Chapter 12: Runway Prep
"Good. You're all free to go in three . . . two . . . one, SHOP!"
The last word barely left Yamato's mouth before everyone broke off into different directions. It became an absolute free for all as we all dashed toward any shop that possibly held outfits that fit the challenge, as well as fit our respective budgets. Some people were even running back out the mall, most likely to try their luck with the shops out on the street. Personally, I think that it's best to just stick with what the street mall had to offer for now, especially when we were given such little time to work with.
"IZUKA! OVER HERE!
Hearing my name being suddenly yelled out makes me stop in my tracks, so I looked up and turned my head to see Temari, Hinata, and TenTen still standing in the spot where the whole group was previously standing in. TenTen was gesturing for me to come over, so I did, backtracking my steps as I went over to the girls.
"It's a good thing I managed to get your attention, or else we would have lost you in the crowd," says the dual-bunned brunette as I rejoined our little clique. "Look, as Yamato and Mr. Kato were explaining the challenge, Temari and I got to thinking. We talked, quickly deciding that for this first challenge, it's best if we four worked together to assemble our looks rather than walk around here separately like we were chickens with our heads cut off."
"Hmm, you guys go from insulting each others' hair to working together to succeed in a challenge? Talk about turning a complete 180." I say, the sarcasm just dripping from my voice.
"Hey! We argue during our off hours!" says TenTen as she juts her finger right into my face.
"But when it's competition time, we are focused and ready to compete!" Temari further adds as I swat TenTen's finger away from my nose. "Anyway, let's figure out a game plan shall we? We need to know what we're working with here."
"Well if you ask me, we each have a little over 20,000 yen to spend in a street mall where most of the shops showcase high end and expensive products," Hinata conveniently summarizes as she starts messing with her fingers. "No wonder the boys and some of the other models left this place. They must have figured that they could find what they need at a cheaper cost in one of the nearby stores."
"That seems like a good idea, but when you think about it, they may not find what they're looking for in a timely fashion. Plus, if they do all their shopping out on the nearby streets, it's going to take them longer to get back here in time for the show." I add as I check the time on the clock. "We only have fifty five minutes to shop now. I suggest we just stick with what's here in the street mall rather than going back outside."
"I agree. . . Hey, I saw a department store I recognize just down the mall. It's always been known for selling good clothes at reasonable prices. Let's try there first," suggests TenTen as she points down the walkway. "Who knows? Maybe we'll find all that we need in that one store. Well, if we're lucky enough. . ."
We all agree to that before following TenTen through the crowd. It didn't take us long to reach the store, and it didn't take us long to find the store's women's department. As soon as we walked in, a sign immediately directed us to the women's section, all the way in the back of the place.
"TenTen, you may actually be right about us finding everything we need in here," I say as I look around the place. "I see a makeup station off to the right, the whole back wall is lined with shoes . . . We're bound to find some good stuff in here."
"And do you know what the best part about this place is?" asks the brunette as she looks at us in complete glee. "There's nobody else from the competition here in this place with us! We won't have to fight others to get what we want!"
"It won't be like that for long if everyone else starts thinking along the same lines we are," says Temari, effectively bursting TenTen's bubble. "Let's split up and find our outfits. We'll meet up at the shoe wall once we're done before heading over to the makeup counter."
We split after that. I quickly make my way through the racks of clothing to search for the perfect outfit that embodied the 'Nightlife Glamour' theme that we needed to convey on the runway in less than an hour. I, for one, wasn't one of those girls who were all for the wearing bright colors as a head-to-toe look trend, so I avoided those kinds of outfits at all costs. When I think of nightlife, I think of dark colors and dark shades of usually bright colors, so those were the kinds of outfits I was looking for, mainly in a dress form.
After about 10 minutes of searching through the racks, I found an outfit that I was happy with. It was a long sleeved, eggplant colored mini-dress with a bit of a V-neck in the front. It was in my size, but I made a quick trip to the dressing room to make sure it would actually fit me . . .
. . . And fit me it did. I had no trouble slipping it on, and I'll be honest, it fit me like a damn glove, thankfully. Plus, the price was practically a bargain. I would have stayed in the dressing room for a few minutes longer, if it weren't for the fact that I was in a competition. Honestly, I liked the dress so much that I found myself admiring my reflection for a little too long.
I quickly changed back into my regular outfit and exited the dressing room before making my way over to the shoe wall. Hinata and Temari were already there searching for their shoes as their outfits hung from their shoulders, but TenTen was nowhere to be found.
"TenTen still hasn't found an outfit yet?" I ask as I looked at the section of the wall that featured heels in black.
