Chapter 1: The girl who cried
Hi there, another chapter! This week we have make-overs, beauty shots and secrets:) And once again, don't be confused with the he/she problem with Haku, it just depends on who's POW it is. it should be clearer after this chapter.
I'm sorry for Tayuya, I adore her, but she just fit the part the best^^
edit. I had to use asterisks to mark spaces since document manager doesn't want me to put in single line breaks even if I use Shift+Enter... oh well
***
Before the news has had time to sink in, they're already in shiny black shiny black limousines with red leather interiors speeding through the streets.
"Awww, I was hoping we'd at least get some champagne," Ino whines when she, Sakura and Tenten have gone through all the hidden compartments in the back of their limo. Shiho has taken no part in the raid.
"I guess Tsunade meant what she said about not celebrating," Sakura muses. Instead of champagne they have nine different types of soda, peanuts, and a TV.
"Hmm, all it has is MTV2."
"Eugh, indie crap."
Sakura rolls her eyes at Ino's comment.
*
The cars pull up in front of a large warehouse-like building with hardly any windows. They're ushered inside through a small side door and then along a corridor with strange pinkish walls, then up endless stairs and finally into a large, empty storage room. Somehow Mr K is already there although they left before he did. After a few vague words of welcome he leaves again. His hand bag and it's aesthetically challenged inhabitant are left to "keep an eye on the girls".
"Did he fly? How the hell else did he get here that fast…" Ino whispers to herself, barely audible.
"Mmhm, calculating from the turns the cars took and the overall changes in speed I'd say they eventually returned to the point of origin." Shiho scratches her messy hair.
"What?" Ino has no idea what the other girl just said. Shiho smiles at her. She must be used to her ramblings receiving that reaction.
"It means we're still in the same building."
*
Some of the other girls are figuring this out as well. Haku allows Kin to drag him somewhere for a cigarette. He likes Kin. She's horribly bitchy and probably fake as hell but she's funny and nice to him and the fact that they look so much alike is strangely comforting. Like proof that despite everything, he's still supposed to be here.
"Damnit! There must be a window somewhere!" Kin pulls another door open.
"Wait. Isn't that…" They're looking at a large darkened room with two low stair cases and a long table right in front of where they're standing by the door.
"This is a little spooky," Haku says as she takes a small step inside the judging room. "What the hell is this place?"
Kin stays in the corridor and barely dares to poke her head in.
"I don't know but it must be huge."
"How the hell are we gonna find our way back?"
They look at each other.
"Shit!" And then they run. Giggling and stumbling in their high heels they finally fall through the last door to the waiting room and nearly crash straight into Mr K.
"Welcome, ladies. I don't think I need to remind you that a model as to be dedicated and always on time.
"You were late yourself," Sakura points out. Mr K ignores her.
"Right, then! Let's get started! This way, please." He guides them through yet another small, unimportant-looking door. The room behind it is large and light; sunlight is pouring in through the back wall, made out of glass tiles. Nine pink hairdresser's chairs are lined along the glass wall, next to each is a small silver table.
"Make-overs!" Mr K smiles behind his scarf so that his eyes squint into happy little curves.
"Oh my god yes!" Ino seemingly can't control her volume levels anymore.
"Oh dear, white trash finally gets something other than home bleach," Kin mutters.
"Now now, ladies, settle down. I want you to meet my accomplices: They've styled all the hottest celebrities and write a monthly style column for the Daily Mirrorwheel Magazine. The S and U of SU Hair&Face: Sakon and Ukon!"
Confusing androgyny seems to be the thing this season. Sakon and Ukon look exactly alike, both extremely thin with similar lavender dye jobs and piercing black eyes. And purple lipstick. And pearls.
"I hate purple," Kin can hear Sakura's horrified whisper. Seconded, Miss Universe, she thinks. Sakon and Ukon do not look like people Kin'd trust with her precious hair.
