A/N: Just to forewarn everyone, Neji is also in this story, and he will be about a million miles out of character. However, he serves his purpose and you'll get over it. And I mean that in the most loving way possible. (: I hope you guys like it, and don't forget to review! :D

"Because things are the way they are, things cannot stay the way they are."
Bertolt Brecht

Key:
thoughts
"Words spoken in the past / technically memories?"

Chapter 1 - Desperate Times

"I'm home."

Twenty-two year old Naruto Uzumaki stumbled into his dark condo, kicking off his soaked shoes at the door. He slipped and slid across the tile floor in wet socks, heading toward the bathroom. When he got there, Naruto stripped himself of his drenched clothes and hung them over the rail that held up the shower curtain. There was no sense in wasting electricity by putting them in the dryer. Wasting electricity was wasting money, and money was something that Naruto desperately needed. After his clothes were hung up to dry, Naruto grabbed his orange bath towel off of the towel rack and used it to soak up the water droplets that had lodged themselves in his mass of blond hair and dry the rest of his naked body. On his way to hang the towel back on the rack, Naruto caught sight of himself in the mirror and groaned. He looked just as bad as he felt.

Naruto worked part-time at a clothing store in the local mall, and lately hours had been getting cut. Recession had hit everyone hard, and the amount of shoppers in his high-end corporate chain store was steadily decreasing. Less shoppers meant less sales dollars, and less sales dollars meant less hours for the employees. Naruto kicked himself for not taking the full-time supervisor position when it was offered to him. At the time hours had been good, and Naruto was only nineteen. He hadn't wanted the responsibility that came with being a key holder. Now the store manager had Naruto permanently in the category of not interested in job elevation, and employees who weren't interested in moving forward with the company were the first ones to get their shifts cut last minute. Staring at his reflection, Naruto could clearly see the toll that all of this stress had taken on him. There were deep purple bags under his eyes, which seemed to be a much duller blue than they were in previous years. He looked about ten years older than he was. Naruto sighed, finally hanging up his towel and making his way toward his bedroom.

As he walked, Naruto thought about all the other problems in his life that had been caused as a result of his hours getting cut. His car, that he'd bought brand new when he was eighteen, had been repossessed because he was no longer able to make the payments. This left him usually walking home from late nights at work because he didn't have money to pay for a cab. On occasion he'd get off early enough to catch the public bus, but usually Naruto had to resort to working the late night closing shifts that nobody else wanted to work. The nights didn't bother Naruto as long as he got paid but sometimes, on nights like tonight, Naruto's evening stroll would get interrupted by a sudden rain storm. Those were the nights he truly dreaded. Through it all Naruto tried to remain positive, pushing thoughts of his lost vehicle out of his mind as he picked a pair of pajamas out of his dresser and pulled them on. As he was pulling a plain black T-shirt over his head, Naruto heard the phone ring out in the living room.

"I'm coming!" he called as he hurried to the front of the condo, although he knew the person calling couldn't hear him. "Hello?" he asked when he picked up the receiver.

"Naruto, it's me," said the voice on the other end. Naruto recognized the voice immediately. It was Jiraiya, his godfather and landlord.

"Hey, gramps," Naruto greeted, somewhat uneasily. He knew full well that he was late on his rent payment. He was hoping that the old man would let it slide until he could scrape some money together. "What's goin' on?"

Jiraiya sighed. "You know what's going on, Naruto. Your rent's late. Again." Naruto opened his mouth to defend himself, but Jiraiya cut him off. "Look, I can't do this anymore. You know I loved your dad like a son, and I love you like a grandson. Your parents named me to take care of you in their... absence, and I did. I paid your bills and put food on the table until you could afford to do so yourself. I've lowered the rent significantly from what your parents paid so that you could keep your home. I've done everything I can for you, Naruto, but you're a legal adult now. Aside from my respect for your father's wishes, I have no obligation to take care of you anymore. I hate to say it, but..." he paused, taking a deep breath before he continued. "If you can't afford to pay the rent, I'm going to have to evict you."

