The school play's premiere night was right around the corner, but when one accident leads to a troublesome idea, Boruto has to work hard to learn his part as the understudy. Sarada expresses her disdain towards him in regards to playing her lover, but secretly revels in it. Teenage modern AU.
Day 1: Eyes
"Alright guys, we have one more week before the premiere night! We need our leads up at the front." Shino-sensei directed the students to the front of the stage, all of them lining up accordingly with their scripts in hand.
The lead parts had been designated to Sarada and Inojin, who were the princess and the knight respectively. The production had been smooth sailing thus far, though there were some only slightly noticeable things that the cast needed to work on. Shino, for one, had picked up on the subtle lack of immersion in Sarada's character, where sometimes she appeared to be in love with someone else. However, the character in actuality was only in love with the knight.
After explaining their next course of action and which scenes they were going to skim over, he then directed everyone else to their respective sides of the stage, so that the actors and actresses wouldn't cross in front of each other when coming onstage to perform their roles. The only two in the scene were the princess and the knight, giving leeway to focus on Sarada's character.
"Now, Sarada, you aren't convincingly in love with the knight. If it's that hard for you to see Inojin in a romantic light, try to imagine he's a celebrity crush or something of the sorts. Try to embrace the role, as if you were the princess herself. Now, let's work on the scene where the knight confesses his love for the princess." Their sensei lifted his hand up, signalling for them to commence. Both cast their scripts aside and got into character.
Sarada eased herself onto her knees, allowing Inojin to place his head on her lap at centre-stage. Sarada stroked his hair tenderly, her expression crestfallen.
"...Xavier, there's something I have to tell you." Sarada clenched her free hand momentarily, averting her eyes to hold the suspense. Though, the audience was already well aware of what she was about to reveal.
"I-I...I'm-"
"betrothed to another. I'm well aware, your highness. News travels fast." he responded grimly, Sarada's eyes growing wide at the revelation.
"But it's been only short of an hour! H-how—"
"I apologize, my princess, but I happened to have overheard you rambling in your chambers about this matter. I'm glad you took my feelings into consideration, and I'll have you know that my heart is not broken." they sat in silence for a moment, before Inojin broke it. "I have something to tell you, as well." he sat up from his spot, moving to her side while still facing the audience, projecting his voice towards them. He took her hands into his, and gazed lovingly into her eyes.
"Princess, I lo-"
Inojin's line was cut short upon hearing a deafening series of crashes originating from backstage, undoubtedly caused by several things toppling over. The crashing of objects echoed across the stage, from the sounds of clinking metal, to the thudding of wood and even the sound of something being spilled, before the stage fell into a static silence. Ten seconds later, a loud "Sorry!" came from the source of the disaster. Though the perpetrator had not revealed them self yet, enough years spent with the guy made it crystal clear who had made a mess behind the scenes, especially with that boyish, rowdy tone.
"Boruto," Sarada growled, jerking herself up from her spot. "This is important! We only have the theatre reserved for four hours today! Time's running out!" Sarada hollered across the stage and marched towards the boy, who had finally revealed himself outside of the curtains.
"It was a freak accident, I swear! I was rehearsing for my role as a shrub, but my feet started to cramp up and well...I knocked the props out of order." he scratched the back of his head, his fox-like grin emitting the sheer amount of guiltiness he failed to withhold. Shino-sensei sighed, unwilling to deal with their bickering yet again.
"J-just, go offstage and help someone practice their lines out in the hallway then. Do something other than making a mess and disrupting practice." Sarada ordered, hoping that would resolve the issue of Boruto's ever growing boredom. She understood, in a sense, why he felt the urge to move about, as sitting pointlessly for lengthy periods of time was no fun for anyone. But the number of accidents he had caused while they practiced was starting to add up.
Inojin flipped his lengthy blonde ponytail over his shoulder, crossing his arms as he witnessed the exchange between his two colleagues. Really, these two were hopeless. Hopelessly in love, that is. Everyone was aware of it, except for themselves.
They may frequently bicker, but oftentimes outside of their facade of being mortal enemies, they were caught staring longingly at one another while one was conversing with someone else, and brought up their names in conversations whenever possible. Not to mention, Boruto's "accidents" were getting a little old, considering that they all seemed to happen coincidentally when they were practicing the romantic scenes.
