Warnings: Scenes of a violent and sexual nature, graphic imagery, gender bending.

Pairing: Kakashi/Female!Naruto

Summary: AU. Naruto was born, and thus the Kyuubi attack occurred, a few years earlier than in canon. Minato did not die in the sealing but the council forces his hand and his worst nightmares come to life. Naruto's father might be alive, and she is very obviously the apple of his eye, but her childhood is the furthest thing from easy or happy.

Author's Note: This fic is actually quite fluffy and light-hearted overall. Very little angst here folks. All I really wanted to do was set up a universe that I've been itching to write. If there's interest, I might be persuaded into writing a sequel ;)


Chapter Eight: I'm a Big Big Girl in a Big Big World

I felt that if he touched me, I'd die, and then the thought crawled into my brain that if he didn't touch me, I'd die.

-Kitty Thomas

Her back arched, blonde hair falling away from her face as she moaned out her pleasure. Calloused hands ran up her thighs, moulding her ass before grabbing the flesh there, dragging her closer to the strong body that was currently driving her crazy. Naruto lifted her legs, wrapping them around Kakashi's waist. He was large and thick, filling and stretching her perfectly and he knew exactly what he was doing. Naruto cried out when he pulled out then thrust back in, hard and fast, his balls slapping against her ass.

"That's it," his voice was rough, his breath hot and moist against her ear and he nipped at the lobe, pulling a little before letting go.

"Come on, Naru. Come for me."

Naruto's hands threaded through soft strands of his hair, digging her heels into his back, she lifted her hips, meeting him thrust for thrust.

"'Please," she begged. "Harder."

"As you wish, babe."

Then she was being flipped onto her stomach before being dragged onto her knees. Her legs were shoved roughly apart then Kakashi was pushing back into her, his grip on her hips strong enough to bruise. Naruto's arms collapsed beneath her, her eyes rolling into the back of her head and she could do little more than grab for a purchase on the sheets as her breath was fucked out of her, leaving her dizzy and panting for more.

His hands shaped her ass again, squeezing and spreading her cheeks. The rough pad of a thumb brushed against the puckered hole there and Naruto melted. His hand slipped over her hip, tracing her hipbone down to her clit and his finger rubbed against the bundle of nerves there and the sensation was almost too much. She clenched the walls of her cunt around him in retaliation, smirking at the broken groan that escaped his lips.

Kakashi slapped her ass, his cock pounding into her with the kind of brute force only a ninja could manage. With each thrust of his hips, Naruto's breath was forced out of her in choked gasps. The fingers of one hand found her clit once more and one from the other hand sunk into her ass, all the way to the knuckle, and Naruto was lost.

Her scream of pleasure turned into the shrill screech of her alarm clock and she snapped awake, pulse racing and beads of sweat dotting her skin.

"Oh balls," Naruto swore as she woke.

At nearly seventeen years of age, proof-reader for the most loved erotic fiction writer (and biggest pervert) in the elemental nations, and exposed to extremely attractive men on a regular basis, Naruto was no stranger to wet dreams. Having those dreams about her best friend was a different story. She rubbed at her face with her hands, trying to banish the images that still lingered before stumbling to the shower and letting the hot spray wake her fully.

Her father had already left for his office and Naruto had the morning free to do as she pleased. Usually she would have sought out Kakashi for a couple of hours but he had his team to look after and she was still a little out of sorts from her dream. So Naruto sauntered through town instead and let herself drink up the sights and sounds of Konoha with no clear destination in mind.

The village was bustling with the influx of visitors for the chūnin exams and Naruto could pass through the crowds relatively unnoticed. One or two people called out, or waved to her as she passed, and Naruto always returned the greeting with a cheerful grin but, for the most part, she was left alone. It was a nice change of pace to have nothing to do but, after a couple of hours, Naruto grew bored and decided to find an empty training field. And that was how Team Gai, also in search of a free training ground, managed to stumble upon a sight that caused Gai and Lee's flames of youth to practically explode.

