Some notes/disclaimer:

This is a fem!Naruto story, so just we are clear. I also don't have a specific place in timeline to place this story, except that it takes place years after the war. Hope you enjoy this one shot!

'italics in apostrophes represent thinking'
italics represent emphasis

Dressed like a girl

She wormed into his heart without him even realising it. It started with him missing her loud, orange presence in Konoha while she was away with Jiraiya on a training trip. And then it was how he found it more impossible each day to refuse her puppy-eyes-no-jutsu. Somehow, someday, she started to accompany him during his daily ritual at the Memorial Stone, offering him comfort with her presence. Over the years, Kakashi have gotten used to the presence of his student, who has gradually, firmly, wedged into his heart as one of his most precious person. In the ever changing and fleeting world of ninjas, Kakashi was glad for this anchor that has largely remained unchanged over the years, offering him a sense of comfort and familiarity.

Until things started to change.

It started out with the small things. How Naruto started to grow out her short spiky hair into those long silky tresses after the war (that really really make Kakashi want to run his hand through them). How she started to trade out her trademark orange jumpsuit into other orange coloured clothes (and Kakashi religiously ignored the curves that had somehow grown under her jumpsuit without him realising). How Naruto started to go out on dates with boys her age (and Kakashi harshly squashed aside the desire to date the little girl who grew up to be a fine woman too, while surreptitiously avoiding her on her date nights, so he can pretend he doesn't have the desire to kill the boys who dared to touch his Naruto-chan).

With one eye closed and one eye opened, Kakashi was easily able to turn a blind eye to the things he doesn't want to acknowledge, content to be in comfort with his stubbornly unchanged world view.

Until that too, was forced to change in the least subtle way possible.

...

Kakashi sat in the restaurant, mind aimlessly wandering as he waits for Naruto to arrive. Naruto had loudly proclaimed that it was due time for some student-teacher bonding time, and she knew just the place where they can have a nice dinner, and Kakashi hadn't the heart nor will to say no to her deadly puppy-eyes-no-jutsu. It was a nice little restaurant, he must admit, tucked away in the civilian part of the village, and he idly wondered how Naruto came to know about this place (he refused to think that Naruto had been here for one of her dates before). He had been surprise to find that he had reached earlier for once, since Naruto was always early, even when operating according to Kakashi's clock.

A familiar chakra signature pricked at his senses, and he turned expectantly to the entrance of the restaurant for said student to appear. A leg appeared first, followed by the rest of the body, and Kakashi felt himself freeze, trying to reconcile his senses and the image he sees in front of him.

He gaped wide-eye at the figure who is heading straight for his table, noting the blond hair and blue eyes. His eyes roamed downwards, feeling his brain short-circuit at the strapless orange dress that is showing too much skin for his liking (not really, his traitorous mind whispered). He eyed the long legs that run below the hem of the dress, laid bare for him to see, before landing on the pair of heels that looked uncomfortably high, though the confident strutting proved otherwise. 'Please tell me this is a dream or a genjutsu,' he begged silently in his mind.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto chirped happily, as she took her seat opposite him, causing Kakashi's gaze to snap up to her blue eyes. One blink and a desperate pulse of chakra later, Kakashi found that the image of his sexy student would not disappear, and he feels like he's about to have a heart attack soon.

"You alright, Kakashi-sensei?" a voice broke through his thoughts. He broke out of his self-induced haze to see Naruto looking at him worriedly, though his attention was quickly caught by the way she leaned forward towards him, giving him a really good view of what's underneath her orange dress.

"Naruto, you're dressed like a girl," a horrified Kakashi said hoarsely.

Naruto snorted, though her eyes betrayed how amused she was at the situation. "Of course I am. I'm a girl, Kakashi-sensei, or have that slipped past your observations all these years?"

"You're wearing a dress," Kakashi continued, still horrified at what he is seeing.

The amusement is apparent on her face now. "I'm pretty sure that falls under the part of dressing like a girl, Kakashi-sensei," she said wryly.

