Hello everyone.

Okay, let me just start off by saying that I've been a fan of Romeo and Juliet since I was 9. The reason for it? The Estonian musical that came to theaters back then. Now there may be a shit ton of things that suck in Estonia, but this is one thing we do have - fucking awesome live actors who can also sing and would beat most of the most popular singers today in a heartbeat.

The musical was set in 21st century and GAWD, I still fangirl over it. Shit. It was awesome x3 I've it on DVD.

ANYWHO, hence this story. I hope you likey x3


SasoDei in the style of modern Romeo and Juliet


Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents' strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

-Shakespeare

Act One

A solemn sigh, sounding both lonely and dismal, escaped Sasori's lips, echoing in his empty room. The sun had risen about two hours ago and he had closed the curtains to prevent any rays of light from entering his solitude. His room was dark and grim, poorly furnished just like the rest of the apartment. He had locked his door, just in case someone got the urge to check on him. He wasn't in the mood to see anyone.

While lying fully-clothed on his bed, one hand under his head in place of a pillow, he whipped out his stone-age Nokia, unlocking the keys. The phone was so old it even had the snake game on it, and that was saying something. Lazily flipping through the menu, knowing it held nothing of interest to him, he looked up a contact he really did not want to think about. Yet she was the only thing on his mind.

There must've been something to the way her name was spelled or the order of numbers in her phone number, because Sasori couldn't tear his eyes away from them. He hadn't gone outside during sunlight for days, knowing that every person he saw would've somehow reminded him of her. Oh why, why did she have to haunt him? Or, if that question was too difficult to be answered, why couldn't she be his?

He remembered all too clearly the shy smile the girl had flashed him a week ago when they'd seen each other in the park. Sasori had found it odd from the start that the girl had chosen the park as the place for them to meet, but had still decided to go. If it was her asking, how could he refuse?

However, he had started to regret that decision after the first sentence had spilled from her mouth. 'My parents insist on me focusing on my studies. I can't meet you anymore.' Her eyes had been full of regret and mouth twisted in a shy smile. But that wasn't the only thing that had been burnt into his memory. He remembered absolutely everything about her at that moment. The way her hair had been done, the clothes she had been dressed in, her scent that had whooshed towards him, carried by the sudden gust of wind.

Oh, he couldn't think of anything he wouldn't have done to forget her and that moment. At the same time, there was nothing he wouldn't have given to be with her, to see her once more. Love… why do you seek to destroy me? Frustrated, Sasori tossed his phone onto the floor. It landed with a loud thud that startled him. Exhaling slowly to relax his body, he placed the hand that had been holding the device, on his stomach, closing his eyes.

A low click made his eyes fly open and he snapped his head towards the door. He was 100 percent sure he'd locked it. He frowned at the red-haired head that popped out, glancing around in the dim room. Having spotted Sasori, the figure pushed the door open enough for him to fit through and then closed it behind him.

"Yo, Sasori! Why the long face?" Nagato asked, casually slipping the picklock back into his pocket. He had a plate with what looked like chocolate-chip cookies in his hand and crossed the room, taking a seat on Sasori's bed, wasting no time making himself feel comfortable. "Your parents said you'd been locking yourself in here since Wednesday, not even coming out to eat. Without me, even these cookies would've gone to waste. You sure are lucky I came by, eh?"

Sasori glared at his friend, who was gobbling down the cookies he assumed his mother had made, leaving crumbs on the sheet. Sasori considered snapping at him for eating like a pig, but thought better of it. Instead, he flipped onto his stomach, burying his face in the pillow. Would Nagato get the hint to leave him alone?

Certainly not.

"Dude, I'm talking to you!" Nagato said, grabbing Sasori's shoulder and shaking it. "You've been ignoring everyone's calls for days. What's going on?"

An indistinct mumble that sounded something along the lines of 'go away' could be heard from the depth of the pillow and Nagato quirked an eyebrow at it. Knowing Sasori, this wasn't what he'd expected to find. To be honest, his odd behavior had caught him off guard.

He shook his shoulder a little more. "Dude, you're eighteen, yet you act like a ten-year old girl. Get yourself together, people are getting pissed."

"Let them" was certainly not the response Nagato had anticipated either, yet that was the one he got from the annoyed redhead. He was seriously tempted to use force to get his friend to face him. This wasn't normal by any standards!

Still, being foresightful, he decided against it and took his hand off Sasori's shoulder. He stood up, pacing around in the small room, pausing in front of the window to open the curtains. The midnight atmosphere turned into a bright morning in a second. The window was facing a gray and dusty street with graffiti on the buildings and trash lying on the ground. There were no trees or nothing even to remind a person that somewhere else, outside the radius of 3 kilometers, there still existed something green that could be called nature.

Nagato wouldn't have blamed Sasori for wanting to hide from this sight, hadn't he known this wasn't what he was hiding from. He cracked the window open a notch, then took a seat on the edge of Sasori's desk. "So, tell me, what's got you down this time? It couldn't be a girl, now could it?"

