The paint was dry by the time Kakashi woke up early the next day. He'd brushed his teeth with a stupid look on his face, immeasurably pleased by the sight of Naruto's toothbrush in the cup that housed his own, then headed straight to check on it, poking at several different parts of the wall to test for any tackiness, but it was perfect. He rolled up the tarps, pulled the tape off of the trim, and got to work arranging furniture, counting his blessings that the room was carpeted and Naruto a heavy sleeper anyway.

He ended up deciding on the bed in the corner next to the window, and the desk oriented to face the opposite wall, while the dresser was arranged next to the door on the side that housed the desk. It left space in the middle, and didn't feel crowded, and since he knew jack shit about feng shui or home design, that would have to do. He hung the curtains next, long, lacy, and pale orange in color, not so opaque they darkened the room much but enough to maintain Naruto's privacy. Then he plugged her lamp in at her desk, and started putting sheets on the bed, which sported the comfortable mattress he and his shadow clone had carried in the day previous. The sheets were plain white, but quite nice to the touch, and their edges were rather pretty, with floral embroidery. He made the bed up neatly, placing the squishy pillows he'd obtained for her by the head with the quilt he'd picked out for her folded down.

He really hoped she would like the quilt. It was white, with a swirling, organic, leaf-like pattern stitched all in orange. It was the orangest bedding he could find, and personally, he thought it was cute.

Kakashi grabbed one of his laundry baskets to put by the foot of the bed, placed the full-length mirror where he'd hang it next to the dresser (though he would wait until Naruto was awake to do so), and… yes, this was a girl's bedroom, instantly recognizable as such. All it needed were some posters or artwork on the wall and a little blue dog on the bed. And it was barely nine. Let no one say that Hatake Kakashi was unproductive.

He was itching with excitement to show her, but when he checked on her, she was sleeping on her stomach with her head to the side and her face mushed, letting out the cutest little snores, so he let her sleep in, making coffee and entertaining himself by burying his nose in his book. The smell or the sound of the coffee being made must have stirred her, though, because it wasn't long before he heard shuffling and turned his head to watch her sit up and look blearily around the apartment. "G'morning, sensei," she yawned, covering her mouth politely as she looked at him over the back of the couch. "Sleep good?"

"Slept well," he corrected casually. "And yes, I did. How did you sleep?"

Her brow scrunched up and she pouted, the effect so utterly charming he almost forgot to listen to her response. "Fine. Sort of… not really, I guess. Had a nightmare, didn't get back to sleep for a while… d'you want me to make breakfast?"

…

Kaka-sensei was looking at Naruto like she'd said something terrible, and for a moment, she had no idea what it had been, but it became apparent when she recognized the emotion in his grey eye as worry. "You can wake me up if you have a nightmare," he told her in that strange, gentle voice she'd never heard from him before the last few days, the one that made her stomach flip and feel warm, even as it embarrassed her to be treated so tenderly. "My door is always unlocked."

The memory of taking him up on that offer burned her cheeks and ears, and she averted her gaze. What had she been thinking? How could she possibly have felt safer in bed with a man than alone on the couch? But she had, and she'd slept great knowing her sensei was protecting her… "You don't have to—"

"You keep saying that, Naruto," he interrupted her, and she couldn't bring herself to look up. "Again, I don't have to do anything. I'm doing the things I want to do. I want you—" He paused, apparently for emphasis. "—to wake me up if you're having trouble sleeping. Promise, or I'll just start checking on you every couple hours."

Naruto chanced a glance up on a hunch he was teasing her, and she had been right. Her sensei was smiling at her, one of his rare genuine smiles that made her heart skip. "I promise, then," she agreed, trying not to look as stupidly happy as she was. "Well, if we're doing all the things you want, do you want to let me cook breakfast?"

There was something dark in her sensei's eye for a fraction of a second, but she couldn't read it before he turned, busying himself with pouring a cup of coffee. "Maa, you've only just moved in, you already want to burn it down?"

She stuck her tongue out at his back, puffing up in defense. "Hey, I'm a good cook!"

"Ramen doesn't count as—"

"No, sensei, really!" Naruto was pouting, and she didn't care, especially when he looked at her over his shoulder and froze for a second, the same look in his eye that he got in the presence of particularly cute puppies. His head whipped back around and she pushed, knowing people were at their weakest when she managed to briefly trick them into thinking she was cute. "Please? I don't want to just be a freeloader, I want to help around the apartment. I can cook."

"You don't have to do chores, Naruto—"

"I don't have to do anything, sensei," she echoed him, and the jōnin huffed out a sigh, turning back around with a mug cradled in his hands—it looked comically small, he had such long fingers—as he eyed her wearily.

"… Fine," the man consented after a moment. "Just be careful. Okay?"