In all honesty, he had no idea why he had been chosen as the male lead, when there were much more charming boys who could play his role, like Kagura, or even Shikadai, his close friend. And from what he could tell, the only reason Shino had put Boruto as his understudy was because he was well aware of their relationship himself, but didn't want to put up with their shenanigans in the long run.
Upon witnessing the exchange between the two, an idea stirred within his brain, his mind brewing up a storm that he was just itching to unleash. This would be far more amusing than him playing the knight, and Sarada would be a lot more invested in her character [at least he hoped]. He staked on the expectation that Boruto had been practicing his lines. Suddenly, a sinister smirk crawled its way onto his face, knowing that disaster would lie in its wake. Nonetheless, he delighted in sitting back and munching on popcorn while witnessing the messes he procured with his sharp tongue.
Inojin raised his hand and waited until he got Shino's undivided attention before speaking.. "Umm, Shino-sensei, I've been meaning to tell you something important. Can we talk privately for a moment?" Shino nodded his head warily, stress already starting to plague his mind. Normally, a student would have gotten off the stage to confide to him directly, but Inojin was rather blunt, and didn't worry over what students thought of him.
To add onto that, he was quite the convincing actor, earning himself the lead role as a result, regardless of him being a second year. Third years were normally the ones awarded the leading roles if they had at least an ounce of talent, but there were only two third years who had joined the production, albeit one of them unwillingly.
The room had fallen silent, the cast intrigued as to what Inojin was going to tell Shino-sensei, him being one of the two main leads and all.
"See, the thing is, Shino-sensei...well, my parents planned a vacation ages ago, and I only found out recently that they booked it during the two weeks the production is going on. You see, they wanted to surprise me and told me I was to come along with them as well at the last minute. I should've told you earlier, I know, but I left my parents oblivious to this whole play, since my mom tends to get a little too invested in my school activities. I think you should hand my role over to the understudy. I know for sure that I won't be able to perform." Inojin frowned, but internally, he was jumping with joy. Practices would be much more entertaining for the next week.
Shino, on the other hand, had defined creasing in his forehead upon receiving the news.
"Well, it can't be avoided then. I'll tell everyone the news." Shino cleared his throat emphatically, catching everyone's attention.
"I have some important news to tell everyone. Unfortunately, Inojin won't be able to perform his role on premier night, nor on any of the days we have to perform in front of an audience. Meaning," Shino hesitated for a second, his eyes falling to his clipboard meaninglessly. "His understudy, Boruto, will be playing the male lead." All eyes shifted towards Boruto, who was evidently gawking at the new development.
"You mean," he pointed his finger between Sarada and him, their heads swivelling at the exact same time to exchange looks of utter shock. "With her-?"
The atmosphere of horror over the announcement of the new lifeline of the production seemed to linger through the air, the cast fearing what would become of their play on such a short notice.
"We're screwed." Shikadai yelled from offstage, the words sinking into everyone's minds as they unanimously agreed with his statement.
"You are my whole universe. Without you, I'd cease to exist. And with my existence, I shall devote it to- This is too cheesy. Who wrote this sop story in the first place?" Boruto complained, earning several glares from the cast, who aimed for the practice to go by smoothly. Inojin, on the other hand, had popped himself a bag of popcorn and sat offstage in one of those plastic school chairs. His smug grin and the amused glint in his eyes screamed to everyone that he had done this for his own amusement.
"It's romantic, Boruto. Not that you would know anything about romance." Sarada scoffed, her vexation shining through.
"Pfft, I do so know stuff about romance! And I'll show you who can be romantic!" he declared, oblivious the boldness of his words. A sheen of blush surfaced on Sarada's face that swiftly faded away, her focus shifting back to the scene at hand.
"A-Alright then, Mr. Romantic, prove it. This scene is the scene where Xavier tells the princess what he truly wanted to profess to her during the ceremony. Are you sure you practiced your lines as the understudy?" Sarada questioned, one of her brows raising from suspicion.
In the midst of their scene sorting, no one had detected Hanabi slipping into the theatre late, who happened to be assisting with the play, but who also happened to be frequently tardy.
"Oh~, what's this? My nephew's getting his time to shine?" Hanabi cooed, frightening Shino, who leaped nearly a foot away from his original spot.
"Hanabi! You were supposed to be here an hour ago." Shino stated, but his tone gave off of the vibe that he wasn't taken aback by her lateness.