Sasori didn't answer, but the atmosphere surrounding him seemed to have turned even gloomier. Nagato examined him, trying to decide whether it was only his imagination, or he'd actually hit dead on. Oh, God, how he wished he'd had a cigarette with him at the moment! This situation was seriously testing his patience and wrecking his nerves.

He scraped his hand roughly across his face, letting out a devastated sigh. What the hell was wrong with this guy?! "OK, let us assume it really was a girl. Who? What did she say?" No reply. Nagato frowned, then let his mouth curve upwards in a mischievous smirk. "'Your dick is too small, I don't want it?'" he mocked, imitating an annoyingly high-pitched girl's voice. He couldn't help but chuckle at his own joke afterwards.

Pulse throbbed at Sasori's temple and he turned to the side, throwing the first thing he got his hand on at the irritating redhead. It happened to be a book. Nagato caught it with ease, despite it being aimed nearly perfectly at his face. He flipped it over, glancing at the plain brown cover and then at Sasori. "A compilation of Shakespeare's plays? What's a chav like you doing with an old book like this? Hit your head against a kitchen counter and are now taking interest in medieval dramas?"

Left in an uncomfortable position where all his weight fell on the hand he was leaning on, Sasori stared at Nagato wordlessly, weighing up his options between smacking the other redhead or walking away. Generally peace-loving as a character, he chose the easy way out.

"If you're not leaving, then I am," he muttered, picking up the phone from the ground and standing up. He brushed against Nagato as he pushed his way through between him and the bed, making his way to the door in a hurried pace.

"No, wait, Sasori, man!" Nagato said, rushing over to the door and holding it closed, receiving a death glare from Sasori in return. Nagato tried to soften it with a friendly smile. "C'mon now, man, you know I didn't mean it. Just talk to me! What happened? You know you can always tell me!"

Sasori's expression hadn't changed as he stared at his friend, impatience stirring up anger inside. His hand still hadn't let go of the door handle.

Nagato took notice of this and sighed, pushing his back against the door and crossing his arms over his chest. "OK, so you don't want to talk about it, I get it. But it's only one girl, for pity's sake!" He looked Sasori in the eye sternly, before his expression turned playful again. "You don't happen to know the four main rules of a happy marriage, do you?"

Finally letting his hand slide off the handle, Sasori turned his head away, a sigh expressing impatience escaping his lips. "No," he said in a tone that suggested the other would get on and over with it as quickly as possible, "I don't."

Nagato moved his face closer to Sasori's, until there was a distance of mere inches between them. "Well, listen then!" he said. He drew back and pushed himself away from the door, starting pacing around in the room again. "Firstly," – he raised his index finger, his back on Sasori who wasn't looking at him – "You have to find a woman who likes to clean and cook. - Secondly!" – he raised his middle finger as well – "You have to find a woman who-" he interrupted himself with a cough. "Well, let's just be brutally honest here. You have to find a woman who likes to have sex and is good in bed."

Sasori rolled his eyes at that, but Nagato didn't see.

"Thirdly," – Nagato swirled around, taking a seat on the desk again - "You have to find a woman who's smoking rich. - And fourthly – and this rule is the most important one! – you have to make sure that those four women never – ever - meet! But life, on the other hand, will be full of women!" Nagato smacked the back of his one hand against his other hand's palm and smiled broadly.

When he turned to look back at the door, Sasori had already left.

Nagato sighed, shaking his head and muttering 'drama queen' under his breath, before rushing after him.

"Wait, Sasori!" he called, rushing down the hallway that led to the front door. "Don't be such a stuck-up ass- Oh, good morning Ms. Akasuna!" he greeted the woman standing in the doorway of the kitchen, a mug of hot steaming tea in her hands.

"Good morning, Nagato," she said in a pleasant voice. "I see you managed to get our lonely ghost out of his cave. Aren't you a helpful one!"

"My pleasure, ma'am," Nagato said, flashing her a broad smile before dashing after Sasori who had already left the apartment. He ran down the stairs to the first floor, almost getting hit by the massive door on his way out. He pushed it open, catching up with Sasori outside.

He slowed down next to him, falling into step with him as they trod down the empty alley, the only sound being their footsteps on the pavement. Deep inside Nagato wondered how long they were going to walk before one of them broke the silence. He didn't want to be the one to do it, but wasn't naïve enough to imagine Sasori doing it either. So the question could be paraphrased as 'how long would it be until Nagato would finally have had enough?'.

The even rhythm of the footsteps irked him as it was the only sound he could hear. Duh-duh, duh-duh, duh-duh. There were no birds or even wind that could've interrupted the silence. This place was as forsaken by nature as a place could be.

Where were they even going? Nagato looked around, scanning the area he knew it better than his ten fingers. They were on the road that led to… nowhere particular. It was just another one of those narrow hallways in the maze of this part of the city. The only ones who ever wandered here were the ones who lived here. No one else would have wanted to set their foot here, if they had a choice.