"She did. She was heading for the dressing rooms last time I checked." says Temari as she tried to force her feet into a pair of silver stilettos that looked about a size too small for her feet.
"Huh, I must have missed her," I say as I pick out a pair of simple suede ankle booties that had caught my eye. "And Temari, you may want to try a different shoe, preferably in your actual size. That shoe you have now isn't going to fit you anytime soon."
"I know, but these shoes would be perfect for the outfit that I picked out for myself. Unfortunately, I don't see my size here among the rack, and I don't want to waste time asking the salesperson if they have these in my size," says Temari as she finally gets the shoe on her foot. "I'm just going to have to make due with the shoes I picked out. Besides, models sometimes wears shoes too small for their feet on the runway. I see this as being no different. It's just a little pain anyway . . ."
"Hmm . . . I guess that's fair enough," I say as I slipped off my right heel. "Hinata, have you found a shoe you like yet?"
"Yep . . . I think I'm going to go with these light blue peep toes I'm wearing. It'll be a nice contrast to the all black dress I'll be wearing," she tells me as she admired her feet. "Are you going to go with the ankle booties?"
"I think so," I say as I slipped the other bootie onto my left foot. I then take a few tentative steps in the three inch heels, just to make sure they fit my feet right. "Yeah, I'm going to go with these. So, should we wait for TenTen?"
"No need. I'm here!" we hear TenTen say as she suddenly appears from behind two racks of dresses. Her outfit, a sleeveless, rose colored mini-dress, hung from the hanger she was holding in her left hand while a shoebox was held by her right. "You wouldn't believe where I found these shoes!"
"Save it for later TenTen. Let's get our makeup, pay for our stuff, and get the hell out of here!" says Temari as she starts walking to the makeup counter. TenTen instantly pouted at that, but all Hinata and I could do was was send her apologetic looks before following after the older girl.
When we got to the counter, it was decided that each of us would focus on a certain makeup item for all of us, focusing on the basics. Temari was in charge of foundation and concealer, Hinata oversaw eyeliner, mascara, and eyeshadow, I focused on lipstick, and TenTen was in charge of anything we may still need. We gave each other some quick advice on what to get and what to avoid, and when we were done picking out our stuff, we hightailed our butts over to the cashiers' lane. Luckily for us, we had money to spare, but we couldn't spend any more of it due to our lack of time.
"I wish we could have at least bought one or two pieces of jewelry, or maybe even a nice clutch or purse," we hear TenTen mumble as we exited the store. "You know, just to pump up our outfits a bit?"
"I get where you're coming from with that, but it's best if we just play it safe and head over to the runway now," I advise as we pass a group of American tourists. "Besides, if we don't get back in time, all these purchases will be for nothing."
"Well, not really. We would have some new additions for our respective closets, if you really think about it," says Temari as we near the runway. "You could wear the outfit during an elimination."
"That's a possibility . . ." says TenTen.
"How many people do you think made it back before us?" asks Hinata as we spot people dressed in all black moving around the runway, most likely production crewmembers putting the finishing touches on the venue. "Do you think we'll be one of the last ones there?"
"I think we would be in the middle of the pack . . ." I say as I spot one of the mall clocks on top of a light post. "Look! We still have fourteen minutes left before the hour is officially up."
"Crap! I'm not fast enough to run back into the store and buy a clutch before time's up!" whines TenTen as we finally reach the runway.
"We wouldn't let you anyway! You're the one holding the bag with all the makeup!" says Temari, scowling at the brunette as we're lead over to the nearby prep area. The area was a large white tent set up in a lot between two high end clothing stores. When we finally walked inside, it was apparent that there was a station for each model in the competition, but only seven of the spots were occupied.
"With us here, that makes 11 models present," I mumble as we walked over to the four stations that were set up smack dab in the middle of the tent. "Which means there's still 10 models at risk of disqualification, including the boys."
"Oh . . . I hope they get here in time," says Hinata as she claims the station next to mine, leaving Temari and TenTen to take the stations directly across from ours. "Getting disqualified on the very first challenge isn't a good way to start the competition off by any means."
"No truer words have ever been said," says Temari as she shakes her head, her pigtails swishing from side-to-side with each movement. "But I'm sure they'll get here in time, well, most of them anyway."
"Most of them, Temari?" TenTen couldn't help but ask as she shoots an incredulous look the blonde's way. "You don't sound too confident that the boys will all get here in time girl. You thinking they'll get here late?"
"Not all four of them," says Temari. "I know for sure that Gaara won't get back here late. He may look like a rebel, but he's pretty much the most punctual person in my family, even better than my dad. Neji doesn't look like the kind of guy to be late for an event either. Kankuro does have a tendency to be late at times, and as for Naruto . . . yeah, he seems like a complete wildcard to me."
