I'm depressed. Really, really depressed.

The only thing helping right now is writing, though this has actually been written for a while (but it's not finished). So I'll work on this. I may or may not post the next part soon. Depends on just how depressed I am tomorrow. Or if anyone even likes this one.

I'm sure no one cares about my rambling, so I'll stop. Here you go. A new story. Didn't give the summary much thought, but huh, ironic. Maybe I'll do something about that when I'm not... whatever.

Warnings: nothing I can think of right now

I guess we'll call this chapter one

He sat slouched over the counter, just staring off into the distance. He wasn't asleep, though it had been a long day. Just like every day- get up, go to school, then come here. No club, at least, but having a 'part-time job' made for some very un-fun afternoons.

He sighed, his eyes still glued vacantly to the wall.

It was getting hot. It was nice and cool in here, but closer to the door he could feel the summer heat struggling to make its way in. And this was a small room, so he wasn't that far from the door no matter where he was. But for all of the slackerishness his grandfather displayed, he at least kept up the payments on the utilities here. This was his place of business, after all, the place he had worked hard to get set up for himself.

Even if he did leave it to Naruto to care for while he went off gadding all over the country to who knows what places.

Naruto sighed again.

Seriously, who leaves a teenager in charge of a love hotel?

He sat up and blinked at the screens before him.

There were six of them, all lined up neatly. None were of inside, of course, this was a love hotel, but rather they were of the perimeter and the roof. One even showed the view just outside the door behind Naruto where the heat continued its assault on the door to make its way inside.

You couldn't tell, looking at them, who went into the love hotel. But you could tell who passed by, and if anyone 'suspicious' was lingering.

Despite it being a love hotel, or maybe because it was, it was a respectable sort of place. Not that Naruto knew what sorts of people actually patronized the place, but he knew his grandfather, heard some of the conversations he had. He'd give 'friends' discounts, and those friends could be surprisingly influential people.

He'd never understand how that happened, when his grandfather was such a flake.

But that meant keeping an eye on 'suspicious' sorts who could be seen on those security cameras, which was pretty much what Naruto's job entailed.

He stood and stretched, his eyes falling on his bag haphazardly thrown on the floor by his chair.

He should do homework, but he didn't really want to.

Blue eyes drifted back to the monitors, scanning them over before he decided how he'd rather waste his time.

But then some movement on one caught his eye, and he focused in on it.

That one, the camera just outside the entranceway that led to the front door. From that spot, you could go across the street at the crosswalk towards the more high-end part of town, or go off north to the main part of the city, or you could go around the corner in the direction of the convenience store and Naruto's high school, Konohagakuen. Or you could walk discreetly along a row of hedges and to the entrance of this building, where you could make your choice of stylish or fantastic themed rooms to share with a, ahem, friend ('extras' available for an additional fee).

And it was in this particular screen an increasingly familiar sight presented itself.

It seemed to happen almost every day now. Naruto, whose job it was to pay attention to these monitors, couldn't help but notice the attractive young man wearing the elite Oto Academy uniform. He stood tall, a hand in his pocket, the other by his side, his leather bag slung over one shoulder. His hair stood up in the back, weird, but kinda stylish in a way.

Not far from him, a girl with glasses in the same school's uniform was pleading with him. She would point in the direction Naruto knew the love hotel was in, occasionally grabbing for the young man's arm to 'encourage' him in the desired direction.

Even though the camera wasn't particularly close-up, even Naruto could see the scowl on the guy's face at the girl's continued insistence. She clearly wanted to spend some alone time with him, and he clearly wanted to get as far away from her as possible as quickly as possible.

He pulled his arm back, said something to her that clearly made her unhappy, and she went for him again. He stepped back, his scowl intensifying. He said something else, she made another dramatic gesture. The guy turned to leave, only to be pulled back again.

Naruto laughed.

It was funny, watching them. The girl had been after this guy for a good couple of weeks, and it was obvious even to Naruto she wasn't being discreet at all. It was also incredibly obvious the guy wasn't even remotely interested.

Which was kinda odd, Naruto thought. The girl was pretty enough. Not like Haruno Sakura, the girl at Naruto's school he had been pining after for years, but not bad. He didn't know why the guy was so adamantly against it, but it was always good entertainment.

