1 - golden girl

Naruto huffed, knowing she was pouting just a little, but irritated enough to do it anyway. She eyed the bottle in her hand uneasily. Mousey brown just really wasn't her color, and she wasn't looking forward to what her next mission entailed at all, hair dye notwithstanding.

A tap at her bedroom window startled Naruto out of her little sulk, not that she would call it that. She glanced up, sheepish at her own surprise, to see Kakashi crouched on the now open window's edge, one brow raised inquiringly.

"Ah, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto put down the bottle of dye and turned to face her unexpected guest. "What's up?"

"Just wanted to check if you had any questions about our mission." He casually hopped down with a deceptive ease, ambling into the room proper and settling onto the chair by Naruto's nightstand. Although Kakashi was acting as if his popping by to check in on her while she was sitting on her bed was a perfectly normal event, the man hadn't actually been in Naruto's bedroom since she moved out of her old apartment—the one from her genin days, with the small bathroom with the leaky pipes and several ramen cups scattered around (she was going to throw them out soon, really!)—ten months ago after finally caving at Sakura's increasingly stubborn insistence. It was a bit sad, to be honest, if only because Kakashi was actually now her sort-of neighbor, being the resident of the floor below hers (not that she had known when she had moved in, so that had been a bit of a surprise). Naruto had actually seen more of Kakashi when she lived at her old place and he'd show up to force vegetables into her diet.

Through no fault of any individual, really, besides maybe the person who decided mission assignments—okay, actually it was Tsunade-baachan's fault, now that she'd thought about it twice—Kakashi and Naruto hadn't really spent much time together since they all collectively prevented the End of the World As They Knew It. It'd been a flurry of activities and mission after mission, and while Naruto had somehow managed to see most of everyone else (Sasuke was still on in-village probation, Sakura was at the hospital most of the time, and everyone else she managed to bump into one way or another), somehow Kakashi's and Naruto's leaves never matched up.

Recently, however, things have settled down enough that they could all take a breath, figuratively speaking. So the Godaime Hokage, in all her wisdom, decided to assign Naruto on a technically S-class but not actually Dangerous-For-Naruto infiltration mission where circumstances meant she couldn't use chakra if she wanted to keep her cover. Which meant no henges—which meant actually, physically, dyeing her hair. Naruto scowled again, remembering her current dilemma.

While the kunoichi remained obliviously lost in thought, Kakashi took the opportunity to subtly observe her room. In one corner there was a pile of blank and used scrolling seals, ink, and supplies—and when had Naruto known anything about fūinjutsu? Was that Minato-sensei's notebook he spotted? A tapestry with the Konoha symbol hung above her headboard, just as it had in her old room. Plants dotted the space tastefully, and Kakashi spotted only one empty ramen container on the nightstand. It was also more colorful than her previous bedroom, with cheery accents of orange here and there.

Brat, you never responded to him. Kurama nudged Naruto in her mind.

Ah, right. Naruto squinted at Kakashi while he looked mildly back at her, expectantly. She shrugged, saying, "Nah, the mission scroll was pretty clear."

"You don't look happy, though," Kakashi responded, nodding at the bottle Naruto had placed next to her.

"Yeah, I just," Naruto huffed, chuckling at herself a little self-consciously. "I guess it's a little vain of me, but I didn't want to actually dye my hair if I could help it." She gestured at her hair helplessly, as if to express herself further in some way. It flowed freely, pooling around where she sat atop her covers.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Never really expected you to care all that much about appearance," he remarked lightly.

"Yeah, I don't generally, but it's not really about that, believe it." She looked down at her lap. "It's the same color as Tou-chan's hair, and I keep it long because of Kaa-chan." She glanced at Kakashi from below lowered lashes, and then smiled a little shyly. "I like it the way it is."

Suddenly, Kakashi was in front of Naruto, closer than he'd been in a long time (maybe since their last spar?). Naruto's breath hitched a little in surprise, and the room felt smaller, somehow, even though it'd been a perfectly adequate size just a moment ago.

Naruto looked at Kakashi, and was taken aback by the softness of the expression she could discern even though most of his face was covered. She saw the small smile from shadows underneath the ever-present mask.

Kakashi took a lock of silky hair and let it slide through his fingers.

"Since we're being honest," Kakashi looked up from her hair to Naruto's surprised reaction. "I prefer gold, as well."

And then he disappeared out the open window, leaving Naruto staring after him.

I'm not sure what just happened, Naruto thought, a bit dazed.


"What just happened?" Kakashi, safely ensconced in his own apartment one floor below, asked Mr. Ukki.


Children, Kurama snorted.


notes: almost all blame for this monstrosity lies upon CrownsofLaurels' Making Arrangements. for more notes about this fic, headcanons, or if you have questions, please visit my tumblr. link in my profile.

prompt: I prefer gold.

Naruto is at least eighteen in all drabbles unless otherwise specified.