"Welcome." Sakon and Ukon speak in perfect sync with a weird pseudo-French accent, and they both tilt their heads in the exact same way as they evaluate the potential masterpieces standing in front of them.
Creepy.
"And finally, Madara Uchiha will be here, personally supervising the changes you'll go through."
Madara emerges from behind the girls wearing his usual bored expression with psychotic undertones if you know where to look.
"Ok, I am sure you all know how these things work. We have decided what each of you is getting, and you either take it like a model or, well, leave the competition," the Uchiha says non-chalantly, not bothering with hellos.
"You are allowed to cry, though," Mr K adds with that quirky smile. The girls keep quiet. There's something very unnerving about Mr K, and his weird smiles and even Ino, who's not the brightest crayon in the box, has come to realise Mr K might even be more dangerous than the Uchiha.
*
They're guided to their seats, and Mr K, Uchiha and S and U walk them each through their personal make-over.
"You're hair is yellow," Mr K says to Ino, who is too scared to argue. "You look like trailer trash. So what we're gonna do, is give you a more natural blonde tone and make it a bit darker underneath to hide the fact that your hair is really thin."
Ino swallows. She will not cry. No fucking way will this horrible man make her cry.
"She will need extensions," Sakon and Ukon announce. "Iz like she 'as zree 'airs on 'er 'ead now, we dye it, zere will be only too left."
"Sounds about right," Mr K agrees happily.
*
"You look like a strawberry milkshake," Mr K tells Sakura, who smiles. A compliment? From this crazy asshole? But her smile fades quickly as Mr K continues: "and not in a good way. You know the feeling when you've had ten of those watery shakes they serve at Ichiraku Burger? Like your stomach wants to crawl out of your ass just to be able to commit suicide? That's what I feel when I look at your hair."
So Sakura will be getting a dye job to make her hair look more like the nice, expensive strawberry milkshake from Akimichi's Mr K happens to like.
"An' we need to style it, you look like you cut your 'air yourself, stupid girl," Sakon and Ukon huff. Sakura might usually be quick to voice her disagreements but she's also not dumb. She forces out a smile that looks more like a grimace. Sakon and Ukon don't notice but Mr K nods to her.
"Keep it longer in ze front an' short an' spiky in ze back. Tres chic."
*
They move on over to Shiho's chair and Sakon and Ukon let out a very drag queen-y shriek and cover each others' mouths with perfectly manicured hands.
"Sacre bleu! Whaz iz ziz madness! Who would do somezing like zis! We zought 'enna waz jus' some 'orrible urban legend zey tell in beauty school!"
Mr K agrees. "We have a lot of work to do with you." He pulls at a strand Shiho's mouldy carrot-coloured hair as if to test if it's really real. "You'll go platinum blonde and all this dry crap at the ends will go. A neat geometric bob like that Rai singer, Samui."
"And you get to see a beautician," Uchiha opens his mouth for the first time. "You need a goddamn lazer scrub or something. And either new frames or contacts, we'll sort that out, too."
Shiho actually smiles. It's a shy smile and her cheeks are a little pink, but it's a smile. Mr K smiles, too, and pats her on the shoulder. "And you need to stop thinking like a librarian and start thinking like a model." Shiho nods.
*
"What the hell is this?" Uchiha pulls the turban off Tayuya's head. "You're banned from wearing this for the rest of the competition. I'm burning it."
"What?! You can't do that! I fucking made that myself!"
"Shush." Mr K pokes her in the temple. Tayuya looks outraged.
"Ze colour is 'orrible. Whaz iz zis, Manic Panic? Mon dieu! You will go deep chésnut brown. We will cut it shorter, and you get a fierce diagonal fringe."
"Fierce," agrees Mr K.
Tayuya stares at them. Slowly, her face crumples up like a piece of plastic curling in a fire. She sniffs.
"Oh for the love of god," Uchiha turns away with a theatrical slap at his forhead.
"You… you can't do that to meeeeeeeeeeeeee," Tayuya's sniffs evolve into a desperate wail. She hides her face in her hands and howls like a fire engine.
