Chapter 29: Evaluation 2

"Oh, here comes the fun part." I hear Suigetsu mumble from somewhere on my left, his voice laced with sarcasm. He was probably the most relaxed person up here, even daring to show off a smile that showcased his sharp teeth.

Or maybe he was just faking the entire act . . . Who knows?

It wasn't the same for the rest of us. As soon as Tsunade signaled that it was time for the main photo evaluations, everyone stood a little straighter, and a little tenser. I would always consider judges' panel the worst part of this whole competition. Sure, you get to see the judges and get useful feedback on your performance on a weekly basis, but it's also a high-stress situation that ends with someone going home, and that's never fun.

Plus, the long pauses to build up dramatic effect - like the one we're currently in now - always makes anxiety levels go up, even though it's probably the most expected part of the judging experience.

"Please come forward Suigetsu, Kankuro, Izuka, Gaara, Sasuke, and Karin. Lee, Kiba, Naruto, and Temari, you may rejoin the rest of the group."

"Damn, got called again," I mumble as I step forward. "As long as I'm not in the bottom, I'll call that a win."

The top performers of the challenge manage to make it back to the main group before most of us new call ups could escape from it. Temari gives Gaara and Kankuro sisterly pats to the shoulder, while Naruto does one better by giving me a one-armed hug as soon as we were close enough to touch, his grin almost blinding as he walked back to his position.

"So, the number is a little less than last panel, but the premise is the same," Tsunade starts off as we all lined up in front of the four. "You six represent the best and the worse this week. One of you will win best photo, and one of you will be going home."

"I'll start with you Suigetsu," she announces, all eyes now on the white-haired teen. "How was the photoshoot for you?"

"I honestly didn't mind how cold it was. I'm from Sapporo and I work in an ice rink . . ."

"So, you were doubly prepared for what the photoshoot entailed!" Jiraiya cuts in with a grin.

"Exactly!" says Suigetsu, his grin widening. "It just felt like home to me. I was comfortable, and I think that helped with my shoot."

"Hm, let's see your best shot. . ." The monitor instantly brings it up, showing Suigetsu leaning against one of the walls dressed in his blazer, slacks, and V-neck shirt. His head was turned off to the side, just enough to give us a decent view of his profile. "It definitely shows how much you weren't fazed by the temperature."

"You look like you were always meant to be there," adds Jiraiya, nodding in approval. "It's natural, there's an ease to it . . . To me it doesn't even feel like this was a photoshoot. Someone just caught you in your natural element."

"You definitely had the easiest time among the group with this photoshoot. You were the quickest to snap into focus, and you did it from the very first shot. However, you have to be mindful of something," Kakashi warns as he points to the photo. "Your background allowed you to be the most adept in this photoshoot. However, because of that familiarity, there is such a thing as being too comfortable. Being too comfortable means that you're complacent, which can make for dull shots, and there were a few of them in your film . . . Always stay on your toes, but for now, good job overall."

"Thank you Kakashi."

"Orochimaru, do you have anything to add?" Tsunade asks the one judge yet to speak. "You've been awfully silent so far?"

"I do have something to say, but it's not on the photo, which I think is a great one just to let you know . . . Suigetsu, what's the story behind your teeth?"

"Um, it relates to my job actually," Suigetsu mumbles, looking a little sheepish for the first time. "The rink I work at has a shark for its' mascot. It doesn't have a real shark, but one of the jobs there is to walk around dressed in a blue shark costume, and when that job opened up, I applied for it."

"Oh, my goodness . . ." Tsunade mumbles, breaking out into a disbelieving grin. She wasn't alone. Most of the room was either trying to hide their smiles or were already chuckling. "Don't tell me you filed your teeth into points to get the job!"

"It did help me get to the top of the list!" Suigetsu admitted. "But I didn't get the mascot job. I looked too scary for the kids, but I ended up being the cashier at the concession booth though."

That did it in for Tsunade, who barely swallowed her water before she started chuckling. Jiraiya had already reached that point, but Kakashi and Orochimaru were nice enough to hold back their amusement.

The rest of us, not so much.

