A/N: Finally, the first chapter. I've only read through it once so if there are any spelling or grammar mistakes, please do take the time to point them out to me. I'll fix them ASAP. I want to thank everyone that reviewed the prelude and I'm glad some people are interested in seeing what happens next. As promised, I didn't wait too long to update. I've been writing everything down on paper first because I find it easier to correct when it's typed out so bare with me please. I'll update as soon as I can for each chapter. I don't own Naruto by the way.

As you can probably guess, I'll be starting each chapter with lyrics from a song. They usually tie in with the story so you might want to have a look at them. I don't actually know that song but it was recommended to me. :] This was a long ass chapter but I halved it in the hopes that it wouldn't look rushed. On with the story..

You call me a stranger, you say I'm a danger
You call me a stranger

--Secondhand Serenade - Stranger

Chapter 1

"Yesterday morning, I had the pleasure of meeting with Sabaku No Temari, rising photographer for "Illustrations" magazine which coincidentally is owned by her younger brother Gaara. The twenty three year old, wearing a light purple t-shirt with grey khaki pants sat stoically in front of me. It was hard getting her to open up and I found it strange that she could be so in touch with her images but be antisocial at the same time. Her work is definitely amazing and top of the range but I personally wouldn't want someone with her attitude to take the precious pictures of special occasions. For fabulous pictures, you know who to turn to. For a nice chat and some humour, turn the other way.

Matsuri, the receptionist finished reading the article in "Konoha Times" and looked up nervously at her superior. Temari was completely calm. Placing the newspaper on the tall desk, the brown haired woman looked pleasantly at the blonde before her.

"You're taking this very well. I thought you'd throw a tantrum or something. Well, that's what Kankurou said anyway..." she said, clasping her hands beneath her chin. Her small physique was adorned with an off the shoulder navy shirt and black skirt that reached just above her knees. She was sitting behind a tall desk, covering most of her body. The black worktop shined from the reflection of the light overhead and the telephone's red light was flashing non-stop. Temari shrugged.

"Why should I care what some pompous ass thinks of me anyway? I know my work is amazing. I don't need a lousy journalist telling me otherwise," she said, holding her head high. Matsuri smiled. Poor Temari. Looking at the girl's teal eyes, the brunette noticed something. It wasn't sadness, anger or disappointment. It was pure fury. She was standing with her hands folded across her chest and an annoyed scowl adorned her lips.

"Gaara left some new folders on your desk this morning," she said quickly changing the subject. "He said the top folder is the one that you have to get to in about an hour." Temari nodded and picked up her coffee from the desk before walking down the long narrow corridor that led to her office. The building was fairly large but nothing too magnificent. Everything was very plain but the walls were decorated with various pictures ranging from birthday parties to weddings; all of which Temari had taken. It was common knowledge that Temari was meant for great things.

She had been offered a job in the best seller "Pictures" (a stupid name in Temari's opinion) but she had refused point blank, not even taking it into consideration. Working with her brothers meant the world to her and that was just one of the perks of it. She was always paid in hand and she didn't have to make stupid trips to the bank. Kankurou wasn't as talented as Temari in photography but he was getting better.

She would never tell him that though...

Downing the rest of her coffee, she pushed open the door and looked around the small room with one window. It was a handsome office; Her desk was facing her, sitting on the right side of the room so that the open window would blow a cool breeze in on top of her when she was working and a large filing cabinet took up most of the room on the left. Her computer, a small desk lamp and a telephone sat on the oak desk and picture frames sat on top of the filing cabinet.

The room was painted cream and brown and a small chair that matched the rest of the furniture was placed in front of the desk. Post-its, letters and certificates stuck to almost every surface.

She walked casually over to the desk and sat down before pulling the top folder closer to her. Inside was a letter from someone named Yamanaka Ino, a new designer to the world of fashion. She wanted to publish her designs in the newspaper in a few days and she had heard about Temari from a friend, or so she claimed in the letter.

Temari had no qualms with working with Miss. Yamanaka; she was paying a large fee and from the looks of it, she had many connections. Temari would never be short of a job, that much was for sure. She had heard of the Yamanaka clan before. They owned a flower shop a few blocks away and were wealthy enough when it came down to it.

