Chapter 16 - After Work
"So, how much longer do we have to wait before we're allowed to leave again?"
"We likely won't get the go ahead to leave till the final group is finished downstairs," Temari points out as her brother continues to tap his fingers along the coffee table, following a rhythm that only he understood. "Oh, calm down Kankuro! The others will be done before you know it. Besides, it's not like you have anywhere important to go to. You're stuck like the rest of us."
"Huh, I never pegged Kankuro to be the impatient type," TenTen admits, adding her two cents. ". . . Is he always like this when he has to wait?"
"This is actually one of his better moments," She says, ignoring her scowling brother, who was giving her the evil eye. "Kankuro's patience isn't really one of his best qualities, and it gets worse when he's around children."
"Children are, in Shikamaru terms, troublesome," Kankuro grumbles. "They just make a mess out of everything anyway."
"Not all children are like that," TenTen buts in. "Some kids are very well behaved."
"That may be the case, but I prefer to not be around kids any more than I have to. . . Sorry, but not sorry."
"And that's the kind of thinking that makes me believe that you'd be a poor father in the years to come."
"And who says I ever want to be a father Temari?" Kankuro bites back. "I don't mind being a bachelor for the rest of my life. It seems like a good future to me."
". . . And that's what I'm afraid of," The blonde mumbles quietly, singing in defeat as she laid back in her chair.
I couldn't help but feel for her on that front. Just imagining my own ramen loving, barely does his own chores brother living up the bachelor life for the rest of his days sent shivers down my spine. . .
. . . Don't get me wrong. Naruto can do enough to take care of himself, but when it comes to things like bills and taxes, well, there's a reason why it's always been me and Iruka that handled the finances in our home over the years.
Naruto really should take a financing course before he decides to live on his own for good. . . Like, he really should.
"Well, in Kankuro's defense, kids tend to not be the easiest people to be around, especially if they're in a bad mood" I say as I stood up and stretched my legs. "I babysit for a few of my neighbors, and all of their kids are younger than 10. . . When they're good, they're good, but when they start misbehaving, they are an absolute drain on the mind, body, and soul."
"See, someone's on my side!" Kankuro crows, obviously feeling pretty vindicated thanks to my input.
"Hey! I don't disregard them completely like you seem to do . . . I'm just saying that they keep me on my toes at all times, whether I like it or not."
"What caused you to dislike children so much Kankuro? Did a kid stick a booger on your face while you weren't looking?" TenTen asks, Temari snorting in laughter at the audacity of the second question.
"You don't know the half of it!" She says once she finally gets over her giggle fit. "A few years ago, Kankuro signed up to do a puppet act for a talent show that was held at our local high school, but a couple of kids hmpf-"
Temari would have said more, but was suddenly cut off by her brother, who slapped his hand over her mouth before she could truly get into the meat of her story. Judging from the glare she was now giving him; she is this close to biting him.
"Um, what's going on here?"
At the sound of Gaara's deep voice, I turn, almost jumping out of my shoes when I see that the redhead was standing right next to me, still dressed in the light red dress shirt and blue jeans that he was assigned to wear for his shoot. His arms were crossed over his chest, posing like he owned the place as his sister started to fight out of their brother's grip, the right corner of his lip curved upward in amusement.
"Wow, you are quiet. . ."
"What?" He asks, and that's when I realized I had said my last words out loud.
"I mean, I didn't even hear you walk over here, or even enter the room for that matter," I say, quick to save face. "How long have you been standing there?"
"Oh, I only just got here," He admits as Temari finally breaks free from Kankuro's grasp, the puppeteer quick to back away as soon as she turns her glare on him. "Apparently, I have been told that I have quite the knack for suddenly appearing without anyone noticing until it's too late."
"You could be a spy with that kind of skill. . ."
"I did always want to be a ninja when I was younger," He admits as I spot Hinata speaking with my brother across the room.
Huh, they really do look cute together. "So, how long do you think it'll take before we get the go ahead to leave?"
"Not long now, I think . . . Kakashi mentioned before I came up here that he wanted to speak with everyone before we left."