The training ground was populated with at least a two dozen shadow clones which were sorted into groups and dedicating themselves to different tasks. A couple of them were running through taijutsu forms, some were elbow deep in scrolls, some were ironing out kinks in their ninjutsu techniques. Two clones were even sparring with swords, and others with bo staffs. The overall effect was one of motion and competence and Gai and his protégée practically melted at such a shining example of the genius of hard work.

"Hello," one of the clones greeted as she noticed their presence.

"Namikaze-san!" Maito Gai gushed. "It is truly inspiring to see such youthful passion in a fellow ninja!"

"Meh," Naruto shrugged off the compliment as the shadow clones dispersed to reveal that they'd been talking to the original all along. "I was bored."

"Then perhaps you might be willing to train with us?" Gai asked, quickly seizing the opportunity to get his team to train with a prodigy like Naruto. "It would be most beneficial to this team."

"Sure," Naruto flipped her hair over her shoulders and smiled at the team. Gai and Lee erupted with delight, Neji merely scowled and looked away but Ten-Ten looked pleased with the development.

"Okay then," Naruto said as flames somehow seemed to appear around Gai and Lee. She quickly turned away from the site and gave her attention to Neji and Ten-Ten.

"We'll do two on one okay? I've heard you guys work well together."

She'd heard correctly. Neji and Ten-Ten displayed remarkable teamwork. It was more than familiarity with each other's fighting styles. The way they worked was so instinctual and synchronized it seemed telepathic. There was no such thing as telepathy, of course. Ten-Ten and Neji were just spectacularly suited to each other. In a few years they would probably be inseparable.

"You have trained with a Hyūga before," Neji accused once she had called it a day.

"Yep," Naruto nodded. "When I was in the Academy, I had trouble with chakra control. Your dad helped me out."

As expected, mention of his father made Neji clam right up. His jaw clenched, eyes hardened and he started to turn away but Naruto was having none of it.

"You're trying to perfect the 64 Trigrams right?" Naruto asked, causing Neji to stop walking and look at her. "I can help with that."

"You can?" Neji asked, his brows contracting.

"Sure," Naruto grinned. "You've gotta hit the chakra points for the technique to work right?"

"Yes," Neji confirmed. "So?"

"So," Naruto's grin thinned into a smug, satisfied smirk. "Let's just say that speed runs in the family."

~O

Sabaku No Gaara was not a person who was easily scared. Contrary to popular opinion, he was not unfamiliar with physical pain. Ever since his first meeting with Naruto, Gaara had had his eyes opened to the world around him. Yes, his situation was less than desirable but nobody was ever fully content with their lot in life. Naruto had shown Gaara that what other's thought of him was second to what he thought of himself. He was only a monster if he behaved that way.

So Gaara had started learning the shinobi arts. The theory part of the genin exam was a simple matter of study and the Kazekage's influence ensured that Gaara didn't even have to take the practical part of the exam. Knowing how hard Naruto had had to work to make genin when kids her age hadn't even started the Academy made something in Gaara chafe at the special treatment. So he took it upon himself to keep all his skills honed. Sand clones made for excellent taijutsu partners ninjutsu was slightly more difficult to learn without guidance but Gaara was a talented shinobi even without his bijū. Any obstacles in his training were eventually overcome.

All of this meant that Gaara was as accustomed to pain and hard work as any self-respecting shinobi and those that thought otherwise were very, very mistaken. That being said, fear was something he had not felt in years. Ever since Yashamaru had died, Gaara had locked himself away and let few people close. Nobody could breach his defences and there was a never a mission that scared Gaara.

Now, standing in front of the Hokage with his chest bared, Gaara could admit to being more than a little apprehensive.

His seal had always been something wondrous to Gaara. At first he thought it held his mother's soul so that she could protect him from beyond the grave. Then he'd learned what he was and he realised that the seal held Shukaku, the one-tailed racoon dog. The knowledge that he was a jinchūriki would have broken Gaara were Naruto not the one to point it out to him. With her usual blunt and straight-forward manner, Naruto had treated Gaara like he was…normal and it was that lack of airs or artifice that endeared her to him the most.

