A/N: Sorry about the delay. Work was a doozy!
Chapter 30: Three Down, Eighteen Remain
"Well, that was quite an entertaining evaluation don't you think?"
"I must say. It's been a while since we had such panel Tsunade," Orochimaru conceded, the blonde's smile growing wider as a result. "It's been a while since we experienced so much laughter for starters."
"You three were quite on point with your commentary and timing," Kakashi added, grinning under his ever-present mask. "It seems you guys are falling back into form."
"And we're not even midway through the competition yet. Far from it actually," Jiraiya grinned, nodding in approval. "These kids are starting to bring out the best in us, just as we're trying to bring out the best in them . . . You picked well this time around Tsunade."
"Well, I can't take all the credit . . . After all, I did have some help," she reminded them, winking at Kakashi, who winked back in turn. "Anyway, we got a busy deliberation to get through. Not only do we have to figure out who wins best photo and who goes home, we also have to pick a challenge winner."
"That is a lot to get through," Jiraiya admitted, shaking his head. "So, which should we deal with first. The challenge shoot or the ice shoot."
"I think we should handle the challenge shoot first. Better to get through the appetizer before eating the entree after all." Orochimaru suggested with a serpentine grin as he picked up the small stack of challenge photos.
"Damnit Orochimaru. I don't need you reminding me about food right now," Jiraiya mumbled as the dark-haired man spread out the four top challenge photos across the desk. ". . . I haven't eaten anything since breakfast."
"Well Jiraiya, the sooner we get through this deliberation and the forthcoming elimination, you can go find yourself something to eat," Tsunade suggested, a little annoyed with her friend. She had reminded him to eat something earlier in the day, but it appeared her words had fallen on deaf ears. "Now then, let me hear your opinions. Who should we crown as this week's challenge winner?"
"To be honest, we got ourselves a hard one here," Jiraiya mumbled as he looked down at the photos. "All four have a good chance at winning the challenge."
"Well then, let's take things slow and go one by one," Tsunade suggested as she picked up the first photo. "Temari is our only girl in the top four, but she certainly holds her own here."
"You should have seen the girl during the challenge," Kakashi started as he pointed to the shot. "She was the first one to tackle all those stairs and when she reached me, she did not look like she was ready to handle a photoshoot at all. Her legs were shaking, she was heaving . . . but as soon as she saw the camera I held, boom, she was all business."
"She looks totally unfazed here, like she's used to it," Orochimaru added with a smirk. "Though, I must admit, I'm curious as to how much her background helped her with this. She is a politician's daughter after all, and that kind of lifestyle does involve a lot of cameras."
"Yeah, but the cameras are focused on campaign events and election nights, not fashion and glamour. Well, unless you're focusing on what the Prime Minister's wife is wearing to said events." Jiraiya mumbled, bringing a hand to his chin.
"But Orochimaru does bring up a good point," Kakashi admitted. "Simply put, Temari is a mayor's daughter, and her father isn't just a mayor of a small town. He's the mayor of Fukuoka, the sixth largest city in the country. That comes with a lot of publicity, and some of that lands on the mayor's family as well."
"In other words, Temari has some previous experience in front of the camera lens, likely in both choreographed and not-so-choreographed situations," Tsunade mumbled. "With that being the case, she definitely used it to her advantage here. . . I just like the attitude this shot brings."
"And I like the attitude that Naruto brings in his shot." Jiraiya admitted as he pointed to the other blonde for consideration. "Yes, Temari did a fine job in her photo, but she still looked like she just got through a workout. Naruto, on the other hand, doesn't even look like he went through a workout, and the same goes for Lee."
"Considering the context of this photoshoot, I don't know if I should consider this a good thing or a bad thing," Kakashi mused with a questioning glance. "If we were awarding medals to the people who looked the least bit winded after the stair run, Naruto and Lee would have tied for the gold, without a doubt."
"Naruto has a definite ease to his shot. There's a serenity there that no other model had in theirs. Lee's photo is the definition of contained energy though," Orochimaru stated, locking in on Lee's eyes. "His body looks very relaxed, but when you look at the eyes, that's where you see the energy."