"EVERYONE, CAN YOU ALL GATHER ROUND ME PLEASE!?"
"Huh, right on time!" I say, Gaara's face shifting slightly as Kakashi makes his grand reappearance by the exit, his one visible eye scanning the room to make sure everyone was already here.
"Okay, first things first, it's a wrap here on set," He announces as we all gathered around him in a half circle. "So, congratulations, you all have survived your first photo shoot!"
"It's always good to get your first out of the way. . ." I heard Gaara mumble as everyone else started cheering, his tone more muted than the rest.
"Not one for cheering your firsts huh?" I ask.
"Never really understood the idea of it at first," He admits. "Now I'm just mainly indifferent to it all."
"I must say this! From what I've seen today alone, we definitely got a stacked field this year," Kakashi adds. "Some of you guys really exceeded my expectations, others performed at the level I expected them to, but alas, a couple of you need to step it up . . . Today may have been only the first shoot but pat yourselves on the back. You made the judges' task hard this week."
"Now then, before I let you go on your merry way, I have a little letter for you all."
"Tsunade Mail?" Ino guesses as Kakashi pulls out a familiar looking envelope from his back pocket.
"Exactly Ino. . . Would you like to read it?"
"I think I'll give that honor to someone else. . ." She concedes, gesturing to the rest of us. "Any takers?"
"I'll take it!" Suigetsu offers, raising his hand from somewhere in the back. Kakashi hands the rose red envelope over to him, the rest of us watching his every move as he ripped it open and pulled the letter out from inside, his smirk becoming a grimace.
When it comes to reading Tsunade Mail, that was never a good sign.
"Models, there are twenty-one of you in this competition, but after tomorrow, only nineteen of you will remain," He announces, his tone getting somber with each word. "Be ready by six p.m. sharp. Love Tsunade."
"And with that," Kakashi says, complete with a theatrical bow. "I bid you all farewell! Have a nice night models!"
"And there he goes," TenTen whispers as we watch the man make his hasty exit. ". . . Disappearing into the night."
"Kakashi does like his dramatic exits," I say as I leaned against the wall. "He's as famous for his disappearing acts as he is for his general career. . . No wonder they call him The Ninja."
"So, it's not because he wears a ninja mask all the time?"
"Honestly, I'm not sure," I say as I hike my bag's straps over my shoulder. "I'm not sure which came first."
"I think there's a possible third reason for it, but I'll tell you guys later," Kankuro adds, speed walking past the rest of us. "Let's go home everyone!"
"I still need to get back at you for slamming your hand onto my mouth Kank!" Temari exclaims, her voice unmistakably annoyed as she quickly moves after him.
"I know that, but it doesn't mean that I can't try to avoid your revenge seeking talons for as long as I can!" Kankuro calls back in return, avoiding her at all cost. "Come on guys! Our ride's awaiting!"
"I still need to change though. . ." Gaara mumbles, hightailing it to the dressing room to do just that. "Don't leave without me!"
"We won't Gaara!" TenTen calls after him before turning to me. "You know, I suddenly have the feeling that things are going to be a bit interesting at the house tonight. Do you feel the same way?"
"Something like that TenTen," I say as the others started filing out the room. "Something like that."
Y - W - B - O - T
Later that night
"What are you up to Izuka?"
"Uhm, I'm just working on a new sketch," I say as I look up to see Gaara approach. "It's inspired by your siblings, actually. . . Like seriously, what was up with Temari pulling out those wrestling moves?"
"Temari's been a wrestling fan for as long as I can remember. She loves watching the matches on TV, she follows rumors on her favorite stars, and yes, she catches the occasional live show here and there. . . She was even a strong advocate for starting a girls wrestling club at our high school."
"Was she successful?"
"Nah; she couldn't get enough signatures for her petition, but she did become a manager for the boys' club. . . Ended up learning some amateur moves along with the ones she remembered from TV."
"One more question . . . Has she practiced her moves on you and Kankuro before?"
"You have no idea!" He says, his face wincing at the memories. "She always practiced her submission holds on me while she focused her power moves on Kankuro, and she did it with glee."
