Chapter 39: Time to Shine, Hopefully

When we reached Hair and Makeup, Izumo and his team were ready and waiting for us by their stations while Kotetsu and his team were in the back finishing up the final touches on the clothing.

"Alright, good to see you all again everyone!" Izumo greets us with a smile as Kotetsu finally pries himself away from his work to join us. "Now that Kakashi has made you well aware of your assignment, it's time to get into some of the nitty gritty details."

"We have a ride range of outfits waiting for you guys in the back," Kotetsu explains as he points his thumb to the racks of clothes still being fussed over by his team. "Some are campy, others are glamorous, a few may be considered full on costumes. However, you must remember that regardless of what look you get, you gotta work it like it's the most expensive outfit you've ever worn."

"As for hair and makeup, the light you were assigned is the inspiration," says Izumo. "Some of you will look soft and demure, others dark and mysterious, and there will be a few of you where the makeup will be quite exaggerated . . . All in all, a wide range of looks."

"Isn't one of them supposed to get covered in soot?" Kotetsu asked, his question making Gaara grimace as some in our group started chuckling, his siblings being the loudest. "Nevermind; I think I got my answer."

"Anyway, let's get on with the show. To the makeup tables everyone!"

We were each assigned our own table, and when I reached mine, I saw that the makeup they had planned for me was going to be more on the natural side, but there was a jar of silver glitter in the mix, and it got me curious."

"Am I going to get caked in that?" I couldn't help but ask as I slipped into my seat, pointing to said jar as the stylist - a young man with a light blue buzzcut - picked up a bottle of foundation.

"Thankfully, no. It would be a nightmare to get all that glitter off anyway," He tells me with a smirk as he got the makeup sponge ready. "Since you got the chandelier, I'm thinking that we keep things natural, but with a light dusting of glitter to give you some shine."

And shine I did. Once most of the makeup was applied, my face and arms were dusted with glitter while a second stylist quickly put my hair in a tight, low bun that rested where my head met my neck, pinning it back with a silver pin that looked like a teardrop.

Once I was sent to wardrobe, Kotetsu held up a couple of looks to my frame, all of them glitterier than the last, picturing me in each of them before settling on a long dress made completely of silver fringe, the style reminiscent of 1920s flappers. Handing it off to one of his assistants, I followed her to the changing area marked off for the girls to find that I wasn't the only one in there.

Hinata was slowly going around in a circle as one of the other assistants looked her over to make sure that her chic scientist look didn't have any imperfections she missed, while Matsuri was still being helped into her velvet gown, her curls having been slicked down with a lot of product to give her a wet, sensual vamp vibe.

"Having fun there Matsuri?" I couldn't help but ask as I started to take off my jeans.

"I will, once I get this dress on!" She tells me as she finally gets her dress over her shoulders, slipping her arms through the form fitting sleeves. "Ah, that's better! So, do I look sexy or what?"

"You look ready to suck the blood from your next conquest," I say with a smirk as I take off my shirt, being careful to not disturb my bun.

"You do look quite vampy," Hinata adds as she finally stops her slow twirl. ". . . Like one of those aristocratic vampires from that one movie set during the Meiji era. You know, the one about a human girl who sneaks into a large ball, only to find out that everyone there is a vampire, and only escapes thanks to the help of the one vampire attending who secretly doesn't think of her kind as purely food?"

"Oh, Noble Fangs and Futures? Where a chance meeting leads to a whirlwind romance filled with jealousy, drama, and a surprising amount of action?" I say, knowing exactly what movie she was talking about. "I saw that movie during its opening weekend. It could have been given a better title, but the writing was surprisingly strong."

"In this dress, I feel like I could give those bloodsuckers a run for their money," Matsuri teases us as the assistant attending her quickly checked over her dress with a lint roller.

"I'm sure you could Matsuri," Hinata concedes, though it was hard to know how serious she was as she was escorted out of the changing room.

