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 looked at Ino to which he could only question what she wanted at the moment. Ino crossed her arms while she nodded towards him, looking down at her feet as she chose her next words.

"Do you have any place to go after this work day?" Ino questioned to which Mareo shook his head back and forth. "Then I'm sure we can find something for that." Ino added as Mareo started to think about the reaction.

"There's plenty of places I'm sure that would take me in for a few months." Mareo responded, moving one of the plants from the counter to the floor. "Second? I do not want to abuse the rest of your generosity at the moment." Mareo stated, dusting off his hands as he did so and looking at the floor at the time.

Mareo clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. Mareo looked at the woman who had hired him, he wouldn't above her kindness more than he was already. There was too much on his plate to do such a thing anyway. Ino looked at him as she continued to move plants from the floor around the shop.

"Do you want me to do something else around the shop at the moment?" Mareo questioned, raising an eyebrow as he did so. "There's plenty of work to be done around here, you know. I can stay the night, if need be, it isn't as much of a brother as you seem to believe it would be." Mareo added, brushing off his smock and turning to the woman who hummed, her arms full of plants at the moment.

Mareo said nothing as she turned and began to walk around the room. She chuckled with amusement as she turned to face him, a smirk crossing her face as the flower ninja was curious about what to say next. The small clean, stark white shop seemed FAR too small to contain a person like Ino.

"No, I'll think about what happens when we get to that." Mareo heard from Ino as she crossed over, standing in front of the man. "If it comes to worse? Then I'll make a bed for you to sleep here. You're not sleeping in the gutter, even if you starting to think about what happens next." Ino stated to which Mareo hummed and raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure I shouldn't look for another lodging or such at the time?" Mareo asked to which Ino rolled her eyes, giving him all the sign, he needed.

Mareo backpedaled, knowing that she was not going to let this go. That was all the answer he needed. Mareo simply nodded and began to continue moving the rest of the plants.

"Then plants it is." Mareo added, crossing his arms as he rubbed at his temple. "I'm sure there's going to be too much work to do today, however. There are way too many plants here for one day, you know. How do you have so many plants on short notice?" Mareo questioned, raising an eyebrow as he did so.

"I buy in bulk and grow the remaining ones I can afford to have at the moment, you know." Ino said, gesturing around the shop with her fingers as she did so. "You have a lot of work to do. I don't plan on making it too much until you're ready for it, but I'm still going to be stacking on more work slowly. You do need to prove your worth and such." Ino said as Mareo chuckled, giving a nod as he slowly but surely began to walk around.

Today was going to be a big day, one filled with far more tasks then simply this. Mareo turned to Ino a moment later, eager to get to it as quick and as fast as possible.

"How much work do you put in daily as compared to now?" Mareo questioned, pausing to think on the moment. "I don't think I've really seen a flower shop anywhere around here. It wasn't here, it wasn't there…" Mareo questioned, pausing to think about the next move.

Ino was silent, she looked around the shop. It was one of a kind in her mind. Places like this didn't exist anymore. She didn't know more of their kind that existed in their world. They were quite a rarity, just like the flowers that bloomed in shops like these.

"You've been through a lot of war before it ended, didn't you?" Ino asked as Mareo hummed. "This was a long war, one where a lot of people died, far too many people." Ino added, settling into her chair.

Mareo was silent, unsure of what to say or do. He knew she had lost someone important. The war hurt everyone and everything, it made him regret being a soldier that profited off that type of pain and suffering.

"I doubt there will be a war as terrible as that one." Mareo said, rubbing at his temples as he did so. "I didn't know how bad it'd get. I know the mercenaries who were paying to fight in the war bit off more than he could chew. I fought in that war for ideals, not a paycheck. Lives aren't worth money." Mareo added to which Ino nodded.

There was an unnatural silence which fell over the shop as the two shinobi were left to their silence. Both didn't know how best to answer the lingering question hanging over their heads.

"If it's all right with you?" Ino heard from Mareo as he hummed, rubbing at his temples as he did so. "I don't know how much I can do around the shop yet. I'd like to rest for maybe an hour, when that's done? Then I'll gladly help. I need to make sure I don't keel over." Mareo stated to which Ino raised an eyebrow.

She knew Mareo was busy nursing the wounds from before. If it was so easy to heal from said wounds? He'd have done so before. Mareo was left at the mercy of medicine and healing treatments, something that she couldn't help but pity.

"2 and a half." Ino said as she took a seat next to Mareo. "Not a minute more, not a minute less. Also? Don't expect for this to happen down the road either. I still have plenty of work to do at the end of the day." Ino put in to which Mareo nodded.

He put his good hand to his cheek, feeling that there was more pain lancing up and down his body. Pain that wouldn't go away anytime soon.

He turned to Ino who said nothing for a few minutes.

Author notes

Phew. Another chapter done! I want to point out that next chapter will be in 2-10 months and will be much longer. Next chapter will be 900-3500 words and will also show both Ino and Mareo talking and more about Mareo's past and such. Until then, Lighting Wolf out!

P.S: Next chapter is possibly delayed and will be longer and such.