"The glee was definitely there on her face when she German suplexed Kankuro into the pool after dinner," I say, chuckling at tonight's attempt at dinner theater.
"I knew that she wanted to get back at Kankuro, but I didn't think she'd go that far." Gaara mumbles, shaking his head at his sister's antics.
"It definitely took everyone by surprise and made us realize that Temari is a lot stronger than she looks," I say in agreement, remembering all the shocked faces we saw earlier. "It even knocked Sasuke's default 'I'm better than you' look off his face for once."
"Well, to be fair, Sasuke was a little too close to the splash zone when it happened," He says, falling into the seat right next to me. "It also didn't help that he slipped into the pool seconds later."
"As if we could ever forget that. . ." I say as I showed him my latest masterpiece: a three-panel shounen style comic strip showcasing what happened after tonight's dinner.
The first was split between Temari sneaking up behind Kankuro and then her suplexing him into the water. The second was also split, this time showing Sasuke getting splashed by the water before slipping into the pool. The final panel showed the Uchiha emerging from the water with the biggest scowl on his face, completely drenched with his hair in his eyes.
Well, this was how Naruto described him to me.
He saw him emerge. I was too busy finishing the last of my smoothie to notice.
"Huh, good news, I think if modeling doesn't work out for you, you could make for a promising mangaka," He tells me as he takes the time to truly admire my handiwork.
"And the bad news?" I ask, knowing it was inevitable.
"You probably shouldn't show this to Sasuke anytime soon."
"Hmm, you may be right," I admit as he looks up from his work, his eyes looking suddenly unsure. "Izuka, are you worried?"
"Worried?" I ask. "About what?"
"About tomorrow night?" He clarifies. "Well, later today actually. After all, it's technically morning now."
"I, hm . . . Honestly, I don't know what to feel," I admit as I set down my sketchbook. "I'm nervous to see what the judges will think of our photos, I'm worried that I may not have done enough to help my chances in this competition, I'm still a bit irritated over the no critiquing rule during the shoot . . . There'sjust a lot to process from these last 12 hours alone."
"I think everyone shares your sentiment when it comes to the judges, and I think you've done enough to make it into the next round . . . Granted, I never saw you perform, but I still think you did a good job."
"That's sweet of you to say Gaara, but what about you?" I ask, smirking as the bemused expression that crossed his face. "How do you think you did during your shoot?"
"Well, I was honestly clueless for the first few frames, but once I got used to it, I think I got into a nice groove," He admits, his face now looking slightly confused. "Then again, being in a quiet room with no constructive criticism coming your way really starts to mess with you after a while . . . You're right, getting no critique really was annoying."
"Yeah, but we're surely going to get plenty of it later," I say, bracing myself for the inevitable.
For the rest of the night, I continued with my artwork while Gaara read a book he pulled outta nowhere. We stayed like this until Lee walked in at the crack of dawn, mumbling something about youth in his half-asleep state.
For the most part, nothing much happened in the hours leading up to our first meeting with the judges.
The only thing that sparked much interest in the house went down during breakfast. Kankuro tried to get back at Temari for his sudden dip in the pool. He tried to scare her, but all he got in return was a face covered in muffin mix.
Somehow, Sasuke managed to get caught in the crossfire again. In another case of wrong place at the wrong time, he too got covered in muffin mix, having walked into the kitchen just as Kankuro attempted his jump scare.
He avoided them for the rest of the morning. I can't blame him though. With his luck, it was best to avoid Gaara's older siblings for a little while.
Before we knew it, it was 5:50 and the limo bus was pulling up to a stop right in front of our gate, ready to ferry us to the judges' panel. Most of us were dressed and ready to go, but there were still a couple of stragglers upstairs doing some last-minute touch-ups.
"Okay, who are we missing again?" Naruto asks as some of the group move ahead to the bus.
"Just TenTen and Temari," Kankuro answers, still irritated over his failure at breakfast. "Can we leave Temari behind? We could say it was done by accident."
"You really want Temari to kick your ass for real, don't you brother?" Gaara asks, shaking his head at the brunette.