Mr K stares at her. "Wow. Well, on we go." And they leave her.
*
"You're not gonna cry, are you?" Mr K asks Kin as he frees her long black hair from the pony tail. "No, sir," Kin smiles. Tayuya's still crying.
"Good, 'cos we choppig this off."
Kin's eyes widen. "…Off?" she whispers.
"Yup," Mr K smiles. "Shoulder length, shredded, sexy. Right guys?"
The three other men nod.
Tayuya's crying loud in her ears is the only thing keeping Kin from falling apart. She's been growing her hair since she was four years old. She's always had her hair, all she has is her hair. No, wait, that's not right. She has a lot more. More important things. Maybe it really is time to let g of her safety blanket.
*
"Ooh… so soft, so thick… we want to bury our toes in it like ze soft sand when we were little and mama took us to ze beach…"
Temari closes her eyes and bites her lower lip. Four creepy hands pet, pull and stroke her hair and she's starting to feel a little violated.
"Err, ok," Mr K looks a little awkward, too. "Uhh, right."
Uchiha slaps Ukon on the wrist and both him and his brother pull away sharply, as if electrocuted.
"Right… we will give you a nice deep honey as the base colour, and spark it up with bright blonde and mahogany highlights. The cut is very nice, you must have a very good hair dressers in the desert in Suna."
Temari shrugs. "They're ok."
Mr K raises his eye-brows but says nothing.
*
Hinata is shaking and blushes madly as they come to examine her. She has straight shiny ebony hair down to her shoulder blades and an unflattering centre parting.
"You're going short," Mr K says, "short short short."
"You 'ave beautiful cheekbones, we need to bring zem out more."
"And you need a fringe. You need some edge in your look, god knows your personality doesn't have any."
"Sharp, long fringe, almost hiding your eyebrows. Page boy hair. Not many people can pull that off but I reckon you can."
Hinata blushes even darker. "Th- th- thank… thank you."
*
"Curls. We absolutely demand curls," Sakon and Ukon turn Haku's chair around so that she's facing the style team instead of the camera. "Large, soft waves. Charlie's Angels curls."
"Uhm… I thought perm was like the biggest fashion crime, ever," Haku pipes up. Uchiha glares at her. "Uhhh. Nevermind." she sighs.
"I agree," Mr K says, ignoring everything about Haku except her hair. "We need to soften her up a bit. Her face a bit too angular for the sharp, straight look. Curls will make her more feminine."
Haku chuckles.
"No need to comment," Uchiha says.
"No, I wasn't going to-"
"Shh."
"Fine."
*
"And last but not least…" Mr K begins, "uh… what was your name again?"
"Tenten."
"Right! Tenten!"
"You look like Minnie Mouse. No more pigtails for you, cherie."
"I guess you'll go darker. Straight, dark and maybe a highlight or two."
"Something a little less… ordinary."
They get tow work. The air stinks of hydrogen peroxide and hair spray and Tayuya is still crying. She manages to know the brush soaked in hairdye out of Sakon's hand and nearly stabs Mr K with his own pair of scissors. No one recognises Shiho. Her posture is still horrible and she's scheduled to meet with the beauticians and oculists tomorrow, but she looks like a completely different person. She stops in front of every reflecting surface to gently poke and pull at her new hair, not really believing it's her at all.
"Alright," Mr K sighs when they're all finally ready. He wipes his forehead. "That was tiresome. Now, you're going to go back to the hotel. Enjoy your last night without cameras. Tomorrow you're moving into your new apartment."
*
The next morning they force their clothes and shoes into their suitcases and arrange themselves in the same limousines as the day before. MTV2 and Vanilla Coke have lost their appeal and most girls are quiet and grumpy and uncomfortable with the cameras.
The cars pull up in front of the same large building.
"What the fuck? We're moving here?" Kin voices their collective disappointment. "I thought we'd get a cool apartment, or a villa or something. This place is crap!"
