Disclaimer: The characters, items, places etc of Naruto are property of Masashi Kishimoto. These objects are used without permission for entertainment only, not for making money. No infringement is intended.

The idea for this was coined by Gayalondiel, and is dedicated to her. I hope you enjoy it, and much love to you, my dear!

Of Kunai and Haircuts

By Nanaki Lioness

"Sasuke, if your hair's long enough that it's bothering you like that, you should get it cut."

Sasuke gave his sensei a quick glare, irritated that he'd pointed something so pointless out to him. He shrugged the comment off, but Kakashi shook his head at him.

"Naruto got those hits in on you because you were too busy getting it out of your face. Either cut it or tie it back or something."

Sasuke glared at him further, trying to ignore the want to push his bangs from his eyes for the hundredth time that day, but failing. They'd been training together as they usually did when missions were scarce, and Kakashi had correctly noticed Sasuke had spent more time fiddling with his hair than he had doing any actual training. Naruto had got a few good hits in when he had been distracted, much to Sasuke's chagrin, giving him a cut lip- but more importantly, marring his pride.

"Yeah," he sighed, shrugging again. Now Kakashi had put it like that, it seemed more important. "I guess it does need a cut."

Kakashi pulled his usual book from his back pocket, shrugging back. "You don't want to put it off. If you're busy pushing hair out of your eyes, you're not paying attention to the enemy, hmm?"

"I could do it Sasuke-kun!" Sakura offered excitedly, clasping her hands together and giving him her best smile.

Sasuke gave her an impassive look. "No."

Sakura looked crestfallen, looking at the ground in front of her with a sigh, absently drawing circles in the dirt instead.

"I could do it," Kakashi said after a moment, looking over the top of his book.

Sasuke raised a curious eyebrow at him.

"I could copy any hairstyle you like," he continued, putting the book down completely. "What do you think?"

"I think you guys are far too obsessed with my hair," Sasuke admonished, unconsciously bringing a hand up to brush his bangs from his eyes again.

"Surely it gets in the way?" Sakura asked, reaching a hand up to touch it. Sasuke leant back, giving her a look that screamed 'what the hell do you think you're doing?' She stopped, looking sheepish. "Sorry. It just… It looks so soft."

"I don't believe I'm having this conversation," Sasuke muttered under his breath.

"I'll do it."

He turned to look at Naruto, who had been silent throughout the conversation about his hair. He glared at Sasuke when he gave him his trademarked death glare as a response.

"What? You can't cut your own damn hair, can you?"

"I could," Sasuke responded, pulling a kunai from the holster on his leg and holding it up. He grabbed one of his bangs, quickly slicing a small amount from the bottom of it effortlessly. The dark clump fell to the grass, the breeze in the air teasing it and separating a few strands, taking them away with it.

"And how will you do the back?" Naruto asked. "Give it here."

He crawled over to Sasuke, snatching the kunai from his hand. Sasuke, surprisingly, didn't protest, sighing in defeat.

"Turn and look at me."

Sasuke continued to glare, but shifted so he was facing Naruto. Naruto grabbed the bang Sasuke had already cut slightly, swiping at it until it was a more suitable length.

"Well, well," Kakashi said with a sigh, picking up his book again. "Of all the things I've seen that I thought I wouldn't, this ranks the highest."

"Shut up," Sasuke hissed, cheeks tinged slightly red.

Naruto started work on his other bang, the cut pieces of hair falling into Sasuke's lap. He flicked the strands off as best he could, mildly irritated by their presence.

When Naruto dropped the kunai and held both pieces of hair up together, running his fingers down them slowly, he pulled away.

"What the hell are you doing?" He asked.

"Checking they're equal," Naruto replied, rolling his eyes as though it were obvious. "And now I have to do it again. Sit still."

Sasuke scowled at him, but sat quietly as Naruto checked the bangs were straight and equal. Satisfied they were, he crawled around behind Sasuke, sitting with his legs either side of him. Sasuke glanced at the intruding limbs wearily, but didn't mention it.

"It is soft," Naruto murmured, causing Sasuke to blush again, too stunned to comment. "I'm going to need to wet this to cut it. Here, come to the river with me."

Sasuke stood, following Naruto wordlessly to the river edge nearby, ignoring both Kakashi's snickering from behind them, and Sakura's jealous gaze. He was never going to live this down.

He knelt down at the water's edge, aiming to dip his head in, but Naruto grabbed his collar quickly.

"No," he said, shaking his head. "It just needs to be damp. I'll do it."

He dipped his hands into the water, indicating for Sasuke to sit to his side. The dark haired boy did so, letting Naruto run his hands through his hair, gently dampening it to a more manageable level.

"What the hell do you use to make it this soft?" He heard Naruto mutter, and smirked slightly.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" He replied coolly.

"Of course," Naruto replied, surprising Sasuke.

Sasuke turned and reaching out, running a hand through Naruto's hair softly, petrifying the boy into sitting rigidly and letting his teammate stroke his blond locks.

"Yours isn't so bad yourself, you know," Sasuke told him, eventually pulling his hand free.

Naruto blinked rapidly, flushing a deep red.

"Don't be a bastard," he snapped, dipping his hands back in the river.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, but didn't look at him. "It was a compliment, moron."

"Exactly. You're Uchiha Sasuke- you don't give compliments."

Sasuke shrugged, feeling Naruto run his wet hands through his hair again, enjoying the feeling. His fingers had begun to gently massage his scalp, and it felt good.

He was mildly disappointed when it stopped and Naruto took up the kunai again, slicing at Sasuke's hair, shaping into his usual style but shorter.

"This is long enough to tie up," Naruto told him as he cut, making conversation.

"I don't think that would suit me," Sasuke replied, flicking a few stray hairs he had missed from his front bangs off of his shorts.

"I don't know. I think it would."

The sentence was pregnant with expectation- Naruto wanted to add something to it, but in the end, deflated and decided not to. Sasuke was curious as to what it was, but didn't push it.

"You were so insistent on cutting it, I didn't get the chance to try," Sasuke told him instead. "Maybe next time it grows out."

Naruto didn't reply, studiously cutting at the dark locks until he was satisfied, giving Sasuke his kunai back and nodding happily. He pointed at the river next to them.

"It's clear enough to see your reflection," he told Sasuke, who was feeling the back of his neck to determine how short Naruto had cut it.

Sasuke took the hint, crawling to the waters edge and peering down. Naruto knelt next to him, looking over his shoulder. He couldn't see the back, obviously, but his bangs and sides were cut to perfection.

"It looks nice," he admitted. "Where did you learn to do that?"

Naruto shrugged, trying to act as though it were nothing, but clearly glowing in Sasuke's praise. "I've always cut my own hair. I didn't have anyone to cut it for me, did I?"

Sasuke frowned slightly, standing up and raising his hand to flick his bangs from his eyes, dropping it when he realised he didn't need to. "I guess not."

"We should go back," Naruto said after a moment, breaking the awkward silence between them. "Kakashi-sensei and Sakura-chan will be wondering what's keeping us."

"Yeah," Sasuke said, still feeling the back of his neck, smiling at Naruto's turned back. "Let's go back."

-.-.-

Author's Note: I like short and cute :)