Summary/disclaimer: Time for another chapter of Poisoned Petals. Enjoy the 3200-word chapter. I do not own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto, and a few others do.
Ino seemed to be thinking of what was going on… She did not want to think of what was growing in her mind before she looked to the side.
Ino seemed to be thinking of her next move as Mareo and then thought of her next option when she smiled to herself before she wished to relax.
Mareo was going to survive, something which needed to be relaxed at the end of the day. Ino seemed to be eager to relax once more as of now.
"Are you going to need me? Am I okay?" Mareo asked to which Ino sighed.
She tapped on her arms, too insecure in her ideas before she looked to the side. Ino did not know what to tell him because she did not at all know where she stood with her friend… All of it was interesting and yet? She of ALL people wished to relax….
If Ino wanted? She would wash her hands of things when it was all said and done. She wished to be relaxing for now and she would not for now.
Ino seemed to think of this as a flower. She was currently growing it, watching it slowly blossom into a perfect little flower.
Ino watched as Mareo grunted. She cracked her fingers and then leaned on the railing.
"There is a LARGER question you have not answered… Like why do they want you dead so badly… I know none of them are going to give me answers but I need them to be on point." Ino said before she poked Mareo in the nose, tucking her legs under her in exhaustion now.
Granted, Ino had ZERO idea as of now… They had VERY big ideas as of now when it all came crashing down.
Ino wished to relax but she could not, wished to wash her hands of this but she would not…. So? It seemed simple, she would get going further and further… Now of all things, she was relaxed.
She and he were able to think of it… She did not want to try and crash through something like this now.
Ino watched as Mareo hummed before he cracked his fingers, scars across his body, all sliced into his skin…. Something about it ALL became harder and harder to process… And yet? She was caught so off guard that she of all people could not just squash it in its way.
She was tired and she was exhausted but she would not submit. She would not bend, break, or falter for a moment for which there was little to no escape from it all at the end.
She would not be able to think but she could act and she only needed to act within a certain time when it all came crashing down. All of it came crashing down when it was all able to think of it when it was all said.
She had seemed to try and figure it out now for the time being. Ino was all too interested in it all before she looked to the side.
Still? Ino would have to relax, something about it all was harder said than done… An idea which she would deal with now as she paused.
Ino hummed, something that she had grown used to… Mareo was amusing to her all at the end of the day, it was harder said and done.
Ino hummed and ran a finger down the side of his face, too interested in it all before now.
Mareo had so much on his mind that she was ready to scream, to burst… With emotion, pain, and exhaustion now.
Something about it ALL had been harder and harder now, an idea which she had to finish off now… An idea within her mind was annoying now.
Ino hummed and looked over at Mareo, pausing as he sighed and then thought of each little idea. All they had left to do now… It was fun now, something which had to be prepared for now.
"If you do anything crazy at the end of the day? I am going to stab you, Mareo. I am going to stab you." Ino stated before she sighed, looking over to the side.
She could not blame Mareo for being the way he was, only that some sort of issue would become harder and harder to think of now.
Ino did not at all know what the next mission was now. Ino was all too relaxed, something related to it all, she poked at his face before she thought of it back and at the end of the day.
"Well, maybe I'll use my vacation to do that…" Ino heard as she snorted, tired at the end of it all.
Ino could only sigh now, tiresome for each little idea at the time being… It was worth it to see him roll his eyes at her antics; she had ZERO idea of it all.
They had plenty of issues now to tackle. Something that had to be dealt with it all and Ino was tired of the antics that they had to figure out now.
All was amusing for her now, all of it had torn through her like she was trash… She would not be able to relax, nor for a second of it all be able to think for now… Something about it all had been easier said than done.
Something had been harder and harder to deal with for now, an idea that needed to be relaxed… She would be able to think of it differently.
If nothing else? She had been too tired, far too tired at the time being… Something about it had to be with it had to be dealt with for now and for good reason.
Something that was within her made her curious as to deal with it all for now as it came crashing that they had to deal with for now.
Something that she had to deal with for now as she looked downwards at the ground before she looked to the side… She was a lot more interesting now than before.
She had been through the wringer back and forth… Ino almost felt the desire to strangle him into oblivion about it all… She had been too tired now to deal with now and for good reason. Something about it all was harder and harder to understand.
