AN: I'm sorry, lovely readers, that I didn't update as quickly as I thought. I was away for a few days and managed to forget my precious notebook which has lots of my writing in it, so I could only do so much. I have been writing like a demon though, and since you've all been so patient, I'm going to put up several chapters tonight. I have written far, far ahead.

Oh, and you may have noticed my name has changed to Secret Sky. I chose the last one (Lost Forest) quickly for the sake of a name, but I should be holding onto this one (although I'm very changeable, just a warning).

Thanks to Syai, I'mNotCrazy, sugardash, TNTKitten, mugiwaraboshi, Random Person (loving the name) and Miss Light Bright for the reviews again. :D You guys are very kind and encouraging.

Miss Light Bright: Thanks for noticing that mistake. I fixed the timing.

TNTKitten: I've changed the terms to soccer to make it clearer. :) And by 'duped' I meant that Neji essentially tricked him into joining soccer by calling him a coward. It's so easy to manipulate Naruto with his impulsive personality. I've rewritten the end of the last chapter a little to make it clearer. 'Duped' is no longer there. :D

Syai: You're right about the job. I took that on board and addressed it in this chapter. My excuse is Naruto got a bit distracted by detention (but really it was me having trouble fitting everything in!). Sorry, it might be a while before you hear Red's story. ;)

Cloud Cover

Chapter 9: Come Into My Parlour

You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one.

~James A. Froude (1818-1894)

"You ready?" asked Neji. Naruto took a deep breath and stood up.

"I can't believe you talked me into this."

They walked out of the locker room and into the already crowded field. It was 5.30pm, but football must've been worth sticking around school for because boys were milling around in groups on the turf. The coach had not yet arrived. He could see Sasuke surrounded as usual by people. Ugh. How did he manage to make gym shorts look stylish? It made Naruto sick.

"So how does this go?" Naruto said, ignoring the cold glares he was receiving from across the pitch.

"Well, we'll be learning some basics today, fine-tuning our skills. Then after a bit of practice we play against the current school soccer team."

"Which is?"

"The seniors."

Naruto did a double-take. "Wait, what? We play against the seniors? They're all like a head taller than us."

"Yeah, but they'll be leaving next year. Students from the years below will be taking their places. That's why we try out, so the coach can measure our skills."

"It sounds...weird."

Neji shook his head. "Gai is weird. But he's passionate about soccer."

A moment later, Naruto realised that Neji was right on the mark with Gai. He practically bounced in yelling, "Hello, my youthful students!"

It was bizarre. He looked like a grown man version of Rock Lee, green suit to boot, and he was practically in tears as he looked around at the teens gathered on the pitch exclaiming, "Such zest for life. How I envy and admire you all!"

This man made you want to back away slowly. Everyone it seemed except Rock Lee who practically leapt toward him saying, "Gai-sensei, we want to prove ourselves worthy of the soccer team!"

Gai looked down towards his young doppelganger and grinned. "Lee, so full of spirit. You remind me of myself at your age." Big shocker. "Yes, today we practice because next week you'll be put up against some difficult opponents." The man looked around the room. "Take note of everything I tell you, and practice like you've never practiced before. Let's do this!" He pumped his fist into the air.

Moments later, Gai had them all doing exercises until they could barely stand. Then he set them in groups, passing to one another, dribbling the ball between cones and shouting instructions incessantly.

There was barely enough time to breathe let alone talk. Naruto jogged up the pitch with the ball, the sweat pouring down his forehead. It dripped into his eyes, blocking his vision and he wiped at it with his forearm.

"Oof!"

Naruto stumbled as he felt something heavy bump into him and fall back.

"Fuck, sorry." he said automatically to the boy on the ground. It was the guy he'd met on his first day at Konoha High, the red stripes on his face were unmistakeable, and his chocolate brown eyes glared at him now as he picked himself up from the ground.

"Don't fucking touch me." he said and pushed past him roughly. Another boy jogged up to them and looked at Naruto suspiciously. He was odd-looking with dark glasses and practically his whole face hidden by a high collar.

"Everything all right, Kiba?"