"A little too much energy if you ask me."
"You don't like his eyes Kakashi?" Tsunade asked in slight disbelief.
"I'm not saying I don't like the eyes, let alone the photo for that matter. I'm just saying that out of the four shots in front of us, I like Lee's the least." the silver haired director admitted with a shrug. "I'm sorry, but I'm also not sorry."
"Are you saying that because you really don't like the photo that much, or because Lee reminds you of a certain somebody way too much?" Jiraiya teased, his eyes narrowed on Kakashi.
"No comment."
"Fine, be that way you sourpuss!" Jiraiya bit back, much to Tsunade's chagrin.
"Ahem, what about Kiba?" Orochimaru was quick to ask as he pointed to the dog lover's photo. "We shouldn't leave him out of the discussion after all."
"Hm, what makes his photo so unique compared to the others was the choice to actually crouch down close to the floor. It gave his photo a different level of definition that the other photos lack," Tsunade mumbled as she looked down at the shot. "However, compared to the other photos, his expression doesn't live up to the hype. There's a slight tenseness to it that I never noticed before, especially around the mouth."
"He was definitely trying his hardest not to show how tired he was during the shoot. His shoot overall was a hodgepodge of bad and good shots, and this one is the best one." Kakashi concluded.
"So, who will it be?" Tsunade asked as she looked down at the photos. "Personally, I can't decide between Temari and Naruto. Kiba and Lee both did well, but for me, it's not enough to earn the win here."
"I agree . . ." Orochimaru added, concurring with the busty blonde. "Temari and Naruto's photos carry that sense of nonchalant serenity that I like when it comes to athletic shoots. I don't get it that much from the others."
"So, from what I'm getting so far, it's pretty much a done deal that Temari and Naruto are our final two in regard to this win." Kakashi mumbled as he pushed Lee's and Kiba's photos off to the side. "Now we just got to decide who wins the challenge."
"I have my answer," Jiraiya admitted as he nodded toward one photo. "What about you guys?"
The three other judges at the table looked at each other before looking down at the two remaining photos. It took them less than two minutes to decide on a winner, and when the voting was done, Jiraiya was grinning from ear to ear.
"Ok, enough with the smiling Jiraiya. We still have the main photos to judge," Tsunade reminded him as she playfully smacked him on the side of his head. "We have six names to go through, three on top, three on the bottom. Who should win? Who should go home? Which group should we talk about first?"
"I always liked to end things on a high note, so I suggest we talk about our bad ones first before we get to the good." Orochimaru advised as he pulled the three bottom photos from the pile.
"I agree," said Kakashi as he picked up one of the photos. "Kankuro, Karin, and Sasuke, our bottom three . . . Hm, this is disappointing in more ways than one."
"And what do you mean by that Kakashi?"
"I don't know about you three, but this is a group that I had high hopes for, so to see them in this position is a little hard for me to swallow, and I was there guiding them through this shoot." Kakashi mumbled as he held up Sasuke's photo. "Take Sasuke for instance. I don't know about you guys, but I pegged him as one of the models that could possibly go all the way."
"WHAT?!" Jiraiya almost screeched as he stared at his fellow silver-haired compatriot. "That's some serious high praise Kakashi. You almost never make that kind of prediction!"
"I agree. It's quite rare for you to make such a judgment," Orochimaru added with a shake of his head. "Though I must admit, it's not hard to see why you think this way. If this competition was purely based on looks alone, Sasuke would definitely be considered a person to watch, maybe the person to watch."
"His body is absolutely smoking in the shot, but his main problem is his face," Tsunade grumbled. "His body is alive, but his face is dead."
"A zombie seems warmer than him here." Jiraiya added. "His face is indescribable, and not in a good way. You just don't feel any emotion here, and that's troubling when you're a photographer. It's practically a cardinal sin in photography."
"This was not his best shoot, but the kid has potential. The same goes for Kankuro, who had the same problem with his shoot," said Kakashi as he picked up the brunette's photo. "However, you do get emotion from him here, it just happens to be the wrong kind."
