Chapter 21: Pace Yourselves
"How much longer are they going to torture us like this?!"
It was probably the fourth time I heard that question asked this morning, but it was the first time I heard it from a guy. Kankuro was running in the treadmill directly on my left, and he was looking tired as hell, barely hanging on as he tried to stay upright.
Granted, he had his machine set at one of the highest settings it could offer, but still, he looked like he was going to collapse any second if he didn't slow down.
"You could make things easy for yourself and set your treadmill down a few levels," I suggest as I point to his dashboard. "You're gonna run yourself into an early trip to the hospital if you keep this up."
"But I don't want to look like I'm not trying!" he tells me, practically dry heaving his words as he continued at his fast pace.
"But if you don't stop the pace you're at now, you're gonna collapse," I warn him as I finally shut off my treadmill. "What the hell would I tell your siblings and everyone else when they see you lying splat on the ground? Oh yeah, your brother was too stubborn for his own good and ran himself into unconsciousness? Give yourself a break Kankuro! You need one!"
"Alright fine!" he finally concedes as he finally shuts his treadmill off. "But just to let you know. Temari and Gaara would not react the way you would expect them to if I ever did collapse."
"You mean Temari wouldn't be like "I knew he would pull something like this . . . That idiot," and Gaara wouldn't just blankly stare at your body as people tried to bring you back to the waking world?"
"Okay, maybe you do know how they would react."
"Eh, they just seem like the kinda people that would react that way," I say with a shrug as we hear a loud whistle coming from the back room. "Now what the hell could that be?"
"CAN I HAVE EVERYONE JOIN ME IN THE BACK ROOM PLEASE!?"
"Well, that was definitely Shinji's voice. Maybe it's time to call it a day?" Kankuro suggests as he gets off the machine, almost stumbling to the ground, well, if I hadn't managed to hold him up in time. He was so tired that I had to help him to the room, which slowed down our progress so much that we ended up being the last ones there.
"Hey! Are you ok?" Gaara asks as we stepped inside. He was waiting for us just inside the doorway, which must have given him a good view of me struggling to make sure his brother didn't collapse on me with his dead weight.
"I'm fine, but your brother was being an idiot and decided to work himself to the point of exhaustion." I mumble as I finally let his elbow go.
"I was just trying to be thorough with my workout. Where's the harm in that?" he mumbles as he finally balances himself on his own body weight. Gaara and I exchanged a look before walking off without a word, leaving him to eat our dust as we walked over to the main group.
"Is everyone here?" Shinji asks as Isane counts our numbers. He doesn't speak again until she nods yes. "Good . . . Anyway, Isane and I have been observing your progress from start to finish, and we both agree that you've all done a lot today, and it's time for us to let you go."
"Don't celebrate just yet you guys!" Isane calls out, her gaze and tone directed to Choji and Matsuri, who were celebrating a little too much to not be noticed. "Just because we're letting you go, doesn't mean the day is over for you yet."
"I'm sure some of you guys noticed that Guy left about an hour ago, right?"
How could any of us forget? I think to myself as we all nod our heads. Lee ended up making a big fuss about it after he noticed his idol walking out the building earlier, mentioning it to anyone that was willing to listen.
"Well, there's a very good reason behind why he left, which you won't find out about until you meet up with him a little later," Shinji teases as he crosses his arms. "This will not be the last you'll see us, but for now, we bid you all farewell!"
"What do you think Guy has in store for us now?" I mumble as we turned for the exit, now leading the group to the bus.
"I honestly have no idea," Gaara responds as his face scrunched up in a way that told you he was really thinking about it. "In all likelihood, it's probably an exercise challenge. It only makes sense."
"True, and knowing him, he'll probably make it as intense as his workouts." I grumble, not looking forward to the prospect. "You know what that means. . ."
"Try to get as much rest as possible before we're taxed so much that we can barely stand?"
"Wow, you really knew what I meant." I mumble, staring in awe as we walked out the door.