"It's cool, Shino." He looked at Naruto. "Looks like Uzumaki here is just afraid of some competition."

Naruto frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"You fucking pushed me over on purpose!" Kiba said his voice growing louder.

"The fuck I did. You practically ran into me!"

"Yeah? You wanna make something of it, Uzumaki? I bet sacrificing your teammates to win is something your family do all the time!"

Naruto could hear blood rushing in his head and he lost it. He lunged at the boy, but was held back when Neji moved quickly between them.

"Let go of me!" yelled the blonde boy as he struggled to get past him.

"Naruto," said Neji quietly. "You're better than this."

That stopped Naruto in his tracks, and he stared at the pale-eyed boy.

"You can show them you're better than this."

It was like a switch flipped in his head and the sound of blood pounding in his ears abated. Naruto was suddenly aware of the people around him. Some were still continuing their exercises, but there were eyes on him, watching him.

Naruto took a deep breath and pasted a grin on his face aimed at Kiba, who still stood ready to fight. "Look, I'm sorry, man." He said to Kiba. "I seriously didn't mean to run into you. You all right?"

Kiba straightened slightly and frowned. "Yeah, whatever."

He jogged away slowly, his friend in tow.

Naruto arrived back in the locker room exhausted after the practice. He thought he would fall asleep in the shower it felt so relaxing.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Naruto." yelled Neji from outside the shower room.

"See ya." he yelled back. How did Neji manage to be so fast? Naruto turned off the shower a good five minutes later and wrapped a towel around his waist. Maybe I'm just slow, thought Naruto as he walked into the empty locker room.

He looked around. Something...was different.

Then Naruto's eyes widened as he realised what was wrong. Where were his clothes?

He ran over to where he'd left them on the bench. Getting down on his knees, he searched underneath the benches and opened all the locker doors, the metal clanging as he slammed each empty one shut. Fuck! He couldn't walk home in a fucking towel!

That's when Naruto realised one of the showers was still running. He walked cautiously back into the shower room and around one of the dividers. There under the stream were his clothes, his backpack too. They lay together in a sodden mess.

Naruto gritted his teeth and turned the handle of the shower, switching it off. Sometimes he really wondered, was it really worth being the bigger man? He glared accusingly at the pile on the floor.

Eventually, Naruto managed to get his clothes somewhat dry. He wrung them out as best he could and dried them under a blowdryer. The backpack...well, there was no saving it till he got home. His books were a thick papery mess and some leftover ramen sauce had spilled out making everything slightly yellowed. An extremely unpleasant smell was now emanating from the bag. He slung it over his shoulder anyway and made his way down the empty school halls hoping no one would notice the slight dampness of his clothes or the squealch of his shoes as he walked.

But as he made his way through the school there was someone along the hallway...at his locker door. Sasuke's back was turned to him as he came up behind. He had his sleeves rolled up, a sponge in his hand and a bucket of some soapy liquid next to him.

"What are you doing?" said Naruto. His voice sounded very loud somehow in the quiet hallway, and he could swear he saw Sasuke jump slightly, but when the boy turned around his face was as calm as a pool of water.

"Cleaning. Obviously."

Naruto's eyes widened as he looked past the dark-haired boy. The red paint from that morning was practically invisible.

"How did you-Why did you...?" Naruto sputtered. He looked at Sasuke in amazement.

Sasuke shrugged. "It was on my locker too. I don't want that kind of mess around me."

Naruto turned back to view the locker. It was true, some smears of the painted message had spread onto the locker beside his own.

"I knew you weren't going to bother to take it off so I figured I would. It annoyed me. You even annoy me when you're not around, letting your problems affect me." Sasuke rolled down his sleeves and picked up the bucket.

Naruto didn't know why disappointment filled him at those words. What did it matter that Sasuke had just done it to clean his own locker? Of course that was why...it was just a for a moment he thought...

He couldn't help the anger building up inside him. "Well, sorry for having fucking problems! I'll ask the other kids nicely to keep the hate messages to my own locker next time so they don't have to mess up your pretty little life."