"I'm glad to hear that." Uchiha Madara is standing by the door with Mr K and a green-haired man they haven't met before. The stranger is wearing a suit that's black on one side and white on the other with a black shirt and a white tie. He looks like the male version of Cruella DeVil.
"If you have any other complaints, I advise you to save them for the confession room of your new home. For now, shut the hell up." Uchiha is clearly having a bad day, although the girls have yet to see him any nicer that this.
Mr K however, is his usual smiley, creepy self.
"Good morning," he sing-songs. "Today we're doing beauty shots. This is Zetsu from Akatsuki Fashions," he points at Cruella, "he's in charge of a new, ecologically aware campaign in association with GreenLeaf Cosmetics. He's supervising the shoot. Leave your bags, they'll be taken care of."
The girls follow the three men inside the building. This time they go through a small door in the first corridor instead of taking the stairs, and finally end up in a large, brightly lit studio. They're each given a dress made of rough sack cloth. Zetsu gives them a long speech about environmentalism, the green house effect and plants dying and how make-up industry is contributing to all this wickedness. He seems really touched by his own words. Uchiha looks a little embarrassed.
"Horrible, right? But GreenLeaf Cosmetics is different. They have a philosophy of sustainable development, and they only use parts of plants that can be extracted without killing the plant. Take a birch tree, for example…" Zetsu drones on. Mr K looks ready to fall asleep. So do all the girls apart from Sakura who's listening attentively.
Finally, Uchiha interrupts Zetsu. "Right. Good. Fine. Let's get started, shall we?"
Zetsu looks deeply hurt, but doesn't dare to question his boss.
The girls get funky make-jobs with lots of bright colours and temporary tattoos snaking up their neck or down from their hairline.
"I look like a gay superhero," Temari grumbles in front of the mirror. Her eyelids are bright pink, and an elaborate tattoo, so dark purple it looks almost black, starts between her eyebrows and spreads across her forehead like a lacy fan.
"Ready to save the abused birch trees," Haku giggles. "This whole thing is ridiculous." Her eyes are lined with dark indigo blue and half of her face is covered with a glittery white snowflake design. She looks over her shoulder to the other side of the studio where Ino is being photographed in front of a creamy white backdrop. Ino's hair is pulled back in a tight bun and her face a patchwork quilt of different shades of pink.
"At least neither of us looks like a pig," Temari follows Haku's line of thought.
*
The photographer stays quiet, letting Zetsu do all the instructing. His commands are as bizarre as their make-up, and most of the time the girls have no idea what he wants from them.
"Be a bluebell," he tells Hinata. "The wind has travelled all across the heath just to caress you face… Feel the wind! Be that bluebell! Think like a bluebell!" Hinata looks like she wants to run away across the heath.
"Yes! That's it! There's my bluebell!"
The shoot takes all day. They get a sad-looking sandwich and a small cup of coffee each at half past three and after that it's five more exhausting hours. Mr K and Madara Uchiha disappear at some point, presumably to have a nice big dinner somewhere else. It's nearly ten o'clock when the girls are finally clean-faced and back in their own clothes again.
"Right, thank you all for the day. I hope this gives you some idea of what being a model is like." Mr K looks annoyingly brisk. "Now follow me, I'll take you home."
*
They were wrong. Living in the Akatsuki headquarters is far from crap. There's a huge inner courtyard inside the huge building, and a fair share of it is part of their new residence. They have a hardwood patio and even a hot tub. Inside the place is just as gorgeous. Huge livingroom-cum-kitchen with large windows dominates the apartment; they have three bathrooms and the large bedrooms, each with three beds and a different colour scheme. The only reminders of the competition are walls, covered with pictures of Tsunade, and the huge black couch covered with red pillows shaped like the cloud like Akatsuki emblem. And the cameras.
Mr K leaves them to get settled and gives them a permission to celebrate tonight. After he's gone a woman with a huge white rose in her blue hair comes to welcome them to the Akatsuki building. She introduces herself as Konan and the girls are happy to note she's much more normal and sane than any other person they've met in the last week.
