A/N: Here's the next installment! I hate this chapter. Thanks to all that have given their support. I'm glad you liked the story so far. As I've said, this story isn't that long, maybe four or five chapters. If push comes to shove, It'll probably be six. I was thinking; with the way I want this story to go, I may need to up the rating. I'm not too sure yet but I'm just giving a warning now. Any questions you have will be answered ASAP along with any other kinds of views and/or theories.

Ayame Ichiraku is in this chapter! She's Kankurou's love interest O_O. There is also an OOC. Unfortunately, there aren't that many young Kunoichi in Konohagakure/Sunagakure that I could work with so she was the outcome. I considered using Tayuya or Karin but for reasons that you'll find out, I couldn't.

I know that I've got issues,
But you're pretty messed up too.

-- My life would suck without you - Kelly Clarkson

Chapter 3

The next day, Kankurou awoke to loud knocking on his apartment door. The glass on the windows shook ever so slightly and he groaned into the pillow.

"Ayame, could you get the door?" he managed to mumble out, trying to block out the incessant noise. From his left, the beautiful brunette stood up and put on Kankurou's white shirt, rolling her eyes all the while. Muttering something about an ungrateful lazy bastard, she climbed across the mess that was the floor and descended the stairs. Opening the front door, Ayame wasn't surprised to see Temari standing there. She also wasn't surprised to see the look of pure fury on her face. Whenever Temari called, she was usually angry... at Kankurou anyway.

"Oh Temari, what a pleasure," she said and for all intents and purposes, she sounded anything but pleased. Temari stomped past the brunette and entered the small apartment.

"Kankurou! Get your ass down here right now!" she yelled, hands on her hips. Ayame yawned, completely unfazed by the scene playing out before her. She was too used to it. Kankurou had weird siblings, a fact she just had to deal with. Temari's only response from her younger brother was a loud groan.

"NOW!" she yelled much louder. The sound of footsteps echoed throughout the building and Temari waited impatiently. Finally arriving at the end of the stairs, the brunette glanced at his sister.

"What is it Temari?" asked Kankurou exasperatedly, rubbing his eyes with the palm of his hands. Temari practically growled.

"Take me off this case! I can't wait until Gaara gets back. Give me another job!" she ground out, eyes glaring still. Kankurou chuckled and that did nothing to dampen Temari's bad humour. He walked sleepily into the kitchen and she followed him along with Ayame who began making breakfast.

"I can't take you off the case Temari," he said, drinking milk from the carton and wiping the white moustache away halfheartedly. "Gaara says that "Illustrations" needs the recognition and it would take me too long to get the pictures. You can appeal your case to him when he returns but for now, you'll just have to deal with it."

He walked out of the room the way he came in leaving Temari and Ayame to themselves.

"Why do you have a relationship with that lump?" asked Temari, grinding her teeth to control her anger. Ayame looked offended.

"I do not have a relationship with him. It's just harmless sex. Nothing more," she said and turned off the stove, seeing as no one was going to eat the damn breakfast anyway. Temari couldn't help but smirk. Soon, they would get a rude awakening; of that she was sure. She managed to leave the apartment without breaking anything, a feat that she thought impossible. Normally, Kankurou would be one vase short or maybe one cup short. It didn't really matter. As long as it was breakable, she didn't mind either way.

The traffic was backed up in the centre of the town and she beeped at each car that dared pull out in front of her. Just as the traffic was moving along, her car conked out.

"Come on!" she screeched at the wheel, pressing down on the accelerator as she turned the keys only to hear a loud errrr emit from the engine. She wanted to cry from frustration but instead, she started beating the wheel senseless.

"DAMN. STUPID. PIECE. OF. METAL. CRAP!"

Each word was punctuated with a bang from her fist that was turning red from the constant hitting. She barely heard the tap on her window from her right and scowled at whoever dared annoy her. Seeing a pineapple shaped head, her anger just increased.

"FUCK OFF! I'M HAVING A BAD DAY AND SEEING YOUR FACE IS NOT HELPING! FUCK OFF!" she repeated for good measure but he didn't even flinch. That just made her angrier. Stupid bastard should be scared of me! He sighed exasperatedly, rolling his eyes in the process. He was holding a cup of coffee in his hand and it was only then that Temari took in her surroundings. She was outside the coffee shop that she had visited yesterday, the same dingy peeling paint on the front and a few more fliers hanging from the glass. She realised that her window was up so he obviously couldn't hear her. It made her flush a little. He must have just seen her scream but not actually make sense of what she was screaming about. She laughed a little inside. I must look like a lunatic.