"That was definitely an entertaining story. It shows that you are willing to go to great lengths if you think it'll help your chances in whatever endeavor you choose to pursue," Orochimaru concedes with his usual serpentine grin. "However, because of that same decision, you've limited the amount of modeling work you can do. Not every designer is going to appreciate working with a model whose teeth remind them of a great white."

"That is a fair point. However, there's always makeover week, and due to this picture alone, I think it's safe to say that you just inched yourself closer to that week," Tsunade admits, her disarming grin charming a grateful bow out of Suigetsu. "Okay, on to Kankuro."

The photos switch, replacing Suigetsu's stoic profile with Kankuro's admittedly frozen expression. He was leaning by the DJ booth in his shot, trying his best to look natural as he continued to touch the frozen surface.

Judging from the somber expressions on the judges' faces, this was not going to be a good critique.

"What do you think we're going to say in response to this shot Kankuro?" Jiraiya asks, being the first to avert his eyes from the monitor.

"I'm hoping that you'd say it's a good photo," Kankuro slowly admits. "But I know that shot is not my best work."

"This is not something I wanted to see, especially since you were one of the top performers last week," Orochimaru mumbles, shaking his head. "It's obvious that the cold really got to you here. You look quite pinched here."

"It's not all bad though . . . Your body does look natural, and you do pull off the outfit well. The problem is your face," Tsunade admits. "It looks like we caught you in the midst of a bout of brain freeze. You're just missing the half-eaten ice cream cone. Kakashi?"

"Unlike my fellow judges here, I was actually with you that day. I directed you. I tried to get the best out of you, and you did that with your body. Your face was an entirely different story," he adds, agreeing to Tsunade's words. "You need to stay mindful of your face because you do tend to let it go into certain directions you don't want it to go in. Don't forget that!"

"I won't." Kankuro promises, and from the look in his eyes, he was going to keep it.

"Next photo please?" Next thing we know, my photo replaces Kankuro, and I couldn't help but let the chuckle escape past my lips when I saw myself on screen. For some reason, one of the props in the shoot was a rabbit sculpture and it was right next to the lounge chair I was placed in for my session.

Simply put, my head completely obscured the sculpture, except for its ears, making it look like I was the one with the rabbit ears instead of the statue.

"Um, was that intentional?" Jiraiya asks, trying his hardest to keep his smile at bay as chuckling erupted from the group behind me, on either side of me, and in front of me, courtesy of Kakashi and Tsunade.

"Not really. . . I honestly did not notice the ears until this moment," Kakashi mumbles as he looks at the frame. "I was paying attention to her face more than anything else."

"And it is a striking face!" Tsunade sincerely admits. "Everything, even the ears, works here! For me though, the best part is her eyes!"

"Ice blue eyes for an ice-cold setting, how fitting," Orochimaru mumbles in agreement. "The eyes are great. The face is great. The body's great. The whole essence of the shot is great . . . Well done Snow Bunny."

"Thank you!" I say, relief swelling in my chest as I digested the critique. A slight nudge to my side made me look up to see Gaara's smirking face, and I couldn't help but return it with one of my own.

"Ok, three down, and three more to go," Tsunade mumbles as the monitor switches to the next shot, which happens to be Gaara's. "And we go from one good shot to the other. . ."

"Kudos to you Gaara, because you were probably given the most uncomfortable shirt to wear in that photoshoot and you wore it like a champ!" Jiraiya proudly states, the implication of his words not lost on any of us. "You probably couldn't feel your nipples afterward, but you got the job done nonetheless."

That immediately set Gaara's siblings off. Temari was nice enough to hold her laughter back to a low chuckle, but Kankuro was the one who really lost it, barking out a laugh that echoed throughout the entire room. As for the redhead himself, he was bearing the remark with quiet grace, but judging by how much his siblings reacted, this will definitely not be the last time he hears about this.

"I gave your siblings a new batch of teasing fuel, didn't I?"

"You have no idea Jiraiya . . ." Gaara mumbles, his voice strained. It wasn't a pained strain, more like an 'My siblings will never let me live this down!' strain. ". . . You have no idea."

"I am so sorry."

"It's okay. I'll survive."

"Well, that's good to know . . . Anyway, back to the photo," Orochimaru reminds us once that exchange was over. "I'm getting ice goth raver vibes from this, and I mean that in a good way."

