kissed Sakura's forehead. "Though it would have been more beneficial to receive this bit of enlightenment earlier." He took note of Sakura's attire then. "I haven't seen you wear those things in a while." He was referring to the overalls. "What's up?"

"Well...the outside of the house looks rather shoddy, doesn't it? I figured it was about time we gave it a new coat of paint, and I don't want to ruin any of my good clothes," she replied.

Though his ability to observe was not one of his greatest assets, Naruto picked up on the word we, meaning that Sakura planned on dragging him in on the chore. Of course, he would do whatever she asked him without complaint, though he had a feeling that his endeavor could turn out to be...interesting, to say the least. Sakura did not have a large store of patience, something that painting required a lot of. He could not deny that their house was in need of a touch up, however.

"Oh? Have you got the paint already?"

"Yep! I dragged Ino with me to pick it up yesterday."

Instantly, Naruto became apprehensive. The last time his wife and her best friend had gone out to buy household appliances, Sakura returned home with a bright pink mixer, which she insisted on displaying out in the open for all to see.

"Isn't it adorable?" She had said. "I've never seen a pink mixer before, and it was the only one there! I hadto buy it!"

Naruto thought the horrid mixer to be anything but adorable. "But...but it's pink! That's so girly! Do we have to leave it out? Can't you just stick it in the pantry or something?"

Sakura glared at him. "No, I want it out, so we're leaving it out! What difference does it make? You're not the one who uses it, anyway, so it shouldn't matter to you."

He had attempted to make her understand that there was a principle involved (basically that the amounts of teasing he'd endure would be enough to send him into a self-imposed exile), but Sakrua put her foot down, and that was the end of that.

"What color paint is it?" Naruto asked casually, and Sakura gave him an impish smile.

"Why, pink, of course."

How did I guess? "We are absolutely NOT going to have a pink house, Sakura. The mixer is one thing, but the entire house—" he cut himself off when his wife started giggling again. "What's so funny?"

Leaning in, Sakura kissed the tip of his nose. "I was joking, silly. The paint's white." She grinned, and disentangled herself from Naruto and the chair. "You can look at that report later, can't you? Go and get changed. I'll be outside."

Naruto sighed. He was relieved about the paint, and he was happy to have a reason to be doing something other than reading. I just hope that this doesn't turn into a fiasco, he thought as he left the study. Because I can certainly see things heading in that direction...

When Naruto emerged from the house wearing an old pair of pants and a t-shirt, Sakura was waiting for him with the paint cans lined up before her. One of the cans she'd pried open, and was pouring its contents into a tray.

"Grab one of these and a brush, okay? You can go over there," she motioned to one side of the house, "and I'll stay here."

"All right," Naruto said, and did as she told him. His experience with painting was minimal, but he knew enough to be able to slap on an even coat without bubbles, and he was quite proud of himself when he stepped back to admire his work after some time had passed. Glancing over at Sakura, he chuckled: her tongue poked out through her lips in concentration as she slathered paint over a spot that had peeled. He noted with glee that his own work was better than hers, and he had to resist the urge to gloat. It was a rare occasion that Naruto was able to best his wife in anything aside from fighting skill, and when he did manage to do it, he prudently kept his mouth shut. Sakura had the tendency to be a bit of a sore loser, and rubbing a failure in her face was not a good idea if one valued one's life.

Why is this so difficult? It's just paint! Sakura's brow furrowed. Are those bubbles supposed to be there? I don't think they are, but I don't know how to get rid of them! ARGH!

Out of the corner of her eye, Sakura stole a glance at her husband's side of the house, and she had the urge to kick things. He was doing a better job than she.

That's not fair! How come he can do this like it's nothing and I can't? And just look at that smug smile on his face! I should just...

Making sure that Naruto was focused on his task, Sakura gave her wrist a sharp flick, and droplets of paint went flying from the brush onto the side of Naruto's arm, making it appear as if he had a trail of white freckles. She bit her lip to keep from laughing.

Naruto felt the wetness as soon as it hit, and he examined himself in confusion, trying to figure out where it came from. He finally saw the paint on his arm, and cocked an eyebrow.

Well I didn't do that... He turned to Sakura, who had begun to whistle as she labored. She was not fooling him, however. So that's how you want to be, eh? Two can play at this game...

Hah! He won't notice for a little while, I'm sure— "AUGH!"

The paint that splattered on her was a bit more than a few droplets.

"NARUTO!" She shrieked.

The fox-faced young man started to laugh, though he stopped when more paint hit him in the face.

What ensued was an all out war that resulted in both participants looking very much like deranged snow people. At one point, Sakura managed to grab hold of a full can of paint and maneuver herself into a position where she could upend it over Naruto's head. Needless to say, most of the paint did not end up on the house, where it was supposed to go, though neither Naruto nor Sakura cared all that much.

After the fight was over, the two sprawled on the ground, surrounded by empty cans and trays and paintbrushes, shaking with laughter.

"I think our domestic abilities could use some work," Sakrua giggled.

"I agree," Naruto said, and, with a wolfish grin, pulled his wife into his arms and kissed her.

"Naruto! You did that on purpose!" Sakura accused when he released her. The paint that she'd poured on him was still wet, and he'd transferred a blob of it to her lips.

"But white looks so good on you," Naruto said in a sincere voice. "Almost as good as it looks on me," he emphasized with a pose.

Sakura nodded gravely. "Quite dashing," she said. "I'm sure all the villagers will enjoy it."

"Oh dear, I never considered that. I hope most of this comes off, at least." He sighed. "How undignified."

Sakura snorted. "And using masking tape to keep your eyes open is?"

Damn. "Fair point."

"Thank you," Sakura said, and smiled. Despite the paint, she burrowed under Naruto's arm and hugged him. "You're too adorable, you know that?"

"Aw stop, you'll make me blush."

"I'd like to see you try with all that paint."

"Mean person."

"One does one's best."

The next day, if anyone had noticed the white flecks that still remained in Naruto's hair and on some parts of his skin, they did not comment, but rather concealed smirks behind hands. Naruto made no move to explain his sudden aversion to masking tape, and he allowed the villagers to think what they would about the paint.

The Hokage should have a few mysteries surrounding himself, anyway...

Yay fluff! I hope you all enjoyed! Give the button a click:winks: