This is loosely based off of the Phantom of the Opera

I don't own Naruto... or Romeo and Juliet

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Sakura gazed at the pool of light on the stage, created from a lone spotlight.

"Naruto!! Read for Malvolio!! Neji- Benvolio!! Lee- Romeo!! Page 3, from the top!!" Tsunade's commanding voice boomed from some seat farther up in the black abyss of the auditorium.

The three boys obeyed her, their shoes clunking softly against the wood of the stage.

Sakura leaned back into her seat, prepared to block out the horrible whine of Naruto's voice. Far above her head, the beam of light shone on, illuminating the figures ascend.

It had to be incredibly boring, sitting on that balcony that contained all the light switches. Who would want that job?

A slight frown crept onto her face. That was a good question. Tech theatre?

She jumped a little when the girl next to her shifted. Ten-Ten. She might know.

"Ten-Ten," Sakura whispered, "who controls the lights?"

The older girl smiled into the darkness, and told her. "The ghost."

"There's a ghost?!"

"Every theatre has one. I'm surprised you didn't know."

"Oh…" She fell silent as the actors began reading lines from their scripts.

"That's enough," Tsunade pronounced after a couple of minutes.

The house lights slowly rose to their full brightness-apparently, the phantom creature had been paying attention.

"Auditions are over. Cast will be posted at 8:00 tomorrow morning outside the theater."

Sakura glanced up at the sound/light control booth. A shadow stood near the edge for a moment, then retreated hastily.

She shivered involuntarily then followed her fellow classmates to the warmth and freedom that the outdoors offered.

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Tsunade sighed, flipping through the notes that she had been taking for the past two hours.

Time creeped away as she slowly determined the fate of the play she intended to direct.

Finally, after having decided all parts except for the main female role, she spoke. "To tell the truth, I'm not sure if any of the girls have what it takes to be Juliet."

"Not even Haruno Sakura?" A boy with hair the shade of Death's cloak came from the stairs that led to the control panels and headed for the older woman.

She looked over at his masked face with a slight frown. "She doesn't have enough confidence in her own abilities."

"This could help her self-esteem."

"Or she could have a breakdown during a performance."

"She deserves a chance."

Tsunade was amused despite herself. It had been 7 years since she'd rescued Sasuke from his dreadful life, and he had always seemed cold and distant, despising the majority of humanity. Perhaps this would end up good for him as well…

"I suppose I could practice with her extra," she consented.

Sasuke felt his lips curving into a smile, and, for the first time in his life, was glad that his mask was there to conceal it.

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A/N: The 4th Hokage is the principal. Tsunade is the theatre arts teacher.