She opened the window ever so slightly, leaving just enough space so she could hear him.

"Troublesome woman. You're blocking up traffic. Get out and I'll move your car onto the side," he told her and she really wanted to hit him. She was about to roar at him and tell him to mind his own business but he had already opened her door and was in the process of pulling her out. She yanked her arm away from him, glaring once more.

"I can do it myself! GO away!" she screeched but that didn't stop him. She ended up getting out of the car just to stop him pulling at her arm. He half sat inside, one hand on the wheel while his other stayed outside and he began pushing the car at an achingly slow pace, the engine having stopped working completely. She tapped her foot impatiently. It took a few minutes but eventually the car was on the side of the road, parked a little crookedly but at least not stopping the flow of traffic. She stood outside as a few of the drivers she had held up glared at her in turn and she glared right back. She hated people sometimes.

"Get in my car. I'll drive you to the photo-shoot," he said, walking around to his sleek dark green car, parked just outside the coffee shop. She looked at him like he was mental.

"I'm not getting into the same car as you! You could be a rapist and/or murderer for all I know. I'll just call a taxi," she said, arms crossing over her chest in a defensive way. He rolled his eyes once more.

"Please don't start with me. It's too early. Just get in the car or we'll be late," he said, walking over to her own black car and opening the boot to take out the equipment and bring it to his own. She stayed very still, letting him do all the work, still having no intention of getting into the same car as him. Stupid, lazy loser.

When he was finished, he pulled open her door before walking around to the other side and sitting in the driver seat, watching her impatiently as she stood her ground. After about five minutes, she felt foolish and climbed into the car. The only other option was calling a taxi and that wasn't preferable. Those old men that drove the cars were really creepy.

Shikamaru handed her his untouched cup of coffee that he had bought before hand with a simple instruction; "Drink."

There was a few minutes of silence before Temari spoke, hands clamped together tightly around the coffee in preparation; if he tried anything, he would get boiling tasty coffee poured over him. "I'm sorry for driving over your foot yesterday," she said, only because one good deed deserved another. He glared at her and she glared right back, thankful that her apology didn't inspire any kind of mutual respect. She preferred hating him.

They arrived outside the red brick building with only minutes to spare and he quickly unloaded the car while Temari rang the door bell once more. Ino didn't talk this time but the buzzer went off instantly. Relieved, the blonde grabbed the first few bags she could manage and pulled them inside, holding the door open for Shikamaru out of common courtesy but then regretting not slamming it in his face because of a small smirk she received.

They climbed the stairs, their feet making loud echoing noises throughout. The hall leading into the main room smelled like a dentist's office and the walls were the same sickly shade of white. Shikamaru pushed open the door with difficulty; with seven bags of heavy equipment attached to his body in some way, it was a difficult feat. Inside, the equipment was the way that it was left the day before but there were a few more models, all female. Temari suddenly felt very plain. Dressed in her favourite Khaki pants and a normal T-shirt, she was in stark contrast to the other women who were all styled in Ino's clothing. Shikamaru coughed loud enough to wake her out of her stupor and she shook her head distractedly before placing the bags on the counter to the right.

In seconds, Temari was surrounded by four girls, all smiling brightly at her. The one that caught her attention the most was the rosette, her pink hair clashing with her orange dress. She had the greenest eyes Temari had ever seen and was slightly jealous that her own were turquoise. The next girl was shorter than her by a few inches but definitely not much younger. She had a shy smile on her face but it suited her. Her hair was a cross between lilac and navy and her eyes were pale violet. She didn't say much during the pleasantries that the others dished out but smiled slightly when Temari turned her attention to her.

Another girl stood to the right of the group, brown hair tossed halfheartedly in two buns and she had deep chocolate eyes. Her smile was one of the brightest and that alone was enough to make her model. The girl standing to the brunette's right didn't smile. In fact, she had a sour look on her face as she took in Temari's appearance and didn't bother to say hello. Instead, she walked over to where Shikamaru was trying to fix one of the lights that started blinking. Her hair was vibrant black and she had thick rimmed glasses perched on the bridge of her nose, just beneath her eyes which were a pale green.

"I'm Sakura! This is Tenten, Hinata and over there is Vayna!" said the rosette and Temari smiled her best. The last thing she needed was for these models to be a pain in the ass so she went along with the bubbly attitude.