Because in the end, the guy always managed to pull back, and head over the crosswalk toward the most expensive homes in Konoha. And it would all repeat again the next day.

Naruto had to wonder a little, if the girl got her way, would the scene repeat again the next day, or was one time all she wanted?

The guy was good-looking, even Naruto had to agree with that, probably better looking than any guy he had ever seen. Like a model, maybe even more handsome, then, too. He probably had tons of girls after him.

Maybe he refused because he had a girl. Or maybe he'd had this one already, and didn't feel the need to have a 'repeat'.

Naruto didn't know. Despite working in a love hotel, he himself had never had a need for these sorts of services.

He sighed for the third time as the guy finally managed to make his escape from the girl. He headed across the crosswalk and she huffily turned the corner, casting one last longing look at his back.

"Lucky jerk," Naruto muttered. He'd never been the kind girls sought after. He had really only even had eyes for Haruno Sakura, but no girl ever looked at him with anything but irritation or disgust. Especially when it got out his grandfather owned a love hotel, and Naruto worked there in his free time.

That turned out to be a guaranteed love life killer.

Well, not that he'd had one before that.

Now that the show was over, he picked up his bag, pulled out his books and his notebook and pen, and began his homework.

The only reason his grandmother allowed him to work here- it was so boring he actually did his homework.

He snickered at the memory of his grandmother nearly sending his grandfather to the hospital when she'd found out the old pervert had roped him into this job.

"You damn old fart, what do you think you're doing, forcing the brat to work in such a place! He's just a brat! You can't have him work at a love hotel!"

The veins were popping on her forehead as she shook him from his collar. Naruto could almost see him giving up the ghost as he was shaken like a rag doll.

But this was serious business to him, too. "Tsunade, it'll be… good experience… for the brat…" he managed.

"Good experience? What kind of 'good experience' are you trying to give my innocent little brat!"

"Ehh, baa-chan…" Naruto had tried to interrupt. "I'm not a little kid, you know." Personally, he hadn't cared all that much, either way. It was extra money. He could buy all the ramen he wanted.

"You stay out of this!" she shrieked, more veins popping as she lifted the old man with one hand.

Naruto inched back. The old hag was crazy strong, and he knew when to give up and let his grandfather take the beating. He could deal. It was on more than one occasion Naruto'd have to visit his crazy ero-sennin grandfather at the hospital after getting baa-chan upset.

"Don't worry," he'd say, giving a weak thumbs up, big grin on his face despite the black swollen eyes and busted lips, body casts and bandages. "I got to enjoy that nice body enough to have a kid. It's totally worth it."

And then…

"He's grades have improved," Jiraiya managed to croak out.

"Eh?" She dropped him, and he landed in an inelegant heap on the floor. He stood, dusting himself off, trying to look for all the world like he hadn't just been on the verge of death. Well, he was used to near-death experiences with Tsunade by now. "Yup. His grades have improved! He's doing his homework, studying! All that good biz!"

She frowned, then turned her fierce golden eyes to her beloved grandson. "Naruto? That true?"

He managed a nervous smile, wondering if she was going to turn that crazy strength and ferocious temper on him. He decided to go the safest path and pulled a crumbled up wad of scribbled on paper out of his bag, handing it over hesitantly.

She uncrinkled it, looked it over.

"Huh, well, would you look at that. The brat got a decent grade for once!"

"And they've been steadily improving, ever since I gave him the job!" Jiraiya flinched as she turned her glare back on him. "It's win-win, Tsunade! He gets a paycheck to fill his gluttonous belly with ramen, and we get to see his grades improve because he's bored out of his mind and desperate enough to study!"

"Well," she frowned, trying to decide if it was really worth it to subject her innocent grandson to such things. But then, she had to justify Naruto was dense, too. "Tch, fine. He can work. But any hint of anything remotely indecent happening in his vicinity and it ends." The fierce glare returned to the trembling mess of perverted grandfather, who judiciously shrunk back at the dangerous glint. "And you end, got that?"

He nodded frantically, and Naruto found himself doing the same.

So here he was, being the studious student because he was so bored out of his mind he actually found homework worth doing.

He let his head bang onto the desk. "Ugh, this sucks. I want rame~n."