Chapter 22: Living with Strangers

"Hey guys! Sorry to interrupt, but there's a serious issue we need to address!"

We had all just got on the bus - well, slowly trudged on is more like it - and dropped into our seats when Sakura made her announcement. When everyone's eyes were on her, I couldn't help but notice the little glint in her green eyes, as if she was over the moon that she got all the attention on her, even if it was just for a fleeting moment.

"You gonna say what the issue is? Or are you just going to stand up there and bask in the momentary attention you have right now?"

Apparently, Ino and I were thinking on the same wavelength.

"Don't worry! I'll make it quick," the pinkette bites back as she glared at the blonde. "Look, I think it's safe to say that we all reek right now, and there's definitely going to be a rush to get to the bathrooms as soon as we're at the house. However, I suggest we decide an order now before things get haywire."

"I agree!" Temari instantly says, jumping up to her feet. "I seriously don't want to spend the rest of my day fighting with the rest of you on who's next to take a shower. We need to decide things now before someone decides to throw a tantrum about it later."

"And how exactly should we decide this order?" Kiba asks as he leaned against the window. "Go from the worst smelling to the best?"

"Nah; I don't think we want to spend the entire bus ride checking each other's armpits to see who has the worst b.o. That right there just opens another can of words entirely," mumbles Neji, not looking too keen on the idea, and neither were the rest of us for that matter. "How about we go by the call out order from the last elimination? The list is usually shown by the best photo in the foyer anyway. All we need to do is check that and there, we have our order."

Everyone quickly agreed to the idea, although some were quite reluctant to, namely the ones who were in the bottom of the pack last panel. . . no surprise there. It was almost noon when we reached the house, and after checking the call out order on the screen, the first three, myself included, went to take a shower while everyone else did who knows what.

I was quick with my shower - four minutes tops - and was out the bathroom within twenty minutes, smelling fresh as a daisy. When I put away my dirty clothes, I walked into the kitchen to see some of our motley group making or eating various sandwiches of their own design, the ingredients still strewn across the kitchen island's surface.

"Choji, you're next to go!" I say as I fling my still wet hair over my back, opting to air dry it instead of patting it down with a towel.

"Good timing. I just finished too." the bigger man said with a grin as he wiped his face with a napkin. He dumped his paper plate into the trash before jogging out the room, opening a spot for me at the island in between Shikamaru and Gaara.

"Well, that's one switch already," I hear Kiba mumble as he walked into the room. He must have passed Choji on the way down here. "I just came from upstairs and Matsuri is still in the shower! It's almost been a half hour now!"

"She can't be serious!" Gaara mumbled in between bites of his turkey sandwich. "That sounds like such a waste of water."

"I know! Your sister, TenTen, and Ino are all in front of the bathroom door yelling at her to hurry up," Kiba mumbles as I handed him the loaf of whole wheat bread. "To be honest, I think she let second place get to her head a little."

"There's always one." Shikamaru mumbles as Temari walked into the room. "Hey! Got Matsuri to hurry up?"

"Yeah; she's out of the shower now. TenTen is still at the door just to make sure she finishes quickly," my fellow blonde mumbles as she turned to Kankuro, who was standing by the door that led to the side yard. "Oh Kankuro, Hinata just finished, so it's your turn now."

"Good to know!" He looks around, picks up one of the spare plates, and puts it over his half-eaten sandwich before putting it in the fridge and jogging out, but not before yelling "NO ONE TOUCHES MY SANDWICH WHILE I'M GONE!"

"AS IF ANYONE WANTS TO EAT IT!" Temari ended up yelling in return, annoyance inescapably in her tone. "He makes some weird sandwich combos anyway."

"Like what?" I ask as I slather some mayo on my bread. "From where I was standing, it looked like Kankuro had made a perfectly normal ham sandwich."

"Yeah, that's the thing. Kankuro's sandwich creations always look normal on the surface, but when you peel the bread back, well, you'll question his judgement once you see it," Gaara mumbles as he and Temari shared a knowing look. "Granted, he made a normal sandwich this time around, but next time, just watch the ingredients he puts into it. You'll see what we mean."

