Destiny1029: Okay, we all know the sad, sad truth by now… I don't own Naruto.

Chapter four: Wait… a date?

Naruto jumped up once again and clicked his heels together. He had a date with his Sakura-chan this Friday, and nothing, absolutely nothing could rain on his parade. He was so happy he decided to take a walk and get some Miso Stew to munch on. He locked his door and jumped down onto the green grass behind the apartment complex. He made his way to the road and walked with a kind of a skip. His grin was so wide and bright that anyone could see it before they even knew who was walking down the road.

He finally got to the Ramen bar and found a familiar face sitting in his normal bar stool.

"Oi Iruka! What are you doing here?" Naruto said with a smile as he took his place next to his old mentor.

"The normal, you're here awfully late, you usually show up around 3, it's 7 O'clock."

Naruto gave a smile and ordered his stew. He was so excited he couldn't hold it in anymore. "Sakura-chan and I are going on a date this Friday!"

Iruka stared at his student and gave him an unsure smile. "Really now?"

"Yea, I asked her, and well after a bit of begging she finally said yes," He said with a grin as he dove into his miso stew.

"Beg?" Iruka asked with an eyebrow cocked. He knew how much he loved this girl. Why, he'd never know. It didn't make much sense, he could understand being on a team would make them come closer to each other but before that... why? How? He even left for three years, and he still loved her. He'd never understand it.

"Yea, but she said yes…" he said with a smile, "and she healed me!"

"Healed you?"

"Long story." Naruto said as he plunged into his second Miso Stew. Iruka stared and shook his head.

"Well where are you going on this date?"

"The festival," Naruto said plainly.

"The Cherry Blossom Festival?" Iruka said, a little wide-eyed and scared.

"I don't know… I guess… whatever festival is this Friday…" Naruto answered innocently while stuffing his face once again with noodles.

"Naruto… that's the ONLY festival going on this weekend, in fact it's almost the most important festival of the year." Iruka said as he set his fork down next to the soup.

"Yea, yea who cares," Naruto said.

"Who cares… do you know what you're supposed to wear? Do you know what she's going to be wearing? Do you know how important a tradition this is to Konoha?"

Naruto stared at his teacher blankly and as though someone had hit him with a rock he screamed and spit out his miso stew all over poor Iruka. "OH MY GOD! I'm going to look like an idiot! I don't have a kimono! I don't even know how to look nice! What the hell am I supposed to wear! What the hell am I supposed to say? Where am I supposed to meet her!" Naruto freaked out, Iruka merely took a napkin wiped off the stew and shook his head at the boy.

"What I can't understand is how you didn't know this was Cherry Blossom Weekend," Iruka said as he scratched his cheek in thought.

"IRUKA-SENSEI! You KNOW I don't remember ANYTHING!" Naruto whined. Naruto pushed away he ret of his soup… all of a sudden he lost his appetite, Iruka knew this was serious.

"Well… I'm sure I can find you something to wear, if worse comes to worst then you can always borrow an extra one from someone, I mean Kiba's about your size, right? And just act like a gentleman… um… well… TRY to be more mature… but still be yourself."

Naruto tried to absorb the last sentence. He looked blankly again. "What! You're confusing me!"

"I don't know!"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN? AHH! My one chance and I'm screwed!" Naruto wailed and put his head down onto the counter. And then as though heaven was shining upon him Ayame interrupted.

"Um, well actually Naruto-San," Ayame said politely. "It's really easy. Just be yourself… only being yourself in a good way. Be the part of you she likes. Like your jokes, and good old times. Just strike up a conversation and things will go from there… and no matter what make her smile." Ayame shared her wisdom.

"Oh… that sounds a lot better that Iruka's explanation," Naruto said with a grin.

"Hey!" Iruka randomly interrupted.

"It was rather confusing Iruka-San," Ayame concluded.

"Well I got the kimono situation right on key right?" Iruka asked, trying to make himself, in the process, feel better.

"Yes, yes you were, Naruto I'd go see your friend soon to ask for the kimono, and practice in your mirror your conversations, it'll be dumb at first but it'll make a world of difference. Also if it gets awkward DON'T PANIC!" She warned. "If all goes wrong do something, ANYTHING romantic… DON'T TRY TO KISS HER THOUGH! It'll be even more awkward." Ayame continued with the advice.

"Should… Should I be taking notes?" Naruto asked in a very scared voice. This was all too much for his brain to handle, it really was.

"It's really easy to remember. I promise." Ayame said with a smile.

So Naruto listened to the wise words of Ayame in hopes of truly understanding the mind set of a woman.

D: Ok I promised it and here it is! Sorry it was at the end of the week instead of the beginning… or middle. But I had no idea what I was promising when I said that. I had dance practice every night this week for 3 hours on top of homework and a competition yesterday (Saturday) Just in case you were all wondering… we dominated with first place and the top score over all! Also, my crush finally asked me to a dance last night, so as you can imagine I feel like I'm in heaven right now. Everything evened out in the end! ANYWAY! I bet you all are now like WHY IS SHE SAYING ALL OF THIS! I needed to let it all loose! Back on the story! I changed it from carnival to festival for all of you who noticed! Sorry That was a typo in the third chapter. I will update as soon as possible… it comes as a plus because I have only 4 practices this week!

Lots of loving! -D