Summary/disclaimer: Time for another chapter of Poisoned Petals. Enjoy the 1200-word chapter. I don't own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto and a few others do.
Mareo hummed and looked at the door as Ino knocked on it. He opened his good eye and then cleared his throat at the moment while looking to himself.
"Come in." Mareo stated while he looked to the side. "Ow…" Mareo muttered and then grunted.
"Are you doing better?" Ino asked as she entered and turned to look to the wounded shinobi. "Well?" Ino questioned to which Mareo shrugged.
"It's very slowly." Mareo replied and pulled his bad arm to his chest. "VERY slow. I think I've actually heard I could be in here for a month… That's a nightmare I don't want to endure at all." Mareo said before letting out a sigh.
It wasn't something Ino envied at all. She knew fully well that if Sakura had told someone they wouldn't be healed for a month? Then it was absolutely serious. She had little reason to lie.
Ino sat down next to Mareo's bed while the wounded shinobi turned to her with interest. He sighed and looked at his wounded arm.
"You know, I thought I was going to honestly die yesterday." Mareo stated while he shook his head. "It was a very sad thought, but I doubted I'd survive." Mareo stated was he was smacked in the side.
"DON'T YOU DARE PULL THAT." Ino stated and sighed while placing a finger on his temple. "You're not feeling great, right? Have you been getting enough sleep?" Ino asked which got a hum at this.
"I don't think I've been doing anything BUT sleeping since I've been knocked out, Ino." Mareo joked and smiled as he allowed Ino to continue checking his face. "Besides, I have too much on my mind and nothing but time to question them." Mareo said as Ino checked his temples.
"And those are?" Ino asked while removing her fingers from Mareo's face. "Your concussion seems gone and your eye should be ok enough to start seeing… At least within a few days." Ino said as Mareo clicked his jaw while humming to himself.
"And when can my legs not feel like butter?" Mareo joked before she flicked him on the forehead. "Ino? Do you honestly think I'm worth saving?" Mareo questioned as Ino frowned and hummed while looking to the side.
"Ive seen plenty of monsters before, Mareo." Ino said and leaned back in her chair. " It doesn't mean someone can't be saved… But I am going to break you in half if you do something stupid like stop me from helping you. So, stop." Ino said with a stern voice which made Mareo realize she was being serious.
As much as Mareo didn't like himself? He saw little reason to want Ino's ire drawn to him, it was funny, yes, but not something he really wanted.
"You didn't have to save me, you know." Mareo stated while he turned to the side. "The ANBU will come after me sooner or later. I'll rot in a jail cell for the rest of my life. I'm sure my parents will find it comforting since I'm sure I'll never be free. It will be a gilded cage at the moment. Not a comforting thought." Mareo said and shook his head with a frown.
"I'll talk to them if they come anytime soon." Ino said while wiping at her eyes. "But that still means you're be under my watch." Ino added which caused Mareo to smile.
"Working at the plant store you own?" Mareo asked and got a nod from Ino. "That doesn't sound as bad as you may make it seem, you know. I'd rather enjoy doing something serene… Would put me more at peace if I can speak more openly." Mareo said with a smirk at the moment.
Ino said nothing, interested in if the idea actually had some merit to it rather than nothing. Mareo said nothing to actually oppose the idea, interested in the spirit of the idea.
"That's not a joke if you want to get upset at me." Mareo said which got a blink from Ino. "I'm serious. I have fought dozens of people before, and it becomes… Battle has become something I want to walk away from at the moment." Mareo said while smiling to himself.
Ino knew something interesting would be coming soon enough. Her life was filled with one crazy event after another, the wonders didn't cease in her line of work from what she knew at the moment. Still? That didn't mean they were out of the woods yet.
"Do you think I'll have a place within It?" Mareo said while he tapped his good hand upon the bed. "Because I do, and I'm sure that it will be pretty interesting... If not odd." Mareo said which caused Ino to grow a vein on her forehead.
This would take very many years to deal with, Ino thought…. But she was willing to invest the time to see that.
"You're a garbage seed, you know." Ino said and watched Mareo chuckle. "But I'm willing to try and nurture it." Ino added which caused Mareo to chuckle with amusement.
"Was that a joke about plants?" Mareo questioned which got a flick to the forehead. "It's nice, it's weird to make… But it's nice, and this will be weird when I'm not put up in traction soon enough." Mareo said while he closed his good eye.
Ino got up, there would be transfer papers for her to sign, papers that she'd be questioning if they were ok to sign.
"You know if one of them comes here?" Mareo said, his healing eye still not opened. "Then I'm not going to fight unless there's a good reason. I know their just doing their jobs and I can't blame them. I just want you to know that I'm not the monster they might say I am." Mareo said as Ino pushed to her feet.
She turned to Mareo who already knew what she was going to say.
"I'll be asleep unless you need something." Mareo said while waving a hand back and forth. "I know that you don't want me getting up or doing something stupid… I kinda cant at the moment, not when I'm here and my legs feel like paper. If you need to wake me up? I'll still be here, like I always am." Mareo said before starting to fall asleep, his body going limp for a moment.
It made him question what would happen when he was out of here. Would the ANBU try to hunt him? Would his corrupt family just manage to come after him?
He'd take that chance; he had a thought that it wouldn't matter soon enough anyway. His past would be catching up to him soon enough.
Author notes
Phew. Another chapter done! I want to point out that next chapter will be 900-1500 words or such soon enough. Next chapter will be in 2-10 months or such. Next chapter will show more bonding and Mareo starting to get out of the hospital and such. Until then, Lighting Wolf out!