WD: Hey everyone!

Hidan: So what, now you're acting like nothing happened!! *mumbles*stupidfuckingauthor*mumbles*

WD: I know! I know! I'm a baaaaaaaaad authoress! I just finished my final year at high school, and my teachers were drilling me for work. I had no time to write whatsoever. I finally got time off though! Summer Vacation is a wonderful thing!~

Deidara: Excuses, excuses, h'mm.

WD: Well, I worked hard on this chapter, trying to write it as best as I could while going as fast as I could. Bad author. It's been, what, six months? That's worse than last time I went through writer's block.

I'll say this, I'm ashamed. And I wouldn't be surprised if most of you have given up on me, since I'm so bad.

On a positive note! I received much more than 20 reviews last chapter, and in fact got almost 40! O_O Wow, I was so happy, and every single review made me exuberantly happy...also sad because I had not time to write for you.

So, yes, the poll for the next oneshot will be up!

Sasori: She's doing this to suck up. Don't fall for her tricks.

WD: T_T I said I was sorry, and every day that went by I felt a stab of guilt pierce my heart.

Sasori: Fancy words aren't going to help.

Hidan: Bad author.

WD: *Sulks in corner of woe* I know, and feel free to berate me all you want. I deserve it. Anyway, the poll will be up soon, and I will be updating as regularily as I can.

Thank you all very very much for patiently waiting.

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, not me. I own all original character(s), inanimate objects, and themes. Beauty and the Beast is owned by Disney (this version anyway).

Chapter 20

A soft din was in the air. The auditorium was filled with students and teachers alike. One thing each and every one of them shared was the anticipation for the night's performance.

Deidara, Sasori, Kisame, Hidan, Kakuzu, Itachi, and Zetsu found their seats near the middle of the auditorium.

"A little early this year isn't it?" Kisame muttered.

"Yeah, h'mm, I thought the same thing, but whatever. It's not like it matters, right, h'mm?" Deidara replied. There was a murmur of agreement. Their voices hushed when the lights dimmed and a spotlight lighted the stage.

The play was starting.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen," the Drama teacher spoke from the spotlight. "Tonight, I have the pleasure of presenting to you a play we the drama class have been working on for quite a long time. Well, enough formalities, you'll see the play itself in a sec." There was a soft laughter around the audience. "Now, I'd like for you to sit back, relax, and enjoy our show: Beauty and the Beast." The audience applauded as the Drama teacher made his way off stage.

The play started off with the narrator.

"Once, a long time ago, there was a prince who was the most rich and the most handsome in the land. He was also very cruel.

"One stormy night, an old beggar woman knocked upon the prince's door, seeking shelter in return for a single rose."

The audience watched Tobi glaring at and old woman being lit up on the stage.

"The prince scowled in disgust at the woman and turned her away," the narrator continued.

Tobi and the other actress acted without a word.

"It's hard to believe Tobi could play such a mean role," Deidara muttered. Hidan and Kisame snickered. The people around them hissed at them to be quiet.

"The old woman warned him not to be fooled by mere appearances," the narrator continued.

"True beauty is not seen on the outside, but rather, from within," the actress recited.

"However the prince turned her away again, and the old woman's appearance melted away to reveal a beautiful sorceress," the narrator continued. The actress in the old woman's costume ripped it off and stood there majestically.

"The prince bowed down at her feet, pleading for forgiveness, but it was too late. She had already seen that there was no love in his heart."

"As punishment, she transformed him into a hideous beast." Tobi bent forward, as if in pain and disappeared into the shadows as the spotlight left him and the actress.

"The sorceress placed a powerful spell on the castle, as well as all who lived there.

"Ashamed of his new form, the prince locked himself away in his castle with only a magic mirror to be his window to the outside world.

"As for the rose she had offered, it turned out to be an enchanted rose."

A spotlight shone down on a rose.

"The rose would bloom until his 21st year, and if he could learn to love another by the time the last petal wilted, the spell would be broken. If he could not, he would be cursed to remain a beast for ever more."

The spotlights faded.

"As the years past, he fell into despair and lost all hope. For who could ever learn to love a beast?"

The lights fell off completely as the first scene finished.

"Good intro, I'm hooked," Hidan whispered. Deidara snorted. The people around them hissed violently at them, once again.

Kari came onto the stage as the second scene started. She was pretty nervous about it...

Actually, she was terrified out of her mind.

'I'm doing this for Tobi. I'm doing this for Tobi,' she chanted in her head like a mantra. She began.

"Little town,

It's a quiet village.

Every day,

Like the one before.

Little town,

Full of little people,

Waking up to say..."

'And so it begins...' she thought as the scene came into full swing.

Kari was pleased at how the play was turning out. She had hit her cues spot on and her voice had yet to crack. She hadn't really looked at the audience directly during her parts, so that had helped a lot. It was also reassuring having Tobi there during almost every scene with her. If she were completely honest with herself, she was definitely having a lot of fun.