Gaara had become wary of people, especially people who were politically important. Their actions and words were always laced with double meaning and their intentions were foggy at best. Powerful people cared only about retaining or increasing their power and Gaara did not trust them. When he had learned that Naruto had been exiled, he had immediately assumed that her father was the same. He was the Hokage and so his word was law. If he truly wanted his daughter to stay in the village all he had to do was say so.

Then he had met the Hokage and mere minutes spent watching him with Naruto had Gaara revising his opinions. The Kazekage was a distant and uncaring parent but the same was not true for the rest of Suna. As a child, Gaara had spent long hours watching families interact from the safety of the rooftops. He knew what loving parents looked like and it was painfully obvious that Namikaze Minato loved his daughter very, very much. He watched Naruto hang onto her father's every word as Minato explained the new seal and the functions of each element. He watched as Minato's eyes shone with pride when Naruto asked a particularly pertinent question and, once the sealing was done, he watched as Naruto smiled gratefully at her father and Minato ruffled his daughter's hair, affection etched on every line of his face.

And so Gaara had found himself telling Naruto and the Hokage about his suspicions. About how his father had seemed different. About how Shukaku seemed was getting increasingly agitated by the Kazekage's presence. And about the plans the Kazekage had for the chūnin exam final. Naruto huffed at the information, the corners of her mouth tilting downwards and showing how upset she was at the news. Minato's expression did not change but his voice was heavy as he thanked Gaara for the information.

Something in Gaara lightened as he left the office. He felt unburdened, like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He didn't know what the Hokage was going to do with his information but he did not care. He trusted Naruto. She would not betray him. So it was with something akin to a smile that Gaara made his way to Ichirakus. He'd heard a lot about ramen. It was time to find out if Naruto was correct about the food.

~O

Kakashi had a plan. Never let it be said that he was slow on the uptake and ever since Naruto had returned from her exile, all grown up and breathtakingly beautiful but still the girl who could make him smile just by being herself, Kakashi had fallen hard and fast.

He knew himself well enough to recognise the signs. He could pick out her voice in the middle of a crowded market and even after ten years apart he could read her tells better than anyone. Naruto herself had told him so. Kakashi found his gaze drawn to Naruto whenever they were in the same room and while their correspondence during her exile had been scarce, her letters had always left him feeling lighter than he did before. Then she'd returned and slotted straight back into his life like she'd never left in the first place.

She was the most important person in his life right now and Kakashi knew, with absolute certainty, that he would never again be able to handle a lengthy separation. He also knew that he was not selfless enough to be able to watch Naruto be happy with another man and if he did not make his move soon that was exactly what he would end up doing. So that afternoon Kakashi made his way over to Naruto's house. It was late enough that she would have cleaned up after her spar with Itachi but early enough that she would not have eaten yet.

"Dinner?" Naruto's eyebrows lifted as she eyed Kakashi. He was dressed in slacks and a collared shirt, his forehead protector exchanged for a band of plain black cloth and his hair brushed into obedience. "Somewhere fancy?"

Kakashi managed to make his shrug feel casual.

"Sure," he said. "It's this new place and Gai's been going on and on about how difficult it is to get reservations."

"Ah," Understanding dawned on Naruto's face. "This is another attempt to get one up on Gai? You pick the weirdest ways to continue this rivalry, Hatake but count me in."

And with that she turned and dashed to her room to change, leaving Kakashi to breathe a sigh of relief. While it was true that Gai had been talking his ear off about the new restaurant, it had very little influence over Kakashi's decision to take Naruto there. She would realise eventually that this was a date and when she did Kakashi wanted to have pulled out all the stops. Almost every review Kakashi had read ranked the food at Laverne's amongst the best in the shinobi nations and so deciding on the venue had been easy.

Now he just had to make sure the night was a success. The clacking of high heels against tile drew Kakashi from his musing and he glanced up in time to find Naruto sashaying back into the kitchen. A fitted black dress clung to her body, the neckline dipping low and giving a tantalising glimpse of the top of her breasts. Naruto had piled her hair on top of her head in a style that showed off the curve of her neck and bare shoulders and Tsunade's necklace glinted from between her collarbones.

