Chapter 4: Lay-out

A/N: Alright! Time to get things brewing… read and review onegai…

Frames, lights, decorations, banners… everything's set. All she had to do is open the door but what can she do? Her heart is pumping like crazy… it is after all her first photo exhibit. The pink haired photographer dressed in a sexy red silk cocktail dress walked around the room for the last time. Her pointed heels resounded throughout the quiet place as she carefully inspected each and every photo.

Arriving at the last photo at a certain corner of the hall, she laughed helplessly as she looked at the photo of a sleeping man with flaming red hair and a weird kanji tattoo on his forehead. It had been enlarged to a size of a poster and was framed in a classic brown frame. Her gaze traveled down to the small label, "Untitled" by Haruno, Sakura.

"Huh… I wonder what'll happen if you saw this," she talked to the silent photo then smiled. Taking in one deep breath, she opened the glass door and cut the ribbon letting the people see her shots.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE NOT GOING?!" a barbaric female voice echoed throughout their huge condo unit. "I have something important to do so I can't come," he crossed his arms in front of his chest calmly as he replied. His blond sister had to be restrained by his brother to prevent her from dragging him out of his room and to the exhibit. "Temari, calm down already… stress will make you grow wrinkles…" Kankuro muttered as he held his struggling sister.

"Tsk tsk tsk… I won't let this little incident ruin my youthful beauty." She swayed her forefinger as she tried to stay calm while a vein was still pulsating on her forehead. "You do that… after all you're already nagging like an old hag," Gaara mumbled then slammed shut his door.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" her calm façade was easily broken by his simple statement. "Temari… if you keep doing that we'll be late," Kankuro held his aching temple. The blond stumped out of the condo as her brother started their car.

"I swear one of these days he's going to get it! After all the trouble I have been through just to get him to see his dream girl and there he is ruining every plan I made effortlessly," the blond nagged ceaselessly until they finally reached heir destination.

"Temari-san," a female voice called for her as they entered the exhibit room. "Sakura-san… congratulations," the blond handed Sakura a bouquet of carnation. "Thank you for coming," she bowed slightly in gratitude. "Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss it. Oh by the way, this moron's my brother… Kankuro," she elbowed the man with short brown hair beside her. "I'm sorry about not being able to introduce myself last time. I'm Haruno, Sakura," she shook hands with him.

"By the way Temari-san, where's your date?" Sakura tried to look behind her to see if she has someone else with her. "Date?" Kankuro asked confusedly. "Ah hahaha, he couldn't make it. We'll just take a look around okay." The blond dragged her brother away from the pink haired photographer.

"Sakura!" her friend along with a long haired guy approached Sakura. "Tenten, Neji glad you made it," she smiled at the two. "Naruto and Hinata can't make it but they send their congratulations to you… obviously they knew your exhibit would be a success and from the looks of it… it really is," her friend looked around the crowded exhibit hall.

She didn't expect this… her exhibit was totally successful. The people that came were not only ordinary people but famous photographers and critics as well. Her heart stopped as she waited for the critics' verdict. "Well done, Haruno-san," an old man finally broke the tension hanging in the air. "The lighting… the time… and the place... you seem to know exactly what you are doing," man with silver spiked hair said after he looked long and hard at her photo. "Arigatou gozaimasu," she bowed fully feeling like a weight has been lifted from her chest.

After the group of critics walked further into the hall, Sakura stared after them. That was a complement from the people who are so hard to please. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Really… this is why you can't have a steady date," a sarcastic female voice said from behind her. "Since when did photography interest you any way, Ino?" she didn't have to look back to see who it was. She knew that irritating voice very well.

"I came to see my 'best friend's' exhibit of course," her statement reeked with mockery. "Are you having fun then?" Sakura decided to face her with a composed expression. Ino's thin eyebrow rose in interest as she saw Sakura's face. "More than ever…" she uttered.

"Isn't this a coincidence?" the battle stares between the two was broken. Sakura and Ino turned their head to see who it was. "Temari," they said simultaneously then looked at each other. The blond walked over to Sakura's side and glared at the other blond. "Came to ruin a perfect day eh?" Temari settled her hand on Sakura's shoulder. "Why are you here?" Ino tried to make her voice passive but apparently she was steaming in agitation. "Since when must I explain myself to you?" she titled her head making Ino more irritated. Having nothing more else to say, the blond walked away.

