Chapter 3 - Gathering Together
A few weeks later
"Congratulations you two; you both are being Fast Tracked to the semifinals!"
Those 12 words were music to my ears.
They sealed my fate, turning me from an unknown model wannabe to one of the 100 semifinalists of the biggest modelling competition in the country.
It was those same 12 words that landed me here, Osaka International Airport, the meeting ground for us lucky 100. There would be staring, sizing up, and overall judging between the lot of us, but I was ready.
Getting judged for my lack of sleep and slightly introverted attitude, and internally judging people in return for so many years now makes for good practice in the 'getting judged, judging you' department.
Like I said, I'm ready.
I still couldn't believe that I was actually Fast Tracked to the next round, to this moment. Me, out of thousands upon thousands of girls, was instantly moved on to the next step, just like that.
I was absolutely on cloud nine when I heard those fateful words, and I wanted to do a happy dance as soon as possible, but I figured it was rude to do that in front of all the other girls in the room, so I just did it once I got outside the building, regardless of all the staring that came my way.
Hey, you can't blame a girl for celebrating such a big accomplishment can ya?
About a month ago, I received a letter from the competition producers that stated the entire overview of semifinals week, what was required and needed for the rest of the competition, and my ticket for a flight to Osaka, one of Japan's biggest cities.
I've lived in the large Konoha neighborhood of Tokyo all my life, and I haven't been out of my hometown for more than two days, so coming to Osaka was going to be quite the eye opener for me, a new adventure that I was ready to be a part of.
"Wow, I never realized Osaka's airport was this huge! It's not as big as Tokyo's, but still . . ." I hear Naruto say, cheeky grin plastered on his face as we stood at the conveyor belt assigned to our flight. He had napped through our entire 90-minute flight, and he didn't look worse for weary, just happy to be here, just like me.
Unlike me, Naruto didn't earn a Fast Track to the semifinals, simply because all three awards up for grabs on the boys' side were already awarded before he had his chance to audition.
Ten days had to pass before he got the call to the promised land.
"You do know this is just the smaller, domestic airport, right?" I ask as I spot our bags coming down the conveyor belt. "Osaka has a second, bigger airport that handles the international flights."
"Huh, well, thanks for clearing that up for me I guess," he mumbles, plucking up his orange suitcase and my purple one off the belt with ease. "So, where are we supposed to go now again?"
"Well, the letter says that once we exit the airport, we're supposed to turn right and walk to the very end of the terminal. That's where everyone is supposed to gather," I say as I take out the paper from my pocket. We move to the exit, and once we get outside, we move to where we're supposed to go.
We knew we were in the right place once we spotted the black and white sign with the words 'Semifinalists Wait Here!' in elegant curly script standing tall by the curb. Next to the sign was about 80 of our fellow competition.
Let the judging begin.
"It looks like we don't have to wait long. Most of the competition is here already," I hear my brother say as I looked through the crowd. "Sis, what are you doing?"
"I'm looking to see if Hinata is here," I say, my eyes looking for indigo hair. "I told you about her, remember? She's the other model that earned the Fast Track award with me when it was our turn to audition."
"Oh, the girl that looks blind but really isn't? I remember," Naruto tells me, bringing a hand to his chin. "When you were telling me that story, it reminded me of a long-haired guy I met during castings. He also had pale eyes that made it look like he was blind."
"That was probably her cousin Neji you met. She told me that he was also auditioning that day," I say as I finally see her walking over from further down the terminal. A tall guy with similar eyes to her own was following about ten feet behind her. That must be Neji. "Hi Hinata! It's so nice to see you again!"
"It's nice to see you too Izuka," she tells me with a slightly timid smile. Old habits die hard, I guess.
She then turns to my brother, and I couldn't help but notice the slight blush that started appearing on her face as her pale, lavender tinted eyes look at Naruto's ocean blue ones, and I think they were looking in deep. "Oh, hi, nice to meet you. I'm Hinata."
