Disclamer: I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters.

I had this idea of Sasuke and Sakura in an AU. Sakura still works at a hospital, and just who is this 'gorgeous' photographer that Ino keeps on talking about.
I had the beginning works of this story on my laptop for the longest time.
The characters are in their 20s. This is not the Ninja world.

EDIT:: I re-read this chapter again and again, and i wasn't satified with it. I added some here and there, fixed grammar and spelling :/. I was just too hasty to publish this story at first(sweatdrop) (haha). I wanted to add a bit more detail.

Please R&R!

Ino twitched eagerly at Sakura opening the manila envelope. Sakura saw this and briefly eyeballed the blonde in suspicion sitting across from her. Was she that eager to show her what was in this envelope? She shrugged it off and started opening the aluminum flaps. She then pulled out the multiple pieces of paper, no multiple photographs and stared at them.

It was silent before Sakura knew what she was looking at.

"Ino! These are gorgeous!" expressed the green eyed girl sitting across the coffee table with much sudden interest. How could her best friend look this good? Has she always looked this good? Or was it just the talent of the photographer? Damn it! She looked like crap compared to her. Sakura had supported the 'no make up on, bags under the eyes, hair was tied up in a messy bun that was going to fall out any minute' -look. But even still best friends, they were still rivals.

Sakura had the night off but she was well aware that with her career in the medical field she could be called into work anytime. Its not like she hated her job, Sakura was up to the challenges that the hospital gave her; it was just a lot of stress and bullshit that she had to deal with.

Ino had insisted, and kept on insisting that they have a girls evening to drink, eat and gossip. Sakura liked the sound of a girls evening at the time, so she 'scheduled' that they meet at her flat at 7. Ino had brought the wine, as Sakura picked up the food from a 'cheap but good' restaurant. Sakura was starting to regret the idea of a girls evening though because after a long stressful day of treating patients and tending to emergencies, Sakura was about to pass out the minute she entered her flat. However it was Ino's non-stop talking that kept her from doing just that. Ino took this opportunity to show off by showing her best friend the fresh product of her photo shoot.

"I know right!" the blonde girl said with much excitement while flipping her hair whilst supporting a grin. This was a good reaction.

Ino had decided to do something for herself, something to make her feel better, and something to boost her self esteem. She was gorgeous damn it! And she was going to prove it. She got this brilliant idea during one slow day at her family's flower shop.

"Where did you get these pictures done?! Who is the photographer?! She's really good!" Ino's best friend and rival expressed.

"At Sharingan Studios, and it wasn't a she, it was a he, andhe was gorgeous, It was even harder to listen to him because of the intensity of his aura and he was so focused… with those onyx eyes" The blond girl said dreamily.

Sakura rolled her eyes at her "over the top" friend, she was always thinking about guys. Ino liked the same type as herself. The "cool" type, they had always run into this problem and sometimes it was dangerous. Sakura didn't have time for men and she really didn't think about it or expressed much interest at the moment.

"Sharingan Studios huh? I've never heard of that studio before.." Sakura continued to flip through the photographs

"Oh that's because they're new, I was checking out a customer –a very sweet guy actually-several weeks ago and they accidentally left the flyer on the counter. I happened to notice it lying there, it looked interesting so I decided to get some work done, you know… for myself"

"You know Sakura, you should get some photos taken too, you need it because, honey, I have to admit you kind of look lik-

Sakura glared "look like what?!" As she put down the pictures on her coffee table.

"Nothing! I'm just saying! You know us girls need a break and we need a chance to feel good for ourselves, its kind of like wearing lingerie underneath your clothes at work, we need to feel sexy at times! It helps boost our self-esteem you know! And it makes you feel like you own the place"

"Plus you need a break from the hospital, you always smell like one, and sometimes you still order around people around even when you are off! I swear your boss – whats her name –

"Tsunade"

"Tsunade – works you until you are dead tired when you know that more than half the time she is sleeping in the on-call room."

Sakura thought about this, Tsunade was her boss and she was slacking a lot lately. Tsunade was busy training her so that she could one day take over for her. Tsunade was like an Aunt to Sakura, but Sakura also knew that Tsunade also liked to drink, gamble and sleep. Maybe she was getting old? Sakura didn't know, but she knew Tsunade started to slip.

"I know, but it's not just her, I asked for extra hours…" Sakura explained.

"Why?! What for? Aren't you mak-" Ino responded in a curious yet exclaim able way.

Sakura's conversation with Ino was going to take an interesting turn because Sakura had not finished on why she took extra hours- hence being dead tired while being interuppted -. It was actually to keep an eye on her boss, to keep an eye her co-workers and while making ends meet. Sakura knew she couldn't be two places at once; she basically lived at the hospital. It was rare times like these where she actually lived like she had the time to.

"Because Ino! Life…life is hard! You don't know because you have been spoiled all your life! You only work part time at your family's flower shop and they give you the dead days so you don't work as hard. Money is given to you like its not a problem. And what do you do with it? Go shopping and buy booze. Is that all you do, Ino?! Drink and gossip?!"

Then the pink wearing scrubs girl mumbled, "Maybe you should be friends with Tsunade."
'I wouldn't be surprised if they were relatives' inner Sakura pointed out and it wasn't because of the blonde hair the two shared.

Ino on the other hand, didn't take it to heart as they were best friends. She knew she was spoiled, she has heard it many times before.

To be honest, she was glad that Sakura had bitched her out instead of acting towards violence; she was upset and knew she needed to take it out on something or someone. Ino cringed at the time Sakura punched through her bedroom door and that was only because of a misunderstanding between her and the credit card company.

As best friends they could read each other like an open book; the highs and lows and sometimes that could be a good or bad thing.

"Well…I didn't know you had it in you Sakura" Ino smirked.

"Shut up"

Ino did feel bad though, the poor girl needed a break. Sakura had decided on her own that she should move out of her parent's house -something about being 'independent'. Sakura had rented an apartment at the complex on the north side of Konoha, where it was a little more expensive. Ino didn't blame her for living there though, it was a good environment and it was close to the hospital. The effects were starting to show though. Her pink haired friend was stressed out with working under Tsunade and all the while working extensive hours along with getting crap from co-works. Since it was well known that she was Tsunade's favorite, her co-workers made Sakura do as much as possible because she was just that talented.

Surprisingly, financial problems were also rising, and there wasn't much food in her house, so she often ate out because she didn't know how to cook. Ino did believe however that she should take time off to have time for herself. The poor girl has been wearing the same shoes for 3 years and they were heavily worn out and she couldn't even remember the last pairs of high heels Sakura had worn.

They both sat in silence, recovering from their brief argument. When Ino spoke.

"I'm going to make you an appointment at Sharingan Studios tomorrow, and you are not NOT going to decline my offer"

Sakura just sat there, looking at the wooden floor of her living room.

She quietly said in a mere whisper, "I need a break" Her eyes looked heavy

Ino slowly took away the glass of wine in Sakura's hand, "As your best friend, Sakura, you need this, and after your photo shoot with the gorgeous photographer, you and I are going to the hot springs!"

"But I hav-

"Ask for time off, I'm sure Shizune would understand"

"Thanks… Ino"