"This place can be a bit tiring," she says, "but I guarantee you'll have fun here. Just remember, no matter what happens, it's just fashion. Not the end of the world."
She looks around the spacious room.
"And remember the cameras."
With that she leaves them to unpack and sort out their living arrangements.
Ino ends up sharing a room with Sakura and Hinata. Ino wanted into the purple bedroom but Kin had already dragged her bag there and wasn't going to back down. After a lot of screaming and even some hair pulling, Hinata finally stepped between them, laid her small shaking hands on their shoulders and begged them to stop yelling. Her intrusion shocked both Ino and Kin out of the bitch mode. Ino now wishes she would have continued. The pink room is not half as nice as the purple one.
*
"Aah, now this is living," Temari sighs as she settles in the outside hot tub next to Kin. "Aren't you coming?"
"No thanks," Haku smiles and leans down to lie on her back by the pool side and opens a bottle. Temari consifcated 16 of the 35 bottles of the newly launched Bacardi Breezer Pink (tastes like pitaya) they got from Konan the PR lady, for the three of them. Kin and Haku agreed with Temari that half of the other girls wouldn't want them anyway and the other half shouldn't be allowed to drink more than one. So it's for the best of everybody that they have taken up the task of destroying the dangerous substance before anything bad might happen.
"Right. Tell me who you hate most," Kin asks the other two after almost half an hour of soaking up the luxury of their new life in silence. Temari and Haku glance at each other.
"Oh, come on, don't be like that. Fine, I'll start. I hate everyone except you two."
"Awww, and they say romance is dead," Temari smirks.
"No, I'm serious. Take Sakura. She opens her mouth, my mind goes offline. She just talks and talks and talks and ooh I'm gonna be a doctor. Well, go be a doctor then what the fuck are you doing here?!" Kin finishes her third drink. "And whatsherface Tenten. Could she be any more boring? It's like she a side character in some crappy book and no one bothered giving her a personality. Ah, who's next? Hinata. I hate stammering people. Honestly, I'm bored with a topic before she's finished her first sentence. Then there's Miss Joanie Rotten with her uglyass hair. How dare she cry at the makeover? She should be fucking grateful! They made her look like a human for a change!
And Ino, oh god, do not let me get started on her."
Haku and Temari giggle themselves silly as Kin rants on.
"Oh, I want you to do me, too. Say what you think, I promise I won't get mad," Temari says, drying the tears of laughter off her cheeks.
"I have nothing on you," Kin admits. "Nor you," she glances at Haku. "Either you two are outplaying me, or you really are nice people. I don't know which is harder to believe.
"Ok," Temari says and sets the last remaining Breezer on the edge of the pool. "Let's play a truth game. The one with the best secret gets the last bottle."
"Fine, we start with you. What's with the fake accent? You sound upper class when you're speaking normally, why would you want to be taken for a simple Desert Rose?"
Temari grins. "Ah, my secret. My secret is my last name. Sabaku."
"Ooooooh shit. You're fucking royalty?"
The Sabaku family were the remains of the old aristocracy in Suna. Despite the modernised governance, the family still had power in the area, they owned half the lands and stocks to all the biggest companies.
"Being a princess is not all it's cracked up to be, I never get to do anything fun."
"Is that why you're here, then?"
"Sort of. And I made a bet with my brother."
"A bet?"
"About being able to do this without mentioning names. On my own."
"Well, you did," Haku smiles. "What did you bet?"
"Oh, just the Shadow Palace at the northern border of Suna. Historically, it was the summer palace of the ruling family, but now it's just a huge ass manor. My brother was going to inherit it, but because he's dumb and underestimated his sister, he now will not."
"Awesome!"
"Kin, what about you. Try and top that."
"Hmm… where should I begin… I ran away from a boarding school to get here."
"Boarding school? They've boarding schools in the Oto slums?"