"He's just miffed that his payback didn't work out like he had hoped for," Neji was quick to say as Kankuro started walking away to the bus, only to stop in his tracks as the words started to sink in. "Am I wrong?"
"Should I really answer that?" Kankuro grumbled.
"You could, but it would be really easy to tell that you're lying," I say with a grin. "You've been angry about your failed attempt all day!"
"And seriously? After getting suplexed into the pool, all you could think to do for retaliation is a simple jump scare?!" My brother, a noted prankster in his own right, asked in disappointment. "I figured you could do better!"
"Honestly? Me too. . ."
"Really Gaara?!"
"Oh, I'm serious Kankuro. I've seen you do better payback attempts than what you pulled this morning," The redhead admits as we started moving out. ". . . And Temari really did see it coming from a mile away too."
"Too bad Sasuke didn't!" Naruto adds, likely remembering the aghast look that crossed Uchiha's face when he got caught in the crossfire earlier, well, if his face was anything to go by right now. "He must think that bad things will happen to him if he stays around you two any longer than he must at this point."
"He got hit by water and muffin mix the last two times he was around Kankuro and Temari when they were together. You got to admit the avoidance is justified." I say as Temari and TenTen finally emerge from the house. ". . . What took you two so long?"
"I needed TenTen's help to fix my stiletto," Temari admits as TenTen closed the door behind them. "Thank goodness she had the foresight to bring some crazy glue to this competition!"
"Hey TenTen, can I borrow some of your glue for a project I'm planning?"
"Kankuro, if your project involves using the crazy glue on me or anything I own, I will not hesitate to dropkick you in my four-inch stilettos!"
Temari's threat got the desired effect she wanted, shutting her brother up and visibly fearing for his life as we boarded the bus and took our seats.
He didn't speak for the entire drive. In fact, not many of us did.
The atmosphere in the bus was solemnly muted, as if we were heading to someone's funeral rather than a performance evaluation. A couple of conversations did happen, but most chose to look out the window or take a quick nap as the landscape around us changed from suburban homes to the towering skyscrapers of downtown Osaka.
Another 15 minutes passed us by before the bus finally pulled to a stop in front of a skyscraper that had to be a good 50 stories tall, at minimum.
This was going to be fun.
"Well, this is a bit ironic," I mumble. "We started this competition in a skyscraper and people's journeys are going to end in a different one."
"I'm not sure the producers were focusing on irony when they picked the location for the judges' panel, but I must admit, this is ironic."
I couldn't help but smile at Gaara for that one, but it didn't last long as we followed the group inside and into the cavernous lobby. The receptionist on duty was quick to direct us as soon as she looked up from her computer, instructing us to go to the fortieth floor before pointing to the elevators off to the side.
Since our group was so large, we had to go up in separate elevators. There were four of them in total, but each could only fit seven at one time, so the whole group split into three smaller ones before entering our respective rides.
When we finally reached our designated floor, a series of blue arrows directed us down the hall toward a waiting area on the building's west side. The room was modern in its design, with white couches placed in different spots throughout the space and pictures of different skylines dotting the silver painted walls. The wall opposite of us was completely composed of floor-to-ceiling windows, allowing for a magnificent view of downtown Osaka and beyond.
"At least we get a splendid view while we wait!" Sakura is quick to say as she walks over to the seat closest to said windows.
"Oh yes . . . We wait and stew in our combined anxiety, knowing that people are going to be cut tonight, but at least we get a nice view before we go!" Karin adds as she stares down a set of silver double doors that were just off to our left.
"The judges do have a twisted sense of humor,'' Suigetsu mumbles, glaring at the redhead. "Making the contestants stew and wait is Competition 101 Karin. You just got to get used to it."
Before Karin could even say anything in return, the doors opened up. When we peeked in, all eyes went to the four people at the other end of the room. Three of them were sitting behind a long, ornate table, but the fourth stood before it.
Dressed in a dark blue jumpsuit that fit her body like a glove, black heels that added a good four inches to her frame and wearing a smile on her face that just seemed to light up the room, Tsunade stood before us in all her glory.
Elimination felt a lot more real now.
"Welcome models!"
A/N: Leave a comment if you like!
