A Midsummer Night's Dream
Introduction: Alright, I'm dead serious. Naruto…to the script of Midsummer Night's Dream. I'm really not insane. XD I was watching Boston Ballet performing MND and I was just struck at how well you could fit the Naruto characters into the script. I do have to warn you about some mild OOC. But I had to change things to fit the storyline. And I don't think you need to have read MND to understand the fic, but it might make it a bit more interesting…or it won't matter at all. ::shrugs:: It also might be better if you hadn't…I might have changed a couple things, just to fit all the different characters and pairings into it…sorry! Anywho…cast list!
Casting (In No Order At All)
Theseus: Asuma
Hippolyta: Kurenai
Egeus: Gai
Hermia: Haruno Sakura
Lysander: Uchiha Sasuke
Demetrius: Uzumaki Naruto
Helena: Hyuuga Hinata
Robin (Puck): Rock Lee
Oberon: Hyuuga Neji
Titania: Tenten
Nick Bottom: Inuzuka Kiba
Peter Quince: Aburame Shino
Francis Flute: Replaced by Yamanaka Ino (No she's not a guy in this story…I just ran out of guys to play mechanicals…)
Robin Starveling: Kankuro
Tom Snout: Gaara
Snug: Akimichi Chouji
Understudy: Nara Shikamaru (This is where I start stretching things to get pairings in)
Audience Member: Temari (Again, nowhere in the original play)
?: Hatake Kakashi (Because he's so bloody awesome, I just couldn't leave him out)
And so, I case anyone's still in the dark the pairings are: SasukeSakura; NarutoHinata; ShikamaruIno; NejiTenten; AsumaKurenai. Yeah…Okay, sorry for the long author's note, they won't be as long in other chapters, promise.
One last thing: I don't own Naruto (Masato Kishimoto does, the lucky bastard), nor do I own Midsummer Night's Dream (William Shakespeare does, the lucky dead bastard). Also, special thanks to Boston Ballet Company for performing the ballet that inspired the writing of this crazy fic.
Happy Reading! XD
Act I; Scene i
Ay me, for aught I could ever read
Could ever hear by tale of history
The course of love never did run smooth…
-Lysander to Hermia
Such romance. Kurenai found herself thinking with a sigh. But she smiled. As long as she was with Asuma.
Such romance. Asuma found himself thinking with a sigh. But he stroked a stray wavy brown hair behind Kurenai's ear.
"Sorry." He said, kissing the top of her head. Their date plans had been interrupted, yet again, because their students had been practicing jutsus-and arguing- a bit too close to the Hokage's headquarters. So they sat in an abandoned classroom after yelling for a good long time at their errant students.
"It's fine." Kurenai said truthfully. "At least we're alone. It's finally quiet, and Hokage-sama is going to take care of the genin."
"That is a plus." Asuma said, kissing Kurenai softly on the lips. Kurenai wrapped her arms around his neck. This was the only thing that really mattered. Not where they were. Not what they were supposed to be doing. Just the soft touch of each others' flesh, pure happiness.
The moment was shattered when Maito Gai burst into the abandoned classroom, clearly looking for them.
"The horror! The horror!" He yelled. Asuma and Kurenai jumped apart, landing several feet from each other. Kurenai felt like she was drowning in disappointment. Asuma groaned, rolling his eyes at their overdramatic comrade.
"Don't you ever knock?" He said, his mouth twitching in annoyance. Gai continued his horror rant.
"What is it, Gai?" Kurenai said, moderately concerned. A look from Asuma's eyes told the rookie jounin that there was nothing to fear. He knew which of Gai's expressions were worrisome and which were trivial.
"It's the saddest moment in this springtime of youth!" He cried.
"Why don't you start from the beginning?" Kurenai said, coming to stand next to Asuma. Gai composed himself.
"Sasuke has finally admitted that he love Sakura! They are now…dating." He said the last word with a look of horror typical of informing colleagues of the death of one of their own. Kurenai and Asuma exchanged a look of confusion.