"Forehead! Stop harassing Temari and get on this necklace!" said Ino, or more so yelled it across the room. She walked over from where she stood talking to Kiba about poses and glided over to where they were talking. Sakura scowled.

"Shut up Pig! You're lucky I let you talk me in to this in the first place!"

"Oh please! With a billboard brow that big, I could probably post all the pictures on it!"

The girls continued shouting at each other, often including insults in their rants when Tenten walked closer to Temari. "They're best friends. Don't let this fool you," she said, gesturing to where the girls stood, pointing at different body parts of the other and insulting in kind. Temari looked completely baffled. Funny way of showing friendship.

"I'm Tenten by the way. I'm a huge fan of your work. I've been buying "Illustrations" for the past year now. I love the section on birthdays; you actually posted pictures of my friend Lee's birthday on your website," she said, still watching as the girls kept arguing.

"Oh really?" asked Temari, tuning out the whining sounds in the background and focusing her attention on the brunette before her. She was pretty; an understatement really. Her brown bangs clung to her eyelashes and her chocolate eyes danced with light.

"Yeah. He wouldn't stop talking about it for a long time," she said, waving a hand airily in front of her face. Her cheeks were a slight shade of red but not in a blush. It was a natural colour. She was petite but athletic at the same time; but it worked none the less.

The male models joined them soon after, bypassing Ino and Sakura and instead, making themselves useful by moving the equipment. Shikamaru had finally gotten the light to stop blinking and turned to Vayna who was batting her eyelids like she had a twitch.

"Vayna can be.. uh.. difficult to work with sometimes," said Tenten, seeing Temari watching her, "But I'm sure she's a nice person. I haven't really talked to her much but I think Shikamaru has." Temari nodded dumbly, straining her ears to hear their conversation. It wasn't like she was eavesdropping.. She was just.. uh.. Who was she kidding? Listening to what they were talking about was impossible. Temari couldn't make out any thing else besides "FOREHEAD!" and "PIG!"

Ino managed to tear herself away from her "conversation" with Sakura and turned to Temari. "I think we'll only have time to do the female pictures today. If we wait until tomorrow to do the double shots, I think it would be better. After all, the double shots are at the bottom of my priority list at the moment."

Temari nodded smiling slightly. "Of course. Whatever you think is best."

x.x.x

The girls were amazing; Something Temari did not like admitting. Sakura smiled at her before she went to the raised platform and almost instantly, she was in serious mode, posing in a variety of ways to suit the angle of the camera. Tenten was the same but her pictures were more smily than anything else. It was great that they all had their own unique poses. Hinata was fantastic, something Temari wasn't expecting. Her shyness evaporated once she was in front of the camera but when she was out of the spotlight, she was back to her regular self. Vayna was... excellent. Temari had to swallow her pride loudly before she would admit it to herself. Stepping off the platform, Vayna smirked at the blonde.

"That's how it's done."

Temari wanted to attack the bitch but managed to stay still, only sending a glare after the black haired woman. She didn't need to be fired. Gaara would be angry with her and that was the last thing she wanted. The rest of the girls didn't seem to notice the growing tension between the two and Temari wasn't exactly disappointed. She hated drama. There was nothing worse.

Shikamaru stepped over to where Temari stood, fiddling with the camera in her hands as she skimmed through the photos she had taken.

"Can I see?" he asked, nodding at the camera in her hands. She looked up sharpely, eyes narrowing into slits as he looked at her. She handed him the camera wearily, ready to catch it if he decided to be an idiot and drop it. He pressed the button on the right and Temari could see his eyes squinting into a judgmental look. After scanning through them a few times, he handed her back the camera.

"They're amazing," he said, not meeting her eyes as he did so. She smirked. Mwhahahaha.

"Thanks... Ino told me that you recommended me for the job." She blurted it out. She was curious and she knew he had the answers.

"Yeah," he said, scratching the back of his neck in habit. "That was before I knew you were so troublesome."

Despite being called troublesome, Temari flashed him a smile. She felt like she should at least let him away with that remark after bringing her to work this morning. The jackass didn't know it yet, but he would be bringing her to collect her car in the morning, once the mechanic had taken a look at it.

His eyes widened. It was a scary smile. Something you might see on a homicidal maniac but it suited her. Not for homicidal reasons of course (he hoped). Her eyes closed as she bared her teeth, teal blocked out momentarily until she closed her mouth once more.

For reasons he couldn't quite fathom, he knew without a doubt that this woman, Sabaku No Temari, was going to be more trouble than she was worth.

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