"Wow," Kakashi was incredibly grateful for his mask because he was almost certain he was gaping. "You clean up good, Naru."

"Thanks," Naruto grinned. "I couldn't let you show me up, could I?"

Kakashi took the backhanded compliment in the good spirit it had been intended and offered Naruto his arm, smiling when she took it without hesitation. Naruto insisted that she could walk in heels, Tsunade had made her wear pumps for almost a year until she could move equally well in and out of them, so the two strolled through the town and enjoyed the warm summer evening.

Neither were fully aware of the picture they made, both with light hair and dark clothes; and both uncommonly good looking. More than one person turned for a second look and more than one ninja blinked in surprise at seeing the Hokage's daughter and the Copy-Nin out on what was obviously a date. The latter was part of Kakashi's plan. Nobody could gossip quite like a ninja and by tomorrow it would have spread through the ranks that the two of them were dating and, hopefully, those ranks included thrice-damned Uchiha's that were too talented for their own good and with a sob story to boot. Okay so Kakashi might just be a little bit jealous and more than a little protective. So sue him.

Kakashi did not have reservations but the maître d' glanced up, recognised the Hokage's daughter and student, and immediately ushered them towards a table for two. Naruto glanced around, taking in the décor with a tiny smile which grew when she met Kakashi's gaze once more.

"This place looks amazing," Naruto said. "Very swanky indeed. I should commend Gai on his taste."

Kakashi didn't dignify that with an answer and merely accepted his menu when it was handed to him. The dishes all sounded enticing, familiar ingredients cooked in different and exciting ways and one comment about juniper berries sparked an amusing anecdote from Naruto about Jiraiya going undercover as a restaurateur. Of course, he leered a bit too much at one of his 'patrons' and got punched so hard by Tsunade that he flew right through the main restaurant, through the kitchen and into the storage area. The Sannin had destroyed most of the fresh goods and a good portion of the crockery and had had to wash dishes for three days before Jiraiya finally got frustrated enough to part with his hard earned cash and pay off their debt.

From there the evening flowed with little effort on Kakashi's part. He let his fingers brush against Naruto's as much as possible and was more attentive than he'd ever been to anyone before. Kakashi was at his most charming. Only some of the compliments he showered Naruto with were backhanded, the rest were sincere and made Naruto blink a little in surprise at first. By the time they were having desert a speculative gleam had entered her eyes and Kakashi's heartbeat thundered in his ears. Naruto had always been scarily good at reading him and now that she was starting to understand what the evening was about, excitement began to curl low and heavy in Kakashi's gut.

They kept up the pretence over coffee and Naruto was still playing along as they left the restaurant but she slipped her hand into his and pressed close so Kakashi counted it as a win. Silence fell between them as Kakashi escorted Naruto back home but it was a comfortable one and Kakashi smiled down at his friend, letting her hand go in favour of draping his arm around her shoulders. Naruto sighed and pressed closer and the way Kakashi's grin widened was hidden by his mask.

"Ne, Kakashi, this was nice," Naruto sighed as they approached her door.

"It was," Kakashi agreed.

"We should do it again," Naruto mused. "What about Wednesday evening? There's that new sushi bar that I've been dying to try out."

"Sure," Kakashi shrugged. If Naruto wanted to feign ignorance of what the night had meant that was fine with him. Two could play at that game.

"It's a date," and with a casual, two-fingered salute Kakashi body-flickered out of sight, leaving a laughing Naruto behind.

Naruto practically danced up the stairs to her bedroom. Just this morning she'd been cursing the inconvenient feelings she had for her best friend, bemoaning the way they'd invaded her subconscious and turned her dreams X-rated. Now it seemed like those feelings were reciprocated and not so inconvenient after all.

A blush coloured Naruto's cheeks as she remembered the way Kakashi's body had felt against hers in her dreams and she stifled her squeal of delight with a pillow. It looked like she would be finding out if her dreams did him justice sooner than she'd anticipated.