I'm so sorry that this chapter took so long. I started writing the day I posted the previous chapter, but I somehow caught a sore throat which in turn became a cold. In the summer. My brother was nice enough to watch TV (Yu-Gi-Oh!) and play video games with me (Phoenix Wright, guys, PLAY IT!) but he wouldn't write the rest of the story if I dictated it to him. And some time during the cold, I lost inspiration again. I really think it's because I haven't been reading. But now that I've started again, I'm getting more inspiration to write. Thank so much for staying with me and my inconsistencies!

And just a quick note. Please thank midnight vinyls. She's also given me inspiration for what to write next. It was her (or rather, her sister's) idea to make the play kabuki-styled.

Well, enough of my ranting. I wonder if anyone actually reads my notes before the story?

Needless to say, the meeting of the camps wasn't exactly going as predicted. People still hung out with others from their respective camps. Even Ino was now unwilling to traverse the sacred gap. And this made Orochimaru very sad, because he valued friendship above all else. Especially friendship between teenagers. In the least-creepy way, of course.

"How saddening," he remarked aloud, watching glares inch enemy tables further and further from each other. "This is just like how our first camp experience went, isn't it, Tsunade?"

Tsunade shrugged. "I guess. If they don't want to fraternize, they don't have to. We were planning on leaving soon anyways."

"Nonsense. Not until I pitch my brilliant idea."

Tsunade cocked her head to the side. "What... idea?" The combination of Orochimaru and brilliance resulted in a terrifying scenario. That was one of the reasons she kept as little contact with Jiraya and that snake as she could.

"I heard you're planning on having a play at your camp."

"And where did you hear that from?"

"This youthful fellow over here," he said, gesturing to a smiling Gai. "He said you were planning on making it Romeo and Juliet. I recommend that both camps come together to perform this play."

"Over Jiraya's dead body," she replied.

Orochimaru smiled in the way that made children half-way around the world burst into tears of fear. "I hope you haven't forgotten that... secret that I found out about all those years ago."

Tsunade's eyes widened. "You wouldn't."

"Oh, you know I'd do anything!"

Iruka leaned over to Kakashi. "Does anything this man says not sound suggestive or illegal in some manner?"

"Nope."

Tsunade gripped the end of the tablecloth. "Fine, you win. Announce your stupid idea. But my campers get the main roles since it was originally our idea."

"Oh, sure, sure!" Orochimaru seemed so excited about the idea that he forgot the leverage he had in their fight. He stood up and clapped twice, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. "Everyone, I am pleased to say that I and the other camp leader, Tsunade, have come to a decision regarding friendship-building activities."

The eight teens sunk further into their seats. So much for leaving early.

"Now, Tsunade's camp members might know about the idea of the play Romeo and Juliet being held at their camp. But we have jointly decided that the play will include both camps. Isn't that a good idea?"

Everyone, including teenagers from the other camp, joined together in a chorus of "Boo!" and "No way!"

Orochimaru smiled and closed his eyes. "Yes, I also think it is a good idea. Auditions will be held at your respective camps, and we, the adults, will come together and release the results the next day."

Ino glanced around the room, blatantly ignoring Daiki's suggestive expression, and was surprised to see Temari staring right at her.

"You said you're trying out for the main role, right?" Temari called from the table over.

Ino grinned. "Right. You are too, if I remember correctly."

Suddenly, Orochimaru spun elegantly on his heels and briskly walked to Ino's table. Hinata inched her chair away slowly until it bumped into Naruto's. She smiled nervously and turned to hide her blush.

"Oh, no, you won't be trying out for the play," Orochimaru said pointedly to Ino and Temari. "This is going to be a kabuki-styled play."

"What does that mean?" Naruto asked loudly.

Shikamaru cringed. "It means that all roles will be played by males."

Suddenly, the entire dining hall exploded into an uproar. Boys burst into tears at the thought of this terrifying revelation, while girls burst into fiery retaliations.

"This sets the women's movement back a hundred years!" Sakura exclaimed hotly.

"Forget the women's movement," Ino said louder. "This was the only thing I was looking forward to at this stupid camp!"

But it seemed that Orochimaru wasn't through. He waited until it had somewhat calmed down (the only reason being that many students had fainted) then decided to deliver the final blow. "And this last part, well, I can't exactly take all the credit. I had to promise Tsunade that her camp would have the larger roles because it was her idea-"

Said blonde sunk into her seat and gripped her head. Oh, hell no.

"- so, the boys at the other camp will have the pleasure of thrilling me- I mean us, with their stunning acting skills."

