Kei-Kei Yuki: Y'all I'm getting close to the big fight and the heartbreak, so prepare yourselves as it's going to hurt. Well, mainly Naruko... and Sasuke,... but yeah it's going to hurt!

Beta: Ana-DaughterofHades

Festival-Part 1

Hearing a knock at the door, Naruko removed herself from Iruka's couch and made her way towards the door, only to be greeted with Ino's and Sakura's smiling faces. Hinata stood in between them, shyly staring at the ground, fiddling with her fingers. "Okay, I understand Hina-chan, but why are you two here?" asked Naruko, one hand holding the door frame while the other rested on her hip.

"After doing some last-minute shopping, we ran into Hinata who said she was on her way to visit you and decided to tag along. Besides, this way we can all get ready together!" There was a big smile on Sakura's face, lifting her blonde eyebrow upward; confusion clouded the blonde's head.

"Get ready for what? Is there something special about today?" Naruko still didn't get the big idea for why Sakura and Ino were standing at Iruka's front door. Hinata was a different story, seeing how the shy Hyuuga heiress was Naruko's best friend and the only one to hang out with her.

"Idiot! The village is hosting a festival to celebrate the new Hokage. Plus a lot has taken place, so a festival is just what everyone needs to lighten up the mood." After the invasion and the death of the third, even though a new leader has been elected, the mood of the people was still down and recovering, so that's why the higher-ups suggested hosting a festival to bring some joy and liveliness to the village.

"H-Huh?" Naruko was not expecting this answer and just before she could find an excuse to turn down Sakura and Ino, the two had already barged inside the apartment.

Hearing a series of footsteps in her apartment, Iruka stepped out of her room to investigate and saw Sakura and Ino, tackling a struggling Naruko to the floor; on the sidelines watching was poor sweet and confused Hinata. Iruka debated with herself if she should lend the blonde her assistance or not. Shaking her head at the three girls wrestling at her front door, clearing her throat, Iruka got all four girls' attention.

"Ruka-nee, help! They're trying to force me against my will!" yelled Naruko, throwing Ino off the top of her, earning a glare from Ino.

"Naruko, we're just trying to get you ready for the festival tonight! Now pipe down and let the goddess of beauty do her work." Ino was confident in her looks and beautician skills, sporting a proud smirk on her face, only for it to vanish when Naruko opened her mouth and said,

"Wow, didn't know the Goddess of Beauty was such a Flat-Chest." This sarcastic remark caused Naruko to almost choke to death when Ino reached out with her hands and began tugging viscously on Naruko's collar, causing it to constrict the blonde's throat.

"Who the hell are you calling Flat-Chest, huh?!"

"Sorry for disturbing you, Iruka-sensei, we just came over to get ready with Naruko for the festival tonight!" Sakura politely explained, before stepping in to pull Ino away from Naruko.

"The festival? Ah, now I see what's going on." Iruka had a feeling that the girls had wanted to attend the festival with Naruko and had decided for all of them to get ready together. Iruka had heard word of how Sakura's attitude towards Naruko had changed, having heard it from Naruko and even Kakashi, whenever the jonin would drop in for a random visit, but now she was finally seeing it for herself.

Iruka was aware of Sakura's personality from back at the academy when Sakura was younger; the young kunoichi was very shy and even bullied often by some of her peers. Her change in personality resulted from her friendship with Ino, yet like most girls in the academy, her one-sided crush for Sasuke sprung up a lot of flaws. So obsessed with wanting to impress him, she unknowingly became just like all of his other fangirls.

Relying solely on her brains, Sakura was arrogant enough to think that that was all it was going to take for her to be a kunoichi. But the life of shinobi requires more than just brains, but skill and heart as well. But now looking at her ex-student, Iruka saw that no longer was Sakura that vain and naive young girl searching for romance but was slowly blossoming into becoming a true kunoichi.

Smiling at the girls chatting in her living room, Iruka moved her eyes towards Naruko and noticed from the look of her eyes and subtle movements of her body language that Naruko felt uncomfortable at the idea of attending a festival. Honestly, Iruka could not blame Naruko, even though times were now changing and the hatred aimed towards Naruko has died down some. Neither of them could forget how the people once treated the blonde back when she was younger.

