With the Help of a Fool

by Kurozakura

Have you ever noticed how tantalizing easy it is to prevent the tragic ending of Romeo and Juliet? I cast the play with characters from Naruto and use a fool to turn the tragic love story into a comedy of errors. [Sasuke x Hinata, Neji x Sakura in Ch5]

1. Prologue

Prologue

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Have you ever noticed how tantalizingly close Romeo and Juliet is to being a comedy? Unlike the classic tragedies like Hamlet and Macbeth, the plot devices and characters in Romeo and Juliet more closely resemble those in comedies like Much Ado About Nothing. Many have speculated on the rather uncreative use of a Wise Fool who either in his absence allows grievous miscommunication to continue or by his presence resolves the problems. Here, I present to you my own version of R+J with the addition of a Wise Fool.

If all of this is starting to scare you from reading my story, I beg you, gentle Reader, to continue. This story will be able to stand alone regardless of how familiar you are with Shakespeare or whether or not you enjoy reading his works.

I set the stage in Konoha and cast the story with our favorite characters from Naruto.

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Disclaimer: Sadly enough, Naruto and the characters do not belong to me, and I do not make a profit from this story. On the other hand, at least all of Shakespeare's works are no longer copyrighted.

Text in italics are direct quotes from the Bard himself.

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Two households, both alike in dignity,

In fair Konoha, where we lay our scene,

From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,

Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.

Where once a tragic love had taken place,

There is a fool with which to smooth the lies,

To take a tangled weave of prideful lace,

And bring together ancient rival eyes.