|action|

[dangerouswind]

[Community building one. Fourth floor. Early evening. A door slams.

Once. Twice. Three times, each time with a little more force. Finally, a thud and wood cracking; she's punched a wall. There's a crash inside one of the apartments - ceramic against a wall, then falling to the floor. Temari leaves the apartment, leaves the door open, and stalks away.

She's going for a walk.

Just inside her apartment door, a plant lies neglected in a pile of dirt and shattered ceramic.

She spends some time just outside the village, using a tree as a sparring partner. She, at least, has enough sense to not actually connect with the rough bark, but it makes a good enough target to throw a few punches toward. She wants nothing more than to beat something - someone - to a damned pulp, but what is she going to do but live with it?

It's later - hours later - that she makes her way to the Memory Garden. There, physically weary and emotionally strung out, she sits in front of the plants she's tended for so long. Wildflowers are ringed by bright, fiery desert blooms; in front of the small plot is a stone etched with kanji. Beside the stone, she sets one glass bead: a reminder of Kankurou's (second) time in Luceti. The bead will be blown away by the wind, lost to the elements eventually. She knows it; still leaves it there.

That night, she'll go home. Clean up her mess. Start living life again.]

Comments

[niceguypose]

[The slams are soon joined by a separate one; as Lee kicks open the door to his own apartment to investigate the source of this calamity. He runs down the hallway - along the wall - before hopping down to a stop outside Temari's apartment.]

Is there an attack?!

[dangerouswind]

[She meets him at the door, expression flat and hard. Her answer is very short and very to the point:] No.

[niceguypose]

[It's very disarming - and some of Lee's intensity fades. Something is clearly wrong and it's not the fault of any opponent.]

Temari-san. What... what has happened?

[dangerouswind]

[Her voice doesn't crack, doesn't give anything but anger away.] Kankurou's gone. [She starts to slide past him.] Excuse me.

[twinlionfists]

[Hinata walks across the Suna kunoichi as she is headed towards the forest to do her own training. She is forced to stop and watch the other woman for a few moments before she decides that leaving her alone would be for the best. Whatever it is that has her so angry, it cannot be a good thing.

She is still a little worried because she's only seen Temari-san a handful of times, but never so angry, not even during the war. So, while she doesn't press her for answers, she stays nearby to make sure Temari doesn't hurt herself while she's fighting so desperately against something inside herself.]

[dangerouswind]

[So wrapped up in her own little world, it honestly takes Temari a few long moments before she notices Hinata nearby. Unlike her; Temari's nearly always alert to her surroundings and especially so after dealing with deafness for so long. That sense of awareness never really went away.

Not until today. Not until it was clouded by hurt.

Even after she notices Hinata, she continues to throw punches - silent the whole time. Before long, she can't take the watching anymore. One punch lands, direct-center on the trunk. She's fairly sure her knuckles split on that one, but she doesn't flinch. For one long moment, she's completely still. Silent.

Then she speaks.] What?

[twinlionfists]

[She turns slowly to face the older girl and blinks.]

I am sorry, Temari-san. My presence is not keeping you from training, is it?

[She quickly looks over the other girl, her eyes staring hard at the bloody knuckles, torn skin and bruises forming.]

[dangerouswind]

[Temari is silent for a beat, then her shoulders slump and she sighs.]

No. No, you're not. [Because this isn't actually training. Far from it, really. Unconsciously, she shakes out her right hand - then frowns at the torn and raw skin.

Wow. Nice job on that one. Really great focus there, Temari.]

[floralogy]

[The crashing sounds alarmed Ino, so much so that she immediately went out of her own apartment to see what was up. The retreating form of a furious Temari confused her for a while before her mind immediately jumped into the conclusion of something worse and to confirm it, once Temari's gone outside, she enters the other's apartment.

Ino shakes her head. No wonder she's this mad.

With gentle steps, she follows the other blonde outside the community building.]

Hey. [Her voice is soft as Ino approaches her carefully, blue eyes wandering to her bruised knuckles. She frowns.] Did something bad happen? [Even if Ino already has a hunch on what it might be.]

[dangerouswind]

[She hadn't expected anyone to follow her out; maybe she should have, given that most of her neighbors are nosy ninja. She stops, glances at Ino, and, despite her tantrum of just a few minutes earlier, answers fairly softly:]

No. [Kankuro's home, right? So that's not a bad thing.

It's not a bad thing but something - a weight in her chest, a dark anxiety in her stomach - makes it hard to accept. Hard to breathe. Hard to function.]

[floralogy]

[She crosses her arms before her chest and even while she's frowning, it only exudes a firmness that doesn't mean anger. In fact, her voice should attest to that.]

That reaction doesn't mean nothing. [And you know it. Ino then gestures for her knuckles this time.] Neither do those bruises and cuts.

