A/N: My entry for'The Theatre' challenge over at Naruto100. I'm actually working on some crack drawings to accompany this that will be up soon.This is a favorite of mine.
Akatsuki Fundraising
The Akatsuki was an organization that spanned across every one of the ninja countries. A single country had not felt the tread of an Akatsuki member. And, everyone who met an Akatsuki member had to admit, they had a lot of interesting, awesome, gadgets. They had the best weapons, the coolest clothes, and weapons of mass destruction, all held within a very expensive criminal fortress. They also had several smaller bases scattered around the countries. These things added up to quite the expensive bill.
It was for this reason that the Akatsuki was compelled to raise funds for their organization. The easiest way was just to threaten people out of it. Unfortunately, this had a habit of bringing a country's elite corps to Akatsuki's front door. And this was not a good thing. They were a secret organization. Therefore, more creative methods of fundraising had to be implemented. This is what brought each Akatsuki member to their base in the Grass country one day. No one was allowed to miss the meeting when parts were to be assigned. Rumors that Orochimaru had taken a female body just for the production were being circulated, along with whispers that Zetsu had received a good part, despite speculation.
"Silence." Their leader commanded, standing there with a sheaf of papers in his hand. "We'll be handing out the parts presently." A hush pervaded the cave as their leader cleared his throat. After running through some minor parts, the leader got to the major roles.
"The role of Carlotta will be played by Orochimaru." The serpent smirked triumphantly. "Zetsu will be playing Monsieur Firmin." The plant-like man crossed his arms and nodded. "Sasori shall be cast as Monsieur Andre." The puppet tail snapped irritably. "The role of Madame Giry goes to Deidara." The blonde grinned. No one knew whether the gender fit or not. No one cared either. "I will be playing Raoul." The leader announced.
"And the leading roles, that of the Phantom of the Opera and Christine, are to be played by Kisame and Itachi, respectively." Kisame smiled, Itachi frowned. The leader passed out scripts.
It took about five months to prepare the traveling set, the props, the costumes, and the lines. Deidara ended up doubling as the costume designer, Sasori as the props manager, Zetsu as the advertiser, and Orochimaru as the music director. Kisame and Itachi were given leave since they had so many lines, and Leader was just… their leader. But finally, everything was set.
They debuted in the Grass country, and quickly claimed fame as the traveling Opera troop. Money poured in. Leader was pleased. Critics all across the country praised the Phantom for his emotion and his singing voice. Christine only received slightly less praise. They toured the five main countries as well, making sure to disguise themselves and stay clear of elite ninjas. And when the tour finally ended, the leader went out and used to plentiful funds to buy a demon-soul sucking machine.
The End