"You know her?" Sakura asked immediately after Ino was out of sight. "I was about to ask the same thing…" Temari said as the two walked around. "She WAS my best friend but then a lot of things happened…" "She's a bitch…" the blond cut her short. "Excuse me?" Sakura thought she must've been hallucinating or something. "That woman's a bitch. She kept following my brother around and told everyone that they had an intimate relationship. When he found out, well… you can guess what happened next…" she shared. "Really?" I didn't realize Ino prefer guys like Kankuro.

"Oi Kankuro, why are you standing there like an idiot," the blond raised her voice to the man standing at the end of the hall. Sakura and Temari approached him. "Did you hear me?" she put her hands on her hips but when her brother still didn't reply, she followed his line of vision and almost immediately… she had the same frozen expression as his.

"Temari-san? Kankuro-san?" the pink haired lady stared at the two unmoving figures. "This is…" the two raised their hand and pointed at the photo in front of them. Looking at what hey were pointing, "Oh this is just…" "Her boyfriend…" a voice cut her statement short.

"Boyfriend?!" the two almost yelled in unison. "Huh, Temari-san, Kankuro-san these are my friends Tenten and Neji," she tried diverting the topic. After a brief shaking of hands, "So this man in the photo is your guy?" Kankuro again brought it up. "Hai… she told me that he's really a bad boy but can be really sweet sometimes," Tenten gossiped as she held Neji's arm tighter.

"Is this true Sakura-san?" Temari asked while her face was inches from hers. "H-Hai," What are the chances of them knowing him anyway? She surrendered. Kankuro and Temari formed an "o" with their open mouths as they stared from Sakura to the photo.

After a few more hours, the exhibit ended. Everyone left except for the lady photographer. "Who would've thought a lot can happen in one day," she stretched out her arms to relieve a bit of stress as she wandered around the hall for a last look. "You seem to gain a bit of attention…" she talked to the only human photo in the hall. "I hope you can still be my 'boyfriend'," she asked the sleeping man then laughed at herself for her foolish actions.

"I can't believe… he was hiding the truth from us," Kankuro drove on. "To think that Gaara already has a girl and we were so oblivious about it," Temari bit her thumb in agitation. "But… are they really… together?" he doubted as turned the steering wheel around. "What the hell are you talking about? He drew her and she has a picture of him plus the fact that she knew what Gaara was like and Gaara knew what Sakura's hair and eye color is… what the hell do you call that?!" "Coincidence," he parked then opened the car door.

"Impossible… there is no way that coincidence could be this precise. I think Gaara just doesn't want us to meet her yet and Sakura is clueless about who we are," she concluded as she opened her door.

Kankuro crashed on the couch while Temari marched into her room. "How was the exhibit?" a voice asked from an open door. "Excellent, this Sakura photographer is really something," bit by bit he was beginning to believe his sister's theory. "Is that so…" Gaara emerged from his room with paint streaks all over his clothes and hands. "You should've come," Gaara sat on the couch as well as they watched television.

"By the way, Temari said she saw that blond girl who used to follow you around. What's her name again?" Kankuro looked at the ceiling as if the answer would appear instantly. "Hn," he mumbled as he continued changing the channels.

Finding nothing that interests him, he stood up and was about to enter his room when he saw something on his brother's coat. Kankuro's black coat was laid on a chair but something was on it… a strand of something pink. His eyes narrowed as he tried to decipher what it was.

Kankuro merely observed what his little brother was up to. Oh it must've got there when Sakura kept on stroking her hair with her fingers. Seriously speaking, it was not normal to see a strand of hair in a distant coat but an artist's eye exceeds the clearest vision. So there he was holding a strand of pink hair inches away from his face. This is the color I was looking for.

Gaara quickly locked himself in his room and began mixing colors. It was a painfully long process. The colors don't often go with his wishes but finally… he was able to make the perfect pink he was looking for… the same shade as the strand of hair he found. That same night… without sleeping or even resting… he finished painting it.

Of course, that morning he was wiped out. He didn't realize that his door was unlocked by his nosey siblings as he slumbered away to dreamland. "I told you they're together! Look at it... it IS her," a female voice almost yelled. "Ssshhh, he'll kill us when he sees us in his room," Kankuro pushed her back to exit the room.

"So what does the great matchmaker Temari plan on doing?" he asked sarcastically after they locked again his room. "Oh that's easy… if we put them in the same roof… they will have no choice but to admit their relationship to us…" she smiled viciously as Kankuro merely sighed in defeat.

A/N: Minna-san… what do you think? Read and review onegai…