Originally, I had written another modelling themed story called "The Competition Starts Now", but I discontinued it because I didn't really like the flow and direction it was heading for.

I was growing unhappy with it, so I decided to rewrite it to give it a fresh start. The many characters in this story will be revealed over time, including many Naruto characters we know and love. My character Izuka is my original idea, as well as any new characters I may make up along the way.

I hope all you readers enjoy the story and I hope you all will fav, follow, or review to show your enjoyment. (Or not, I can get by with just views . . . But still, I will appreciate any favs, follows, or reviews you'd like to give me XD) Enjoy!

Chapter 1 - The Casting Call

"Izuka! Izuka . . . IZUKA, WAKE UP ALREADY!"

"WHAT IS IT!?" I yell, flailing my arms and hitting something immediately. It sounded like it stumbled to the ground, so I finally opened my eyes to see my exuberant loudmouth of a brother kneeling on the ground clutching his cheek. He was dressed in a black t-shirt and a pair of ridiculously bright orange boxers, his blonde hair looking very messy after having its nightly date with his pillow.

Then again, when is it ever not messy?

"Dammit sit! That smack wasn't necessary!" he exclaims, picking himself up from my floor. I was not amused, and I made sure my displeasure was known by giving him my fiercest scowl, or, at least, the best one I could muster in my sleep-deprived state.

"I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times Naruto. If you try to wake me up when I'm not ready, I will be throwing hands!" I tell him, holding in the yawn that was threatening to come out of my mouth. "Anyway, what the hell do you want? Sleep is not an easy thing to come by for me you know. . ."

"Yes, I know about your chronic insomnia. I've known for years . . . I'm not that dumb," Naruto tells me like it was the simplest thing in the world.

My glare set him straight real quick.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you, but I have a very good reason for doing it!"

"And what is it exactly?" I ask with a groan as I slowly swing my legs over the edge of my bed. "It better be good Naruto or else I will burn your whole entire ramen stash in the trash bin!"

"So it was you that burned my last stash! I thought it was one of the neighbors!" Naruto exclaims with a look of disbelief on his face. ". . . I owe Ms. Yamato an apology."

"Naruto, explain now or else the ramen is going to have a date with the trash," I say with a slight growl in my voice as I wipe the sleep from my eyes, well, try to. "I know where you hide it and it won't take me long to get it."

"Alright, alright. I'll talk," my brother says, holding up his arms in defeat. "I woke you because we have a deadline to make! Today's the day! It's Casting Call Day! The opportunity of a lifetime is finally upon us and we need to get ready!"

"The casting call . . . It's the one for that modelling competition right?" I ask, the yawn I had been holding back now free to escape past my lips. "What's the name again? "You Wanna be on Top?" right?"

"That's exactly it . . . The casting call is being held at the Morimoto building downtown at 8:00 on the dot. It is 5:30 now, and there's going to be a big crowd down there no matter what, so I figured we better get a move before we become part of the crowd that ends up missing their shot. . . It is a one day thing after all."

"No matter how early we get there, there's going to be a big, long line nonetheless. Popular competitions like this one just make it inevitable," I say as I finally got out of bed. "Anyway, I'm going to get ready now . . . You should do the same Naruto."

"Can't I heat up some ramen for us first? You know, to go?" he asks, almost with a whine as I walked over to my closet. "We shouldn't go on an empty stomach you know . . ."

"Fine, but make it quick," I say as I look through my rack of clothes. "If we want to get a good spot in line, we need to get out of here as fast as possible. I will leave your ass here if you delay us too long!"

"Yes ma'am!" and with a blazing grin that could light a room, Naruto runs out my room, almost tripping on his own two feet as he ran out the doorway. I couldn't help but chuckle at that. He had grown out of his clumsiness years ago, but every once in a while, it just comes right back to bite him. Hopefully he doesn't go all clumsy again on the runway.

And as for me, I just hope I don't fall asleep on it. . .

At 6:45

"Damn this line is so long!" Naruto exclaims as we finally reached the end of the line. "This line wraps around the block for crying out loud! I could probably eat two bowls of ramen clean before we get inside."

"Well, this is what happens when popular competitions hold castings and auditions Naruto. Like I said before, big lines are inevitable," I say as I looked around our surroundings. "It's a good thing the casting call is taking place in the middle of spring though. If it was happening during the dead of winter, this line probably wouldn't even be half as long as it is now."

"I don't think so Izzy . . ." Naruto mumbles as he patted my shoulder. "Everyone here, us included, are here to audition for the largest modeling competition in all of Japan! Cold weather would definitely not stop people from pursuing such a huge opportunity."