She picked up her empty coffee container and shook it twice hearing the remnants of the warm liquid shake from side to side. Frowning, she threw the cardboard cup into the bin underneath her desk and stood up, taking the brown folder with her. She shut the door with the key and walked back down to the main reception room where Matsuri sat with ear phones over her head. She pulled them out when she saw Temari approach and looked at her quizzically. She normally didn't leave her room until five minutes before her next job and had to rush around grabbing the necessities.

"I'm heading out early; I ran out of coffee," said Temari in explanation and Matsuri nodded knowingly. The blonde couldn't function properly without at least five cups in the mornings she had work. She walked outside, waving slightly to Matsuri and looked around.

The street was fairly busy and the merchants on the side of the road yelled loudly, trying to attract some buyers. Temari didn't understand this process. Shouting at people normally made them want to leave, not stay and buy things. Although, there was one case when some merchant yelled at Temari about buying a fish and began waving it in her face. She promptly punched him in the nose and had to buy a towel from another cart to mop up the blood on her hand.

She walked over to her black car, pressed the small button on her keys and opened up the door before sitting inside. It was relatively warm out and Temari was thankful she had forgone her purple coat this morning. Turning on the engine, the music player burst into life and played Temari's favourite song.

"I wake up in the morning, put on my face. The one that's gonna get me through another day. It doesn't really matter how I feel inside. This life is like a game sometimes."

She unashamedly began singing to her hearts content, ignoring the stares she received from people passing by. The loud music could be heard from outside the glass windows and an occasional passer by would sing along. She changed the gear and pressed the accelerator before heading in the direction of the nearest coffee shop. It only took five minutes and Temari was standing outside a pale orange building that had fliers sticking everywhere on the front of the windows. The pavement outside was covered in chewing gum, pressed hard into the surface by thousands and thousands of feet.

She opened the door of the small dingy cafe and stepped inside quickly ignoring the creak of the door. She was relatively surprised to find that the shop was packed full of people, all sitting down drinking or up at the counter ordering something. For a place that had so much business, you would think they could afford to clean up a bit. She moved to the back of the large queue and tapped her foot impatiently. There had to be at least another six people to be served before her and most were as impatient while the employee took his time behind the counter. Must be great coffee.

Twenty minutes later, Temari still had yet to be served. There was only so much control she could muster. Stomping up to the top of the queue, she ignored the protests of the other customers and turned to the man behind the till

"Oi! You! I need coffee! So get your fat butt into gear and pour me some!" she yelled to the rotund employee. He looked at her as though he was terrified and quickly stuttered an apology.

"I-I'm sorry. I-It's my first day and I-I wasn't really taught how to use anything here," he said and Temari's eyes softened just a little. She knew how that felt. Taking the initiative, she climbed over the counter and landed on her feet just in front of the cash register much to the surprise of everyone that was watching.

"OK, people! Let's get this show on the road!" she said and began pulling the cardboard cups from the side of the work station and filling them with hot coffee at last. The other customers didn't seem to mind and gladly handed over the money which she deposited into the till. The employee behind her seemed petrified that she would turn on him but didn't do anything to stop her. At last everyone was served except for one man that stood with his hands in his pockets. His hair was tied up like a pineapple and he had a bored expression on his face.

"That was awfully nice," he said and Temari was surprised to see that he was talking to her.

"What? You mean I should have left him to fend for himself in this cold harsh world?" she said dramatically, emphasising the adverbs for a better effect. He rolled his eyes.

"No, I just meant that what you did was nice. But how's he going to learn to live in this 'cold harsh world' with people doing his job for him?" he asked and Temari scowled. The loser made some sense.

"Listen! If I needed your damn opinion, I would have asked for it. Now do you want coffee or not? I'm in a hurry," she said, glaring at him with teal eyes. She saw him smirk and couldn't help but wonder why. He nodded slowly, purposefully taking his time to extract the money from his pocket and walk slowly over to the counter where he placed the change. She took it without counting it; as she said, she was in a hurry.