"You're showing so much skin," Kakashi stressed, desperately trying to get his point across.

"Oh, that's Sakura-chan's idea!" Naruto said brightly, oblivious to the inner turmoil of her sensei. "Sakura-chan said that girls need to dress nicely and show a little bit of skin in order to catch the attention of the guy they like! She said, and I quote, now go out there and knock men off their feet!" She giggled. "I didn't think she meant it literally, but it's actually quite funny to see people jumping into lamp posts or falling off the roofs when they saw what I was wearing." She paused, before asking shyly, "Do you like it, Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi made a strangled noise at the back of his throat, his mind supplying him with not so innocent images of Naruto, courtesy of his Icha-Icha, his number one guilty pleasure. He swallowed. "But why are you wearing that today?" he asked, voice sounding quite unlike his own as he tried to push away the indecent thoughts in his mind.

Naruto gave him an odd look. "Well," she begins, "I really like you, Kakashi-sensei."

If Kakashi thought, he was going to die from heart attack just now, he is terribly wrong, because right now, he can feel his breath hitch, and his heart skip a beat, and there doesn't seem to be enough oxygen going to his brain, because he feels the world around him gradually darkening. "Kakashi-sensei? Kakashi-sensei, are you alright? Can you hear me?" he hears a voice call worriedly.

And then he knows no more because he lets the darkness claim him from the horrible nightmare that is so much like the Infinite Tsukunomi.

...

Kakashi woke up with a groan, feeling like he just had a massive hungover. Without opening his eyes, he stretch his senses, finding the tell-tale signature of Naruto, and relaxed considerably knowing that he is safe. He took a deep breath and took in the scent of ramen, sunshine and warmth that is surrounding him. Smells just like Naruto, he thought, before he remembered everything from before and jumped hastily from the bed he was lying in. Casting his eyes around, he realised that he was in Naruto's apartment, and the moon has already risen, judging by the dim lighting from the windows.

"You alright, Kakashi-sensei?" he heard Naruto ask. A shuffling of footsteps. "You fainted on me at the restaurant and I had to carry you home. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to carry a fully grown man on my back while walking in heels?"

Kakashi turned towards the voice, and noted that she's approaching him while still wearing the orange dress. He gulped and felt the panic returning to his body. He cleared his throat. "Ah, Naruto. Thank you for bringing me home and taking care of me, but I'm afraid I need to go now. Ja!"

Kakashi hastily made the handsigns for the shunshin, but Naruto's reflexes were quicker, stopping him from fleeing the room that is suddenly too small for his liking.

"You are not going anywhere, sensei! Not until I get some answers," she said hotly.

"I'm not sure what you mean, Naruto-chan," he said nervously, eyes shifting left and right for an escape route.

Naruto narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm sure you know exactly what I mean," she hissed. "Don't bother escaping, I've sealed my apartment when you were unconscious to prevent you from running away, so you'll have to get pass me instead," she added.

"Naruto-chan-" he began.

"Don't Naruto-chan me! I don't know what you are thinking, Kakashi-sensei. I like you, and it's so obvious you like me as well, so why are you pushing me away?" she pleaded, her blue eyes so clear that Kakashi feels like he's going to drown in them. Before, he could give a reply though, Naruto plowed on. "Is there something wrong with what I'm wearing? Is is the orange? Sakura-chan told me that I shouldn't wear so much orange but I stubbornly insisted on orange because it's just me. Or is the dress? Am I wearing too much? Should I have wore something more revealing?" Naruto rambled, feeling more inadequate the more she talked.

"Naruto," Kakashi said firmly, grabbing hold of her (bare) shoulders to make his point. "Stop."

Naruto stopped abruptly, head held low, feeling slightly ashamed of herself. "Sorry," she mumbled.

Kakashi sighed. "Look at me Naruto," he coaxed.