"I guess that's what you call dedication . . ." I say as the line slowly inched forward. "Do you think we'll even make it to the next round?"

"Now what kind of talk is that sis?"

"What? It's not like you haven't thought of it before!"

"True, but still though. That's not the kind of attitude you want to have when you're on the verge of a breakthrough such as this."

"I know . . . You're right, but still," I say with a shake of my head as we continue to inch forward. "Look around you! We're in a sea of gorgeous faces Naruto! The odds of us moving on to the next round are pretty slim if you ask me."

"I wasn't asking, and odds? Ha! I laugh at odds!" he chuckles as we finally turn the corner. "C'mon Izzy, have a little faith in yourself! I know we'll make it to the next round. I just know it . . . If it helps, we do have our own unique looks to fall back on."

"I guess you're right . . ." I say as I spot our reflection in the building's windows. It made for an excellent mirror for anyone that wanted to use it to touch up their makeup, fix their hair, or check for any blemishes and imperfections that may have suddenly come up on their skin, and yes, many were taking advantage of it.

Naruto and I are fraternal twins, and we were probably the biggest example of how different fraternal twins can look compared to each other. We're the same height and the same head shape, but that was as similar as similar gets between us.

Naruto was tanner than me and had bright blue eyes that reminded me of the sea. Along with his bright blonde hair and the foxlike whisker marks on his cheeks, he looked like he would fit in with any surfer group you'd find at the beach.

On the other hand, I always considered myself as a . . . well, the icier version of my brother, so to speak.

While his hair has always been this bright blonde shade that looked like it was kissed by the sun, mine's is very pale. People say I'm an ice-blonde, but I think my hair is even paler than that, almost ghost-like. My skin and eyes are slightly paler than Naruto's own, and I was never born with the whisker marks my brother was born with, or any birthmark to begin with.

Instead, I have been developing a bad case of insomnia for the past few years now. It's gotten so bad that dark rings have started to show around my eyes.

They don't look that terrible.

In fact, it looks like I've got permanent mascara lines around my eyes.

Yes, I've managed to save a bunch of money I could have spent on mascara because of this. I see it as a bonus.

I've been able to sleep from time to time, but most nights, I just curl up in my bed with a book in hand because I simply can't sleep well anymore.

"Come on sis . . . You got to believe that we have a pretty good chance of making it through to the next round. If you don't, well, I'll just believe for the both of us." Naruto says with that ever-so-cheerful grin of his as we continue to move along like a very long, very slow caterpillar.

"Hmm, thanks Naruto," I say as I shoot him a small smirk. His just gets wider, which makes me wonder how in the world he could maintain such a chipper attitude despite the ever-so-scary odds.

Eventually, we finally manage to get into the building after another half hour passes by, and once we're inside, it turns out that the boys and girls would be auditioning separately, with the boys staying on the ground floor, and us girls moving to the second floor to show our stuff.

"Looks like this is where we split up sis," Naruto says, his eyes more on the male competition making their way down the hall. "I'll see you later."

"See ya Naruto!" I say with a chuckle as I watch him walk away. "And bro?"

"Yeah little sis?"

"Good luck!"

"Thanks . . . Knock'em dead sis!"

That's the last thing he tells me before he disappears into the crowd of tall, good looking men. Watching the crowd move on, I take a deep breath before following the large group of girls down a second hallway that led to the staircases, elevators, and escalators. With the amount of ladies that were trying out today, the staircase was the obvious choice to go with if I wanted to get ahead of some of these people.

Going up the stairs was a good choice. The escalator up looked crazy, and some of the girls now looked like they just got out of a cage fight.

When I reached the second floor, I hustled over to the group gathering before a long table next to a set of bronze-colored doors. Standing in front of the table was a raven-haired woman dressed in a shiny silver jumpsuit and black sandals. Her chin-length hair was pinned back and she held a black clipboard that had the 'You Wanna Be on Top?' logo on the back.

She looked like a very fashionable secretary.

"Welcome potential models!" the lady says with a grin as she holds her clipboard close to her chest. "Welcome to the first round of the 'You Wanna Be on Top?' auditions!"

"My name is Shizune, and you all know me as the assistant to the host of this esteemed competition, Ms. Tsunade herself," Somehow I can still hear her voice, despite her being pelted with ravenous cheers and applause. "Now settle down ladies, I have to go over a few things with you all before we get down to business."

At that, the entire crowd comes to an abrupt halt, all of us giving Shizune our rapt attention. We all went from a raucous crowd to as grim as a cemetery, standing in complete silence so that we heard what she had to say next.