"But…Gai…why is that so horrible?" Kurenai asked him. Gai sighed.
"They are not meant to be together! And it is going to break poor Lee's heart!" He said, wiping a tear from his eye. "This must be stopped! Where is Kakashi?" He said, looking around the room as if Kakashi would materialize from the shadows.
"He's on a mission." Kurenai said. Asuma had long stopped paying attention. "He won't be back until morning." Gai launched one of his nice guy poses.
"Well then!" He called. "I shall be the one to stop this inappropriate union!" Sasuke and Sakura chose this moment to enter the room. They held hands, looking comfortable in each other's presence for once. Kurenai sympathized with the young pair.
"Um…not to be rude, Gai-sensei," Sakura said in a polite tone. "Um…but…"
"Why were you screaming at us?" Sasuke finished for her. His dark black eyes questioned the three jounin with a sharp stare. Gai pointed an accusatory finger at them.
"You can't be together! It cannot be! There is no way I'll allow it!" He shouted. "They agree with me!" He said, indicating Asuma and Kurenai.
"Let's leave us out of this one." Asuma said, watching with growing interest now.
"Why do you care if we're together?" Sasuke said boldly. "There's no way you can stop it." Gai looked faint.
"Alas! You are already degenerating!" He cried. "I may be too late!" He said with enough melodrama to rival that of an afternoon soap opera. Sakura's nose twitched. Naruto burst through the door.
"How could you do this to me!?!" He shouted at his teammates. "Sakura! Why are you with him!?! Can't you see you're not meant to be together! Haven't I proven that I love you?" Gai came to stand behind the very annoyed Uzumaki.
"Now here's a youth who's thinking clearly!" He said with a grand smile. Sasuke's hand tightened around Sakura's, who squeezed back reassuringly.
"Really, Naruto?" Sasuke said with an evil smirk. "I clearly remember you coming to me after training just two weeks ago.'Sasuke! I think I'm falling for Hinata! I never noticed her before, but all of a sudden, she's becoming more and more…visible. What am I going to do?'" He said in a voice mocking that of his teammate.
"I told you that in private!" Naruto shouted. "You weren't supposed to repeat that!"
"You know, I gathered that I wasn't supposed to repeat it when you said it was private, dobe." Sasuke said. Naruto was turning a vivid red color. "The more interesting question is who do you really love? Hinata or Sakura?"
"I love Sakura!" He declared. Sasuke scowled.
"Well, sorry but so do I and you are not going to get her away from me." Naruto opened his mouth to scream but was interrupted by Sakura.
"Stop it." She said evenly. "Naruto, I'm sorry but you know how I feel about Sasuke, how I've always felt. I'm so sorry, you're one of my good friends, you're my teammate, but I'm in love with Sasuke, I always have been, I think I always will be." She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry." She said again. Naruto's fists were shaking. Gai opened his mouth to speak, departing on a long rant on how Sasuke and Sakura should never be together. The mood in the room had swiftly turned from one of mild annoyance to a hostile environment. The three jounin knew of the horrific fights Naruto and Sasuke had gotten in previously and would rather not destroy two parts of the Ninja Academy in one day.
"Okay." Asuma said in a booming voice. "Let's all just cool down for a minute." He said, breaking the tension.
"Here's what's going to happen." Kurenai said calmly. "I want all of you to go home." She told them. "Separately. We're going to put this on ice for the night. Kakashi will be back in the morning and he will deal with any issues the three of you have in the morning. And he'll probably deal with you too, Gai." The four looked sheepish, and mildly angered at being spoken to as if they were five. Yet, they listened to Kurenai. They left the academy, going their separate ways, not looking at each other. Sasuke and Sakura gave one last hand squeeze before going to their separate homes. Asuma sighed.
"They're gone." He said with relief. "You would think at least Gai would be mature enough to handle this on his own." He grabbed Kurenai, wrapping his hands around her waist. "Now, where were we?" He said, pulling her into a kiss.