"Sasuke has a great body, but his face shows know emotion. Kankuro has a great body, but he shows the wrong kind of emotion. While Sasuke doesn't show any awareness in his photo, Kankuro is too aware of his cold surroundings," Orochimaru analyzed as he looked at the last photo. "And then there's Karin . . . It's commendable that she can own up to her mistakes, but this shoot was a failure for her on multiple fronts."
"Plus, this isn't her first time in the bottom. Hell, she seemed quite accepting of her poor performance too," Jiraiya added. "How many chances are we willing to give her before it's time to cut her loose?"
"We have a choice between two guys who had very similar problems and one girl who seemed already resigned to her fate. Who stays and who goes?" Tsunade mumbled, shaking her head.
"Tsunade, I think we already know the answer to that question," Orochimaru mumbled as he looked at one photo in particular, the same one that Kakashi and Jiraiya were also eyeing. "So, shall we move on to our top three?"
"What a nice way to change the subject . . ." Tsunade sarcastically mumbled, side-eyeing the pale man as he reached over for the top three photos. "This should be interesting."
"It should. We get to decide between the Snow Bunny, our Ice Goth, and the Human Shark!" Jiraiya exclaimed with a grin. "Sheesh, that sounds like a weird comedy skit if there ever was one . . ."
"It does, but please, let's get back on track before we fall too off the rails here ok?" Tsunade asked as she looked down at the three top photos. "Ooh, seeing them side-by-side-by side has just made me realize that this decision is going to be a tough one."
"Well, I'm ready to fight for my pick." Kakashi said, a smirk hiding underneath his mask. "Are you guys ready?"
"That depends," Orochimaru mumbled. "Is your pick the same as mine?"
Kakashi's only answer to that was to look down at one of the photos before looking back up to see Orochimaru's smiling face. The two men then turned to Jiraiya and Tsunade, both of whom were eyeing a different photo.
"Hmm, we may be at a standstill here . . ." Orochimaru uttered as he too looked down at the photo. "Are we at an impasse?"
"On the contrary, my good friend," Tsunade grinned as she looked up. "We're just at the start of a very good battle."
Y ~ W ~ B ~ O ~ T
"We are about to cross into the forty-minute mark, and those doors are showing no sign of opening up." Naruto mumbles, not alone in his sentiment.
Ever since we returned to the waiting room, everyone has glanced at the closed doors at least once. Most of the room was calm, but you could still feel the tension in the air. The people that weren't called up had nothing to fear of course. They were the in-between, not good enough to be in the top three, but not bad enough to be in the bottom three either.
Those in the top and bottom three - me included of course- well, we're a different story. Gaara, Suigetsu, and I were as cool as cucumbers. We were simply left to wonder which one of us was going to win best photo.
The bottom three were in much more dire straits, well, two of them were. As soon as the doors closed behind us, Sasuke picked the furthest couch he could find, sat down, crossed his hands across his face, and started brooding.
Yes, he was brooding. Like Game of Thrones level brooding.
Still, no one can brood like Jon Snow, but Sasuke was giving him a run for his money.
Kankuro was visibly nervous, fidgeting every few seconds, moving his eyes between the clock and the door. He would have become a chattering mess if it weren't for Temari slapping his shoulder every few minutes to get him to focus.
And then there was Karin, who was the most normal acting of the three by far. She seemed calm, serene even, as she sat in between Suigetsu and Shikamaru, like she already accepted her fate. It was a little jarring to witness, but then again, since she does have the most experience in the bottom out of any of us, maybe she's just better at handling the pressure than the other two.
"The decision must be difficult then," TenTen suggests, smirking at the door. "You know what they say, the longer the deliberation, the harder the choice."
"And who the hell said that?" Neji asks, sounding like he didn't believe her for one second.
Yeah, he wasn't the only one.
"I did, just now. Isn't it obvious?" she asks, still with that smirk on her face.
"Her confidence is amazing isn't it?" Kankuro mumbled, bringing everyone's attention on him. ". . . Wish I had some of that with me right now."
