A/N: Big kudos to AritouStuff on Twitter for their fanart for this snippet! I decided to extend the piece here and make a little duo with their artwork. I hope you enjoy this one!

Lipstick

"Papa, you have Mama's lipstick on your face."

Right. Not falling for that again.

Sasuke rolled his eyes before reaching forward and tapping Sarada's forehead with his fingers. When he dropped his hand back beneath his cloak, his daughter's eyebrows raised in surprise. Her mouth opened as if to protest, but Sasuke pivoted on his heel and made his way towards the front door before her mischievous antics could catch up to him.

"I'm leaving," he called without turning back.

Sarada gaped at the door, a squeak of disbelief the only thing able to escape her.

Moments later, Sakura turned the corner from the master bedroom. In her hands was a cotton pad that she pressed against her mouth and on the cotton pad, sure enough, was a light pink stain that almost perfectly matched the color of the Uchiha matriarch's lips.

Sarada's own lips formed a wicked smile before she looked back down at her morning tea, silently reveling in yet another victory at seeing her father's rare cuteness...and his obliviousness to it. On his right cheek and the corner of his mouth were faint yet obvious stamps of her mother's affection.

"Sarada," her mother began as she tossed the cotton pad in the trash bin, "do you want this lipstick? I know you're not a fan of makeup, but this one is too close to my natural tone."

"Nope." Sarada downed the last of her tea. "It suits you."

Sakura tilted her head in thoughtful doubt. "You honestly think that?"

"Yup," she replied smugly. "It's a really nice shade on Papa, too."

Sasuke's day was odd.

As he walked the streets of Konoha, more eyes were darting to his form than he was used to experiencing. Many of them glanced at his face, though without the usual fear or expression of startle he was accustomed to enduring. No, today there were unhindered stares as he passed by civilians and shinobi alike. Men raised their eyebrows at him as though they just realized his existence. Many of the women, though, offered him amused smiles or open stares of awe.

It made him self-conscious, if he were being honest. Sakura had always reminded him of his physical appeal (though he was always careful to shield his embarrassment of this), and he was no fool of the suggestive looks that he'd received from others on his travels with or without his wife. It was for this reason that he preferred her presence by his side. If she weren't there, he did his best to remain inconspicuous, which normally wasn't an issue because he was often in deep thought and melted into crowds with ease.

But today was…different.

Sasuke's day only grew odder when he spent his hours at the interrogation department. The Uchiha was notorious for extracting information, as his reputation was one that brought many mercenaries to their knees with a single look. He found it more difficult to reel in the unwilling participants, and their jeers of his credibility were more persistent than he had ever experienced.

And the stares were continuous, even from the shinobi who worked in the department.

By lunch, Sasuke's frustration manifested into a small scowl as he strolled into Naruto's office. His best friend requested his appearance for a small reconnaissance mission that had potentially relevant information about the Otsutsuki. Naruto and Shikamaru were there, the former sitting patiently at his desk and the latter leaning against the vast windowpanes with arms folded across his chest.

"So, what's the mission?" Sasuke asked without preamble.

Silence.

Sasuke's gaze shifted between the two. Shikamaru's eyes widened far beyond his usual lazy gaze and his mouth grew into a thin line as though he were holding back a cough. Naruto's eyes seemed to water as his mouth twisted into a poorly subdued smile, the usual expression the idiot would have when he was ready to burst into a cackle.

The Uchiha furrowed his brow in irritation. Them, too?

Before he could make a comment, the pair in front of him burst into a loud fit of howling laughter. Seeing Shikamaru shake until tears formed in his eyes was a sight, almost as much as seeing Naruto double over his desk and wheeze while tears openly streamed down his whiskered cheeks.

"What?" Sasuke snapped, prompting Naruto to make a vague, shaking gesture towards his own cheek.

"You-you have-buahahaha!" Naruto sputtered.

"What the hell," Sasuke clicked his tongue in irritation just as the door leading to the office opened behind him.

"Naruto, has—oh, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura's voice came, though Sasuke was too distracted by his frustration to give her his usual nod of acknowledgment. "Have I…walked in on something?" she asked as she took her usual place by Sasuke's side.

"Who knows at this point," her husband muttered before turning to Sakura to see a bento snugly in her arms.

"Huh," Sakura hummed, averting her gaze from the cackling pair and looking towards Sasuke. "You forgot your lu…lunch." Her eyes widened as she gazed at her husband's face, mouth agape.

"You too?" he frowned as she used her free hand to cover her mouth in shock or to hold in a laugh—at this point he couldn't tell.

"Sasuke-kun," she gasped, reaching out to press her fingers against his face. He felt her wipe against his skin and when she pulled back, she lifted them to showcase the stains of pink. "Sarada said something about the lip color this morning, and I—I don't even—"

"Keep it in the bedroom, you two," Naruto snorted, earning him a deadly glare from Sasuke and a loud guffaw from Shikamaru.

Sasuke could feel his face grow warm and, had he not been in the company of friends and loved ones, he would have pivoted on his heel and promptly smeared the marks of his wife's affections from his face with his sleeve. Instead, he let Sakura reach up with a handkerchief and lovingly wipe the residue from his face. As the Hokage and his advisor began to finally settle into a state of sighs as opposed to choked laughter, Sakura shot them a teasing warning look.

"In your defense," she sighed, looking back up at her husband, "it really is a good shade on you."