He turned quickly, walking swiftly down the hall, leaving the Uchiha boy staring dumbly after him for the second time that week.

Soccer practice continued much the same after that. Gai worked them till they just wanted to flop to the ground. The other guys ignored Naruto for the most part, something for which Naruto was grateful.

Whenever he got a moment, he would practice with Neji at the gym and on some evenings he practiced on his own at the park. Neji had shown him some good tricks like feinting and chipping the ball, but it was with a rush of excitement one warm Spring evening that Naruto discovered something new.

He was alone in the darkening park practicing at shooting the ball towards the goals. He was exhausted and his feet ached, but he knew he had to practice all the more to catch up with the other guys. He pulled back taking a light run-up, when he stumbled slightly. His foot hit the ball at an odd angle and it shot into the air. Then, unbelievably, it turned in an arc, curving a path far to the left. It missed the goals by a long shot, but Naruto felt excitement well up in his chest.

He'd just made the ball spin in a totally different direction from where it had started. No one would see it coming...a secret weapon.

"Neji!" he practically yelled in the gym the next day drawing glares from some of the other students. "Neji, I wanna show you something."

"What?"

"I think I just discovered a new technique!"

Neji didn't get as excited as Naruto would have expected. Instead he raised a single dark brow.

"Which is?"

Naruto shrugged. "I'm calling it Rasengan. I don't know what it's actually called. You're the football expert...uh, but the ball spins."

Neji looked at him flatly. "That, Naruto, is what's known as spinning the ball."

"Yeah, but like...a lot." said Naruto, waving his arms around as if to show the sheer size of the spin.

"Let's see then." the boy replied and stood back. Naruto pulled back a few steps as he had the first night, and kicked the ball in the place he'd hit before. It shot off at an odd angle, but there was no curve, the ball eventually coming to a stop at the side of the gym.

"Impressive." commented Neji sarcastically.

"Wait, that wasn't it! It went straight and then it curved and...it was awesome." finished Naruto lamely.

Neji sighed. "I think you'll need to practice it, but I wouldn't waste your time on one move right now, Naruto. The match is getting close and you need to work on strengthening your play in general."

"Right..." agreed Naruto vaguely. "Yeah."

That day he practiced with Neji, but when he went to the park on his own he couldn't resist trying out the move again, and as the days passed he began to improve the shot, learning the technique and aiming with greater and greater accuracy, and each day, the big match grew closer.

"Naruto, can I have a word with you?"

The boy hung back apprehensively as the other students exited the classroom. It usually wasn't a good sign when teachers wanted to speak to him.

Orochimaru cleared up the papers on his desk.

"I notice you've had a little accident, Naruto-kun." kun?

Naruto blinked. Oh yeah. The marks he'd got from the fight with Kenta.

"Yeah, I uh smacked myself in the face with my locker door."

Orochimaru smiled. "How clumsy of you."

Naruto shrugged awkwardly. "I'm the klutzy type."

The teacher sat back in his chair. "Your guardian is Shunsuke, am I right?"

He nodded his reply.

"I take it he's not the reason you wear that bruise?"

"Fuck no." said Naruto quickly and then muttered, "He's not around enough to bother with that."

"I see." said Orochimaru, not mentioning the swear much to Naruto's relief. "Well, I'm relieved to hear that you are not being hurt since Shunsuke is a personal friend of mine. In fact, if you would be so kind as to deliver this to him, I'd be extremely grateful." Orochimaru pulled open a drawer and took out a light brown parcel. It rattled slightly when he handed it over.

"Ok, I guess." said Naruto, looking at the package dubiously before he put it in his backpack.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun." purred the teacher.

Naruto left to go, but paused on his way out the door, curiosity getting the better of him. "How do you know Shunsuke?"

Orochimaru smiled at him. "He was my lawyer."

Naruto gaped at him. "Shunsuke's a lawyer?"

"Used to be." corrected the teacher. "Unfortunately, he lost his practice. He still does some work for me, however. We're old friends."

The smile stretched across his face, but it didn't reach his eyes and Naruto felt a shiver run up his back.

"If you could deliver that directly to him, Naruto-kun..."