"Eh, what can I say, I'm good at guessing." He shoots me a small grin, one of the few genuine smiles that he has shown since we first met. It must not be a natural thing for him to do since he pulls it out so rarely, but when he does, I must admit, it's quite a sight . . . a very cute, sexy sight.
As soon as we were all seated on the bus, we were driven toward the downtown area, stopping in front of a tall building that had to be about 15 stories high. Guy was waiting for us right in front of the front door with a grin on his face, waving for us to join him on the sidewalk.
"Hello again models!" Guy calls out to us as we finally disembark our ride. "It's nice to see you all again. You may be done with your workout, but you're certainly not done with me . . . It's time for your next challenge. Follow me!"
We followed him into the building, and the first thing that I couldn't help but notice was that the lobby was cavernous. Like, easily able to carry an echo cavernous. About twenty feet behind the receptionist desk was the main stairway, which curled around the floors all the way to the top level.
Considering how tall the staircase was, I think it was reasonable to conclude that our legs were gonna suffer before the day was over.
"Today, you're gonna have a two-part challenge, and the first part starts right here, right now, at this staircase," Guy announces as he stands in front of our obstacle. "As models, your legs are one of your biggest assets, probably the second biggest after your faces. Not only do they make up a sizeable amount of your height, they are also your crucial component when it comes to runway, and I thought, what's a better way to test them than here in this building."
"What's so special about this building?" I hear Sasuke grumble, and thanks to how cavernous the lobby was, Guy, and everyone else for that matter, heard him too.
"I'll tell you why this place is so special. Everyone, this building is one of the tallest buildings in Osaka that doesn't have an escalator or an elevator. If you want to get to a certain floor, your only way of travel is the stairs, mainly the ones right behind me," Guy exclaims as he moves to stand at the right side of the marble behemoth. "For the first part of your challenge, as a test of your leg strength and stamina, you guys will be going up this staircase, all the way to the top floor."
"He really wants to torture us!" We were all silent at the news, but I think it was safe to say that no one was eager to do this challenge, especially after completing such a long workout. Lee was probably the only one that was ready to do this. He was practically jumping for joy.
"You will all line up in front of these stairs, single file. The first one in line will go up when I say go. After that, each of you will be released one minute after the other. You will find out the second part of the challenge once you are up on the top floor," Guy further explains as he pulled out a timer from his back pocket. "To make sure none of you rush to the back of the line to avoid this challenge as much as possible, I've come up with the running order myself. When you hear your name, line up!"
Temari was unlucky enough to be picked to start off the challenge, followed immediately by Sasuke, Ino, and Hinata. I was placed in the middle of the pack, and Kankuro, somehow, was lucky enough to be the last one to start. His smile was obvious when he walked down the line, practically rubbing it in all our faces.
"Alright Temari, you can go right . . . Now!" Guy yells as he started his timer. Temari launched herself up the steps, bounding up them two at a time before disappearing behind the corner. Once a minute passed, Sasuke was gone too, employing the same two-step strategy that Temari used to get himself up.
One by one, we were all released to the mercy of the stairs. When it was my turn, I took a deep breath and did a quick stretch of my legs before I went. The two-step strategy was the way to go at the start of this challenge, and I maintained it for as long as I could, managing to get up to the seventh floor - and passing Suigetsu along the way - before I had to take every step I saw.
Keeping a measured pace, I spot Gaara's red hair up ahead of me, just passing the ninth floor. He was slowing down considerably, as if long runs up staircases were not his forte.
Then again, when are they anyone's forte?
"Hey!" I call out to him as I manage to catch him just past the 10th floor landing. "You okay?"
"I'll be fine," he breathes as I come up on his left. "But these stairs are a fucking bitch!"
"Huh, I didn't expect to hear that out of your mouth. You're usually so much more composed."
"I only curse when I'm really frustrated," he grumbles as we spot Shikamaru just up ahead of us. From how slow he was going, it wasn't hard to see that he was struggling with this challenge as well. "As you can see, stamina is not really my strong suit."
