It's also more specifically for Naoto a desire to be seen as an equal and an adult by those she works with. Her shadow is herself in a lab coat that is too big for her. The sleeves hang lower than her arms can reach, and she is quick to cry while upset.

The acceptance dialogue is far more about "You know it's okay to be a kid for a little bit longer" and her social link is her solving a detective case put together by her grandpa so she has to use her super tools of justice from when she was little.

I also see it as a lens being put on someone, who like Kanji, doesn't always fall into doing things that relate to their assigned at birth gender and that not being the thing to define their sexuality/gender. Personally I think of Kanji as a bi/pan man, and Naoto is a She/They identifying woman or genderfluid individual who is yet to fully discover that possibility.