The boys looked on as the play went on.

"She's much better than she made herself out to be," Sasori stated.

"Yeah, h'mm. By the way she talked, you'd think she would have been horrible, h'mm," Deidara replied.

"SHH!!"

Hidan glared at the person who dared shush them.

"People these days," he said shaking his head. Kakuzu rolled his eyes.

"Just shut up and watch," he said.

It was the climax scene of the play. Tobi as the beast was fighting the actor who played Gaston on the roof of the castle. They wrestled and lunged at one another. The beast pushed Gaston down a few roofs and they continued fighting.

"It's over Beast! Belle is mine!!" Gaston exclaimed. The Beast got angry and attacked Gaston. He grabbed him by the neck and held him over the edge of one of the towers.

"No! Please! Let me go! Please don't hurt me!! I'll do anything!!" Gaston pleaded. The Beast snarled, but brought him back to the roof and leaned in closer.

"Get. Out." He promptly dropped him. Kari as Belle entered a few roofs up.

"Beast!"

"Belle," the beast said with a smile.

"Jeeze, everything is so dramatic," Hidan mumbled.

"SHH!"

"Why don't you Shh!" Hidan snarled back.

The Beast climbed up to where Belle was.

"You came back," he said, sounding relieved. Suddenly, the Beast cried out in agony as Gaston stabbed him in the side. However, they leaned to far back and Gaston fell off the towers, screaming the whole way. Belle grabbed onto the Beast and pulled him back over the railing.

"You...you came...back," the beast mumbled.

"Of course I did! I couldn't let them... Oh, this is all my fault!" Belle cried, holding the beast closer to her. "If only I had gotten here sooner."

"Maybe...its better...it's better this way..."

"Don't talk like that! You'll be alright. We're together now. Everything will be alright."

"At least...I... got to see you...one last time." The beast fell back.

"Dramatic scene number 143," Hidan murmured.

"Do you have something against dramatic scenes or something Hidan?" Kakuzu asked uncaringly.

"They're dumb," he replied simply. Kakuzu rolled his eyes.

"Just shut up, you're annoying people."

-.-.-.-

Kari stared up at Tobi as the dramatic scene peaked. She was doing a pretty good job at the crying scene, but now it was time for the kiss, as the beast had now been turned back into a human. She leaned her head up near Tobi's for the pretend kiss they had used during all the practices. She was however shocked when she felt a soft warm texture on her own lips. She remained calm, as it would ruin the scene if she overreacted now. She'd have to ask Tobi about it later.

-.-.-.-

Deidara was as shocked – if not more so – as Kari. He couldn't explain it, but something in him snapped. His stomach boiled and something inside him roared with rage. He didn't know what the hell was wrong with him, but for some reason, he really, really wanted to punch Tobi in the face.

"And they lived happily ever after," the narrator finished. The audience burst into applause.

"Finally! Jeeze! This play was way to fucking mushy," Hidan complained.

"Unless there had been non-stop action and violence, you would have thought it too mushy, Hidan," Kakuzu countered. Hidan shrugged.

"Yeah, but this one went, like, fucking beyond. If two of our friends hadn't been playing in it, I definitely wouldn't have come to see it." Kakuzu rolled his eyes again and ignored the jashinist. Hidan huffed and focused his attention elsewhere.

"Something wrong Deidara?" he asked the blonde, who looked ready to kill something violently.

Deidara was snapped out of his rage by Hidan's voice. He looked up to see his bewildered friends and wondered himself, why he had gotten so angry.

"I'm fine Hidan, h'mm. Don't know what came over me," Deidara replied, standing up. Hidan shrugged and got up to leave. Deidara was about to follow suit when he felt Sasori tense beside him.

"What's wrong, h'mm?" Deidara asked. Not much got Sasori to tense up, so whatever it was, it was bad news.

"Come on, not time for explanations," Sasori replied hastily. Deidara frowned, but followed his red haired friend, wondering what could have bothered him this much.

Kari made it past the other actors and actresses that congratulated her. She breathed out a sigh of relief. She was very glad that ordeal was over. No matter how fun it was, she was never going to go through that kind of stress again.

She had almost reached her changing room, when she heard a voice behind her.

"Congratulations on your performance." Kari felt a chill run up her spine just from the man's very voice. She turned around to see a very pale man with long dark hair. His eyes were a piercing yellow, almost like a snake's eyes. She swallowed and pushed the slight fear of the man away.

"Thank you sir," she replied quietly. The man smiled, although it heightened her sense of fear, rather than diminished it.

"Yes, I was rather impressed with you. I had heard you were an art student, rather than a drama student. To put on such a show regardless..." he trailed off. His daunting smile remaining in place.

"Thank you, but I had a lot of help...and...I wasn't the only actor up there," she replied, her voice getting more and more silent. The man's smile intensified.

