Hello guys! This story is supposed to be posted tomorrow morning but I woke up in the middle of the night for unknown reasons. I tried to sleep again but it doesn't work and since I have nothing to do I just decided to post this story. Isn't that great? Hehehe…anyway, I just wanted to give thanks to all the people who voted on my poll and this is the story that got most votes. Hope you liked it!

Rating: M for Mature

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. It only belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

Summary: When Haruno Sakura meets up with her first lover, Hyuuga Neji once again embroils them in a feverish affair. This time can she play with fire without being burned?

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Every memory of looking out the back door

I had the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor

It's hard to say it, hard to say it

Goodbye, goodbye.

Every memory of walking out the front door

I found the photo of the friend that I was looking for

It's hard to say it, time to say it

Goodbye, goodbye.

Photograph by Nickelback

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Instinct told Haruno Sakura that it was wrong but she'd long ago learned not to blindly trust her instincts. For that very reason she'd surrounded herself with the best, the brightest, the most capable vice-presidents, directors and miscellaneous other personnel to manage those ventures in which she'd invested. Now her staff was telling her something and though she disagreed, she had to listen.

"It's a spectacular idea, Sakura," Nara Shikamaru was saying, sitting forward with his arms on the leather conference table and his fingers interlaced. His head gleamed under the Tiffany lamps. "There's no doubt about it. The exposure will be marvelous."

"As vice-president of public relations, you'd be expected to say that," Sakura returned dryly.

"But I agree," chimed in Yamanaka Ino. "And I'm the editor in chief of this new baby. I think you'd be perfect for the premier cover of Class. You've got the looks and the status. If we're aiming at the successful woman over 25, you epitomize her."

"I'm barely twenty-five and I am not a model," Sakura argued.

Tenten, Ino's art director, joined the fray. "You may not be a model but you do have the looks."

"I'm too short. I'm only five-five."

"And this will be a waist-up shot so your height is irrelevant," Tenten went on undaunted. "You've got great features, a flawless complexion, and long pink hair. You are natural for something like this. We would not be suggesting you do it if that weren't true."

Ino shifted in her seat to more fully face Sakura, who had opted to sit among her staff rather than in the high-back chair at the head of the long table. "Tenten is right. We have pretty high stakes in this too. You may be putting up the money but those of us at the magazine have our reputations on the line. We have already poured thousands of hours into the conception and realization of Class. Do you think we'd risk everything with a cover we didn't think was absolutely outstanding?"

"I'm sure you wouldn't," Sakura answered quietly then looked at Shikamaru. "But won't it be awfully…presumptuous…my appearing in vivid color on every newsstand in the country?"

Shikamaru smiled affectionately. He had been working with Sakura since she had taken over the presidency of the Haruno Corporation three years before. Personally, he had been glad when her father had stepped down, retaining the more titular position of chairman of the board. Sakura was easier to work with any day. "You've always worked hard and avoided the limelight. It's about time you sampled it."

"I don't like the limelight, Shikamaru. You know that."

"I know you prefer being in the background, yes. But this is something else, something new. Haruno may not be a novice at publishing but we've never dealt with fashion before. Class is an adventure for the publications division. It's an adventure for all of us. You want it to be a success, don't you?" It was a rhetorical question, needing no answer. "It's not as though you're going to give speech after speech in front of crowds of stockholders or face the harsh floodlights of the media."

"I'd almost prefer that. This seems somehow arrogant."

"You have a right to arrogance," broke in Inuzuka Kiba. He headed the publications division of the corporation and he had been a staunch supporter both of Sakura and of Class from the start. "In three years you've nearly doubled our annual profit margin. Three years. It's remarkable."

Sakura shrugged. She couldn't dispute the figures yet she was modest about flaunting them. "It's really been more than three years, Kiba. I've been working under Dad since I graduate from business school. That adds another four years to the total. He gave me a pretty free hand to do what I wanted."

"Doesn't matter," Kiba said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Three, five, seven years – you've done wonders. You've got every right to have your picture on the cover of Class."

"One session in a photographer's studio," Shikamaru coaxed before Sakura could agree further. "That's all we ask. One session. Simple and painless."

She grimaced. "Painless? I hate being photographed."