"Thank you all for your attention," says Shizune as she looks around the group. "For starters, unfortunately, Ms. Tsunade couldn't make it to today's casting due to another urgent matter, but she will be around for the semifinals. Well, if you're lucky enough to make it that far that is."

"That worries me . . ."

"Hmm . . ." I felt my eyebrow go up at the timid voice from somewhere on my near left. Turning my head, I come face-to-face with a pale indigo-haired girl right next to me watching Shizune with a timid look on her face. Her pale eyes - which didn't look like they had pupils to begin with at first glance - showed how unsure she as she began to twiddle her fingers like the nervous person she probably was. "Hey, you shouldn't be so worried!"

"Huh?" she asks, shocked to hear that someone was talking directly to her. "Wait, are you talking to me?"

"Yes, yes I am talking to you," I say, bringing out my best reassuring smile. "It's okay to be nervous. You're not the only one who's worried about their chances here. Between you and me, even though everyone seems excited to be here, I bet everyone's feeling a little iffy on the inside, myself included."

"I guess you have a point . . . This is such a big opportunity. It's crazy for me to think that everybody here is not even a little nervous I guess . . ." she says as she takes in a very deep breath. "Oh, excuse me, what is your name?"

"Shizuka Uzumaki, but I just go by Izuka for short," I say with a shrug. "My brother insists on calling me Izzy, even though I never want him to . . . What's yours?"

"My name is Hinata Hyuga," she says as we overhear Shizune talk about how we each have to do a little bit of paperwork before we were let into the room. "So, is your brother auditioning too?"

"Yep; he's downstairs with the other guys. What about you?" I ask as we join the other girls in filing into a single line. "Do you have any friends or family auditioning today?"

"Just my cousin Neji," she tells me with a small shrug as we inch forward. "He was a little reluctant to come along at first though."

"Huh, why?" I ask with an eyebrow raised. "Why was your cousin so reluctant?"

"He wasn't too in to the idea of competing in a modeling competition, but my dad asked him to come with me because he wanted someone to look out for me while I'm here," Hinata tells me, twiddling her fingers as she spoke. "Plus, he wasn't fully convinced to come along until he found out that his friend TenTen was auditioning too."

"Is she here among the group?"

"No, she's going to audition during the afternoon session," Hinata tells me, a look of shock coming across my face . . . Damn you Naruto. "You never knew there was an afternoon session, did you?"

"Not in the slightest . . ." I say as I notice that we were only 15 girls away from the table. "I have a hard time sleeping, and if I had known that there was an afternoon session as well, I would have slept in and gone to that one instead. My brother never told me . . ."

"Maybe he never knew . . ." Hinata suggests in my brother's defense as I pinch the bridge of my nose. I decide to give her the benefit of the doubt and don't say anything to her suggestion, because truthfully, she had a point.

Eventually, we finally reach the front of the line. Once we get through the admission packet, we each receive a pink paper with a number on it. We're then ushered through the bronze colored doors and into the room filled with other models hoping to get to the next round, and this room was huge. "There's a lot of competition here."

"You said it . . ." I mumble as we make our way to a couple of chairs that was in the far back of the room. "But I hope we both make it through."

"Wait. You hope we both make it through?" Hinata asks me in slight shock as we find a couple of empty seats.

"Well, why not?" I ask, confused by her question. "Even though we've known each other for like, 30 minutes now, I can tell that you're a nice person Hinata. Plus, you have one of the most unique looks in the room. There are girls here that are actually shooting you glances . . . That means they see you as a potential threat."

"Really . . . Oh," she says, her eyes widening as we spot at least seven other girls staring our way. They turn away as soon as they realized that we were staring back at them. "Maybe they were just staring at you Izuka? You have a unique look as well. Very . . . icy."

"Yeah, I've been told that I have a bit of an icy look to myself, I'll admit it. Actually, it made it hard for me to make friends at first because I look so unapproachable . . ." I say, sadly chuckling at old memories as I place my sticky pink paper on my leg. Hinata does the same with hers, but she puts it right on her stomach. "But my brother - the little motivational speaker he is at times - told me that I should just have faith in myself and basically not let things faze me. I just got to work my butt off today and hope for the best, and you should too! Just block out the haters, and do your own thing."

"That's some nice advice," Hinata says with a nod, looking a little amused now. "All my dad told me was good luck."

"Sometimes a simple 'good luck' is all you really need . . ." I say with a chuckle as Shizune walks into the room. "And in this competition, it doesn't hurt to have a little luck going for you."

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