"That's probably the best way you can describe my brother. You expect him to go one way, but then he does the complete opposite instead. There's pretty much no telling with him," I say as Sakura walked into the tent. "Okay, now we have twelve models present with Sakura just arriving."
"You mean 14. Karin and Sasuke are close behind me," says the pinkette as she looked around the room. "How much longer till the hour is up?"
"As of now, five minutes," says TenTen as Karin and Sasuke entered the tent. Those two completely ignore us as they made their way over to the empty seats by Suigetsu and Juugo. "For some reason, I'm getting some bad vibes from those two."
"Pfft, you're not the only one," mumbles Sakura, her voice hush-hush as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Sasuke may look cute, but he obviously acts like he's better than everyone, and Karin is like a parasitic tick that just can't keep herself away from him."
"They have gotten quite close to each other since the semifinals first began . . . A bit begrudgingly on Sasuke's part," I say as we hear loud footsteps approaching the tent. We turn our heads just in time to see Gaara, Neji, and Naruto almost stumble in with shopping bags in hand. "Aw, you made it, and with three minutes to spare you guys!"
"At least we're here," says Naruto as he quickly catches his breath. "We would have been here sooner, but there was a backlog of people at the cashier's line at the store we went to. Like seriously, the place had 12 cashier spots, but only two cashiers were working the lines! That is not how you do business!"
"Well at least you three made it here back in time, but where's Kankuro?" asks Temari. "Didn't he go off with you guys?"
"He was with us when we left the mall, but while we went one way, he went off in a totally different direction," Gaara calmly explained as he claimed a station for himself. "Is there anyone else still missing?"
"Besides Kankuro, only three other people are still not here," says TenTen as she starts to organize all of our makeup. "Ino isn't back yet, as well as Choji and Lee. If they don't get here within the next 90 seconds, they can kiss their turn on the runway goodbye."
"Well then, it's a good thing I got here just in time!"
As soon as we heard Kankuro's voice, all eyes were on him as he entered the tent with a smile on his face. Choji entered the tent right behind him, his face looking absolutely relieved as he started walking over to where Shikamaru was seated.
"What took you so long Kankuro? You almost got yourself disqualified!"
"Calm down sis. I'm here aren't I?" says the middle Sabakuno as he joins our little group. "And to answer your first question, I thought I would try a store no one else was going to. Managed to find my outfit real quick, but it took me a lot longer to find a decent pair of shoes to go with it."
"MODELS! GATHER ROUND PLEASE!?"
It wasn't hard to figure out that the yelling was coming from Yamato. He was standing right at the entrance of the tent, a small smile stretched across his face as he looked around at all our faces. However, it didn't take long for the smile to go away when he noticed that not everyone was present and accounted for.
"Models, I hope everything went smoothly for you guys when you were all shopping for your outfits during the last hour . . . However, I see that not all of you have made it back here within the time limit," he says, his eyes looking slightly disappointed. "From what I can see, it appears that both Ino and Lee are still not here. That's a shame . . . "
"And look who the cat conveniently decides to drag in. . ." I hear Sakura mumble as the tent flap suddenly flips open. We all turn our heads to see Lee, and then Ino, walk in, both with guilty looks on their faces. Yamato was now looking none too pleased with the duo.
"Ino, Lee, I'm glad you two could finally join us . . . Of course, you two must realize that you were late getting back here, and are therefore disqualified from the challenge," says Yamato, who, not surprisingly, was looking a little disappointed at the two. "Anyway, I will talk to you two about your tardiness after I address your fellow models. So please, if you two can just wait outside for a bit?"
"Of course." says Lee. He was definitely taking the news of his disqualification well. He barely looked disappointed, but Ino was an entirely different story. She was looking downright frustrated as she walked out the tent, Lee slowly following right behind her.
"Let this be a lesson for you guys. Time is a very precious thing in the modeling industry, and if you end up late, whether it's to a casting or a runway show, you can easily lose your job, your moment, just like that," says Yamato, his voice taking on a warning tone. "Anyway, you will have only 20 minutes to get dressed and get everything you need to do done for the show. Once that time is up, I will be assessing all your outfits and determining the order for the show. This process will be going very quickly, but I want this production to go smoothly and without any problems. Any questions?"
"Where're the changing areas?" asks Hinata, her voice quite demure as she nervously looks around the tent.
"On 'You Wanna Be on Top?', we prepare you guys by emulating scenarios that can happen in real life. Today is no different," says Yamato, who was looking quite amused by Hinata's question. "Most runway shows don't utilize standard changing areas, including this one. You're free to create your own makeshift changing areas within the tent, but I suggest you get used to changing in front of others now because you'll be doing a lot of this if you continue to pursue modelling. Any other questions?"
