Now that Kennosuke was a Genin, his life as a Shinobi had officially started. The moment he put on his fathers headband was the moment he vowed to be the very best Shinobi he could be and that means training. He owed it to his Father, to Rikimaru, and most importantly to his Clan and the Hidden Leaf Village. Any down time he had from missions, he would be training his body, mind and Jutsu. That was his life now and honestly, he was okay with that. It gave his otherwise empty life purpose. Now that he was a Genin, he was truly alone. But it didn’t matter. His purpose was to be a good Shinobi and that's what he planned to do.

He had left the Village and walked some distance through the dense forest. His thumbs hooked into the sash around his waist with very little care in the world. It wasn’t that he felt safe or wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings, it was just he refused to be one of those Ninja that -looked- like he was spot for the training he wanted to do. He walks the clearing, removing any debris from the ground. “I think that’ll do.” He says, stopping near a tree and undoing the metal toggles of his over shirt, before pulling it off and hanging it and the long read sash he wore around his waist on a branch. Under the shirt he wore his usual red body suit with its dragon scale pattern, though it is revealed that the Kimura clan emblem resides over his heart and a Hidden Leaf Emblem was on his back. He does a few small stretches and moves out into the clearing.

He begins sprinting from one end of the clearing to the other. This wasn’t the most fun way to train, but it would eventually do what he needed and it was simple enough to let his mind wonder while running. He thought back to that night in the cave. How hard he pushed through that storm to make it to his friend. If he had been faster, maybe he could have gotten to Rin and gotten out of the cave before that bear showed up. If he had been stronger, maybe the bear wouldn't of been able to take his fingers. But that was in the past. He could only move forward and train. Soon he would be a great Shinobi, but he had to work for that to happen. No one would give it to him. So for now, this was his life.

WC 443

Nayoko Hattori was just happy to be home. He had not realized just how much he missed the Land of Fire during his journey to Kirigakure no Sato and the Land of Wind shortly thereafter until he had set foot back on into his home land. The sound of the wind blowing through the seemingly endless forests around him were like music to his ears. After his change of heart of the road toward his home, the jounin had left behind a great deal of guilt and confusion. In its place was a sense of peace and acceptance of his new self that was only accented by the sounds of his childhood all around him. The birds singing in the trees, the babbling brooks that ran through the forests through which the ANBU captain was walking, and the scent of the trees swaying in the wind were all contributing to his vast nostalgia as he wander off of the main path and into a surrounding area that he used to spend a great deal of time in when he was younger. The thought of those years reminded him of the brief visit he had paid his family before heading into the woods earlier that morning. Both his sister and father were doing very well and were just happy to see him, though he was very different form the last time they had spoken. His sister had finally gone on to become a genin, and his father had been promoted to a supervisory role at the construction site in the village. The pair of them were doing their best to not worry about him when Nayoko was gone for such a long time, but the relief on their faces had been evident when he had walked into he home only a couple of nights earlier.

With those pleasant thoughts running through his mind, the Hattori man stepped even further off the path and towards a stream that he knew ran through this part of the forest. It was in this forest that Nayoko had spent a great deal of time in as a genin. It had been in these woods that he had fought off three men sent to attack him by his uncle all those years ago. Nayoko, along with his two good friends took them out without too much trouble, but that incident had opened his eyes to the realities of the danger he would face as a shinobi. It had been the first time that he had beaten someone within an inch of their life. Since then, many people had fallen to him, but that moment started it all. It was a dark memory for him, especially since he had put his friends in so much danger on such a short notice. Seeing the forest around him now brought many of those memories flooding back, but it also brought back the memory of the times of peace he had experienced in these woods after that time. He had often returned here during his training to find moments of calm in a life of nearly never-ending missions and training. Here was one of the few places that Nayoko could truly relax. Though as he sat by the stream with his back up against the tree, the jounin’s relaxation was cut short.

There was breathing coming from nearby. He could hear it on the wind enough that he knew somebody was nearby. The breathing sounded laboured, but not nervous or frantic. It was measured and deliberate, to the point where the Hattori had very little doubt as to what was happening. Somebody was training nearby, and Nayoko’s curiosity had been piqued. Swiftly and silently the jounin stood up and leaped into a nearby tree. It took next to no time for the ANBU Captain to locate the direction which the sound was coming, and before too long the jounin was leaping from tree to tree traveling toward the sound. Nayoko ended up perched in a tree, looking down on the young man that looked to be doing some endurance training in the small clearing. Nayoko watched for a short time, not saying anything while he observed the form of the shinobi. He appeared to be a new genin by the speed at which he was moving, but he also had potential. The Hattori’s curiosity got the better of him soon enough, and Nayoko found himself jumping down into the clearing and calling out. “It’s good to see someone so young training so hard. Not many shinobi are willing to put in the work it will take to improve.” As he landed, the jounin extended his hand. “I’m Nayoko, a jounin of Konoha. I’m sorry to have interrupted your training.”

WC:796