"O . . . k?" I mumble, completely unsure now as I finished making the rest of my turkey sandwich. 'I'll keep that in mind."

Everyone managed to shower and change before the clock struck two. By that time, mostly everyone was just chilling around in the living room, either watching a movie, sleeping in the bean bag chairs, or working on their walks on the runway. I was one of the people who were watching the movie, but I couldn't help but sneak looks at those working the runway.

To be honest, I was questioning their collective sanity a little.

"Why the hell would you put your legs through more runway training after our workout at Guy's gym, AND the stairs challenge?" I grumble in my head as I watch Sakura, Matsuri, and Ino have an impromptu walk-off. "Your legs must be killing you by now!"

"Hey! You ok?"

"Huh?" I ask, finding the owner of the voice sitting on the ground a few feet away. "Oh yeah, I'm fine Gaara. I'm just questioning why some people would torture their legs more than they really need to."

"Oh, you're talking about the Runway Brigade!" he mumbles, his new nickname for the group earning him chuckles from practically everyone within hearing distance. "I don't know. Maybe they're showing their dedication to the competition by walking their bones to death."

"If that's the case, then I salute them." Suigetsu mumbles from his beanbag chair. "They can walk themselves into exhaustion all they want. If that means less competition for me, then I'm all for it."

"You do know we can hear you from here right!?"

We all turn to see the three girls staring at us from the raised platform. Ino looked mildly annoyed with us, Sakura was slightly annoyed, and Matsuri looked like the picture of innocence as she stayed in a slight crouch, catching a breather.

"If you're offended by the way we're talking about you, then I'm sorry you're offended," says Karin, not sounding the least bit sorry. "But still, don't you think you should take a break? Like seriously! Rest your legs! We went through the ringer this morning, but here you three are, working your poor legs like crazy. Aren't they burning?"

"Like wildfire!" Sakura mumbles, conceding to her point as she walked off the platform.

"Then why the hell are you still doing it then?" Shino adds as he waved his hand at them. Now that I think about it, I've barely heard him speak since this competition began. "You're just going to hurt yourself if you keep this up."

"I thought a little extra practice wouldn't hurt." the pinkette mumbles as she flops down into an empty chair. "I was wrong. It hurts like a bitch!"

"It should be! You three have been walking ever since you had your lunch earlier." Kiba adds as he shook his head.

"I'm all for working out and all, but even I know when to stop when I reach my limit."

"You have a limit Lee?" TenTen asks, baffled by the possibility.

"Yes, my limit just happens to be way higher than the rest of yours," he tells us proudly with a Guy like smile, and, was that sass I heard from him? "Anyway, back to what I was saying. There is such a thing as doing too much! You need to do things in moderation and not overly tax yourselves."

"I know that, but . . ." Ino mumbles as she finally gets off the runway, almost buckling under her weight in the process if it wasn't for Matsuri helping her keep steady. "I just feel like I've been underachieving since we were all named finalists for this thing. I didn't do well at the runway challenge. I barely escaped elimination last panel. . . I guess I'm trying to overcompensate for my failings so far."

"Look, I think we all can agree that coming into this competition, the main goal in these early rounds is to start off strong, and well, I guess we can all agree not everyone reached that goal," I say as I crossed my arms. "Some people stumble from the starting line but finish strong, and some start off strong but stumble towards the finish. We're all gonna have our missteps along the way, but it's how we bounce back from those mishaps that's going to make all the difference."

"Izuka's right," Shikamaru says in agreement, leaving me to give him a thankful nod in return. "Yeah, you may have had a bad week, but you're still here aren't you? The judges see something in you, just like how they see something in all of us. If they didn't, they would have sent you home already . . . I know you want to prepare for what's to come, but there is a way to prepare responsibly. You still need to keep your health into consideration. you know."

