Hey guys! I know it's been a while… not sure quite how long… but I'm still alive! There's been a lot going on in school with projects, the musical, finals, and a whole lotta poopy stuff, but for the most part, its out of the way!

EDIT: I needed to edit a bit at the end, it was poorly worded and made it very difficult to work the next chapter. So there is a slight change in the final paragraph, but it doesn't change the plot at all.

Emi-chan (bestie): Uhm… you barely started your finals essay for your AP course in American Studies…

SHHHH! This is more fun. Anywho, since you're here Emi-boo, you can do the disclaimer.

Emi-chan: Sigh… Branflakes does not own Naruto…

-_-+ No. No Branflakes-ing on here.

Emi-chan: Otay, whatever you say Branflakes!

On with the story. The day of auditions.

I should tell you, I take things like auditions quite seriously. Any true drama geek who really wants a lead will go above and beyond to impress them. So… I changed into a more time-era appropriate costume before the auditions, left over from an old show I did at my old school. I was waiting in the front of the auditorium with Deidara for the director to call for our auditions. I was feeling confident, too. His voice was good. In fact, I thought it was very good. And that's not from a biased point of view! And I was pretty sure that even if I didn't get Guinevere, I had a good shot at Nimue's solo.

"First," the director announced, "I would like to hear all of the ladie's auditions. We will go by feeling." I smiled. That was my old director's favorite method of running auditions. You stood up and auditioned when you "felt" that you were ready, or that you should. It was highly effective for finding people with the right amount of confidence. After four or five other girls stood up on the stage and ran through the songs, I felt confident enough in myself to give it a shot.

I got up on stage, gave my name, grade, and part I would most like to play. And when the pianist began the first few notes, and the lights blinded me to the existance of the rest of the people in the seats, I felt myself slip from reality. The notes simply flowed, and I remembered why I loved being on stage so much. This was it. Even if I didn't get any solo's or stand out parts, I was completely happy just being someone else for a small amount of time.

The female solo auditions came to an end after twelve or so other girls, and it became time for the guys auditions. Deidara was nervous, I could tell. After the vast majority of the guys had auditioned, he was still sitting next to me. I nudged him, and he nodded stiffly, and then moved almost robotically to the stage. He pushed through the audition, and although his voice was fantastic, a warm, sweet tenor, he didn't seem to just slip into the song. "C'est Moi" is a very self-assured, arrogant song, and he just didn't seem in it. After the last boy had auditioned, the director looked around.

"Are there any more gentlemen who would like to audition?" There were enough boys for all the male rolls, but none of them seemed like they could be Lancelot to me, not even Dei. I think the director felt the same, by the look of desperation creeping onto her face.

"Ya know what? F*** it, I'll give it a shot!" came a very obnoxious, very familiar voice from the very back of the auditorium. Hidan strolled forward onto the stage and grinned down on everyone.

"Name, grade, and part?" the director asked warily.

"Name's Hidan, 11th, and what the hell do you mean by part?"

She sighed. "Did you prepare the audition piece?"

"Nope."

"Then how do you expect to do well."

"I heard enough of these pansies do it to know it."

She sighed again. "Alright, go ahead."

Okay, I will admit, I was impressed. He really did know the song. And he sang it well. Quite well. And he was arrogant about it too. He was doing good and he knew it.

"Alright, take five. After that, I want to hear those who want either Lancelot, Arthur, or Guinevere to do the duet. Nimue and Mordred will follow."

During the break, I cornered Hidan.

"Why are you here?"

"To make King Pussypants over there look bad." He shrugged.

I had no response. He was succeeding, so far, but I wouldn't admit that out loud. Instead, I spun on my heel and walked over to Dei to try and pump him up for the duets.

When we all filed back in, the girls auditioning for Guinevere were sent to one side of the stage, and the guys for Arthur and Lancelot went to the other. Not surprisingly, Karin was on the Guinevere side, and Hidan on the guys side. Karin was going on and on about how she was going to get the lead and impress Sasuke and blah, blah, blah. Her voice sounded like someone was pulling a cat's tail.

"Alright, I'll let you pick your first partner, but then, I will put you in different pairings to hear how you sound with different people."

I immediatly walked over to Deidara, completely blowing off Hidan, who was approaching. I felt a little bad, but Dei needed me, and he was the one I wanted to succeed.

"Listen up! I'm going to go from left to right in these pairings. That means you-" here she pointed to Karin and her unfortunate partner, "are up. Let's go!"

Not even two measures into the song, the director called for the next group. Soon, Deidara and I were up. I grabbed his hand for comfort, and the piano started. He turned to me.

"Just like practice." I whispered. And then we started the song, our gazes locked the entire time.

After that, the auditions passed in a blur. Once all the original pairs had gone, she began mixing us up. She paired me up with three other boys, including Hidan. I didn't focus much on the Nimue and Mordred auditions.

"I'd like a few people to stay a few minutes." And she rattled off a list of names, including mine, Deidara's, and Hidan's. Karin had left a while back in outrage that the director hadn't asked her to sing in another pairing.

"I'd like to hear you all once more. I've written down a few songs I'd like you to learn individually. Call-backs are next Tuesday. The cast list should be up by Friday." She passed little slips of paper to everyone. I had to learn "The Simple Joys of Maidenhood," "I Loved You Once In Silence," a solo she sings to Lancelot. Dei later showed me his paper, which had "How to Handle a Woman" and "Camelot." Hidan had no issue bragging about his call-back, while complaining that "If Ever I Would Leave You" sounded like a pussy's song. He didn't comment on "I Loved You Once In Silence," which I noticed he had to "look over" the dialogue to when I "accidentally" glanced at his paper.

Dear Kami, don't let him get Lancelot.

Okay, so this took longer to write than I had expected, and school is out. But I am proud of this chapter. And if anyone knows anything about the musical Camelot, they will understand Kai's little prayer at the end. If you don't... well, you'll either have to look up a play synopsis or find out later ;P