Naruto's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. He had expected a gentle chastising, like Jiraiya had always given him. He never thought in his wildest dreams that the man who raised him would kick him out of his lifelong home. "B-but," he began, not really knowing what to say. "It's not my fault, gramps! It's work! I can't get any hours, I told you about my car, I-"

"I'm sorry, kiddo." Jiraiya sounded defeated. "You've got thirty days to catch up with the rent. If work's the problem, then find another job. I'll talk to you later." And with that, the other man hung up.

Naruto continued to hold the phone to his ear, listening to the dial tone for almost a minute before it sank in that he was really in danger of losing his home. He hung the receiver up and fell into a nearby chair, staring off into the darkness of the living room. How could Jiraiya do this to him? Surely the old man knew that there was a recession going on. Everyone was going through rough times right now. "If work's the problem, then find another job." Naruto couldn't believe that. He'd been looking for a new job for months. The blond had applied at every clothing store, restaurant, coffee shop, hotel, electronics dealer, bookstore, and supermarket within a ten mile radius. Any job he was qualified for, he applied for, whether or not he wanted to work in that particular field. So far, all that job searching had gotten him was two interviews. The local grocery store had deemed him over qualified for the position once they met with him. Another clothing store in the same mall as his current store had offered him a position, but told him they could only hire him if he were to quit his current job. They had a policy prohibiting their employees from working for any competing companies. Naruto had considered it, but ultimately the new store had offered him a lower pay rate with no guarantee of more hours to make up the difference. He had to deny the offer.

Now Naruto didn't know what he was going to do. First thing in the morning he would call his manager and see what he could do to get more hours at work. Surely they would accommodate him if he told them he was in danger of being evicted, right? Naruto scoffed at the thought; he didn't really think they would care. Either way, he needed to either get a better paying job or a second job. Determined to kick his job search into overdrive the next morning, Naruto stood from his chair and unsteadily made his way back to his bedroom.

-:-

The next morning Naruto woke up at eight o'clock, much earlier than he normally would on his day off. Since the mall didn't open for another two hours and his manager wouldn't be in for at least an hour and a half, Naruto decided that he would start his morning focusing on his other job options. He booted up his computer and went back through his history, finding any job applications he had filled out in the past two weeks. He called each establishment individually, knowing that employers were normally more impressed by applicants who called in to check on their application. He left his name, phone number, and the date of his application with all the companies who answered. He left messages with the few companies that had answering machines, and he made sure to write down the names and numbers of companies that he couldn't reach so that he could call back later. When he made his way through all of his current applications he pulled out the classifieds section of the newspaper, searching the help wanted ads for anything that looked promising. He took down a few numbers, but most of the places either called for a college degree or had already received an application from Naruto.

Naruto sighed, flopping onto his couch and letting the newspaper fall out of his hand. This is way too much stress for an average, upstanding twenty two year old citizen to be dealing with, he thought to himself. The phone rang suddenly and Naruto jumped up, hoping it would be someone calling him in for an interview. He practically ran to the phone, and had to force himself to stop and take a few deep breaths before he picked up the receiver. "Hello?"

"Hey, baby," a voice purred seductively. "I didn't think you'd be awake yet." Naruto let out a sigh of frustration.

"Not now, Neji. I need to keep the lines open in case someone calls to offer me a job." Neji Hyuuga had been one of Naruto's best friends since middle school, as well as his first boyfriend. Neji had always been a cross-dresser, and as a teenager Naruto was extremely intrigued by it. Naruto found Neji pretty in a very feminine way, and Neji had been nothing but happy to let his (at the time) bi-curious best friend experiment with him. Although they were no longer "together" the two young men talked frequently and maintained a healthy friendship. Neji often play-flirted with Naruto, as he did with all men, and told the blond frequently that he would make an excellent drag queen.

Neji laughed lightly. "How many times do I have to tell you the Over-Under is hiring before you apply? You're sure to get a job there, especially if you say that I referred you."