"How humble of you. I must say, after reading your profile, I was impressed, however...you have shown a great deal more than what could be written on meaningless paper."

Rather than be flattered, Kari felt her fear increase. She had never been this afraid of someone before.

"Thank you, sir," she said again, but she couldn't help but add to it. "You've...read about me, sir?"

"Yes, I had heard of an extraordinary student Pein had pulled out of nowhere. One with superb grades. One who became accustomed to the peculiarities of this hidden world. And a human, no less," he answered, his eyes gleaming with something akin to excitement or desire, Kari wasn't sure. "It's a shame I hadn't found you sooner."

As the last word left his mouth, a flurry of motion appeared between them.

"Pein, how nice to see you again," the pale man greeted the Leader of Akatsuki High.

"I would kindly ask you to remove yourself and to leave my students alone," Leader returned in his commanding voice. Kari also noticed Tobi, Itachi, Sasori, and Deidara were in the room now. Apparently the pale man noticed as well. He smiled frighteningly at Sasori, before switching his gaze to Itachi.

"Itachi-kun, how nice to see you again," he greeted. Itachi's eyes narrowed dangerously. He stepped closer to Kari until he was blocking her from the pale man's view. Deidara snarled at the pale man, while Sasori and Tobi glared viciously at him.

"Well, I can see I'm not wanted here. I bid you all farewell," the pale man sneered to the other males. His gaze strayed to the only female and he smiled his terrifying smile again.

"It was a pleasure finally meeting you. I look forward to seeing you again sometime." He turned on the spot and strode away.

"Like hell you will, h'mm!" Deidara shouted after him. The man had disappeared without even showing signs of having heard him.

Kari got a terrible sense of dread building up inside her. 'Just who was that man?' she thought.

Leader watched the exit where the man left, before quickly turning around to look at her.

"Kari, listen to me, you are to stay as far away from that man as possible. He's bad news and for him to seek you out, well...let's just say, it isn't good," Leader told her fiercely. Kari nodded vigorously. Leader sighed.

"Congratulations on your performance. Try to get some rest. No doubt you'll need it after that experience," he said before he left as well. Kari had a suspicion that Leader meant her meeting the pale man, rather than the play itself was tiring.

She breathed out heavily before leaning back against the door. The four boys turned around to face her.

"Is Kari-chan alright?" Tobi asked cautiously.

"Obviously not, h'mm. Not after meeting that psychotic bastard, h'mm!" Deidara snapped angrily. Kari barely heard them. The extreme feelings of fear she had received from that man was unbelievable. She never wanted to feel that scared again.

"I'm...I'm fine. I just...need to rest a bit," she replied. Sasori came over and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You have to listen when we say that man is dangerous," he told her seriously. She nodded.

"Who...who was he?" she asked.

"Orochimaru," Itachi replied with venom in his voice. Kari switched her gaze over to him.

"How do you know him?"

"He used to teach here, h'mm," Deidara replied. "He was the science teacher until he-"

"He did some bad things and had to leave," Sasori cut in, staring pointedly at Deidara. Normally, Kari probably would have asked what it was he did that was so bad, but after meeting the man, she really didn't want to know.

"When he left he tried to take Sasori with him," Tobi started off where Sasori ended. Kari's eyes widened.

"I didn't go, not willingly. He tried to trick me into going with him, but it obviously didn't work," Sasori growled.

"Sasori was and still is a protégé, however he was old enough and smart enough to see through the trick," Tobi explained. "After he failed trying to take Sasori, he met Itachi, who was also a protégé. As a bonus, he had the sharingan."

"He tried to take...both of you?"

"Yeah, h'mm. Because Itachi had the sharingan, he tried to take him to his creepy school quite a few times, h'mm," Deidara answered. Kari started when she felt Sasori squeeze her shoulder.

"He showed an interest in you, so you have to tell us if anything strange happens to you, got it?" he told her urgently.

'Is that fear in his eyes?' she thought alarmed.

"I'll tell you if anything goes wrong," she said. Sasori nodded and removed his hand.

"Kari-chan should go get changed. Don't worry, we'll protect you," Tobi said cheerily, trying to bring up the mood. Kari smiled at his attempt and went into her changing room.

The four boys rested in silence for a moment.

"One of us should stay with her at all times," Itachi stated. The others nodded.

"Agreed," Sasori murmured.

"We can't trust that bastard for a second, h'mm!"

"We'll have to tell the others," Tobi stated. The others nodded. "No one will take Kari-chan away from us."

Kari changed out of her costume slowly, thinking about the event that just happened. She tried to fight her worry, knowing that her friends would be there for her.

Somehow, the feeling of dread just kept growing.

WD: There you have it. The plot finally arrives. Hahaha....ha..................................................

I had a surprisingly fun time writing Orochimaru. I really dislike him, but he's really fun to write.

Deidara: Sadist, h'mm.

WD: Am not! Anyway, thanks for sticking with this story! I really appreciate it!