"But you're photogenic," came the argument from Sabaku Kankuro, Class's creative director. He was a good-looking man, no doubt photogenic himself, Sakura mused, though she felt no more physical attraction for him than she did for Shikamaru or Kiba. "You've got so much more going for you than some of the people who have been on magazine covers. Hell, look what Scavullo did with Sabaku Temari!"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Thanks."

"You know what I mean. And don't tell me she had any more right to be on a cover than you do."

Sakura couldn't answer that one. "Okay," she said waving her hand. "Aside from my other assignments, we're not talking Scavullo or Avedon here. We are talking about Hyuuga." She eyed Ino. "You're still convinced he's the right one?"

"Absolutely," Ino answered with a determined nod. "I've shown you his covers. We've pored over them ourselves–" her gaze swept momentarily toward Tenten and Kankuro. "–and compared them to other work. As far as I'm concerned, even if Scavullo or Avedon had been available I'd have picked Hyuuga. He brings freshness, vitality to his covers. This is a man who loves women, loves working with them and loves making them look great. He has a definite way with models and with his camera."

Sakura's "Hmmph" went unnoticed as Kankuro spoke up in support of Tenten's claim.

"We're lucky to get him, Sakura. He hasn't been willing to work on a regular basis for one magazine before."

"Then why he is now?"

"Because he likes the concept of the magazine, for one thing. He's twenty-eight himself. He can identity with it."

"Just because a man reaches the age of twenty-eight doesn't mean that he tires of nubile young girls," Sakura pointed out. "We all have friends whose husbands grab for their Vogues and Bazaars as soon as they arrive."

Kankuro agreed. "Yes, and I'm not saying that Hyuuga's given up on twenty-four-year-old models. But I think he understands the need for a publication like ours. From what he said, he often deals with celebrities who are totally insecure about the issue of age. They want him to make them look twenty-one. He wants to make them look damned good at whatever age they are. He claims that some of the most beautiful women he's photographed in the last few years have been in their mid-forties."

"Wonderful man," Ino said, beaming brightly.

Sakura sent an amused smile in her direction. Ino was in her twenties and extremely attractive.

Kankuro continued. "I think there's more, though, at least as to why Hyuuga is willing to work with us. When a man reaches the age of twenty-eight, he tends to take stock if his life and think about where he's going. Hyuuga Neji has been phenomenally successful in the past ten years but he has done it the hard way. He didn't have a mentor, so to speak, or a sponsor. He didn't have an 'in' at any one magazine or another. He has built his reputation purely on merit by showing his stuff and relying on its quality to draw in work. And it has. He calls his own shots and even aside from his fashion work gets more than enough commissions for portraits of celebrities to keep him busy. But he may just be ready to consolidate his interests. Theoretically, through Class, his name could become as much a household word as Scavullo or Avedon. If we're successful and he's successful, he could work less and do better financially than before. Besides, his first book of photographs is due out next summer. The work for it is done and that particularly pressure's off. I think we lucked out and hit him at exactly the right time."

"And he's agreed to stick with us for a while?" Sakura asked then glanced from one face to another. "It was the general consensus that we have a consistent look from one issue to the next."

"We're preparing a contract," Kiba put in. "Twelve issues, with options to expand on that. He says he'll sign."

Sakura pressed her lips together and nodded. Her argument wasn't really with the choice of Hyuuga as a photographer; it was with the choice of that first cover face. "Okay. So Hyuuga's our man." Her eyes narrowed as she looked around the group again. "And since I have faith in you all and trust that you're a little more objective on the matter of this cover than I am, it looks like I'll be your guinea pig. What's the schedule?" she gave a crooked grin. "Do I have time for plastic surgery first? I could take off five pounds while I'm recuperating."

"Don't you dare!" Ino chided. "On either score." She sat back. "Once Hyuuga signed the contract, we'll set up an appointment. It should be within the next two weeks."

Sakura took in a loud breath and studied the ceiling. "Take your time. Please."

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And that's the end of chapter one. I hope you enjoyed reading this story. Don't forget to give me a review. And please NO FLAMES. By the way, my update speed will depend on your reviews. The more reviews I get, I faster I update. That's all. See you all on the next chapter!