|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

[twinlionfists]

[Hinata doesn't miss the dig and her face reddens a bit, but she refuses to back down. She wants this woman to respect her and being completely polite is not the way to do it.]

I may have only been to Sunagakure once, Temari-san, but your village is in as much danger as Konohagakure when I was stolen away...and I am not unfamiliar with loss of family.

[dangerouswind]

[That refusal to back down actually does more to smooth ruffled feathers than anything else would.

She won't apologize, because the fact remains that she's, once again, the only representative of Sunagakure here.] Who isn't?

[twinlionfists]

[Hinata isn't blind to the loneliness that Temari carries around with her almost as easily as the tessen she's renowned for. And she doesn't expect the Suna kunoichi to apologize one bit.]

Everyone here is familiar with that, from what I understand. We are not special in that regard. As such, you should not refuse any assistance from someone who has never meant you any harm.

[dangerouswind]

[Temari's loneliness has become a badge of sorts: she carries it with some pride. It won't beat her (but there's a part of her that knows that she'd get along so much better if she'd only set it aside.)]

I suppose.

[twinlionfists]

[Hinata is not one to give up, but she's not going to press the issue of being friendly with one another at this point in time. It is a stressful time for the blonde kunoichi. Hinata can certainly sympathize with her for being upset at being alone.

And she wishes that there was something more that she could do. Temari is the kind of girl that Hinata respects—strong, opinionated, passionate, and caring for those who are close to her.]

I will trouble you no more with my presence. However, if you wish to speak to someone, I would not be adverse to being the one you talk to, Temari-san. I believe that we live in the same building as well.

[dangerouswind]

[She knows she's been short with Hinata. It's not something she can really help; she can, however, recognize it. She's not going to talk to Hinata anytime soon, but...

... well. The thought is appreciated, even if she can't really express it. She nods, starts to walk away, stops in her tracks.]

Thanks. [It's all she says.]

[twinlionfists]

[Hinata smiles, knowing that she has had a huge victory with the other girl.]

You are welcome, Temari-san!

[She heads out to go do her own training. Like her cousin, Temari would need time to come to her own conclusions.]