The boy nodded and turned to go, the yellow eyes following him as he left the room.

When he arrived at his apartment, or rather, Shunsuke's apartment, the door was open, but the living room stood empty. Naruto's eyes wandered over to Shunsuke's bedroom door. He must be in there. Come to think of it, Naruto had never actually seen that room. He walked over and knocked. Nothing.

He knocked again.

There was the rustle of clothes then the thudding of footsteps and the door swung open. Shunsuke glowered at him.

"The fuck do you think you're doing?"

Naruto scowled. "Oh, you know, just delivering shit for you and being a generally awesome person."

He held up the package and Shunsuke's eyes widened.

"Mr. Orochimaru asked me to give you this."

"Fine." said Shunsuke grumpily, taking the package. "Thanks."

He glared at Naruto when the boy didn't move.

"There something else?"

Naruto met his gaze steadily. "You used to be a lawyer." Shunsuke stiffened. "What happened?"

"None of your fucking business is what happened! Give Orochimaru my regards." And he slammed the door in Naruto's face.

Naruto stuck his tongue out at the door. Stupid Shunsuke. He was just made of asshole. Naruto sighed and went into his room. He opened his cupboard door to be met with the pitiful sight of five lonely packets of ramen.

This...was not good. That would last him what? 3 days? 5 if he only ate one per day. Already Naruto had noticed his stomach getting flatter, his ribs and hip bones showing that little bit more from a diet of pure ramen. Thankfully it wasn't too noticeable under his shirts.

He needed to find a job and find one soon. Time was running out. He grabbed a pack of ramen and opened it with his teeth, going into the kitchen to pour its contents in the pan. He thought over the past week. So much had happened, there had barely been time to look for a job. He'd tried at the weekend with Red trailing after him, but not a single place had been hiring anyone, let alone him. Naruto snorted. He'd actually been stupid enough to use his real name at first which had gotten him thrown out on the street faster than he could blink.

Naruto wolfed down his ramen and went out into the cool evening. Today he would find a job, no matter what. Maybe if he went farther out of the city...

He passed shop after shop - clothes, supermarkets, pharmacies, even a perfume store where the sales associate looked at him as if he was a bad smell, quickly ushering him out as soon as the words 'job' left his lips. She'd obviously been sniffing too much perfume because her nose seemed to be wrinkled in a permanent look of distaste.

Always, in every place it was the same answer. We're not hiring. We're not hiring. We're not hiring. Those words were beginning to sound a chant in his head. Who in this fucking city was hiring?

He'd wandered pretty far from the fancy part of town. That's when Naruto saw it. A small run-down newsagents sat at the corner of the road. A red neon sign flashed intermittently. The blonde teen stepped inside.

A man was stacking shelves behind the counter. Judging by his aging looks, receding hair line and defeated manner, this guy probably owned the place. Naruto cleared his throat and the man turned. He had dark, baggy eyes which looked at the boy suspiciously.

"Can I help?"

Naruto gave him his most winsome smile, showing pearly white teeth. "More like, can I help you? I can improve your business and your life in one easy step!"

The man raised a brow at this odd sales speech, but Naruto pressed on, "Uh, that is, let me help you out here and you won't regret it!"

The man's face relaxed into weary understanding.

"You want a job. I'm sorry, but we're not-"

"Before you finish that sentence," interrupted Naruto quickly, "Just hear what I have to say. I'll do whatever it takes. I'll work hard. You won't find a more dedicated worker."

The man appeared unimpressed.

"I'll work whatever hours you need outside of school." said Naruto desperately. "I'll work cheap!"

Now the newsagent showed some interest. "How cheap?"

Naruto cast around for a figure. "Four dollars an hour?"

The man's mouth set in a thin line. "Three dollars." said Naruto quickly.

"Well, I might need a paper boy for the mornings...Two dollars and you've got yourself a deal, kid."

Naruto didn't hesitate. "Two dollars it is."

The man smiled, the heavy folds of his face creasing up. "Done. What's your name?"

"Daisuke." said Naruto, giving out the fake name he'd adopted.