"Kankuro, you're going to be fine," Temari assures him, still looking annoyed by her brother's behavior. "I don't think you have much to worry about."
"I'm in the bottom three. That alone makes me worried," He counters, not the least bit fazed by his sister's words. "You heard what the judges' said. My face brought my photo down."
"Yeah, but you're not the only one in that boat." I remind him as I point to the brooding emo in the corner. "Sasuke had the same issue and going by what the judges had to say about his shot, he had it worse than you."
"You also can't forget about Karin." TenTen adds. "She probably had the worst critique of you three. She looks like she's already at peace with going home. . . I'm both shocked, and a little bit impressed."
"It's better to be quiet and contemplative than noisily crying your eyes out. Helps maintains the makeup at least," Temari mumbled, just as the doors slowly swung open. "Ooh, show time everybody!"
"Time to face the music I guess . . ." Kankuro grumbles, earning him another should slap, this time from his brother. He managed to shoot him a quick scowl before we stepped inside, a silent promise to pay him back later.
Gaara thoroughly ignored him.
"Welcome back everyone, there are 19 of you standing there before me, and at the end of the night, there will be 18," Tsunade announces, bringing the mood down just a tad more. "You all had to brave some frozen conditions for your photoshoot, and now it is time to see how well your efforts have paid off. . . This week's best photo goes too . . ."
I couldn't help but sneak glances at both Gaara and Suigetsu as soon as Tsunade started looking down at the photos. Suigetsu was looking very confident in himself, but Gaara's face was unreadable, save for his eyes, which jumped around slightly with a nervous edge.
". . . Gaara!"
And then that nervousness was gone, his eyes widening in disbelief as shock showed on his face. It took a little prodding from his siblings to get him to move, and he eventually did, moving to stand in front of the blonde with a sheepish look on his face.
"Well, Jiraiya may have given your siblings some teasing fodder earlier in the evaluation," Tsunade reminded us, sneaking a look at the white-haired man behind her, who was cheekily looking away from her gaze. "But you did earn yourself the best photo first, so there's that. Congratulations!"
"Thank you so much!" We hear him say, giving her a quick bow before moving to the side platform.
"Next name I am going to call . . . Izuka."
As soon as I heard my name, I made my way out of the crowd and down the ramp toward Tsunade, who was smirking as she held out my photo to me.
"Third place last panel, and second place here tonight. Well done," she tells me as I take hold of the photo. "Continue the good work!"
"I will." I say, bowing my head before walking over to the side platform. When I looked up, Gaara was moving his gaze between me and my photo.
"I figured you would have earned best photo this week." he whispers as I step onto the platform, taking my place right by his side.
"Eh, you win some, you lose some. Besides, there's plenty of competition left," I mumble as Tsunade called Suigetsu's name. "I just got to work harder to get that top spot."
"Too bad there are many others that want that top spot as well," he tells me. ". . . Me included."
"Well, I guess I got my work cut out for me then."
I didn't need to turn my head to see the smirk that was showing on his face. I just had to look from the corner of my eyes to see the left corner of his mouth standing up in the familiar expression.
After Suigetsu was called up, Sakura, Neji, and TenTen followed right after him. Kiba and Lee were the next two called up, and even though they were happy to be safe, they couldn't hide the slight disappointment in their eyes. I couldn't blame them for how they were probably feeling right now. Tsunade had given neither of them a clue about if they won the challenge or not, which means they likely didn't win it, which means the winner is likely going to be either my brother or Gaara's sister.
I think you guess which person I was rooting for.
"The next name I'm going to call is . . . Naruto." Tsunade announces, my brother moving almost immediately. "You landed right in the middle of the pack with this photo young man, but your challenge photo is an entirely different story."
"Wait, what?" Naruto asks, though the smile appearing on his face hinted that he had an idea at what was going on.
"Congratulations Naruto, you are the winner of this week's challenge!" she happily announces, and my brother's smile got that much bigger. "We saw a seasoned, poised model in that shot, and hopefully, you'll start to bring more of that to the main shoots from now on."
"Definitely!"