Matsuri left just as I was starting to get the dress placed onto my body, and once it was hanging on my frame, I was quick to realize that the dress was much heavier than I previously thought, though it was fun to shimmy in. Once I got a pair of low-heeled silver pumps on my feet, I was moved over to the accessory table, where I was given a pair of teardrop earrings to wear, and nothing else.

"If this look doesn't scream chandelier, I don't know what will!"

"I could say the same for you Kankuro," I say as I turn around to see that he was dressed in a surprisingly decent red and green Christmas sweater, khakis, and sneakers, along with a crown of Christmas lights on his head. "You definitely look festive."

"I do, don't I?" He asks, looking down at the front of the sweater, which featured a white Christmas tree design that crisscrossed in the middle. ". . . I can't wait for my shoot to be over so I can get this thing off me."

"Oh, come on! It's not that bad." I say as I gestured at his outfit. "You look quite snug in those clothes."

"I look snug, but I look like I'm heading to an office Christmas party, and I've harbored a great dislike of Christmas sweaters since I was five . . . Kotetsu almost put me in a sweater that lit up but figured that would have been a little too much," He mumbles as one of the assistants gestures for us to follow her. "Apparently, there's plans to wrap me up in more lights for my shoot."

"So, you will go from attending a Christmas party to cosplaying as the actual tree?" I ask as we walk by the makeup row.

"Most likely. I'll just be missing the star on top," He says with a grin, which only grew bigger when he looked to our right. "Well, would you look at that. . ."

Turning my head, I see that Gaara, already dressed in his miner outfit, getting artfully painted with soot by a couple of the makeup artists. While one focused on his face, the other worked on making sure that his arms were sufficiently dusty.

"Looks like Gaara's having fun over there. . ." Kankuro mumbles as we watch Gaara's face contort from curious to bemused. "I'm sure he'll be eager to wash off all that makeup when his shoot's over."

"You would be too if you were assigned to wear that stuff," I say, smirking as I ignore the noise my dress was making with every step I took.

"Not really. I do a lot of face paint when I'm puppeteering, so I'm used to getting my face caked in makeup. To be honest, I would trade places with my brother if I had the chance," Kankuro mumbles as we head down the staircase. "Gaara's not used to being covered in so much makeup, but he is used to teasing me about it, and he teases me about it a lot when we're home."

"So, you see him getting caked in soot as a bit of long coming karma?"

"Exactly!"

When we reached the shooting area, we couldn't help but gawk and marvel at the mini sets that were strewn about the cavernous room. Kakashi, the photographer, and the rest of the set crew were busy taking photos of Hinata as she stood within a mock set up of a science lab.

"Got to admit it. Hinata would make for a cute scientist if she ever decided to pursue it," Kankuro mumbles as we were guided over to the waiting area, which gave us a good view of her shoot.

"Hinata, very good! Angle your chin toward the burner a little bit-THAT'S IT!" The photographer yelled as he quickly started snapping photos.

"You have ten more frames to work with Hinata! Make them count!" Kakashi added from his seat behind the monitor, overseeing the incoming images like always. Hinata simply nods to show that she heard him as she continued on in her shoot.

"You're down to one frame left. Let's do a fun one, just for laughs!"

Hinata simply grins before pulling her best mad scientist's face, grinning evilly as she holds her hands around the flame, as if she were conjuring it for some kind of spell.

"Okay, I did not expect that face, but I'm not mad at it," Kakashi points out after the photographer snaps the last pic. "You're finished Hinata."

"Thank you!" She says, visibly relieved that her turn was over as she made her way over to us. "That was interesting!"

"You seemed to have done well," Kankuro muses as the crew quickly set themselves up at the next set.

"Well, I'll admit. I started off a little slow, but then I started to have fun with it as we continued," She tells us as she checks the ends of her hair. "I think I almost singed my hair a couple of times too."

"Hey! As long as you don't go up in flames, I call that a win," I say as I look around the room. "Anyway, where's Matsuri? I thought she was down here already."