An hour or so later, Sakura was perched on the bench that had swiftly became known as Their Bench. She leaned back against the wall, gazing up at the cloudless sky. Footsteps alerted her to a familiar presence.
"I didn't think you would listen to them either." Sakura said as Sasuke sat down on the bench next to her.
"I don't care what they say." He was with a defiant look. Sakura sighed, looking at the ground.
"You know, I thought getting here was the hard part." She looked up at the tops of the trees with a grim look. "But us being together is harder than fighting for you." Sasuke frowned and Sakura immediately became nervous. She knew that look. Sasuke had a plan.
"Maybe we should just get out of here for the night. I don't want to have to deal with Naruto and Gai."
"But where would we go?" Sakura asked.
"Just into the forest for a few hours. Just to get them to leave us alone." Sakura smiled.
"That actually doesn't sound like a bad idea." She said. Timid footsteps grew closer. Sakura turned to find Hinata looking morose. "Hey, Hinata. What's wrong?" She asked when she saw the girl was close to tears.
"It's nothing." Hinata said quickly, turning to go. "Um…Do you know where Naruto is?" She asked timidly. "I thought I would find him…with you two." Sasuke shook his head.
"No. If you haven't heard, he's sort of mad at us." Hinata nodded.
"I did hear. Congratulations." She said, studying the ground intensely. "Um…Thanks anyways." And I though Naruto was finally starting to notice me…
"Hey, Hinata…" Sakura said, taking pity on her fellow genin. "Sasuke and I are going to get out of the village for a while." Sasuke caught on to Sakura's plan.
"Yeah, that's perfect." He said, with a glance at Sakura's threatening look. "You can use the time when Sakura's not around to get Naruto to fall for you. Get him of our backs…" Sakura smiled approvingly. Hinata nodded.
"I'm sure you can win him over." Sakura said with a sweet smile. "Good luck!" She and Sasuke rose, Hinata sitting on their now vacant bench.
"Why the look? I was going to be encouraging…" Hinata distinctly heard Sasuke said as they walked away towards the edge of town. She sighed, alone. The wind rustled the leaves, pulling at her hair and clothes. How am I ever going to get Naruto to like me? I can't even talk to him…A sudden image of Sakura popped into her head. I hate to admit it but…I'm jealous of Sakura. She's so confident. Naruto is so in love with her. He'll never fall in love with me. Just as these thoughts were running through her mind, the very person she thought about came bounding up, stopping to pant in front of where Hinata sat on her bench.
"Hinata!" Naruto said, spotting her. "I need to know where Sasuke and Sakura are! Do you have an idea where they went?" He gasped. Hinata slowly turned red. I shouldn't tell him. They only want to be alone. But maybe if I tell him, he'll be grateful. And he might like me just a little more…
"Um…I think they went…into the forest." She said softly. Even as the words crossed her lips she felt ashamed at betraying a friend's trust. Naruto smiled.
"Thanks Hinata! I'm going to win back Sakura, if it's the last thing I do!" He called, bounding down the same path Sasuke and Sakura had just walked down. Hinata felt herself close to tears again. Even when I helped him, he didn't really see me. She thought miserably. Why does he love Sakura so much? She was always so hung up on Sasuke's every word. Even when he told her he hated her she still chased after him, never knowing when to give up. A light went on in Hinata Hyuuga's mind. I have to be…forceful. I can't take no for an answer. I'm going to win back Naruto, if it's the last thing I do! She stood up, hands balling into fists.
"Naruto!" She called to nothing. "You will love me! No more shy Hinata. I'm going to be…confident!" She started down the path. "Wait up!" She called, breaking into a run as she finally found her voice.
(A/N: Okay, I know this chapter's not as funny or exciting as it could be, but don't blame me. Blame Shakespeare! XP Next chapter is really funny, I promise. You get to find out what happened to the Academy…Hehehe…)