"Yeah, well, some things came up and I ended up having to remark all of my class' tests. Now, what's my little nephew doing, exactly?" Hanabi put a finger on her face teasingly, her tone implying that she had already deciphered the situation. Even so, Shino decided it was best to answer her.
"Unfortunately, Inojin had something pop up for him and is now unable to play his role, so naturally, the understudy is handed the part. But the thing is," Shino motioned towards the stage, where Boruto and Sarada were arguing. "I wasn't expecting both of the leads to need an understudy."
Originally, the leading roles had been assigned to Inojin and Sumire, but Sumire had been having some family problems and had to drop out earlier on in the production. Sarada had been performing her part fairly well, though her assertive personality tended to weigh down her role as the love-struck, soft-spoken princess.
To Shino's utmost surprise, Boruto had quite the outstanding audition. Perhaps all of his theatrics in class played a key role in his exceptional acting skills. In the end, though, he decided Boruto would probably be quite the handful in the long run to work with and opted for him to receive the understudy role. In the end, though, he didn't expect this newfound development.
Boruto had performed well at the audition, but was making far too many quips about the play during their practice. Shino wasn't quite sure how to proceed, Hanabi could tell, but she had a trick up her sleeve that would surely make this play thrive.
That is, by messing with her nephew.
"Everyone, quiet down. What's the problem, Sarada?" Hanabi addressed Sarada, not failing to notice that Boruto was about to protest, though he thankfully and ultimately closed his mouth upon realizing her reasoning.
"We don't have any chemistry, and Boruto can't say his lines without putting his two cents in." she huffed, her tone indignant, her arms crossed.
Hanabi's gaze flickered between the two, silently disagreeing about their chemistry. They looked good together, she had to admit. She just needed to pull at the roots and start with the basics so that they'd have chemistry in both respects.
"Geez, this is like working with toddlers. Alright, sweeties, face each other. No, ifs, ands or buts, or else I'll be notifiying my sister about how you ruined the school play, Boruto." she sneered, Boruto audibly gulping.
He and Sarada hesitatingly faced one another, their eyes meeting for a brief moment before they averted their gazes, embarrassment beaming through their beet red faces at the awkwardness of the situation.
"Now, tell me what you like about the other person." she smiled, an innocent smile, though they all knew the intent behind her words. They were working with devious people these days.
"What? This isn't-" Hanabi cut them both off, their synchronization proving otherwise that they'd make quite the convincing leads, if only they put their differences aside and let their hearts roam free.
"That's not the point of this exercise. It's so you guys can get into character, sillies. Do I need to repeat myself?" she voiced sternly, her experience as a teacher evident.
Sarada breathed in, her confidence boosting as she gazed intently into Boruto's eyes, focusing on getting into her character. The princess had expressed her fascination with the knight's eyes, which wouldn't be hard for her to convey, as she sincerely thought Boruto's eyes were captivating herself.
"His eyes," she started, her tone matter-of-fact. "they're as blue and mesmerizing as the morning sky." her words were genuine, anyone could tell. The redness in Boruto's cheeks said it all. It just so happened that the knight had blue eyes as well, he knew, but that didn't stop his heart from thrumming in his chest.
"Her smile is like after the rain, yet evanescent. If only I could witness her ever so radiant smile more often, my heart would surely be stolen forevermore." he added, his character all the more convincing now that the threat Hanabi had spouted was looming over his head.
Hanabi clapped, excitement pooling in her eyes. "Good, good! Now let's have a snack break." she chimed, the tension seeming to loosen in the air.
Boruto sighed, planning to walk away before Sarada's firm grip on his wrist stopped him in his tracks.
"We've got one week before our first performance, so seeing as that is, I think we're going to need to practice outside of school." she stated, sounding as if she was making a business deal. Boruto nodded his head meekly, well aware that Sarada was the type who wanted everything to go smoothly and fretted over the littlest of things.
"I'll text you later on tonight, then." her grip loosened on his wrist, allowing him to roam free for his ten minute break. Upon arriving to clean up the mess he had made earlier out of courtesy for others, he did not expect to be met by the person he so outright loathed.
"So we're enemies in this play now, huh? How ironic." he attempted to suppress his emotions, but it was obvious that he relished over this fact. Boruto scoffed, glaring at the boy who blocked his path.
"Move it, Kawaki."