"No. I was put in after I had a baby at sixteen."
"Whaaaaaaat?"
"My ex left me when I got pregnant. I have no job, no nothing. She's two years old now, my daughter, living with my mom. If I win this competition, I'll try and get her back."
"Wow. That's… crap." Temari looks down at her empty bottle.
"I'm sorry, Kin."
"Nah, it's fine. I'll just have to fight for her."
"What's her name?" Haku asks.
"Melody."
"That's a beautiful name."
"And you know," Temari says, "if you ever need help getting back at that asshole ex of yours, my family has a small army of professional body guards. You only need to ask."
Kin laughs. "I'll keep that in mind." She turns to Haku. "Your turn."
Haku examines her fingernails. "What makes you think I have a secret?"
"Ooh don't give me that. I can tell. You always smile like that, like you know something no one else knows. Tell us."
"Yeah, come on, we both told ours!"
"Alright. Let's just say I have something all of the girls in the house, well, except maybe Tayuya, are desperate to get."
"More booze? Diet pills? A cock?"
The tip of Haku's tongue darts out of her pretty mouth. The other two girls just stare at her. Kin's left hand flies up to cover her open mouth.
"No. Fucking. Way. No way!"
"I have never once during this competition referred to myself as a girl. I haven't really lied to anybody, and I did try to explain when they asked me to take part but they didn't listen. So I figured, why not play with them a little."
Kin shakes her head, her mouth still open.
"I can not believe this. I've met loads of trannies in my life but none them look like you. I mean you're… a girl!"
Haku laughs. "I don't know what I am, even less what I'd want to be. I guess I kinda hope that after this whole model thing I'll know something."
Temari hands Haku the last pink Breezer like an Oscar statue. "You, Mam, no, sorry, Sir, are the clear winner."
Haku giggles.
"Nah, we'll share." He opens the last bottle.
"And let this be our vow of silence," Temari says as the bottle is passed onto her.
"Never to speak to anyone about these things."
"They will come out sooner or later, though."
"Yes, but not from us."
*
"Tsunade-mail!" Sakura's voice wakes the house at eight in the morning. Yawning, they gather in the living room to hear their next instructions.
"Every flower, no matter how bright and beautiful, will wither. After tonight, only eight flowers will bloom."
"Great. Elimination."
This time they don't need cars, and the route to the judging room is marked for them with red sating bows. When they enter the room, the judges are already seated behind the long table.
Tsunade is standing in front of it.
"Hi, girls, welcome to your first judging! Our guest judge this week is Zetsu from Akatsuki Fashions who instructed you in your photo shoot. Before your individual evaluation, I want to remind you of the great prizes you're competing for. The winner will get a contract with Ichaicha Management, a cover and a tree page spread in Fire Magazine, shot by Mr Jiraya and of course, the chance to open the Akatsuki show at Konoha Fashion Week!"
She steps down a step.
"Ok, we have have randomly selected the beginner and Ino, you're up first. Here's your best picture." The picture appears on the screen to Ino's left.
"Your eyes are gorgeous," Ms G says. "Like blue M&M's."
"Too bad the rest of your face isn't as good," Orochimaru says. "Your mouth is sagging. Is that supposed to look sexy?"
"This photoshoot wasn't about being sexy," Zetsu complains. "But you didn't seem to get that."
"Sakura."
Sakura's face fills the screen. Her eyes are lined with light blue, and there's a design of light purple flowers on her right temple.
"Cotton candy!" Tsunade smiles.
"Yum,"says Jiraya.
"But you need more edge for this kind of look. The colours are so sweet, the contrast needs to come from your face. It can't be all sugar."
"Kin."
Kin's makeup was mostly gold, with a tribal design under her left eye. She looks cold and distantly, scarily beautiful.
"Divine," Orochimaru compliments her, and Kin gives an exhilarated little curtsy.