He took his coffee from the counter without a word and walked back out of the coffee shop. She scowled for a few seconds after he left before filling her own cup, exiting the shop and driving to the address on the letter; 2453 Twinleaf Street, Konohagakure.

She arrived outside the large red brick building in a matter of minutes and scanned the letter once more to make sure she had the right address. The road was fairly deserted, just one or two of the townsfolk venturing this far out of the town and there were only a few other cars parked along the street. The windows of the building looked to be double glazed and tinted slightly so that it was hard to see in; an excellent feature for the privacy of the photo-shoot. Temari stopped the car and made her way to the trunk before taking out all of the equipment she would need. There was no way she was going to be able to carry all that stuff. A door bell lay innocently against the wall and Temari pressed it twice, hearing the buzz throughout the building. A few seconds later and a high pitched voice called out.

"Who is it?" Temari felt stupid talking to the wall.

"It's Sabaku No Temari. I'm here for the photo-shoot," she said and she heard a squeal of delight from the other end of the intercom.

"Oh great! You're early! I'll send someone down to open the door!" and a small click signalled the end of their conversation for now. Temari waited, hearing the slight thudding of someone on the stairs as they descended. Tapping her foot against the grey pavement, she cocked her hip to the side. The door opened revealing a tall, skinny man. One that she had seen before.

"What are you doing here?!" she asked, or screamed more like. He cringed but opened up the door wider so she could see the hallway past him. It was relatively dark except for the few candles here and there.

"I work here," he said simply and stepped aside to make room for her. She gave him a once over. He was obviously younger than her, if only by a year or two and was far taller than her. His teeth were perfectly straight and his eyebrows were too thin in her opinion. He didn't seem to mind that she was blatantly staring at him for a few moments but then let out an exasperated breath. She snapped out of her inner ramblings about how he should eat more and scowled at him.

"Let me guess, you're the guy that carries the bags?," she asked but didn't wait for a reply. "Good. Make yourself useful and bring up my equipment. Oh and be careful. That stuff is expensive."

He rolled his eyes but did as she asked, sending her a glare for good measure. She stepped inside the cool building and waited for him to lead the way. He carried her things with ease and she couldn't help but smirk as he brushed past her with an irritable silence.

He lead her to the end of the hallway and up a narrow staircase until they arrived at a small room bathed in a yellow glow. It was fairly large, cameras and lights situated in random places and one small window at the right hand side. There was a light blue/purple carpet in the middle of the room and a nude backdrop set up at the back. Temari had to nod appreciatively. Whoever organised the room was well prepared.

A squeal from the left of the room caused her to jump. A woman no older than the skinny boy before her moved out from behind a rack of clothes and clapped her hands together excitedly.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, you're here! I knew that you were a good photographer but I never would have thought to hire you. If Shikamaru hadn't recommended you to me, I would have completely forgotten! And then I read the article in the newspaper and I had my doubts but Shikamaru assured me that you were the best and I thought, Yamanaka Ino has to have the best so here we are!" she said, all in one breath and Temari had to repeat it again in her own mind to make sense of it all.

First off; Who the hell was Shikamaru? Secondly; Huh? Oh right, the article. And just as the thought past through her mind, anger bubbled in the pit of her stomach. She managed to control it for the most part but she knew she would be snappy for the rest of the day.

Temari extended her hand to Ino and the blonde shook it energetically. "It's lovely to meet you Miss. Sabaku!" Temari smiled as best she could.

"Just call me Temari. It's lovely to meet you too Ino," she said, without waiting for an invitation but the Yamanaka didn't seem to mind. Her face turned all business-like after the pleasantries were exchanged.

"So, I thought that maybe we could get started with the male clothing line today. It'll be the first published so we might as well get it done first. Shikamaru set up everything in the room so if you need to know anything, he's the one you should ask," she said, still smiling brightly all the same. Temari nodded.

"Who is Shikamaru?"

Ino seemed shocked and she turned to the skinny boy that was trying to fade into the background. "You never introduced yourself?! How rude Shikamaru!" she scolded him and Temari's eyes widened. So it was this loser that recommended her? It was this loser that set up everything?

Well, that was something she wasn't expecting.

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