[action | written}

[dangerouswind]

[She knows she's late. Temari would forever blame the Malnosso for dropping her back in the forest somewhere and never her own reticence to walk back into town. (Like nothing had happened. Like nothing had ever happened.) She's only looking for one person when she comes back into the village, slipping in straight from the forest and making a beeline for community building one. She's making a concerted effort not to be seen, though that's a little harder once she's inside the building and walking quietly toward the door.

Not her door. Her next door neighbor's.

Temari hesitates only a moment before she knocks. (It's a light knock. Not that she can hear it.) Be home, Nara. She doesn't want to have to try this again.

It's some time later before she actually shows up on the journal. The message is written, short. She's doesn't filter it to anyone; she doesn't have the patience. She honestly doesn't want to say anything in the first place, but...

... well, that's unfair to a few people.]

I'm back.

Comments

[dangerouswind]

[What she wouldn't give to just whack him upside the head with her fan. Just a little love-tap to knock some sense into that too-thick skull of his.

Temari stares at him, chin lifted and unflinching.]

I came here, didn't I?

[endgames]

[Another scribble on the paper.]

What would you have done if I was out? Or if Masaomi answered the door?

[Actually another question is what would Masaomi have done, but that's beside the point.]

[dangerouswind]

[Masaomi may have been punched in the face, just on general principle. She crosses her arms.]

Left a message.

[endgames]

Ino's just across the hall. Naruto's a couple floors down. The whole building is brimming with comrades and allies.

[dangerouswind]

[She's silent for a moment and then, as dryly as she can manage, she finally speaks.] So you'll lecture me on coming here first?

[Don't make her say it, Nara.]

[endgames]

[.....

It's not that he doesn't get the meaning. He does, but (he doesn't deserve it) he's not the only one she should be going to in a pinch.]

I'm lecturing you because I don't think you'd go to anyone second. And I want you to be okay. [And I'm not always the man to go to to make that happen. Something in him deflates, but he remembers to keep his head up.] You need more people around than me to be okay.

Damn troublesome woman...

[...the last part is muttered, and unwritten, though it might not matter much.]

[dangerouswind]

[But she started here and that's something, right? She looks away for a split second, remembering as she turns away that she really should look at him.

I want you to be okay.

Well. That makes two of them.]

If you called me troublesome, I'll lay you out. [There's a bravado there, hiding all the things she should say and can't find a way to voice.]

[endgames]

[His chuckle is watery, and he smirks wide suddenly.]

Truth be told, I'm surprised you haven't already.

[dangerouswind]

[There's a pause before the corner of her lips quirk upward in an answering smirk.] So am I.

[Doesn't mean he's out of the woods yet; at least reading his lips is getting easier.]

[endgames]

So long as it's not just me.

[dangerouswind]

[Humor gone, she crosses her arms and gives him a flat look.] Anything constructive to say?

[endgames]

That comes later.

[dangerouswind]

[A snort.] How much later?

[She might just take a walk until "later" rolls around.]

[endgames]

Does it matter? You're a jounin. You know these things better than me.

[And don't argue that you do. That he's the one telling you these things spells out clearly how bad her mindset is right now.]

[dangerouswind]

[A shrug] I doubt it. [It doesn't matter. He's right.]

[endgames]

[Good. Then she can take what he has to say.]

You asked me what the point is in dwelling on it. [He turns back to the paper, keeping his eyes down to see what he's writing but head up so she can see him.]

...you were gone for a long time. We've dwelled on it. And there's people like Katara - Katara, who isn't a shinobi - who have suffered for it.

[A pause, and then he finishes the next part and looks back up at her.]

She's the one who found your body. She brought back your fan and your forehead protector. At the very least you can repay her with some closure.

[dangerouswind]

[She looks away, just for a moment. Yes, she'd been gone too long. She hadn't found the wherewithal to actually come into the village for a few very long days. Glancing back at him, she uses what he's written to catch up.

It hits her harder than she'd like to admit, that Katara found her and took care of her possessions. She wants to simply brush it aside. They should all be trained to shunt aside emotion when the situation called for it, shinobi or not.

How else can one get through life?

... But this isn't about life. It's about death.]

I'll speak to her. [She says it quietly, lost in thought.

We've dwelled on it.

So did Temari. Still is.]

[endgames]

[...

He reaches across to catch her wrist, lightly. Ground her.]

1/2?

[dangerouswind]

[It's a simple gesture. She shouldn't put any weight behind it.

But it's reassuring, in its way. A simple touch; she's not sure what all it might convey, but in her mind it goes a long way toward bringing her mind back out of the hole she was starting to fall into.

She's not dead. She's not some apparition. She's here, interacting with this world. She lets it stand for a moment and tries very hard not to think about her brothers.

She misses them and it killed her.

Some shinobi she is. Who's the crybaby now?]

...wait, no. 2/3

[dangerouswind]

[... She can't let it eat at her. She cannot let it consume her again.

She's also fairly certain that she can't not feel it tearing her heart into pieces.

She forgets to pull her wrist free.]

DONE!

[dangerouswind]

[She says one word:] Don't.

1/2

[endgames]

[He can feel her pulse beneath his fingertips. As if to mirror her thoughts, this is the first time he's felt convinced it's not a ghost that's standing here Breathing here.

He doesn't let go.]

[endgames]

[His eyes do flicker up to meet hers again, however. Don't what? He's not sure if she's even sure what she's asking here. It's unnecessary regardless.

She's stuck with him either way, at least for the time being.]

When you need to talk about it, I'll be around.

[dangerouswind]

[Like hell she knows what she's asking. Just... don't, okay, Nara?

She lets silence reign for a moment before she speaks with forced light tones, losing a bit of volume control in the process.] I have a feeling I might not be rid of you for awhile.

[A beat] Don't make it troublesome.

[There's gratitude and irritation in there somewhere. She hasn't moved her wrist.]

[endgames]

[He moves his free hand, level again like a volume indicator.]

No, that's all on you. [He tugs gently on that wrist, to coax her to sit down again.]