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[lives2annoy]

Ever since he'd talked to Aang and watched the guy swimming around with an imaginary dolphin, Marco had been kinda missing his dolphin morph. The dolphin morph was, without fail, always fun. And hey, Marco was definitely a fan of fun

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[haruno]

Three months, and she'd managed to avoid the sensoriums. Reality and illusion were interchangeable enough as it was, seeking out an area where one could lose themselves, even temporarily, in another place... felt like the kind of lie Sakura wasn't comfortable living with.

On the other hand, avoidance was also not something she favored, which is why she'd let herself wander this way today. She knew how these worked, in theory. She hadn't expected that she'd find one currently in use when she'd walked in.

She was vaguely embarrassed that she had, if it didn't stop her from looking around at the beach setting, straightening up as she called out. "Hello? Anyone in here?"

Moving further in, she wondered at the setting. It was different than the beaches she'd seen in her lifetime. This was an interesting contrast to observe as she made her way toward the pier.

[lives2annoy]

Marco was still under the pier, dodging poles when Sakura walked in. While he couldn't see her that well through the gaps in the boards, he could hear her well enough to know who it was.

Marco answered, making a big dolphin grin.

[haruno]

Mole. Sakura's head whipped around, even if she knew she was hearing something from within her head, and not by ear. Where was he?

"Does that make you a nobody?" She walked out on the pier itself, still looking around for Marco. "I wouldn't want confusion over that point in the future."

[lives2annoy]

Not mole, Sakura. Dolphin. In fact, said dolphin was going to appear right in front of you, and splash you by hitting the surface of the water with it's nose.

he said, making dolphin clicks and whistles that sounded suspiciously like laughing.

[haruno]

Sakura had an arm up in front of her just barely in time to avoid getting some of that spray to the face. "Hey!" She shook her arm, frowning down at the -- what was that? It took her a moment to register the form as something technically familiar, even if Sakura hadn't seen dolphins outside of picture books. (Iruka didn't count.)

"You're something, that's for sure." It was amazing how real things felt in here, and just about as disturbing. "Are you actually a dolphin right now? You're not using a function of this place?"

Watching carefully for any further sighs of Marco being splash happy, Sakura took a step back and to the side.

[lives2annoy]

Marco said, swimming around in circles lazily. he teased, still grinning.

[haruno]

She rolled her eyes. "Hardly." In fact, Sakura took a half step forward, then leapt up on the railing. "This counts as more than a little water, to be technical." It wasn't a problem either way, and it was kind of disappointing to realize it wasn't really there.

If she was starting to get some of the sensorium appeal, in spite of the unsettled feeling in her stomach. Looking down at Marco, she grinned -- and jumped off.

Only to land neatly on the surface of the water. Tmp. "Either way, it's not something I'd say I'm afraid of... it's not like the salt here will have a lasting effect."

[lives2annoy]

Woah! insane!> Marco said, swimming up underneath Sakura as if to check that she was really standing on the water, and not just some kinda of invisible platform.

[haruno]

Sakura tracked him as he swam beneath her, holding still for a few seconds before starting to walk out and away from the pier. "The same way I did anything to the wall, really." She stopped again, tapping her foot on the water's surface. "Chakra."

It was a wonderful non-explanation.

[lives2annoy]

Marco skimmed through the water alongside her, watching her out of one of his eyes.

[haruno]

She watched him, then started walking again. "A combination of energies. The physical, kind of like the kinetic energy from movement. Not exactly the same, because the movement itself doesn't generate chakra. Mental is more..." she lapsed into silence, picking up the pace into a job. She hadn't talked about this for years, it felt like, since she hadn't been working with any of the kids at the academy. Naruto hadn't needed a lecture on this subject since he came back to the village.

"Mental energy is a combination of an internal capacity of any one person, and their ability to access it through things like mediation. Combine the two, and you get the kind of chakra that lets you do this." Simplified, but she wasn't exactly looking to instruct anyone here.

[lives2annoy]

Marco wondered. He continued swimming alongside her, although he was starting to get impatient with Sakura's pace. Walking wasn't much fun. They needed to play more!

he said giddily.

[haruno]

"Don't you think you have a certain advantage?" Or did he really? Sakura wasn't sure what speeds dolphins could hit, but she was pretty damn sure that a ninja at top speed could outrace one. Then again, there was no way for Marco to know that.

"You're on," she said, flashing him another smile before taking off at a respectable sprint for a normal human.

[lives2annoy]

Gleefully, Marco set off along side her. If she were at full speed he'd have to work much harder, but a normal human pace? Easy.

In fact, Marco was able to manage a few lazy jumps just in front of her, flashing his big dolphin grin all the while.

[haruno]

Smug smiling fish. Sakura didn't say anything, just smiling back briefly before lapsing into a look closer to concentration and stepping up her pace. Roughly doubling her prior speed, she used an initial burst of speed to push off the water's surface and leap ahead.

See> She could jump too!

[lives2annoy]

Oooooh, that was so not fair. But no way was Marco gonna let Sakura win, secret Dragon Ball Z powers or no. Marco pushed out a burst of speed on his own, abandoning the unnecessary jumps to focus just on getting as much speed as possible, pulling out in front of Sakura again and steadily increasing the distance between them.

You were fast, Sakura, but the dolphin was made for the water.