I do not own Naruto.

Naruto yawned and sat up, reveling in the newfound comfort and warmth of his new bed. It felt like a cloud, and he never wanted to get out. But eventually, he had to. It took a while, and a lot of grumbling was involved, but he finally managed to stumble downstairs to the kitchen after getting dressed. He grabbed a box of cereal from the cupboard, noting that he had to get some more. As he got the milk from the fridge, he notice that it was seriously expired. He was NOT drinking that. Who knows what would happen? "Dammit. There's another thing on the shopping list.' He sighed, and grabbed a pad of paper on the table next to him covered in illegible handwriting. Scribbling down a note to get milk, he grabbed his frog wallet and walked out the door. It was time to get a few plants for the garden. He would get some cheap stuff first, just in case something went wrong. Grimacing, he realized the only shop he knew that had plants was Ino's family's flower shop. Idly waving his hand at Sasuke's house, he started down the empty street. Around 20 minutes later, he arrived at the shop. Walking in, a bell above the door rang with a shrill little noise. He could hear someone's footsteps coming towards him. Opening a door in the back, Ino of all people came out.

"Welcome to the Yamanaka Flower shop!" She said, giving him a welcoming smile. As she eyed him up, he remembered with a shiver that she had been one of the girls he saw watching him yesterday.

"Hey, I just bought a new property. The garden is a decent size, but I want to get some cheap stuff first so I can see what I like first. Ya have any suggestions?" He smiled cheerfully, which made Ino blush slightly, though she hid it well.

"Well, annuals would probably be your best choice if you're looking for cheap. Perennials take more care and are more expensive because they last for over a year. We just received some Elephant Ears a few days ago, but everyone wants the larger and more flashy flowers." She sighed at this, obviously a little sad that no one wanted them.

"What do they look like?" He asked, honestly curious.

Ino's eyes lit up, and she stood a little taller. "Well, they don't really have flowers, but their leaves are big, and can be brightly colored. They can have different greens, white, yellow, black, and even some reds and pinks. They're really beautiful, and don't take much care outside of watering. Are you interested in them...?" She paused, unsure of his name.

"Saisei. Murasakiiro Saisei. And yes. I think I am. Can I see them?" He smiled again, and gave her a questioning look.

"Oh, sure! What colors do you want?" She smiled back, happy that he was interested.

"Maybe... the reds and greens? The black ones also sound interesting."

With a nod, she headed back through the door, and shortly returned with 5 different plants. The first was all black, the second was dark green with some flecks of red, the third was yellow green with some darker green, the fourth was a mix of greens, and the fifth was green with red running along the larger veins.

"I think I like... these." He said, pointing at the fifth and first plants.

"We have five of the black ones, and three of the red and green. How many do you want?"

"Two of each for now, but if it turns out that I like them, I may get more." He replied, pulling out his wallet. He would need to go to Haru's and help out for some cash later, the recent purchases had made a deep gouge in his savings. He pulled out the amount of yen she had stated, and waited for her to return with the other plants. A minute later she came back with the four pants in a small container, and gave him a list of what they needed to live. He gave her again and left, waving and promising to visit again soon. When he got home he brought out a large flower pot he had found in the corner of the garden yesterday. He planted the Elephant Ears in it, for they were still fairly small, and watered them before setting them in the garden. He stood back, beaming at the plants, and ran back inside to get ready to head to Haru's.

When he arrived, he headed straight to Haru's office and walked in. Haru looked up from his unending pile of paperwork and grinned. "I was wondering if you would show up."

Naruto rubbed his head sheepishly. "Sorry about that. I still had a lot to plan out for my future. Got any jobs for me?"

Haru waved a hand at the paperwork and said, "Yes, the paperwork I've already done needs to be organized. You'll see a date at the top of each paper. The different colors need to be together and put in chronological order. For example, find all the purple sheets and organize them by date, the same with the blue, and so on. Got it?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, where do I put them when I've finished?"

He gestured at a filing cabinet and told Naruto to put them in there. He'll show him exactly where when he finishes organizing them. Naruto took the stack of paper he was handed and got to work.

An hour and a lot of boredom later, there was a sorted pile of paper next to him. Haru came over and showed him where to put it and thanked him for helping.

"Thanks, you really helped. Would you be willing to do this... let's say four days a week for 8,000 yen?"

He agreed, pleased with the deal. That was enough to cover his monthly payments for the house and any other groceries he may need. That reminded him, he would have to go shopping after this. His ramen stores were running low, and he had no milk. Waving to Haru, he left his office and headed to the grocery store.

That drained the last dregs of money from his wallet, aside from the 2,000 Haru had given him already for helping that day since his job had technically not officially started. Tomorrow he would go to Ichiraku's to celebrate everything that he had accomplished in the last few days. As he walked home, he took some more time to fully absorb his situation. He had a job, a house, a tentative friend in Haru, a potential friend in Ino, who he found less annoying when she wasn't fawning over Sasuke, and was on good enough terms with Sasuke himself. And speak of the devil, when he got home, Sasuke was standing outside his house, leaning against the door. When he saw Naruto, he gave a small wave and waited for him to speak. "Hey Sasuke, why are you here? Not that it's bad, but I wasn't expecting you."

Sasuke fully turned towards him and made a kind of 'hn' noise, which was the bane of Naruto's life during the academy. It transferred superiority and the fact that he didn't think it was worth it to answer you, which had really ticked him off. "I was just trying to be a polite neighbor. And you're one of the only people who doesn't give me special treatment for having my family massacred. Also... it doesn't hurt that you make really good tomato soup." He looked away, seeming slightly embarrassed.

Naruto laughed. "So the mighty Uchiha likes tomatoes, does he?" Actually, tomatoes were one of the few things he had had in his cupboards when he moved that weren't long expired. The old man had dropped them off as enticement to eat healthier on his last visit. He had made the soup because he had a feeling Sasuke wouldn't appreciate being given instant ramen as a meal. "You here for another meal, or the tomatoes?"

"Mostly to talk to someone who won't suck up to me or treat me like some injured child. Wouldn't mind some more tomatoes though."

He smiled. "Come in then. I just got groceries, so the options are a little more varied this time." He walked into the house and took off his shoes, while Sasuke followed. Dinner ended up being onigiri and more tomatoes, and while few words were exchanged, the silence was not awkward. When Sasuke left, Naruto cleaned up the remains of dinner and put them in the fridge, before heading upstairs to sleep. He skimmed through the guide for his plants for a while, but was ultimately too tired to read for long. Setting the guide to the side, he lay down and fell asleep.

This is a poll: there are several options for a pairing. It will not be important until later, but I will lay out a few options. Only the ones I can see keeping the story intact, though they will slightly change the way they meet. The path that leads to will be briefly described below. The options are:

Hinata- meets Naruto at XX event and recognizes him due to his chakra.

Ino- friendship grows after the flower shop scene. Identity revealed later.

OC- you have some level of control over this, if you look at the last chapter.

Sakura- meets her as Saisei and befriends, identity revealed later.

Yakumo Kurama- meets her during one of her rare excursions into the village. Identity revealed fairly fast.

Tayuya- meets while in the woods due to the job he will have later. Identity revealed quickly due to close proximity.

Karin- meets in village during chunin exams- identity known as an Uzumaki and jinchuuriki due to her chakra sensing abilities.

That's all for now, and I hope you enjoyed this. Once again, feel free to ask questions and please review!