"The name's Naruto. Nice to meet you too," Naruto says, letting out a surprisingly nervous chuckle. "I-I'm Izuka's brother."
"Since when did you stutter?"
"Since . . . now, I guess?" Naruto reluctantly mumbles, looking away from my suspicious gaze. His comment earns him a small chuckle from Hinata, which looked to put him at ease just a little, if his sheepish expression was anything to go by. "It's good to see you again Neji."
"Likewise, Naruto," the long-haired man says, stoic in his demeanor. "I always had a good feeling that you were going to make it the semifinals. . . How long did you have to wait until you got the call?"
"10 days, unlike you, who got Fast Tracked here," came Naruto's easy reply. "C'mon, most of the guys in that room figured you were a definite shoo in for one of those awards. As soon as they saw your eyes and composed demeanor, pffth, game over."
"I guess you can say that" Neji says rather reluctantly as he turned to me. "You must be Naruto's sister Izuka. It's nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too," I say as I peeked over his shoulder to see another model walking over to our ranks. She was dressed in a green top with a gold Chinese dragon design on its front, black knee length shorts, and black sandals. Her most noticeable feature was her dark brown hair, which was done up into two hair buns. Her brown eyes were directed right on Neji. "Uh, Neji, a girl with two hair buns is looking directly at you for some reason."
"Did you just say two hair buns?" he asks, just as the girl suddenly hugs him from behind, a smile shining on her face. "Oh, hi TenTen."
"It's nice to see you too Neji. Hey Hinata!" the girl quickly says, giving Hinata a hug before she had a chance to refuse. "I see you two are already making some new friends without me."
"Naruto, Izuka, this is TenTen," says Hinata, acting as a medium as she gestured between us. "TenTen, this is Izuka and Naruto. They're the siblings we met during the morning auditions."
"Nice to meet you both," TenTen says with a nod of her head. "Is everyone here? I'm ready to get this show on the road already!"
"If I counted correctly, there's about 97 of us here now," I say as I looked around the large group. "There's supposed to be 100 of us, so three more need to show up before anything else happens I guess."
"At least we don't have to wait long for them to show up," Naruto says as his eyes stayed glued on the terminal walkway. "Cause I think I see them coming right now!"
We all turn our heads to see three people walking over with their luggage in tow. Despite the large differences in their outward appearances, I had a pretty good feeling they were all related in some way.
There were two guys and a girl. The girl had sandy colored hair that was pulled up into four distinct pigtails, deep green eyes, and was dressed in a simple blue kimono top, black jeans, and black ankle boots. She didn't wear any noticeable makeup or jewelry, but she did carry an air around her that just read 'I'm the oldest, and the smartest'!
The first guy behind her had shaggy brown hair that looked like it needed a brush, black eyes, and was dressed in a simple black t-shirt with the phrase 'Puppets Rock' on the front, jeans, and sneakers. He looked at us with an expression that was almost naturally serious, with his mouth already set in a straight line.
The second guy behind him was probably the youngest of the three, and in my opinion, one of the hottest guys I've ever seen in my short life.
Unlike the two people with him, he had vibrant red hair that was set in a spiky style similar to Naruto's own, except while most of my brother's hair went upward and to the sides, a sizeable amount of the redhead's hair covered his forehead like a typical bang. The kanji for love was tattooed on the side of his forehead that wasn't covered by hair, and he was dressed very nicely in a dark red shirt, black leather jacket, black jeans, and black military style boots.
Despite the tattoo and his bright red hair, I thought his eyes were his most distinct feature on his person. Not only were they this striking jade green color, but there were dark rings circling around them. Most people would think that it was all due to a heavy use of eyeliner - or guy-liner - but I had a feeling I knew otherwise. It didn't really look like eyeliner to me . . .
. . . They looked more like insomnia rings. Granted, they were thicker than mine, but they looked like insomnia rings all the same.
"Of course, it's the Sand Siblings . . ." TenTen says, a sheepish smirk pulling at her lips. "You guys heard about them, right? They're the trio of siblings that all got Fast Tracked here."