Even now, Iruka still shuddered from the coldness and intensity their eyes held towards the little girl, yelling words that no child should ever hear. Seeing all of this first hand, the kind-hearted chunin didn't know what to think, if Naruko had truly grown up alone with no one there to protect and guide her. Such thoughts were terrifying, so Iruka tried hard to not indulge herself in such dark thoughts, but they were always there in the back of her head.

"Sounds like a fun idea! Why don't I lend a hand as well?" If the situation was still as it was when Naruko was a child, Iruka would've come up with an excuse to keep Naruko at home with her, but times were changing. They might not be the best, but ever since the final round of the chunin exams, after proclaiming her inspiring words and defeating Neji Hyuuga, Naruko had placed a dent in people's opinions towards her.

Slowly, she was starting to show people that she was more than how they judged her and soon they would one day start seeing Naruko in the way Iruka saw her. A special and adorable girl, spreading her warmth and kindness to all those in need. A girl who would never give up on a friend in need and was always there to lend a hand. A girl with big dreams, fully determined to make them come true that nothing on this earth could hold her back.

A girl who was passionate, energetic, and yes, Naruko had a fiery temper but she also had a very gentle and sweet side to her. She was a girl who deserved nothing but the best and most of all, she was born to be a hero! Iruka held out hope that one day, the world would see Naruko as she deserved, but for now, she'd be patient and wait.

An hour had passed since Ino and Sakura were shown the layout of Iruka's two-bedroom apartment and invaded the bathroom where Ino set up a flora scented bath and Naruko was thrown in it by her and Sakura. Ignoring the struggling blonde, the two washed her hair and scrubbed her back, cleaning every part of her body. "Hey, I can bathe myself!" yelled a flustered Naruko.

"Naruko, beauty is a piece of art. Only a true artist such as myself can bring out your true beauty. So shut-up and let us do our job!" Ino was not about to let Naruko ruin her work. She was determined to make the blonde become her masterpiece. Plus, if one could set aside the hideous orange suit, the obnoxious voice, and Naruko's unladylike manners, one would see that Naruko was quite cute with those big azure eyes, chubby cheeks, vibrant blonde hair that shone almost gold in the sunlight, petite, but to Ino's displeasure from what she saw in the bath, the idiot was actually a lot bigger than her in the chest department.

'Crap! Compared to her, I am flat-chested!' Ino was a bit ticked off towards this revelation but decided to let it go for today.

After the floral bath, the girls started getting ready with Iruka lending her assistance, and finally, after a lot of struggling and hair pulling mainly from Naruko, everyone was dressed and ready for the festival. Marveling at her masterpiece, Ino truly felt proud of her work. The blonde Yamanaka herself was wearing a violet camellia yukata with a navy blue obi tied around her waist. Her long pale blonde locks were tied neatly into a bun; stabbed into the bun was a beautiful hairpin of a purple flower lily.

Sakura herself looked lovely in a red yukata scattered with sakura petals; tied at her waist was a dark red obi with a red and pink flower tassel attached. Standing beside Sakura, Hinata stood there elegantly in her white yukata that was covered in blue and light pink chrysanthemum; a royal blue obi was wrapped around her waist. Her starry pearly white eyes were directed towards her fidgeting best friend.

"O-Oi, stop staring at me all weird like that!" Cheeks were dusted with a faint shade of pink; Naruko felt uncomfortable with the way the girls were staring at her. The tomboy blonde was sporting an orange yukata, the fabric was decorated with yellow dahlias, the color of her obi was a pale yellow, and a cute frog flower tassel was attached to her waist. Naruko's sunny blonde locks were styled into twin buns, bangs neatly combed and framing her face.

Walking forward in her simple light green, pink rose print yukata, Iruka placed an orange flower kanzashi in Naruko's left bun. Stepping back to get a good look at the girl, the older brunette smiled. "Now you are ready to attend the festival."

End of Festival-Part 1