dangerouswind | |action|

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[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.]

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[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?!

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

[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?

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

Ah...

[He's stunned for a moment by the news - by the delivery. He lets her pass by, but he still turns to face her and talks towards.]

You mean... Has he been kidnapped? Or... has he gone to...?

[Home. To the war. Where people he knew seemed to be dying periodically.]

[She stops. Doesn't quite look at him when she answers.] Home. He's gone home.

[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.]

[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?

[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.]

[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.]

[Hinata cannot stop staring at the other girl's hand, but she's also aware that it is rude to do that.]

P-perhaps I can heal that for you? You will feel a little better about that, at least.

[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.]

[Temari is still looking at her hand when Hinata makes her offer. Without a word, she holds up her hand. Go for it, Hinata.]

[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.]

[And he slowly walks towards her, a frown on his face. He hadn't seen Kankuro amongst their forces in the battle with the Juubi, but he also knew that he might have been occupied elsewhere.]

I am sorry to hear that, Temari-san.

[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.

[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.]

[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?

[Hinata is a bit relieved as she takes the other girl's hand, activating her Byakugan to make sure the damage is just to the skin. She reaches out with her chakra, relieved that Temari hasn't done anything too permanent to herself while taking out her aggravation on the poor tree trunk. She quickly coaxes the other girl's cells to regenerate quickly, until her hand is as unmarred as it would have been that morning.]

You are as good as new. [She tries to smile, but she can tell that Temari is still very upset over something.] Is there...Is there something else that I might be able to assist you with?

[She just... sighs. There's nothing else to say, is there?] It's fine. It's where he needs to be.

[Temari pulls her hand back and makes a fist, then flexes her fingers. Too bad she'll probably end up bruising her knuckles all over again before too long.]

No. [And it's the truth. Sort of. Nothing Hinata can do.]

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

[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.]

[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.]

[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.

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