"Oh yeah, I saw it on the competition's official website," Naruto says, a look of realization now showing on his face. "They earned those awards after auditioning at the Fukuoka casting call. Isn't their dad the mayor of the city?"
"You would be right on that one Naruto," says Neji, bringing a hand to his chin. "Mayor Rasa Sabakuno is their dad, and not only is he in the news there regularly because of his job, but his kids have also shown that they have quite the media presence as well . . . Now that I think about it, it kinda makes you wonder why they joined this competition in the first place. With all the media attention they get already, I'm sure agencies would have been happy to sign them by now."
"Now that you mentioned it. The children of the mayor of one of Japan's largest cities all end up getting Fast Tracked here?!" Naruto asks, suspicion lacing his tone. "Either they are simply just that good, or I smell an inside job."
"The world of politics I guess . . . Anyway, why are they in the news so much exactly?" I ask as I notice the redhead staring at me from the corner of my eye. His face remained stoic as his gaze lingered on me before turning back to his siblings, who were already walking toward the middle of the large group.
Wait, was he checking me out!?
"Well, the girl, Temari, is known to be quite the genius. She has a very high IQ and is said to be one of the only people in Fukuoka's history to score a perfect grade on her college entrance exams." TenTen lists off as she pointed to the pigtailed girl.
"Kankuro's the brunette. He has been helping to build up the city's entertainment industry, mainly in the theater district. And the youngest, Gaara, was known to be quite the troublemaker when he was younger. Even had a few scraps with the law, but nothing truly major that it hurt his father's chances in the mayoral race."
"He sounds like an interesting character." Hinata mumbles, sneaking a glance at the redhead, who was watching a plane take off to who knows where.
"I don't think he's really doing much these days that would attract media attention, but it is said that he's gained somewhat of a cult following among the young female population in his hometown because of his good looks," TenTen tells us helpfully as she leaned against Neji's frame. "He's also known as a chronic insomniac, so he doesn't really sleep much, or at all, more specifically."
"Huh, just like you sis." Naruto says as I shoot him a narrow-eyed look.
"Uh, TenTen, how do you know all this?" Hinata asks, a curious look crossing her face as she turned to the brunette bunhead.
"I have my sources," TenTen answers rather cryptically as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Let's just say that if you need to know something that's been in the media spotlight, I'm your go-to girl."
"That's good to know . . . I guess," I say unsurely, just as the sound of a loud bus horn bursts through the rather hushed atmosphere. Everyone turned their heads to see two coach buses pulling up beside us on the curb. One bus was purple while the other was painted blue, and both had the 'You Wanna Be on Top?' logo in its familiar fancy script painted right on their sides.
Of course, their arrival was met with thunderous applause.
"Oh great. Our ride's here."
"Ooh," I hear TenTen whisper. "This should be good."
As soon as the buses came to a stop, the door on the first but opened up to allow two men out. They were dressed in stylish clothing, their appearance earning rapturous applause from all around, and I couldn't blame them.
We were looking right at Kakashi Hatake and Yamato, the highly esteemed and respected creative director and runway coach of 'You Wanna Be on Top?'. Yamato was known for his nice and witty attitude while Kakashi served as his sarcastic, yet more realistic counterpart, and their teamwork in this competition was known to work wonders when it came to shaping future models. These two are living legends in the fashion industry, and just seeing them with our own mortal eyes was amazing, to say the least.
"Hello everyone!" Yamato calls out once the crowd quieted down. "First of all, I would like to congratulate you all for making it this far! Out of thousands and thousands of applications from across the country, you all have been picked as this year's Top 100! Welcome to Semifinals Week!"
"Some of you impressed the preliminary judges well enough to be Fast Tracked here. The rest of you had to wait through agonizing weeks to learn your fate," Kakashi says with a nod of his head, his voice sounding clear even with his well-known ninja mask covering the lower half of his face. "But despite the differences in how you all made it here today, you proved that there is a reason why you earned your spot here, and you guys are all here for the same thing: To win this competition!"