[dangerouswind]

[She looks down at her hand and snorts. They're nothing; she's definitely had worse in actual training sessions.] It's fine, Ino.

[therewerefifty]

[Makie arrives at the Memory Garden quietly that night with shamisen in hand, expecting to be alone.

Temari's blonde hair stands out under the moonlight. She pulls up short. And after a few moments of indecision, continues in, sitting a short distance away.]

[dangerouswind]

[Temari glances in Makie's direction after a moment and actually finds it in herself to nod in greeting. The shamisen is given an interested look, if only for a moment. Playing songs in the moonlight with flowers for an audience? A little strange, in Temari's opinion.]

[therewerefifty]

[Makie notes the interest, smiling a little sadly in return. But she inclines her head in greeting herself, hands folded delicately over the instrument.

People do visit the memory garden just because it's peaceful. She knows that. So it takes a few minutes, glancing at Temari's worn-down bearing, for Makie to be somewhat sure that isn't the case tonight.

She's soft when she finally speaks, not sure if it's welcome.]

I'm sorry.

[dangerouswind]

[Temari glances at her, frowning at the apology. Honestly, she's not sure how she feels about the intrusion, but... well, the garden's a public place. There will be intrusions.] About what?

[geniustheveil]

[Ami's spent years - plural - in Luceti. That means years - plural - to miss so many people in all the endless arriving and leaving. Sometimes, it's like Luceti is its own special level of Hell for someone like her, who was always deathly afraid of losing those friendships once she finally found them.

Other times, or at least after this long, she can say 'I'm used to it' and almost mean that, almost shut down the hurt and disappointment, or at least tell herself she has.

Either way, she comes to the Memory Gardens often, a way of remembrance, a way of making sure the lives who've touched Luceti aren't forgotten. Like Usagi - the fourth time, now - gone again just a short while ago after being here all too short a time again.

She hadn't expected to see Temari, or anyone else at all. She makes a hesitant half-bow, and keeps her voice respectfully lowered.]

I didn't mean to interrupt. Is it alright if I stay here a little while?

[dangerouswind]

[Temari doesn't turn when Ami speaks; instead, she brushes dirt off the engraved stone.] You're fine. [Most of her anger has drained away; she's told herself over and over again that there was no need to react so harshly to Kankuro's leaving. It's happened before. More than once, even.]

I'm not gonna chase you away. [She reaches out to gently straighten a windblown wildflower.]

[geniustheveil]

[It's enough encouragement for Ami to come a bit closer, anyway. She's not sure whether it's better to talk or not, but eventually she offers what little comfort she can.]

We miss the people who leave us here, even if we know it's better for them back home. I miss my friends, too.

[endgames]

[Living on the other side of that wall has been a pain more than once. If not for how many times the door slammed, he'd have thought it were the droids when her fist hit the wall, followed by breaking glass.

Not a kidnapping. She's angry.

He remembers being very small, hiding in a rainy field with his father and the deer while his mother raised a ruckus in the house. Best to wait it out, when a woman gets like this.

It's sound advice, tracked in mud or otherwise. Wait he does, long enough to hear the explanation she gives Lee and then again for her to leave, as he knew she would. He steps out to clean up her apartment following that, which takes some time. From there, it's out of the building to find her.]

[dangerouswind]

[She eventually wanders her way out to the bank of a creek. It's a nice place to sit and God knows she doesn't want to go back to her apartment and face cleaning up the mess she made. Idly throwing rocks into the water, she's the picture of melancholy.

Stupid, she knows it, but hey. Tossing little rocks into the water is kinda mind-numbing, especially when she starts focusing on all the little things about it: the sound of the rock hitting the water, the way the ripples move, the feel of the pebble between her fingers.]

[endgames]

[Off to the right and coming from far off behind her, another rock hits the water. It skips across the surface before falling in, halfway from the bank.]

action

[weaponry]

[ This always happens to Temari. Tenten can't help but feel bad for her once again. Along Temari's way to the fourth floor, she'll see Tenten blocking her way. ]

If it helps, I have something for you. I know the scroll where he still keeps his puppets should be here, since it actually belongs to me. [ She's not sure if this is going to get her killed or what, but it was still worthy of a try. ]

action

[dangerouswind]

[Temari pulls up short, hands held at her sides. As angry as she is, she's not in it for violence. Her voice is clipped, though, and Tenten is subjected to a harsh expression.

Because this is Temari and there are only so many ways she can express her grief.] Good. You're not keeping it.

action

[weaponry]

I wasn't planning to. [ She reverse summoned it back into the scroll where it originated from so it wouldn't disappear with the rest of his creations. There was a reason why she gave him a scroll to use, because she knows about how Temari's relatives never seem to be here for the long run.

She pulls the scroll out of her sleeve and passes it to Temari. ] Here. I'm sorry.