"You do something that stupid? I am going to strangle you." Ino stated to which he hummed.
"Feel so beloved," Mareo stated before he sighed and then looked downwards towards the ground.
Ino could only snort as she realized that Mareo was dealing with something she could not deal with.
Something within her wanted to smack him upside the head… But she relented, something within her wanted to strangle him… But she could not, that just was not an option now or ever.
Ino sighed and ran her fingers over his scalp. He wanted to question what was going on but it was not something that she had to deal with for now as she looked downwards at the ground.
She had been all too amused, brushing her nails through his skin in a way that made him feel like he had gotten a massage. Something about it all? Well, she knew he was not enjoying this so much that had been much harder and harder.
Now? Now it was something that had been cut deeper and deeper inside and out.
She did not know him, did not wish to know him… If she did? She might have hated him… But she did not, she could not. He did not sound like he lied and she had half a mind to probe his brain 20 times to find the answer.
But? She knew he was telling the truth; she would not have been so hasty now. Ino looked at Mareo and questioned just how this boy had been able to relax… How she had been able to do much at all.
It was something within her that gave her empathy she lacked… The empathy that both held to be different in different ways. She and he were in different places, much more different places now.
Ino could not have held it to be as interesting as she wished, it was just odder and odder now that it might have grown easier and easier.
Something about that almost made her curious as to HOW it might turn out rather than pushing any attempt at mercy… It was a kindness she did not have to deal with it the same way she had been doing back and forth.
Now and for good did she wish to relax. This was something that had been harder and harder with each little motive… Something which had been harder at the time being.
She had been too interested in it as of now… Something within her had been tiresome now… It had been odder and odder for her to relax now.
She and he were all too easily torn down… It had been harder with each little second… It had been harder with each little motive for now.
Something within Ino made Mareo uneasy… Something within them both had been too easy to deal with… It was their curse, part of who they were and what they were doing.
It was a hard pill to swallow… Something within her had snapped entirely and what was left was not something to be dealt with now.
She was scaring him and not in a fun way… Perhaps something which had been amusing for now… Something which had been destroyed for now… It had been hard but not impossible for now.
An idea like this had been fun now… It had been relaxing, something he did not want to believe it had been weird.
Granted? Both were soldiers, both had acted in tandem… They were warriors, skilled and powerful but she did not know him and he did not know her at all.
Something about it all as of the time being… They were warriors.
"Do you ever think about the work you had to deal with?" Mareo heard before she looked towards the ground.
Something about it all had been too interesting as of the time being… They simply acted and it was clear that both were different.
"I do not know… Something that we have had to deal with for a long time? We have had a lot more to try…. And I do not know what will be dealt with… They love to come after us and you know ghosts do not exactly know when to quit." Mareo stated.
That was true… People went after them either way… Being nice had bad effects at times… They knew more and more than to relax… To let himself become safe.
She knew him and she could guess he had been too unable to think, much less act… Something able to be tiresome now… It was curious as to how it should have been.
Ino did not hold anything against Mareo, he had been amused now, and for good reason. He had worked and for good reason, something within her had been too relaxed… Far too eager to act a certain way and it was through this way that…. He had to fight and he would fight, neither could escape that.
She could not if she wanted to and he? He was paid for it, roped into fighting battles he had to… Even if he did not wish to? He was forced to march into battles he could not win against warriors who did not care and just wanted results.
Part of him would weep if it had been crashed for now… Something which had been time devoted for now… An idea which he had been too interested in.
Ino seemed to be amused as she poked him in the side. She and he both knew that they had been too distracted by it… By her now that they had been through the wringer.
"You good?" Ino asked as Mareo shrugged.
"Depends on your idea of good," Mareo stated before she looked to the side, something within him had been shattered all to pieces back and forth.
He was bored, very bored by it all… All of it had torn him apart back and forth. Ino was all too amused at the time being, she was a Shinobi, and she knew what was going on now and before.
She tapped a finger to his damaged skin, almost wincing at the bruises, the pain that was carved into his skin like tattoos.
Something about this had been too much for him, far too much had been amusing for them. Ino watched as Mareo winced to himself at her touch, the pain… It was more than he had dealt with it for now.
Ino was silent, she had been too distracted by it all… Something which had been odd.