"She was, but her stylist put a little too much product in her hair and it's starting to leak down her neck, so they went to a different room to try to remedy the problem."

"Hmm, sounds messy," Kankuro mumbles as Kakashi silently appears behind Hinata. "Oh, hi there Kakashi. Is it my turn to go?"

"Already tired of your Christmas sweater huh?"

"Is it obvious?"

"Trust me. I'm not a fan of festive sweaters either. Every time I wear one, I just feel itchy all over," He tells us, his eyes looking distant, as if he was actually reminiscing over all the times he had been forced to wear a Christmas sweater.

Are Christmas sweaters really that bad to some people?

"Anyway, as a man that has also had to suffer through bad Christmas sweaters, I would love to make you the next one up, but I'm a gentleman through and through, so ladies first," He tells us, holding his hand out to me. "Shall we Izuka?"

"Let's, kind sir!" I say, taking his hand, trying not to laugh at the hurt look on the now black-haired puppeteer.

Hinata had no such qualms, breaking out into the loudest laugh I've heard from her since this contest began.


Y ~ W ~ B ~ O ~ T

My set ended up being a curving white staircase in front of a black and white wall, leading down to a checkered floor. My partner for the shoot, the chandelier itself, hung close to the top of the staircase.

"We're going to have you start at the top of the staircase so that you're standing right beside the chandelier, and over the course of the shoot, we want you to walk down." The photographer, an older man with salt and pepper hair, explained to me as I stood at the bottom step.

"So, you want me to make walking down the stairs look fabulous?" I ask as I climb up the staircase, careful not to trip as I shuffled along.

"Technically, we want you to make the entire set look fabulous, along with yourself, but what you said works too," Kakashi calls out as he sits down in front of his monitors. "All right, let's begin!"

"Let's start with the serious shots shall we? Don't be afraid to interact with the chandelier itself, and don't be afraid to move. You're wearing a dress with a lot of movement, so use it to your advantage."

I nod, taking in all his advice as I reached out to the chandelier, which mostly consisted of pearl and teardrop shaped crystals that completely surrounded three energy efficient light bulbs in the middle. Remembering to pay attention to my surroundings, I adjusted myself with each click I heard from the camera.

"Izuka, can you look toward me for a few fra-THERE YOU GO!" I moved my head before he could even finish his suggestion, looking right into the camera. "I loved that you narrowed your eyes slightly. It's good, gives the hint of elitism I was looking for."

"Make sure you don't narrow your eyes too much or else you look like you're nodding off," I hear Kakashi say, and I subtly nod my head to show that I heard him. "Okay, you can start moving down the stairs now."

I do as I'm told, slowly making my way down in the hopes that I looked like a sultry actress making her way down to the exclusive party happening in her own house. When I finally reached the end, I was allowed to move around more for the fun shots, twirling around to show the full fluidity of the dress I was wearing.

"Alright Izuka, you're done!" I hear Kakashi say as the photographer looks down at his camera.

"Was that good?" I couldn't help but ask as I tuck a wayward piece of hair back into my ear. It had fallen out of the bun mid-twirl, but both Kakashi and the photographer told the stylist on hand to not fix it, likely thinking that it made the shot more dynamic.

"Your eyes were a little too narrowed in some of the shots, but that was a small issue. Other than that, you did well," He tells me from his seat, his eyes showing no hint at a discernible emotion. "Anyway, mind telling Kankuro to come over on your way back to Hair and Makeup? I'm sure he's eager to get things over with so he can get out of that sweater he's wearing."

"You have no idea!" Kankuro exclaims as he jogs over with a grin on his face, somehow not even needing the heads up. "Can we start now?"

"Wow, he really wants to get that sweater off. . ." I think to myself, only to stop when I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Something wrong Kankuro?"

"Just a little heads up. When you walk by the waiting area, Gaara's going to be in a bit of a mood."

"And why do you say that?" I couldn't help but ask. "What happened?"

"Oh, you'll see. . ."

I really didn't like the way he said that.

A/N: Please review!