No one spoke. Looking around the group, I could tell that not everyone was completely alright with the idea of changing in front of each other. Some, mainly a few of the boys, looked amused at the notion, but the general consensus to the idea was definitely between somewhat okay to somewhat not okay.
"Well, we should have seen this one coming." said TenTen, her voice cutting through the silent tent.
"You should have," said Yamato as he started backtracking out the tent. "Your twenty minutes start as soon as I walk out of this tent. Good luck!"
"Do we really have to strip down and change out in the open like this?" Hinata asks me with an unsure look as everyone else scrambles back to their stations.
"Pretty much . . . Hinata, are you going to be okay with this?" I ask as I start taking off my heels. "You don't sound like you're comfortable with the idea of changing in front of others."
"I'm fine with changing in front of girls. I've done it plenty of times in school," she tells me as she looks around the tent. As soon as she spotted Naruto shirtless, she quickly turned back to face me, a light pink blush stretching right across her cheeks. "Changing in front of a group of boys, on the other hand, is another thing entirely."
"Hmm, you may have a good point there," I say as I spot Gaara changing from the corner of my eye. He already had his shirt off, and was busy taking off his pants. I turned away before I had a chance to blush myself. "C'mon, we better get ready before all our prep time disappears."
I quickly changed out of my clothes before slipping into the dress and shoes I bought earlier. I knew I was getting stared at, or at least glanced at, from all angles, but I ignored them as I managed to pull up my zipper all by myself. I quickly combed my fingers through my hair before moving on to my makeup, but that's when I hit a bit of a rough patch.
"I know I was the one that picked out all the lipstick, but I seriously can't decide which one I should go with for myself," I mumble as I look among our stash. "Any ideas?"
"Don't use any of the purple shades. You don't want to go too matchy matchy." I hear Temari suggest as I see her force her feet into her shoes.
"I'd say you should just stick with a more natural look," says TenTen as she appears behind my shoulder. Her hair was also down, and I recognized the rose colored frock from earlier, but the pair of seriously sky high stilettos strapped to her feet was definitely new. "You can't really do much with your eyes, but with the very strong color you're wearing right now, I'd stick with a nude lip and some natural blush."
"Thanks TenTen, and are you sure you'll be able to walk in those heels alright?" I ask, mainly out of concern as I notice that she was a little wobbly on her feet.
"I'll be fine, but I'll admit. I'm not used to walking in heels so high, but I'll make these work. I promise you that." she say with a grin as she grabs the peach lipstick from off her counter.
"I have the sudden feeling that people are unnecessarily taking too many risks for this first challenge." I mumble as I grabbed the set of foundation that was the closest to my skin tone and start brushing it along my cheeks. Once that was done, I grabbed a lipstick in a shade that was closest to my natural lip color.
"You're not the only one with that belief."
I recognize the voice as soon as I heard it, but it still startled me enough that I ended up dropping the lipstick right onto my counter. Luckily, it landed right side up. The voice started chuckling, and so I turn my head to see Gaara's stoic face looking straight back at me, as if he halted himself from laughing just as I was turning around. He was dressed in a casual gray blazer with black lapels with a black t-shirt underneath, black jeans, and black dress shoes. He completed the outfit with a silver chain with a small outline of a gourd hanging from the metal.
"I see you've dressed nicely for the occasion. . ." I mumble as I pick up my discarded makeup.
"Thank you. You look very nice yourself Izuka." he tells me, looking a tiny bit bashful as he said.
"Thanks . . ." I say, looking away because I knew for sure that a blush was going to appear if I continued to look at him.
"Oi Gaara, what have I told you about sneaking up on people all silent like that?"
"You know I didn't mean to startle her Temari." says the redhead as I watch his eyes, his beautiful green eyes, move from me to his older sister. "And are you really going out on the runway with those shoes on? They look a little painful from where I'm standing."
"I'll manage." she tells him, waving his concern off as she moved. "And are you really going out on the runway with your tattoo so apparent on your forehead? You should get some foundation on that, stat! I'm sure Izuka would be happy to help you with that!"
"MODELS! YOUR 20 MINUTES ARE UP!"
Yamato's voice stopped Gaara before he could even get his answer out. We all turn our heads to see the runway coach standing right before the entrance, a smile gracing his face as he looked at all of us in turn.
"From what I have seen so far, you guys definitely kept the brief in mind when you were out shopping for your outfits," he tells us with a grin, nodding his head as if he was giving us his sign of approval. "However, the real test is about to begin. It's time to see what you got!"
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