"This competition, as well as modelling in general, requires a lot of work, so I don't want to see any of you slacking here. Many others are wishing that they were in your shoes right now, so I don't want to see any of you guys squandering this opportunity!" Yamato warns us with a narrow-eyed look, silencing everyone right in their tracks. "But for now, let's get down to business. Shall we?"
"As you can see, there are two buses behind Yamato and me. They will be transporting us to the hotel that will be hosting us for the week," Kakashi adds as he gestured to the two large vehicles. "There are 50 girls and 50 guys in the running, but we're going to split you up for a bit. The girls will be traveling with Yamato on the purple bus, while the boys will be riding with me on the blue one."
"But before we get on board, we need to do a little roll call," Yamato says with a grin as the two men each pull out a piece of paper from their pockets. "My list contains all the girls' names and polaroid shots while Kakashi hold the list for the boys. When you hear your name, put your luggage into the compartments on the side here and get on board . . ."
"We do this to make sure that the people that are supposed to be here are here. We've had instances in the past where people would sneak in pretending to be semifinalists when they're not. It's never fun when that happens," Kakashi says with a sad shake of his head as he starts walking over to the blue bus. "Male models; please follow me over here."
"I wonder how many models are going to make it to the final stage . . ." I hear Hinata mumble as the boys started following Kakashi. "They change the number every year to make it unpredictable."
"Who knows?" I say as Yamato says the first couple of names. "All I know is that it depends on how many people impress Kakashi, Yamato, and Tsunade. They determine who moves on and who doesn't."
"I just can't wait to meet Tsunade-sama!" TenTen instantly gushes as she starts acting all fan girl on us. "She's one of my all-time favorite celebrities!"
"I have the sudden feeling that you are going to probably break down into hysterics once you see her." I tell her bluntly as Hinata nods her head in agreement.
"I . . . I think you may be right on that one." TenTen reluctantly concedes as she calmed down. It took a good half hour to get everyone on the bus, and once Yamato was assured that all the girls were here and accounted for, he checked with Kakashi to make sure that all was well on his end before telling the driver to go.
Most of the ride was filled with the sounds of girls chatting, being friendly, and sizing each other up, with the always classic proclamation of 'I'm going to win this entire thing!' splattered here and there. While Hinata and TenTen talked with each other, I looked out the window to enjoy the view the city before us. With its tall skyscrapers and eclectic air, Osaka easily reminded me of Tokyo, although it was a lot less crowded than our nation's capital.
It took us about 45 minutes to travel from the airport to the hotel, a 20-story tower in the middle of downtown Osaka. Once we pulled up to the curb, we disembarked and gathered our luggage before following Kakashi and Yamato inside.
The lobby was a testament to modern and traditional elements of Japanese design and architecture, designed in shades of silver and royal blue. It was easy to picture celebrities and businessmen alike schmoozing and mingling around with each other in a place like this. This place looked so sleek and new that I was afraid to touch anything.
"Everyone, welcome to the Sapphire Osaka Hotel, a home of both business and leisure here in downtown Osaka," Yamato says with a smirk as he gestures to the building all around us. "This will be your home throughout the week."
"As Yamato said, this hotel is known for being both a place of business and leisure. However, in your case, it's mostly for business," Kakashi tells us with a narrow look of his eyes. "Over the course of this week, there will be cuts. We will be steadily losing models over the next few days, and by the end of the week, most of you will be eliminated."
"That's so nice to know . . ." TenTen sarcastically whispers in my ear, and I couldn't help but nod in agreement.
Eliminations were never fun.
"However, this is your first day. The competition doesn't start in earnest till tomorrow morning," Yamato says with a smirk. "So, I suggest you rest up today and tonight because you have a lot ahead of you."
"For now, check in at the main desk. Once you get your room assignments, head up to your suites and settle in," Kakashi says as he points to the desk behind him. "Yamato and I are leaving you for now, but we will see you again real soon. For now, goodbye and welcome to the competition everyone!"
Please review