-&&NOS-

Upon the return to their camp, the boys were immediately ushered towards the arts building. A list of characters and how large their roles were was neatly pinned up for the (non-)impending rush. All of the boys found their own spots along the walls of the room, staring at the sheets of paper with such intensity as though they were the tangible form of death.

Suddenly, Shikamaru twitched. Sasuke turned slightly, never taking his eyes off of the demonic list. "You alright?"

But Shikamaru made no verbal response. Instead, he gave a heavy sigh and trudged towards the papers. Everyone gasped with horror, watching the brave soldier marching to his death.

Shikamaru's eyes ran over the sheets patiently, as though he was analyzing the writing for some hidden message. Then, he slowly took the pen from the desk and signed his name next to a role. He walked back in silence and took his spot against the wall.

"You... you signed up for something?" Naruto asked, aghast. "How could you? You want to do this?"

"Of course not, you moron," Shikamaru hissed. "But once the shock of this play wares out on everyone else, they'll realize that they need to move fast if they want a small part."

"That's brilliant," Sasuke squealed, clasping his hands together eagerly. Without another second to spare, he rushed over to the sign-up sheets. But his sudden eagerness must have got the cogs turning in the minds of the other boys, for their faces it up with realization. Suddenly, all of the boys flew off the walls and charged to claim the smallest roles possible. Pushing oneself to the front was hard enough, but reading the names with a wave of people crashing one back and forth? And on top of that, most of the boys realized... they had never read the play.

All the roles titled Servant, Nurse, and the numbered citizens were taken up first. After all, they didn't have an actual name. How big could their roles be? But once those were taken, the names left included Benvolio, Friar Laurence, Paris, and of course, Romeo and Juliet. It didn't take much brain power to determine that Romeo and Juliet were roles to avoid.

Not many people were fighting for roles any more. People dragged their arms up and signed next to unfamiliar names, then exited the room and hoped for the best. Sasuke pulled his hair in anxiety, finally deciding to sign up for Balthasar. Without sensing the presence of someone behind him, Sasuke crashed shoulders with a sturdy figure. He glanced up and quirked an eyebrow.

"What, Hyuuga? Still haven't signed up?"

"I'll sign up when I'm ready." He stared at the onyx-eyed boy until he left.

Neji glanced around the room and, when he was sure no one else was in the room, scribbled his name next to Juliet.

-&&NOS-

The four girls were lounging in the couches and chairs, watching boys go in and out of the audition cabin. Some of the more familiar faces stopped by to share their exciting exploits (Lee), while most lamented about how the lack of girls was a demotivator (Kiba and Kankuro).

But Naruto was the first of the four boys who actually sat down with the girls. He bent over, his head between his legs, and continued to mumble in a horrified trance.

"Was it really that bad?" Sakura inquired after watching his still figure for five minutes.

"Yes!" he cried out in response, lifting his head.

Somehow his constant melodrama made her doubt this. "What role did you read for?"

"I don't know, it was all just a blur. But they cut me off half-way and gave me a completely different script."

"I'm sure you did great," Hinata praised nervously. He glanced at her and offered a half-hearted smile, which, Hinata being Hinata, returned full-heartedly. This raised his spirits a bit, but not enough.

Tenten rolled her eyes. "He doesn't want to do great," she corrected. She kicked off her shoes and propped her feet onto the corner of the coffee table. "Don't worry, I'm sure you screwed up and they'll give you stage lighting or something."

Naruto's ears perked up like a puppy being offered a treat after days of starvation. "You really think so?" Then he paused thoughtfully, recalling how his audition went. "Yeah, I see it now. I don't think they could have understood anything when I fell into that pit of hysteria."

"No one can understand you now."

Everyone glanced up to see the smug, steady look of Neji Hyuuga. It appeared that his audition wasn't nearly as traumatizing as Naruto's was. Either that, or he was a cooler cucumber than they thought.

"I guess your audition went well," Tenten commented smoothly, careful to not let any emotions show until she could analyze what he was thinking.

Inwardly, Neji was bouncing around with glee. He read his lines with such passionate angst, even dropping to the floor and performing the death scene himself. The gaping judges couldn't have been anything but amazed at his skills. It definitely wasn't shock or horror.

But he couldn't just come out and say this. So he let a small, careful smirk cross his face. He didn't trust himself to speak, so this was his only response.

Eventually they were joined by Sasuke and Shikamaru. The former's face was blanched, but it was evident that he was trying to exercise control. The latter, on the other hand, looked as though he had just woken up.

"He almost slept through your entire audition!" Sasuke said incredulously. "When I came in to do mine, he was stretching. He hadn't even read through his lines yet."