"Snow bunny, ice goth raver . . . You are on a roll with these nicknames and allusions Orochimaru," Tsunade mumbles as she looks at the photo. "And speaking of our Snow Bunny, can we bring up Izuka's photo one more time, but put it up right next to Gaara's?"

"What's going on Tsunade?" Kakashi mumbles as my photo returns on screen, now standing proudly next to Gaara's own.

"Oh, I just realized that if you think about it, it looks like our Snow Bunny and our Ice Goth are having a stare off with each other."

"It does look like that," Orochimaru mumbles as he looks at the shot. "It looks like they're in a deep conversation right now, just tuning out the rest of the party . . . Or a straight up pissing contest. Take your pick."

"It does kinda look like that right?" I whisper, taking advantage of having Gaara right next to me to quietly ask my question.

"Yeah, it does look that way." He whispers in return, nodding his head. "I'm leaning toward the pissing contest though. It's like we're mean mugging each other."

"Passive aggressive mean mugging; it's a thing." I say, completely content with my conclusion.

"Ok, back to the actual photo we're supposed to be talking about right now," Tsunade mumbles as my photo disappears. "Sorry about that. I'll take the blame on this one. . . Despite how uncomfortable you probably were wearing that shirt, because seriously, metal and cold do not mix, you didn't let the room faze you, and that's commendable . . . Honestly, I have nothing bad to say about this photo."

"Thank you. That means a lot."

"Now then, on to Sasuke. How was the photoshoot for you?"

"Not as bad as I thought it would be . . ." he starts off as he brings a hand to his chin. "I tried to not look stiff, but . . ."

"You won't truly know unless you see the evidence yourself," Tsunade finishes for him as the monitor switches photos. "Ok, so. . . My first impression is that the body looks great, but the face is dead."

"There really is no life to your face," Orochimaru mumbles, agreeing with Tsunade. "Like your body positioning is impeccable. It completely fits. Your outfit looks great, everything is fine from the neck down, but when you look at it from the neck up, there's a total disconnect."

"I'm trying to find some form of emotion or life in that face, but I can't see anything. I can't even tell if you're cold or not, and that's not necessarily a good or bad thing at this point," Jiraiya mumbles as he turned to the dark-haired man. "Kakashi did tell you about this during your shoot, right?"

"He did say that I was looking a little cold in my photos and that I should bring some more emotion into my photos," Sasuke admitted as he looked at his photo. "I guess I didn't."

"I did tell you to look a little more emotional in your photos. I can admit that," Kakashi concedes. "However, every time you showed some emotion in your photos, you either looked disgruntled, pissed, or constipated, and none of those were good."

"Crap . . ." I hear Sasuke mutter under his breath after Tsunade called for the next photo to show. Judging from the look in his eyes, he was not going to forget this for a long time now.

"Karin, back for round two," Tsunade greets her, just as the redhead was looking more nervous than she was during the last elimination. "How do you think you did this week?"

"I'm not too keen on my chances, to be honest with you all," Karin reluctantly admits as she scratches the back of her neck. "I did not have the best time in that freezer."

"It shows in the photo," comes Orochimaru's blunt reply. "We are looking at a human sized icicle, not a natural model in a frozen environment."

"You definitely had one of the worst times in the freezer," Kakashi agrees as he shakes his head. "I tried to get you out of that mentality, but from start to finish, you would just clam up and would naturally move. All your movements were stiff, and it just was not your best showing. What's so bad about this is that even you know you could have done better."

"I know. I know I could have done so much better with this photoshoot, but I let the cold get to me too much," Karin admits, her voice resigned, yet accepting. "I just wish I could just go back to that moment and do better than what I did."

"I appreciate a model that can own up to their mistakes and admit that they want to do better," Jiraiya states, weaving his fingers together. "Here's to hoping that if you do survive tonight, you won't be giving us the same performance that you gave in this shoot."

"Thank you, Karin, and thank you models," Tsunade says, looking at all of us keenly. "You've heard what we had to say. Now it is time for us judges to deliberate, and when I call you back, I will announce who moves on, and who goes home."

A/N: Leave a comment if you like.