intraspective | The Beach, Noon

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The Beach, Noon

Ino eyed the water dubiously as she stretched.

Temari-san had said ~~oh so handwavily~~ to meet up here for training (that’s what Ino assumed anyway) and she couldn’t help but be wary about the change in both time and venue.

Not, it should be noted, that she was wary enough to try skipping out on it. Ino wasn’t that stupid. And, she consoled herself, they’d managed a real conversation the last time they’d talked. It was a start.

[For that other blonde ninja-girl.]

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Temari was there promptly at noon, but no sooner. She was enjoying the beach. There was something about it close enough to home, but not quite there.

"Yamanaka," She greeted the girl with a nod.

"Temari-san," she said, finishing her stretch and standing up.

"Have you fought on the sand before?" Temari asked.

Ino... was suddenly getting the whole beach thing.

She eyed the sand dubiously. "No?" Funny how that worked out.

Temari smirked. She hadn't thought so. "It shifts beneath your feet. There's never a solid spot to land or push yourself off of."

Ino contemplated that. For a few seconds anyway.

"...I don't think me and sand are going to be good friends."

Yeah, no.

"It's never your friend," Temari said, walking around her calmly and without any sort of misstep. "Even in Suna. It's an uneasy ally, never a something to count on."

"Gonna call me spoilt again, 'cause Konoha's trees are our ally a lot more than our enemy?" Ino quipped, shifting uneasily to follow her and suddenly overly aware of how the sand moved beneath her feet.

"Not spoiled, just unimaginative," Temari replied. "We have to survive the elements and our enemies. Your village picked an easy place to live, not quite as easy to defend."

"And yet," Ino said slowly, so very much not sure that she should go here, "we've been prosperous."

"You've been lucky," Temari corrected, waling forward to correct her stance without any sort of permission asked. "Otogakure is not your only enemy."

Her face burned with embarrassment at the correction, but she said nothing, just adjusting the way she had to and making sure she paid attention to it.

"I know it's not," she said, "it wasn't long ago that you were our enemy too. And neither Kumogakure or Iwagakure are fond of us."

Corrections, Temari would say, are what teaching was about.

"Petty squabbles," She said. "Neither would dare to attack without support or out of fear of upsetting the delicate balance of power in place with Sunagakure and Konoha. There are others who have loyalty to no village."

True enough. This did not mean that Ino had to like them though.

"I don't understand," Ino said, frowning. "Missing-nin?"

Temari just hummed slightly in response. "They lack any political ties to keep them in place."

There was a flash of movement as she went to push Ino down onto the ground.

Ino really didn't think it was fair just how fast Temari could move in comparison to her. She stumbled back, managing to keep her feet, but just barely, and hating the sand a lot more now.

She knew better than to complain about it though, training was the point. "Also means they lack support, and don't most missing-nin operate in ones and twos? A village can handle that."

"Have you been trained to walk on snow?" Temari asked abruptly.

She shook her head; puzzled but answering the question. "Covered the basics of it in the Academy," Ino said, "but nothing more than that."

The Fire Country may not have been as hot as the Wind Country, but they weren't cold enough for snow. They got rain. Lots and lots of rain.

"Same principle," Temari replied. "Spread the chakra out like you're wearing snowshoes. Make your own ground."

Not that it was easy. mind you.

...

Yeah, definitely not easy.

...Ino had a funny feeling she'd just found her latest training exercise. At least it'd be good for chakra control?

"You do it all the time in the desert?" As she focused on her feet and tried to get something vaguely like what Temari was talking about.

"Control," Temari said easily. "And practice. It's either we know it or we don't survive in the desert."

"What 'bout your civilians?" As she shifted dubiously from one foot to the other and frowning as she tried to adjust her chakra.

"They don't venture far enough out to cause a problem."

"Caravans?" Merchants?

Okay, she thought that might be something close to right, though Ino didn't hold much hope of keeping her chakra like that for long.

"With escorts," Temari replied. "It's a harsh land we live in, Yamanaka. Only the strong survive, civilian and shinobi alike."

She nodded silently then, "I'd survive."

"That is what we will see," Temari said, smiling faintly and pushing her again.

--was that a smile? She thought it was! She'd gotten a smile from Temari-san!

...and a shove.

Really, the shove was more expected than the smile. The chakra on her feet, Ino discovered, made it easier to keep to her feet, even though she'd miscalculated how slippery it'd be if she used too much chakra. Ino made a face at her feet, as she stopped sliding, and making the adjustment now that she had a better idea of how much was actually needed.

"How long can a Suna Genin do this for?" Because Ino seriously doubted she could keep it for that long, and a Genin would give her at least a set time to aim to be better than.

"To begin with? We train them on it for an hour before their chakra reserves fail them."

Okay, seriously, her reserves had to be more than that at least. Two years a Genin now, and if she'd gotten worse at everything else, Ino knew she'd gotten better with both her reserves, and her control of her chakra.

She nodded, eyes determined. "Okay."

It was more the amount needed to keep balanced was more than simple water walking or tree climbing.

"I'll test you on this next week," Temari said, walking toward the water.

Ino was still going to bet that she had reserves enough to beat a Genin fresh out of the Academy. Even if she knew that Suna's curriculum was tougher than Konoha's.

She blinked. "Or the sand?" What was she doing?

"On the sand," Temari confirmed calmly, not looking back. Toeing off her sandals, she walked to get her feet wet before it got too cold here.

Ino wondered if that meant her lesson for the day was over. She wondered if she ought to point out to Temari-san that next week was Homecoming and she would likely be busy with helping run things.

...

Nah. "Same time next week?"

Temari did something completely beneath her and kicked the water like a child before replying. "Same time."

The water kicking got a grin. Okay, that was cute. Ino doubted Temari would appreciate that though.

"Okay," she said, and it came out with a bit of laughter tinging her voice. "Okay."

Ino was... just going to... concentrate on getting her walking on... sandshoes right. And try not to laugh more.

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The Beach, Noon

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