Because someone told me I needed to explore more NaruSaku fluff.

Title: Makeover
Author: desolate butterfly
Genre: fluff, gen
Pairings: hints of NaruSaku, but mostly a friendship fic
Rating: PG
Summary: Naruto and Sakura spend some quality time together, and only Naruto's hairstyle suffers for it.
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Naruto squirmed in the chair as a section of gold-coloured hair was lifted into Sakura's fingers and carefully considered before the silver scissors enclosed around it with a soft snick.

"I don't really need my hair cut you know," the boy—now a teen-ager—complained, brushing some bits of fallen hair off the forehead-protector that was presently hung around his neck so it wouldn't interfere with Sakura's work.

"Yes you do," she replied, rapping the closed handles of the scissors sharply against Naruto's head. He winced and brought a hand up to rub at the stop, but she smacked it away and lifted up another section of his hair.

"You look like a shaggy dog, Naruto. It'll be much cooler for your head once it's cut. Not that it'll be much help to your hothead nature anyway."

"Hey!"

A yank on the locks at the back of his neck had him stilling in his seat, lips coming together in a sulky pout. The scissors went snip.

"And stop wiggling," the girl continued, "or I'll cut an ear off."

More hair fell to the floor surrounding the chair, and Naruto watched it nervously.

"That's not funny to joke about, Sakura-chan."

A slight breeze wafted near his earlobe and he shivered.

"Who says I'm joking?" Sakura murmured, but there was a thread of laughter in her voice that he thrilled to hear.

Normally she never made jokes with him, or let her playful side show. He supposed that was mainly because they rarely had time alone together. When Kakashi-sensei was around, or when Sasuke had been around and not off letting Sound psychos molest him in order to kill his brother, Sakura had been serious and almost on her guard. Like at any second someone was going to stop and tell her that she wasn't performing her kunoichi duties up to par, just because she smiled or acted more like a silly teenaged girl.

Naruto was glad to see her smile now, even if it came at the expense of his hair. Then again, it was pretty nice to have the attention she was giving him. The feel of her fingers carding through his spiky locks, brushing the bangs from his forehead, and tapping against his bare neck every so often….It was kind of like a dream come true except Naruto was pretty sure that in some of those dreams, Sakura had been wearing a bikini and calling him "dearest".

"Mmm…bikini…"

A fist bonked him in the back of the head and Naruto fell forward, clutching the spot.

"OW, WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?" he yelled, turning around in the chair.

Sakura only gave him a long, disapproving look and tapped the scissors against her palm until Naruto made a face that was half-apologetic, half-resentful, and sat properly in the chair once again. Soon the snips and click of the blades were going again, faster than before, and Naruto closed his eyes and let his friend work.

It was over too soon, was all he could think, when she stroked a comb once last time through his hair and gave him the mirror.

"Well," she said, biting her lip a little, "what do you think?"

He looked pretty much the same, although the bangs were a little shorter, and his sideburns weren't trying to creep down his cheeks anymore. He gave her a grin and a thumbs up.

"It's great Sakura-chan! You should totally offer to do Fuzzy-brows' hair next. He needs a new style."

She gave him a relieved smile in return and then straightened, putting her shoulders back triumphantly.

"You're right," she said, flashing a "v" with her fingers. "I'm a hairstyling genius. Take that Ino-pig!"

Naruto carded his fingers through his now shortened hair, and then reached up to tie his forehead protector back into place. His bangs now no longer hung over the edge of the metal plaque, obscuring the leaf symbol there.

"This'll be much better when I start training with Ero-Sennin tomorrow!"

The scissors dropped to the floor with a clatter and Naruto spun around just in time to see Sakura bent on the floor, gathering them in her hands. Her head was bowed, so he couldn't see her eyes, but the way her shoulders hunched had him confused and looking for the jerk who'd hurt her so he could punch them in the face.

"Sakura-chan, what—"

"I'm fine. I just dropped them. My hands were slippery, that's all. I was using some hair gel. That's all."

She still refused to look at him as she stood up and set the blades back on the kitchen table, and then got out a broom to start sweeping up the scattered fine bits of blond hair that littered the floor. Naruto watched, mystified, but he got out the dustpan when she asked and stayed closed until she felt up to giving him another smile (a fake one this time).

"So," she said, tapping the last few strands of hair out of the dustpan and into the garbage pail, "you're leaving tomorrow for more training?"

"Yeah," Naruto said, suspicious but knowing she wasn't going to tell him what was making her act funny. "Ero-Sennin is supposed to be teaching me this great new move! Combined with what Kakashi-sensei's been teaching me, this might be enough to finally take out that bastard snake pervert!"

"That's great," she said, but her smile didn't reach her eyes and Naruto felt like he'd done something wrong. If he could just find out what it was…

"I won't be gone too long," he said, and Sakura's shoulders twitched a little. "You know, the last time Ero-Sennin taught me a technique I learnt it in three weeks. And I've grown loads since then, so this shouldn't take very long at all!"

There was a long moment of silence, but when Sakura's eyes lifted to his next, they looked a little more hopeful and he relaxed.

"But you know what?" he whispered, leaning close, "I think you should check in on Kakashi-sensei while I'm gone."

"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura blinked in confusion. "Why?"

"He's been doing funny things with his diet. Yesterday he tried to give me something to eat, and it was a big bowl of weeds! I swear, I think I saw some dandelion leaves in there. He probably pulled them from his front yard or something," Naruto confided.

His disgusted expression completely banished the tension from Sakura's face and she gave him a real smile, with a giggle this time.

"Naruto," she chided, "he was probably just trying to make you eat your vegetables."

"Weeds aren't vegetables. You should make him one of those casseroles, like you made for me and Sasuke that time we got pneumonia from that mission in Wave, remember? That was good!"

"Okay, fine, fine," she laughed, putting her hands up in a defensive gesture. "I'll drop by and give him some food packages. And I'll start putting one together for you." She grinned at him. "For when you get back."

Naruto blinked at her, and then his mouth stretched into its own grin and he pumped his fist in the air enthusiastically.

"Alright! But, Sakura-chan…"

"Hm?"

"Can we got get something to eat now? I'm super hungry."

"Fine," she said, flipping her hair. "But I'm not paying."

"Aw…"

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fin.

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Commentary is appreciated.