Mareo looked at her before she looked to the side. She was quiet and it had been too distracted now… An idea that had not been planted in his head anytime soon.
Both had been through the wring too much for them to be able to relax… Something within them both had not been enough.
Mareo sighed to himself before he looked at her, questioning what was going on now, and for a good reason.
She looked around as if she had found it to be something she was used to now… It was partly irritating and partly comforting to him more than anything else.
He wanted to scream at the time but it would not have helped.
"You know, you are crazy right?" Mareo heard to which he shrugged at this more than anything.
Mareo sighed and simply leaned back into his seat. He was tired…. He wanted to go home but he was unable to do that, only able to relax… And he would not have had enough.
She and he collapsed with each little piece. He had been too disturbed… Far too disturbed for now.
It had been part of him to try and understand. It was part of him to understand her… He knew more and more with each passing second. He could not stop this.
She looked at him and frowned but wrapped more gauze around his face. He looked more like something out of a movie than a real living person.
Maybe she was going insane. It would not have been the first time she had been doubting herself, doubting her choices… Something about it all had been harder and harder with each idea.
They had been too distracted at the time being… That would not change, could not change even if they wanted.
Something about it all had been amusing for now… It was a lot more to deal with for now… Something within them for now had been too much… It had not yet been something that needed to be amusing.
Ino was tired, she was all too beaten down now and it was something that needed to be torn apart.
He had been too amused… Far too interesting for now… It was fun… Something like that had been amusing for now.
"What is so funny with you?" Ino asked as Mareo hummed, noticing the smirk on his face.
"I am more than a little amused at every detail going on before now… I have been too amused by how much I have been thrown around…" Mareo stated with a shrug which had not yet been done for now.
Both times he had to relax for now.
Ino sighed, kicked off her sandals, and began to work on attempting to fix up the rest of him. She knew that he was going to be annoying when it came down to it all as of now.
Ino sighed to herself, relaxing for a moment. She had no idea now when it was all said and done.
Ino thought of it as both a punishment and something to cherish as she cracked her fingers, beginning to heal him once more, something to deal with for now.
Something like this would be too much for her to deal with before she sighed.
"You know you are working double time now, right?" Ino muttered to herself as she sighed and looked downwards at the ground.
Ino seemed to be tired, not that she would ever admit she was exhausted… It was just part of being a Kunoichi who was forced to wander the land.
She would scream if not for the fact they had a LOT more to deal with for now… She almost screamed at the idea she would be babysitting Mareo.
But then again? He was her employee… He was still the one who could be reasoned with.
Mareo seemed to be capable of annoying her but then again? She knew that Mareo was trying his best for her sake. The only problem was she had zero idea how much truth he had said and how much he had not.
Something about it all had made her weary but she was too tiresome at the end of the day to deal with such an antic, an idea which had not been able to be tossed in this path.
Mareo was just going to push her further and further, was he not? She did not know Mareo but she did know he was trying his best when it came to these sorts of things.
Not that she would have admitted it for fear of stroking his ego, but the last thing she wanted to know was what was going through her mind back and forth.
Something like this is having to break… It would break and it would break harder and harder.
He of all people had been… Thrown off, now that he had nowhere to go? Nowhere to hide? Yes, it seemed he had been thrown off now, and for good reason.
Mareo of all people could not claim that Ino was not trying to be nice, quite the opposite.
Something that had bothered Mareo was how little he had done to help her… He had been nice; he had been too disturbed at the time being.
Mareo was tired… He was very tired… He would continue to expect it for now.
Something within them both had been tiresome. He had been dinged up, chased, poisoned, and run into the ground.
And it was only then he realized that he knew little about how things had gone down now.
And it was only as the window shattered that both realized their problems had been larger than either could have predicted.
He? He had zero intention of letting anything happen to his friend as both dove for cover, landing behind the counter with her.
What followed was MORE sharp objects. Kunai, Ino directly realized as she watched them shower the store in a rain of steel.
Glass shattered, pots were chipped and Ino became enraged. This store belonged to her family, this store was one of the last few things that her family cared for and she had left.
She saw red and it was within
Author Notes
Phew. I want to point out next chapter will be in 2-10 months and will be 900-6500 words and will be showing more of both Ino and Mareo bonding and fighting. Until then? Lighting Wolf out!