Naruto lifted her head as he asked, and Kakashi has to remind himself not to get lost in her eyes, so expressive of the vulnerability she felt at the moment. "You look beautiful," he said honestly, earning him a light blush on whiskered cheeks as Naruto hung onto every word that he's saying. "I'm not sure what Sakura told you, but you don't have to dress a certain way to catch the attention of someone, especially not the idea of wearing revealing clothes. Whether you're wearing orange jumpsuits or pretty dresses, people like you for being you, when you are most comfortable being yourself. Do you understand what I mean?"

Hesitantly, she nodded. "Why do you push me away then?" she asked timidly.

"I'm your sensei, Naruto, and also much older than you. People are not going to take this very well," Kakashi replied wearily.

"Ex-sensei," she corrected.

Kakashi closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "It's still not appropriate," he countered softly.

"The lives of ninjas are fleeting," she stubbornly pointed out. "People don't really care what we are up to. That's just an excuse."

"I can't Naruto, I just can't. Let's leave it at that. Please."

"You're not going to ruin me by being with me, Kakashi-sensei. I'm not some weak girl that can't take care of myself."

"It's not that," Kakashi said, even though he knew quite well that those are part of the reasons he's pushing her away.

Naruto ignored him. "You don't have to be afraid," she whispered, closing the gap between them to engulf him in a hug.

Automatically, his hands travel from her shoulders to her back, hugging her back as he breathed in the scent of her hair. "Sensei will kill me," he murmur into her hair.

Naruto chuckled, the airy sound making him feel warm around his gut. "Otou-san is dead. And so is Okaa-san, if you want to bring her into the discussion." She squeezed tighter. "I'm sure Otou-san and Okaa-san will be happy as long as we are," she whispered back.

"You should date boys your age, Naruto. Not old man like me."

"I did. I still like you better though," she sighed happily into the hug. "You smell nice."

Kakashi lets the warm and fuzzy feeling encompass him, and for once in a very long time, felt himself getting lighter as a heavy weight is being lifted off his chest. "Did I ever tell you what a wonderful girl you are?" he whispered.

"No, but you can start now," she replied with a soft smile.

Kakashi hummed absently in response. Right now, right then, it felt right to hold Naruto like that, and to finally admit the feelings that he had been ignoring.

"I really like you too, Naruto-chan."

Story notes:

(1) Regarding the part where Kakashi has "one opened and one eye closed", it's both a pun and a literal translation of the phrase that means turning a blind eye in Chinese. I thought it was pretty appropriate to describe Kakashi and his actions.

(2) I portrayed Naruto here as both a confident and shy young woman. Confident, because it's Naruto we're talking about, and shy, because she's also a girl. I imagine that as a girl, no matter how confident she may usually be, there would still be moments when she feels bashful or inadequate.

(3) In case anyone is confused why Kakashi referred the whole thing as a nightmare from Infinite Tsukunomi, Infinite Tsukonomi is used as a metaphor here, in which one has a perfect dream, but it's a nightmare, because it's ultimately not reality.

Author notes:

This is part of a series (in a sense) as my other fem!Naruto/Kakashi story, "14 years older". The stories aren't connected in any way though, except that I envisioned that as part of a series of V-day one shots (that I never got around to writing in time). In that story, we had Kakashi wooing Naruto, so the opposite is happening here, with Naruto chasing Kakashi instead. I wanted a running theme of lightheartedness/fluff in these stories, but it didn't turn out too well with this story, because of who Kakashi is and his background. I do hope you guys enjoyed this as well.

I have a question I would like to ask readers. I have a habit of putting the information of italics and what not at the start of stories, and I wonder if it's really necessary or is it pretty much common sense when you read the story. Asking this because I'm not sure if it impedes the reading of the story by either not having it there, or it being too obstructive as a block of text. Let me know you opinion of this please!

On another note, I find it bewildering that people follow the story even when I explicitly stated that it's a oneshot or marked as complete, because it just doesn't make sense to me. If you want to keep track of updates then it makes more sense to me to follow the author rather than the story!

As always, thank you for reading and I hope you like it. The love I've received from the Naruto community has been very encouraging and I feel loved. *hugs for everyone*