Naruto waved her hand dismissively. "Don't be so dramatic, sensei. I've been cooking nearly every day for six years, and I haven't caught anything on fire since before I started at the academy." That didn't seem to soothe the older man, but she ignored him. "I'll also do the grocery shopping, if you make me a list each week. And I'll do the laundry, and keep the kitchen clean."

Her sensei's shoulders sagged as he watched her, something like fond exasperation making him look soft. "Naruto… you're my genin, not my wife," he admonished gently, gesturing with his mug.

Naruto was blushing, but she didn't look away, holding eye contact insistently. "So dramatic, sensei. I like to cook, I like to do laundry, I like cleaning counters. I don't like vacuuming, or dusting. I'm not the biggest fan of the dishes, so if you want me doing less chores, you can take that one." He looked entirely unconvinced, and uncomfortable, so she needled him. "What, are you embarrassed about me folding your underwear? I won't make fun if they're pink, I promise."

Her sensei shot her an incredulous look, then snorted, rubbing at his exposed eye with an air of defeat. "Maa, do what you want, then, if you promise not to make fun of me." He hummed. "As long as it doesn't interfere with your training."

…

How good it made Kakashi feel to watch Naruto cook for him felt awful.

She was just so damn precious. He liked seeing her drowning in his borrowed sweatpants, padding around his kitchen in her bare feet, opening and closing drawers and cabinets looking for different things she needed… all with the most adorable concentrated look on her pretty face. And making something for him. He could barely remember the last time someone had cooked just for him—it must have been Kushina—and the warmth it stirred in him was unfamiliar but addictive. And she was going to do his laundry? He was clearly going insane, just as he'd always known he would if he let himself get too close to Naruto, but that felt so powerfully intimate to him that something like arousal buzzed under his skin. Side effects of being so intensely private, he supposed, if the most minor defenses lowered felt like intimacy, like some intangible stolen touch.

It did seem like the girl knew what she was doing. Her knife skills were impeccable of course, no surprise given her day job, but there was also no hesitation in how she moved, how she seasoned, how long she let things cook before she flipped them. It took very little time before she was presenting him with an omelet stuffed with peppers and tomato on fluffy white rice.

When she stood in front of him with her hands on her hips and an expectant look on her face, Kakashi realized she was looking for his judgment, so he lowered his mask and took a bite. "Oh, it is good," he acknowledged, looking down at his plate. The texture of the eggs was very pleasing, and the flavor was excellent. "Okay, yes, you might be better at this than I am."

He looked up to see her react to his praise—she always reacted so prettily when he said something positive about her—but she was frozen in place with her jaw dropped, staring at him, and it took a moment to realize that he'd taken his mask down. It… truly hadn't registered to him that he'd done so. It had felt natural, and safe, as though she'd seen his face a thousand times, but in reality she hadn't, and she was looking at him like he'd grown several extra heads. He felt heat rise on his cheeks and winced.

"Sensei is blushing," she breathed, clearly stunned. "I'm looking at his face. Oh, wow, sensei, we thought you must have buck teeth, or fish lips, but your teeth are really nice." He stared at her, bemused, as she rolled up on her toes to examine him better. "You're so handsome, sensei, why do you cover your face?"

Kakashi shrugged, trying not to engage with the butterflies erupting in his stomach at being called handsome by his girl. "Just do," he answered shortly. Then, something involuntarily defensive rising in him at her continued staring, "Why do you wear your jumpsuit?"

They looked at each other for a tense moment. Then Naruto turned to serve herself a plate, and grab a fork. "Touché," she said after a moment, equally defensive, and he really should have apologized, but instead he deflected as he followed her to the table and set his plate down before turning to fetch them both water.

"We're roommates," Kakashi explained, changing the subject. "You were going to be seeing my face eventually. Just like I've seen you without your jacket on. I figured there was no point in prolonging the inevitable." That was a lie, he had absolutely been planning on prolonging the hell out of the inevitable. Taking down his mask without even realizing he had done so was a blaring sign of how helpless he felt against the rising tide of his affection for the little blonde who accepted the water from his hand with a sincere, sweet thank you. "Speaking of, you can call me Kakashi when we're here. Should probably stick to sensei when we're out, though."

"Do you have a fever?" she wondered, baffled. "Should I call somebody? You're clearly having some kind of an episode. Did you inhale too many paint fumes?"

He snorted, chewing and swallowing the bite he'd taken while she'd been talking. "Again, Naruto, we're living together now. Our relationship is going to change." The word grooming loomed menacingly in the back of his mind. "Now, eat. You did a wonderful job, enjoy it while it's hot."

There was the reaction to praise he'd been looking for. Her cheeks colored so sweetly, and she ducked her head as she obediently took a bite. Her brow scrunched up. "Oh, it's really not my best," she evaluated critically. "Could have used some more garlic, and if I'd cooked it a little hotter, I could have gotten a nice thin crust on the bottom… But I guess there's no accounting for taste."