"Well, Daisuke. You've just got yourself a job. Be here at 6am sharp tomorrow and we'll see how things go." He peered at the teen, as if sizing him up. "This will have to be off the books, mind. Means you won't get taxed if I give you the money directly."

No shit. And so he could give him a ridiculously low wage, but Naruto just smiled and nodded.

"No problem, Mr. Uhhh..."

"Atsushi." supplied the man.

"Mr. Atsushi." Naruto grinned. "Thank you. Thanks a lot. You won't regret this."

"I hope not." said the man and Naruto left the shop happily, the door tinkling lightly behind him.

He...Naruto Uzumaki...had a job! Ok, so he wasn't stupid. He knew he was working for a pittance, but maaan, he had a job! No more worrying about food. Two dollars a day would be enough for loads of ramen, maybe even other stuff now and then on the side. Vegetables? Naruto laughed to himself. Heeell no. Life was officially looking up.

The next morning Naruto rose at 5am. It took him 45 minutes just to get to his new job, so he showered quickly and headed out. He arrived early to be met with a bag of papers.

"I need you to deliver all of these within the hour. Here are the addresses, a map. Don't disappoint me, Daisuke."

Naruto nodded and flashed him a grin. "I never disappoint."

And with that he ran off. The houses around the area consisted mainly of flats, but with the odd semi-detached area popping up. There was a lot to cover and Naruto found himself running as half an hour passed quickly and he was only a third of the way through. He ran back to the newsagents arriving two minutes to 7, breathless and sweating. Atsushi was waiting there and gave him a look of mild surprise.

"I'm impressed. Most don't make it within the hour first time round."

Naruto leaned on the counter, still panting. "I'm...not...hah...most people."

The man laughed. "Well here, I guess you earned it." He handed Naruto two dollars and the boy couldn't help grinning as he took it, the money making a beautiful jingling sound in his pocket as he went to school.

Between work, school, detention and soccer practice, the teen barely had time to think about anything else. He would collapse exhausted in his bed at night only to get up at 5 the next morning. But he had food. He had friends. And for the first time in his life he felt happy.

He'd grin at his parents when he arrived home in the evenings and chat about the day. His parents seemed to reflect that happiness with their cheesy grins in the photograph.

During these practice weeks detention was the same gruelling experience. Naruto, however, had worked out a system. Everything got cleaned in a certain order and he became faster and faster until finally one Tuesday afternoon he stood back triumphantly within the half-hour time limit saying the most satisfying sentence he'd ever uttered.

"I'm done, Mr. Ibiki."

Ibiki got up and did his examination of the room while Naruto stood there with a smug smile.

"Well," said Ibiki finally. "It seems you've managed to do it, Uzumaki."

Naruto punched the air. "Yes! I am the cleaning master!"

Ibiki smirked. "Is that so?"

The smug look on Naruto's face faltered a bit. "Uh..."

"Well, if you're the cleaning master I'm sure we can up the challenge a bit. You know, to master level."

Naruto backed away slowly, putting up his hands. "N-no, that's ok. I don't need to be tested."

"Oh, but you do." said Ibiki still with that evil smile. "Come with me."

Naruto sighed and followed the teacher down the halls. He dreaded to think what was coming, but when they arrived and Ibiki opened the door, he couldn't stop his mouth opening in shock.

The room seemed to stretch on forever, scraps of food covering the tables, and spatters of juice and who-knew-what on the floor.

He looked at Ibiki in disbelief. "The cafeteria? You cannot be serious."

"Oh, but I am, Uzumaki." said Ibiki. He picked up a mop and bucket in the corner, and held them out to the teen. "You have one hour."

Three days later and it was boring physics class. Everyone was waiting for Mr. Orochimaru to arrive, everyone except Naruto who was slumped forward on his desk, completely exhausted. Cleaning and work over the past few days had taken a lot out of him. Around him, the chatter of students was charged with an extra buzz of excitement with the upcoming match the next week. Two high-pitched voices rose above the others and drifted to Naruto's ears as he lay with his head in his arms.

"Ooooh, Sasuke in shorts! I can't wait!" said the first voice. Ino, thought Naruto grimly.