"No," Naruto said firmly. "I may be desperate, but I'm not that desperate."

"Whatever you say, sweetheart," Neji replied. "I was planning on inviting you out to a movie or something since both of us finally have a day off together, but I guess you're too busy hanging over the phone."

"Sorry, man. I wish I could but I wanna make sure I'm here if someone does happen to call. Plus, I have to call my boss soon and talk to him about something."

"Alright," Neji consented, sighing. "But if you change your mind, feel free to call me. Talk to you later."

"Talk to you later."

Both of them hung up and Naruto went back to his spot on the couch. He stared blankly at the wall for a bit, thinking over what his friend had said. Neji worked at the biggest host club in the Fire Country, the Over-Under. It got its name from it's unique structure, offering female hostesses downstairs as well as male hosts upstairs. Naruto had never really understood the concept of host clubs, but Neji had described it to him as a sort of new-age geisha house; an establishment that simulated relationships. What that meant, Naruto had no idea. All he knew was that it sounded far too close to prostitution for his comfort, and so he denied his friend's numerous attempts to recruit him to the club. The blond blinked, shaking the thoughts from his mind. There was no way he was going to stoop that low. Times were rough, but not that rough. Looking at the clock, Naruto decided it was about time he called his manager, and got up to do just that. The line rang twice before the familiar voice of the store manager answered.

"Hey boss, it's Naruto. Can I talk to you really quick?"

The line was silent for a moment before his boss replied. "Actually, Naruto, I was just about to call you. I have something more important to tell you."

"No," Naruto protested. "This is something I really need to talk to you about. You see, my landlord called me last night an-"

"We need to let you go, Naruto."

Instantly Naruto stopped talking. His mouth dropped open. "Wha... what do you mean?" he asked, shaky and breathless.

He didn't want to accept what he knew was happening. His boss sighed. "You know exactly what I mean. I know you've been with us for a long time, Naruto, but the company simply has too many people employed at our location. You haven't shown any interest in career advancement within the company, and your job performance has been slipping lately. If it's any consolation, you're not the only one we're letting go."

"But... I..." Naruto was speechless. He didn't know what to think. He had lost his car, was in danger of losing his home, and now he was losing his job. What had he done to deserve all of this?

"I'm sorry Naruto. But because I know you've been looking for another job and having trouble, I want to offer you an option that I didn't give to anyone else. I haven't put in the paperwork for your dismissal yet. If you want, you can come in on your next scheduled shift and give me your two weeks' notice. That way it won't go on your record that you've been fired." Naruto flinched at the word 'fired'. He had been with the store for five years. He got along with everyone. He never thought in a thousand years that he would be getting fired.

"Well?" his manager asked when Naruto didn't respond. "Which will it be? Quit or be fired, the choice is yours. Either way you have to be let go."

"I..." the blond trailed off, not knowing what he wanted to do. This shouldn't be a choice I'm forced to make immediately, he thought to himself. "Can I... have some time to think about it?" he asked finally.

"You have until your next shift." And with that, the other man hung up.

Naruto hung the receiver back in the cradle on the wall, leaned against the wall next to the phone, and unconsciously slid down the wall until he was sitting on the tiled floor. Naruto didn't think he could stand. He felt all of the stress of the past few months closing in on him, circling him like a caged lion around a fresh steak. He felt his breathing quicken, and tried to steady it to no avail. Why is this happening to me? the blond couldn't help but wonder. His breath came even faster as he closed his eyes to keep from crying. What did I do to deserve this? A familiar tingling started in his hands and travelled up his arms, leaving a numbness in it's wake. He was starting to gasp for air, hyperventilating. Naruto opened his eyes and tried to stand, to make his way to his anxiety pills in the kitchen, but a sudden dizziness hit him like a truck and his legs gave out underneath him. How could this happen to me? He brought a numb hand up to his neck, pulled at his shirt collar even though he knew it was useless. The last thing Naruto heard was a knock at the door before his eyes slid shut, the world went black, and he fainted.