After a few minutes of silence, Nagato decided that he couldn't take it anymore. He turned his head towards Sasori, giving him an examining look. The other redhead was looking at the ground, hands in pockets. It was as though Nagato wasn't even there. Truth be told, that was probably exactly what Sasori wanted to make himself believe.

Nagato wouldn't let him accomplish that. "You need to snap out of it, man. What happened to you?"

Sasori looked up from the ground, frowning at the sky. His eyes seemed darker than usual and, if examining them carefully enough, one could see the sorrow that flashed briefly in them. But it was really brief and if you blinked even once, you were likely to miss it.

Nagato was about to open his mouth to say something else, but noticed then Sasori doing the same, and stopped, letting the other redhead say what he had to say. God knew Nagato was more than curious to hear it.

"Forget it, you wouldn't understand." Sasori looked back at the ground.

Nagato's ray of hope that he'd had for clearing this mystery up vanished, disappearing as Sasori stepped on it and squashed it mercilessly. He looked at him with solemn eyes, wishing the other would just get over himself already. But this wasn't what he was supposed to say to get that to happen.

Nagato whipped out his mobile, slightly more modern than Sasori's ancient stone, and searched for a particular text he'd received earlier that day. It had been sent by Itachi. Having found it, he stuck it in front of Sasori's face, making him come to a sudden stop.

"Here, read it," Nagato ordered, handing him the cell.

Sasori gave a suspicious look, as if the other male had just offered him a new brand of cigarettes. "What is it?" He batted the hand away without taking the phone, but Nagato was determined and kept sticking it out in front of him, until he finally gave in and took it.

"Just read it," Nagato answered Sasori's unvoiced question, expressed by a certain questioning look.

Sasori did. Hej, it read and Sasori was already sure of who had sent it. No one else started their messages like that. 9.30 pm a party at the new club Verona. Organized by Iwagas. Wanna crash it?

Sasori read the text over only once and handed the phone back then. "No," he gave a terse response, starting walking again.

Nagato rolled his eyes. He'd seen this coming, but Sasori would have to do so much more than that pathetic 'no' to dismay him. He jogged a few paces to catch up.

"But I know someone who will be there that could help you get your mind off of things." Nagato used his sliest tone and observed Sasori's expressions carefully for a reaction. He couldn't fool him. This had caught the drama queen's attention. Nagato continued, "A lot more than one, even. A whole bunch. They wear make-up and one-leg pants that make it easy to access. All you have to do is say something sweet – I'll let you borrow my personal manual, if you wish, I haven't used it since nursery – and they'll do anything you want. For some cash I'll share my secrets for seducing more than one."

"Yeah, sure, I'll pay you. Right after French kissing your granny," Sasori snapped sarcastically. "I'm not coming."

Nagato looked triumphal. Before Sasori could understand what he was doing, he'd already dialed a number and had brought his phone up to the ear. The one being called picked up quickly. Nagato coughed, before making a face that warned everyone who knew him that he was about to imitate someone's voice.

This time, it was the voice of a five-year old.

"Itaaaachi," he whined, grinning like a maniac. "Sasori doesn't want to cooooome!"

There was a short silence for Sasori, who tried to ignore the other as much as possible and was glancing around for any backstreets he could escape to, and then Nagato put the phone on the loudspeaker.

"Sasori," Itachi said in a firm voice, while there could be heard two girls complaining in the background. Sasori recognized the voices of Tayuya and Konan. "Explain."

Sasori huffed, looking like he would've rather smashed the mobile than explained himself to anyone. Then he sighed. "Guys, you know very well that the Iwagas can't stand us, especially me."

Nagato rolled his eyes. "C'mon, the place will be crowded – no one will even recognize us in the dim lights of the club. Stop being such a killjoy and ruining everyone's-"

"IS THIS ABOUT SAKURA, SASORI?!" Konan's voice made both redheads jump. She'd either taken the mobile away from Itachi, or the girl merely had an extremely loud voice.

Nagato raised his eyebrows at Sasori – who tried to avoid his eyes - looking at him interested, as though to say 'Sakura? So, I was right?'. Konan never gave him a chance to voice those words.

"'CAUSE IF IT IS, MAN, YOU'RE A FUCKING PUSSY," Konan shouted, sounding more like Tayuya than her real self. When she continued, something or someone had made her control her voice. "I heard about it, I talked to Sakura. She said her parents won't let her socialize with people like us. Said they'd called us trash. Said we're low-class rats. ("Another family that can't fucking stand you, Sassy," Tayuya commented in the background.) My question is, why do you still bother thinking about her? That ship has sailed, get over it. Get over it, or you'll miss the next one as well."

Sasori thought about it. He wanted time – time alone – to take in what he'd just heard. But it didn't look like he'd be able to get that.

"We'll meet you at 9 behind the old kiosk. Be there, or we'll show up in your apartment, and I, for one, will be taking my baseball bat with me."


To be continued...