"I heard he's an amazing player." said the other happily. Sakura.

"Well, duh, of course he is, Sakura. It's Sasuke."

Naruto rolled his eyes at this under his closed lids.

"Who else is playing for our year?" asked Sakura.

"Hmm..." Ino thought for a moment. "Well, Kiba, Shino, Lee, Choji...um..."

"Shikamaru?"

Ino laughed. "Don't be stupid. You think he could be bothered running up and down a pitch after a ball? No, I'm not sure about the whole team, but oh, Neji! And...and that..." She lowered her voice suddenly and Naruto strained to hear her. "That Uzumaki kid."

"Isn't he training with Neji?" muttered Sakura. The girl's whispers grew quieter and quieter, and Naruto gave up trying to listen. After a few moments, however, he looked up to be met with a pair of pale, green eyes. Sakura was smiling nervously, twisting a strand of pink hair around her finger. "Hey, uh, Naruto, right?"

Was he dreaming? He looked over his shoulder. Nope, no other Narutos in the room.

"Hey." the boy finally replied.

Ino was standing beside Sakura, half-scowling, half-curious. "We shouldn't be speaking to him." she whispered to Sakura.

She rolled her eyes then when neither Sakura nor Naruto ventured to speak. "So what's with you and Neji?"

Naruto turned his large blue eyes on her.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"You know, you guys hanging out all the time. Lunch, soccer...what's your deal?"

Naruto frowned and shrugged. "We're friends, I guess."

"Neji doesn't have friends." said Ino in surprise. "I mean, he doesn't just...hang out with people...for...for fun."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Uuuh, I don't know what you want me to say. We get on all right and we hang out. Isn't that normal?"

Sakura shook her head, making Naruto's breath catch as she gazed at him intently with her sparkling green eyes. "Not for Neji."

"You're a strange guy, Naruto." said Ino as she walked back to her desk. Sakura gave Naruto a small smile before trailing after her friend.

I'm strange? thought Naruto. Why were girls so confusing?

At that moment all conversation stopped. Orochimaru walked into the room and for the next hour they found themselves absorbed in complex equations and theory.

After class, Naruto was packing up to leave, but Orochimaru approached his desk.

"Naruto-kun." That stupid nickname again. "Did you manage to deliver the package all right last week?"

Naruto nodded and Orochimaru smiled. "I knew I could count on you. Perhaps you could give him this as well." He held out another brown package and Naruto looked at it curiously. What did Orochimaru have to keep delivering? Couldn't be documents. It wasn't flat enough, and it made that odd sound.

"Oh, and I know I am asking a lot, but perhaps you could deliver this on your way home as well? I believe it's on your route. You walk, don't you?"

He held out another brown package. Naruto frowned slightly. Just randomly delivering parcels. Why couldn't Orochimaru do it himself?

"Of course I won't ask you to run an errand for free." said the teacher smoothly as he pulled a ten dollar note from his pocket and Naruto's eyes widened.

"Will this cover your trouble?"

"Uh, you don't have to pay me."

Orochimaru smiled. "I want to, Naruto-kun. I know things haven't been easy for you. Please, take it."

"It's cool. I mean, I have a job now and all." He didn't know why he was arguing so much. This was practically free money. It could buy him tons of ramen and maybe a little chocolate on the side. Still...it just...felt...weird.

"Found a job already?" said the man in quiet surprise. "You must be very resourceful." He smiled. "Well done, but please, allow this little to help. I can certainly spare the money, and you will be helping me out a lot. I have so many things to take care of, and don't always have time to complete my own errands. If you would..."

He took Naruto's hand and placed the note in his palm, curling Naruto's fingers over the note. Naruto accepted the note and pulled his hand away quickly. Orochimaru's fingers were ice cold.

"Um, well, thanks."

"Not at all. You are the one doing me a favour, Naruto-kun."

Naruto stood there awkwardly for a moment. "Well, I- I'd better get to detention. See you."

"Till next time, Naruto-kun." The teacher smiled as his student left the room.

AN: Oh, Orochimaru...you massively creepy creeper.