"As for your prize, you're going to have to wait a little longer to hear about it," she tells him, mischief dancing in her eyes. "You'll find out bright and early tomorrow morning."
"Can't wait!"
It didn't take long for Naruto to join the rest of us, soon followed by Temari and Shikamaru. Up next was Matsuri, Choji, Hinata, Ino, Neji, and Shino, leaving the bottom three to stew in their nervousness on the main platform. Kankuro was the most visibly nervous, while Sasuke and Karin were virtually expressionless.
"Kankuro!"
It was obvious to everyone in the room that the sound of his name was music to the brunet's ears, relief just washing over his face as he stepped forward to claim his photo.
"It's not your best work, and you can definitely do better than this. All you can do now is look upward," Tsunade advises him as she hands him the photo. All Kankuro could do was silently nod in affirmation before moving to join the rest of us, and then everyone's eyes went to the two people left standing. "Sasuke, Karin, please step forward."
The two do as they are told, stepping forward with silent grace until they were only two feet away from the older woman. Their poker faces were on point, neither giving away what they were feeling as they stood side-by-side, ready to hear their fates.
"I'll start with you Sasuke . . . When it comes to competitions in general, there are the underdogs, there are the ones that just coast along on until their stock starts to go up or down, and then there's the outright favorites. In this competition, you are considered as a member of the latter, and earlier in the deliberation, Kakashi even said that he thought you could be one of the models that could go all the way."
"Possibly . . ."
"Possibly . . ." She echoed, sneaking a look at the mask-wearing man. "And he wasn't the only one. Orochimaru thinks that you're the person to watch in this competition."
"Maybe the person to watch . . ." he smirked as he spoke, which grew a little wider when Tsunade turned to look at him. "What, I'm just making sure we're all clear on things here."
"Regardless of that, I'm sure you can catch on to what I'm talking about here," Tsunade clarifies as she turned back to Sasuke. "It's not every day when multiple judges believe that you got the stuff to go to the very end, but a dead face will not help you in this endeavor. If you want to make it far, you need to learn to put some emotion into your expression, cause what you produced this week definitely does not cut it."
Sasuke remained silent as he nodded his head, but there was something in his eyes that conveyed what he was feeling. I'm just not sure what the feeling was.
"And then we have you Karin," Tsunade continued, turning to the redhead. "There was definitely a difference in your demeanor this judging compared to the last one. Last time, you were a little unsure, but you still carried some confidence with you. This time, you pretty much seemed resigned, like you just accepted your fate. I understand that you accept your mistakes, and there were plenty, but we still need to see some fight in you, so that we know that you still want this. Unfortunately, you didn't show enough of it . . ."
Tsunade revealed Sasuke's photo as she spoke the last sentence, sealing Karin's fate. A look of complete, yet composed, relief washed over the Uchiha's face as he accepted his photo. With a stare that screamed 'No more dead face!', Tsunade sent the Sasuke on his way before comforting a teary-eyed Karin.
"And another one bites the dust . . ." I hear Gaara mumble as Sasuke gets welcomed into the group by Suigetsu, the rest of us not too eager to welcome him back into the fold, especially not after hearing how favored he seems to be by some of the judges.
"It was bound to happen. In competitions like this, it's inevitable." I mumble as Karin said her goodbyes to the judges. When she was done, she waved goodbye to the rest of us and walked out the door, which made sense. Karin wasn't particularly close to anyone in the house, but she did try to get flirty with Sasuke a couple of times now that I think about it.
"Eighteen of you now remain . . ." Tsunade announces, turning her eyes on us. "We're already two eliminations in, but it still feels like we're just getting started. . . This competition comes with its ups and downs and its twists and turns, but one thing is for sure, it definitely changes you both mentally and physically."
"Is it just me or did she enunciate physically a little too long?" I hear Temari mumble.
"She's hinting at something . . ." Shikamaru grumbles, his eyes widening slightly. "Something that affects us physically."
"Indeed, I am, but that's all that I'm going to say on the matter," she tells us, mischief in her eyes once again. "For now, I bid you all goodnight. Sweet dreams models!"
A/N: Please review!