"It wouldn't be a pretty sight if you suddenly dropped to the ground mid-walk because you weren't taking care of yourself properly, now would it?" Choji adds as he plucked a potato chip out of the bag he held.

"Yeah . . . You're right. I guess I can put the walking shoes down for one night," Ino finally concedes as she plops down on one of the bean bag chairs. "So, what in the world are you guys watching anyway?"

"Some rom-com Karin found among the stacks." Kiba answers as he gestures to the TV. "It's just about finish though, so we'll have to pick another one."

"Before we get to that though, we need to have a house meeting!" calls Temari as she walks into the room.

"About what?" TenTen asks as everyone that was upstairs were filing into the room.

"We need to figure out who does what in terms of chores," says the blonde, her answer earning her some groans and glares from some in the room. "Hey! Don't look at me like that! You should have known this was coming . . . I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to live in a house that slowly becomes a pig sty."

"I'm with Temari on this one. It's not healthy living in a dirty house," I say in agreement. "Besides, what are we going to say if Tsunade or one of the other judges decide to make a surprise visit and this place is dirty as hell?"

I knew my words struck a chord with the rest of the group, well, judging from the spooked, startled, and "Oh crap!" looks I was getting. No one likes to be embarrassed in front of people they're trying to impress, and having the judges visit a dirty house was a scenario no one wanted to entertain.

The meeting began in earnest after that, with people discussing what chores they were willing to do, and which ones they weren't going to do, even if you paid them. There were some arguing and name-calling, but in the end, we all managed to come to an agreement. The main thing we could all agree on was that everyone was responsible for their own respective bedrooms and sleeping areas. That was guaranteed for as long as you were still in this competition.

Lee, Matsuri, and Kankuro ended up agreeing to go on bathroom duty , with Lee overseeing the ground floor bathroom, while the other two split the ones upstairs. I was joining Gaara and TenTen on laundry patrol. I was the one to handle the laundry back home anyway, and Gaara was the same way with his siblings, despite being the youngest. TenTen wasn't really a specialist in operating a washer and dryer, but thanks to her experience in retail, she was all for taking care of the folding.

Sakura and the Hyugas were in charge of keeping the kitchen clean, but if someone was cooking, they had to help in the cleaning as well, at least for that day. Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Suigetsu were all in charge of maintaining the back and side yard - with Suigetsu calling dibs on the pool - and Temari, Choji, and Kiba were to maintain the front yard. As for Ino, Shino, and Karin, they were given the task of cleaning, mopping, and waxing the hallways and the floors.

"Ok, final thing before we make this official: Should we rotate the cleaning roles every week?"

"I don't think we should sis," said Kankuro as he shook his head. "It took us a good 90 minutes to figure out who was going to do what already, and some people wouldn't be happy to do a chore they may have no skill at, or just unwilling to do. Why mess with a good thing now?"

"I'd say if someone wants to switch roles, they should, but only if they manage to exchange their role with someone else." Matsuri suggests with a grin. "Any objections to my proposal?"

There were none, and Temari simply nodded her head before writing it down and making it official on her notepad.

"Alright, now that this is over with, I'm going to put this on the fridge," she says, just as a loud beeping sound echoed from the front of the house. "The hell? Is that what our doorbell sounds like?"

"I don't think it's the bell," Naruto mumbles as he jogs out the room to investigate. "GUYS! COME HERE! WE GOT TSUNADE MAIL!"

"Well, that answers that question," Sasuke mumbles as we all got out of our seats. We found Naruto right in front of the TV in the foyer, the bright screen already displaying the message.

Models,

Exercise helps to get you fit.

But even models need a chill day.

Be ready at 10 AM sharp!

Love, Tsunade

"I highly doubt they're going to give us a lazy day." Sakura mumbles as she shook her head.

"Judging from how the message was worded, the best bet is that it has to deal with something ice related," says Shino, his suggestion instantly earning him a grin from Suigetsu, and frowns from most of the room. "Or at least something cold."

If that was the case, I was so not looking forward to it.

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