"I was tired," Shikamaru said defensively. "Hopefully they'll take my lack of enthusiasm and give me a stage role."

"Damn it," Sasuke hissed through gritted teeth. "I should have done that."

Ino, who was listening with uncharacteristic patience, gave a loud, heavy sigh. She was met with puzzled looks. The blonde shrugged. "I just don't understand why girls can't audition. I mean, it's obvious the entire thing is going to be a disaster. They're really just going to make fools of themselves."

"For once," Shikamaru began, stunned, "I agree." Everyone else nodded in reluctant concurrence. It was a strange feeling, sharing a mutual thought between all of them. It was almost... nice? No, that couldn't have been it. There was no way they would allow it.

"Does anyone know when the cast list is coming out?" Naruto asked with a mix of dread and anticipation.

Shikamaru made unnecessary counting motions with his fingers. "Considering the fact that we have just under two weeks to memorize our lines, it could come out as early as this evening." As if to confirm his suspicions, a bus belonging to the other camp rolled into the driveway and honked its horn thrice. All of the camp leaders trudged out, with the exception of Gai, who walked with a hop-skip and a jump, of the audition cabin and entered the bus. The reluctant Asuma (who was about as enthusiastic about the ordeal as Shikamaru) was being dragged by the ear by Kurenai. If only Gai (who no one trusted to make rational decisions about the castings) was willing to stay behind.

"I guess," Tenten said, "all we can do is wait." On the outside, she appeared almost sympathetic, something incredibly uncharacteristic of her. But underneath that deceptive frown was something her friends we all familiar with: a chilling anticipation for someone's embarrassment.

The next three hours were painful, but of course, not in the usual sense. Most people wanted to get the roles they signed up for. The ones who were forced to try out for the larger roles did their best to be as charming as a dead slug. Their dispassion seemed to be contagious, because the judges were seeing the play as less of a fun activity and more of a prison sentence. And if choosing the roles was hard enough, they would have to help coach the actors and even endure the catastrophe.

The bus pulls back into the driveway, announcing its presence reluctantly with an unintentional honk. The sound was followed by a succession of others. Asuma's hand had slipped the first time and landed on the horn, but each time that followed was due to his head being slammed repeatedly against the horn by a furious Kurenai. As if dealing with the freakshow at the other camp wasn't enough.

They processed out of the bus like they were attending a funeral. They did everything they could, discreetly trying to include the least mount of their teens in the play as they could. They even brought up a few exceptional female teens who would be more than willing to take the lead female roles (if anything would bring up the male enthusiasm, it was including girls.) But Orochimaru was intolerant of other ideas. He insisted that his students were incredibly excited (this was highly doubted, but Tsunade's fist could only argue for so long without a passionate Jean-Strong crying to call the police).

In the end, Kakashi held the final list of the cast. Looking at it once was enough for him. But Tsunade's iron grip was unforgiving, so if the list was to survive its journey to their camp, he would have to keep it.

"I'm impressed," Kakashi said, directing his comment at Tsunade.

She looked up. "At what?"

"How you actually fought for these teens. I thought you thought they were just trouble."

Tsunade crossed her arms. "I wasn't fighting for them. It's the principle of the matter. It's that damn snake! I just want to-"

Whatever colourful language and vivid description of what she would do was lost in the cawing of crows. An omen, to say the least. However, the rest of the adults got the gist of what she was saying through interpreting her telling gestures. The males cringed.

Kakashi trudged through the parting sea of teens. One sheet of paper was all that was needed. They had done their best, splitting the roles about fifty-fifty. The paper hung like it was dangling on a noose. Like it was the males' last shreds of dignity vying for one last breath.

Naruto glanced at his friends. The three of them nodded and walked forward in unison. Whatever was coming next, they could face with friendship. But they wouldn't join hands, because that would be too melodramatic. And it could give off the wrong idea, which Neji had already gone through with the Naruto incident.

Though Naruto led them forward, it was Sasuke who checked his role first. "Tybalt," he said, rolling the name around in his brain. If he recalled correctly, Tybalt wasn't that important of a character. It wasn't who he signed up for, but he would do.

"Friar Lawrence," Shikamaru said. He sounded neither content nor upset.

Neji felt his breath catch in his throat. This was his moment. He nailed the audition. Nothing would stand in his way.

"Nurse," he read out triumphantly. Then he paused. He could have sworn that wasn't how Juliet was spelled. He read over it again in his mind. N-U-R-S-E. And as if he couldn't suffer any more trauma, Naruto's voice rang out loud and true, shattering any sense of sanity left in the world.

"What the hell? I'm Juliet!"