Without any further discussion, she tucked into her meal, and Kakashi was left disappointed that he still hadn't heard his name on her lips.

…

"I have a surprise for you."

Naruto looked up from putting away the spices she'd used and collecting the vegetable scraps into a container to stick in the freezer, eyeing her sensei dubiously. The man had been acting strange all morning, after all, asking her to call him by his first name, showing his face… Just then, he was focused on the dishes, his mask back up and body language unreadable. "What is it?" she asked, hesitant.

She watched his single exposed eye curve into a smile. "Maa, Naruto, it's not a surprise if I tell you."

"Is it… is it a good surprise, sensei?"

"Kakashi," he corrected neutrally.

She jerked her thumb towards her chest, and enunciated as though she was teaching him the word, "Na-ru-to," earning a sincere laugh from the man.

"Yes, Na-ru-to," he echoed her, teasing. "It's a good surprise. I hope so, anyway. It's intended as a good surprise." He set the last of their dishes on the drying rack, and wiped his wet hands on his thighs as he turned towards her. "Do you want to see it?"

"Obviously I want to see it. When have you ever known me to not want a surprise?" Her sensei hummed in acknowledgement, then jerked his chin in a signal for her to follow him. They didn't go far, just to the door to what was going to be her bedroom, where he paused with his hand on the knob. "I've already seen the paint, sensei," she pointed out, confused. He ignored her, though, and guided her closer with a warm hand on her lower back as he pushed the door open, and her through it.

"Oh." It was so pretty, so airy and clean and colorful and just—just the nicest thing anyone has ever done for her. The orange and blue were so cute together, she loved the curtains, and the bed looked so comfortable. Unexpected tears sprang to her eyes, and Naruto could tell instantly it was going to be one of those times that something small got her started, but broke the floodgates and forced her to cry about everything, quickly devolving into painful, wracking sobs.

She heard her sensei make a distressed, panicked noise that she would have laughed about at length if she wasn't too busy bawling her eyes out, grinding her palms into them in a vain attempt to get the tears to stop. Hesitant fingers touched her shoulder, then drew her against a hard chest, and Naruto let her sensei hold her, let him rock her and hush her. "I'm so sorry," he murmured with a note of baffled alarm that made her laugh through her tears. "I didn't want to make you sad."

"'m not sad," she sniffled, turning in his arms to push her face into his chest and wrap her arms around his neck, squeezing him. "I'm happy. Thank you, thank you, sensei, thank you so much."

The man's embrace had loosened and become stiff with her movement, his body frozen, but Naruto simply didn't let go, hiding her tears in his shirt as he slowly, carefully wrapped his arms around her waist. He was tall and long-limbed, so their embrace was awkward, but dammit, she needed a hug and this would just have to do. "… You're welcome," her sensei said after a long pause, hesitant and confused.

"Sorry," Naruto sniffed, and put on her bravest watery smile as she tilted her head up to look at him. "I'm being a stupid girl again, I'll stop."

She tried to pull away, withdrawing her hold around his neck, but the arms around her tightened, holding her in place, and for a second, the feeling of being trapped made her heart race, but she reminded herself that this was her sensei, she was completely safe with him. "You aren't being stupid," he insisted, voice low and urgent. "And there's nothing wrong with being a girl, Naruto. It's part of who you are. Would you tell Sakura she was being a stupid girl if she cried?" Naruto's face screwed up into a frown at having this logic used again, but all she could do was shake her head no and thunk her forehead against her sensei's sternum. "You should embrace it. If you can accept being a jinchūriki, surely you can accept something as simple as being female?"

"It's different," Naruto mumbled into his shirt, embarrassed. She tried to pull away again, and this time, he let her. Eager to avoid eye contact, she walked towards the bed, admiring the beautiful orange stitching on the quilt as she traced it with her fingertips. "I don't know how to embrace it. No one can tell me I'm being a jinchūriki the wrong way, because there aren't any others around. But there are a lot of pretty girls, who mostly all do things a certain way, and they have a… a skillset that I don't."

"Why don't you ask Sakura?"

Naruto snorted. "Aw, c'mon, sensei, you know I annoy her. She won't want to try to teach me all the things my mom was supposed to have."

Her sensei made an odd sound, almost pained, but by the time she looked over her shoulder at him, he was as impassive as always. "I think she would want to," he said, clearly in the process of disengaging, turning away and putting his hands in his pockets like he was bored. "No harm in asking… Maa, I forgot, I'm your boss, aren't I? Make that an order. Being able to blend in is an important skill for a ninja, so view it as part of your training."

"So mean," Naruto whined. "Fine, fine, I'll ask, but don't blame me if she says no."

"She won't," he answered instantly, absolutely certain, and she turned her head so he wouldn't see her roll her eyes. "Help me hang this mirror, won't you?"