"Yes, it is," Jiraya says, but sounds less impressed than Orochimaru. "The picture is indeed gorgeous, but was this really what you wanted for this particular campaign?" He turns to Zetsu.
"Not really, no. You're right, it's a beautiful picture and most of your frames were just as gorgeous. But we wanted happy, agreeable, more down to earth beauty. I'm not sure you fit that."
Ino is happy to hear that. Perfect Kin failing makes her feel better about her supposedly sagging mouth. After Kin it's Tenten who gets compliments on not looking like herself, then Tayuya who complains about how her hair was destroyed and is told to shut up by Uchiha.
Everyone thinks Hinata looks scared in her picture but Zetsu insists it's exactly what he wanted. Shiho is told to open up more but everyone loves her new hair.
"Temari."
The picture appears, but no one says anything for a long time. Temari starts to get a little restless, she scratches her leg with her other foot and twists her hands behind her back.
"This is spot on what I wanted," Zetsu finally says. "A Blue Eyes Fuchsia is I ever saw one."
"Green eyes, more like. And what gorgeous eyes they are."
"I guess I was wrong about you," Orochomaru says, strangely serious. "The girl in that picture looks like a model."
It's hard to say whose smile is wider, Temari's or Tsunade's.
Haku is last, and the judges get into a fight over whether she looks better with curls or straight hair.
"Right. Now, the judges will deliberate and when we call you back, one of you will be eliminated.
*
The girls leave and Tsunade takes her seat. They spread the photographs on the table and start going through them, one by one.
"There's something off about her," Jiraya points at Haku. "I don't think she's taking this competition very seriously."
"I still love her," Ms G says. "And her, even though she's too soft."
"She needs to live a little. She wants to save the world without knowing what the world is."
"That's what she's here for!"
"I think she's the winner," Jiraya interrupts Orochimaru and Ms G and holds up Temari's picture.
"And not just because she has big jugs. This picture is overwhelming."
"I think so, too. But we need a loser as well." The others turn to look at Tsunade as she fishes out a picture.
"Zetsu, tell me about her."
"She was so angry all the time. And the picture is hideous. She does not look a thing like a Sticky Catchfly."
"What the hell is a Sticky Catchfly?"
"It's a flower!" Zetsu is deeply wounded by Jiraya's ignorance.
"Whatever," Orochimaru says. "She's gone."
"I agree," Ms G says. "This picture and that stunt at the make-over… she's not a model. And bitch gotta learn some manners."
Tsunade collects the pictures in a neat pile. "I guess we've reached our verdict, then. Let's call them back."
*
They have been waiting quietly. No bitching, no arguing and no giggling. Everyone's nervous.
Tsunade is waiting for them in the middle of the room, holding a familiar pile of pictures.
"There are nine girls in front of me, but I only have eight pictures in my hands," she says as they've settled in a line. "These pictures represent the girls who are sill in the running to become Konoha's next top model."
Ino thinks she's going to puke.
Tsunade flips the first picture.
"Temari. Congratulations. You're still in the running to become Konoha's next top model."
They all get their pictures, one by one, until only Ino and Tayuya are left. Ino needs to fight back both tears and vomit now.
"Ino and Tayuya, step forward please."
They move closer to Tsunade.
"There are two beautiful girls standing in front of me, but I only have one picture in my hands. The girl whose name I do not call must immediately return to the flat, pack her belongings, and go home."
She turns to Ino.
"You have confidence, lots of it. You're assertive and sure of yourself. But are you a model? Can you change when you have to? Can you take instructions?"
She turns to Tayuya.
"You are no less confident than she is. But you, too, need to learn humbleness. You cannot yell at a hairdresser or a photographer. You're their tool."
She pauses for what to Ino feels like a small eternity.
"Ino. Congratulations. You're still in the running to become Konoha's next top model." Ino exhales deeply through her mouth.
"Tayuya. Thank you."
Tayuya comes over to hug the other girls. Ino's eyes are still burning. This is truly turning out to be a wakeup call for a girl who's not used to hearing the truth.