"Well, not everyone's a stamina freak like Lee or my brother, and speaking of my brother . . ." I mumble, just as Naruto bypasses the both of us with a smile on his face. He was still using the two-step method, and bypassed Shikamaru with ease. Besides a sheepish "Troublesome" from the lazy brainiac, Shikamaru simply continued like he was never passed in the first place. ". . . Anyway, this torture shouldn't last much longer now, we just went past the 11th floor, so there's only four more floors to go after that."
"That's four more flights of torture to get through," he mumbles as we reach the 12th floor. "You know, you can go on ahead of me if you want. You look like you're handling the stairs much better than I am and I don't wanna slow you down. . . Honestly, you may be just as much of a stamina freak as your brother."
"I'm not too sure about that. I think Naruto still has the edge over me on that front . . . And as for your earlier statement, I don't feel like you're slowing me down. I don't mind jogging with you. Besides, I don't think the point of the challenge is to get to the top floor as fast as possible. You just have to get up there."
"You do make a good point," he mumbles as he takes in a deep breath. "Alright, we'll jog up together, and hopefully I won't dry heave my breakfast once we get there."
I couldn't help the chuckle that escaped past my lips at that one, but luckily, it only earned me an encouraging look from the mayor's son in return. We end up running the rest of the way in a comfortable silence, and we even managed to pass Shikamaru just after reaching the 14th floor. When we reached the top, we were both shocked to see Kakashi taking photos of Naruto in the one open room on this floor. Everyone else that had already reached was waiting off to the side with water bottles in hand.
"Ah, I see I got more arrivals!" the silver-haired man exclaims as he concludes his session with my brother. "Izuka come over here. You're next. Gaara, you'll be next after her and Shikamaru, you're next after him."
I do as I'm told, taking Naruto's place against the wall as Gaara and Shikamaru waited off to the side.
"Just give me your best poses for these next five shots and then you can wait with the others." he instructs as he brought his camera to his face. I was tired from all the running, but I managed to suck it up and pose as I best could, making sure to not look tired as I worked. When I was done, I moved off to stay with the others as Gaara took my place, reaching for the water bottle Naruto was offering me before I even reached him.
"Okay, can someone explain to me the thought process behind this shoot?" I ask as I unscrew the lid of my drink.
"From what I can gather, this is definitely the second part of the challenge. Well, that was what Kakashi told us. He wouldn't say anything else though." Temari mumbles as she watched her brother work.
"He says he would explain everything once he was through taking everyone's photos." Hinata added as she rested her head against Naruto's shoulder. I couldn't help but noticed the blush that creeped onto his face when she did that, but I kept my mouth shut. The nosy part of me so wanted to bring it up, but I thought I play nice for this go around.
It took a while before everyone was finally up here. Some of us honestly thought Kankuro took his sweet time getting up here since he took so long, even though it was obvious he was struggling from the heavy breathing we heard coming up the stairs. When Kankuro finally had his turn, he looked like he was going to fall over, but managed to compose himself long enough that he was able to take his shots.
"Ok, we're officially done here Kankuro!" says the masked man as he finally takes his camera off his face. "Get some water! You look like you need it."
"I really do." he mumbled as he slowly walked over to the water cooler, limping like he pulled something in his leg.
"Models, I know you all didn't expect for me to be here, but this was the point of the second part of the challenge," he tells us as he stands before our group. "As working professionals, you need to be on point at the drop of hat. You need to expect everything, from the typical to the unexpected, and be prepared for it. Today, I wanted to see how well you could compose yourselves for a quick shoot after working out so much, and from what I've seen, it really is half and half."
"Now then, usually I would critique some of the worst performers while commending some of the best ones, but I'm saving that for the judging panel," he tells us, instantly dropping a bombshell on us unsuspecting victims. "At your next judging panel, not only will Tsunade and the judges be judging your upcoming photoshoot, they will also be judging your challenge photos, and the winner will be announced there."
"Will you be there at panel Kakashi-san?"
"Maybe I will, maybe I won't Hinata." he cryptically says as he places his camera back in its case. "But for now, our time together has come to an end. I will see you all at the next photoshoot, now get out of here! You all are starting to reek!"
A/N: Please review!