[Sarutobi Kaho]

All you have is your fire
And the place you need to reach
Don't you ever tame your demons
But always keep em' on a leash

Kaho walked with his ever relaxed gate, the elegant fox Emi by his side and the not so elegant money Sho, riding on her back like he were a horse. The two had not been immediate friends but the two eventually had developed a love-hate relationship after Kouki's death and Emi had joined them. All three marched in silence, enjoying the sound of the wind as is danced through the training grounds many tree's. It didn't matter the time of year, nor the type of weather. There was no replicating the beauty of Hi no Kuni, Konoha especially. In Kaho's humble but obviously bias opinion.

He wasn't out this far just for a wander. He had made plans the day before to meet with Senju Kazuto, an old friend and fellow shinobi. He looked upon Kazuto fondly, having taken an exception to monitoring his progress. He and Kouki had spent many afternoons speaking of his development, especially after his old friend had become Hokage and head of the Senju clan. He had seen how the responsibility had weighed on him, leading both the Village and Clan as such a young age. It had taken it's toll, and he could not help but wonder if his friend would still be here had he more experience under his belt before taking on such mantles. Such was the power of hindsight, it was easy to pick where you had gone wrong.

There had been a time Kaho had looked down upon Kazuto as a pupil. With Kouki gone, the young Sarutobi had taken it up himself to keep an eye on those the gentle giant had cared about. Time's had certainly changed, he thought to himself with a delightful chuckle. He may of been Kazuto's senior by five or so years which was a lifetime to a shinobi, but the young man had certainly exceeded him in ability. It had been such a journey to watch him from genin to Anbu Captain and head of the Senju Clan.

Kaho finally came to a stop some distance away from the village and anybody else training. Somewhere where a little damage to the countryside wouldn't go unnoticed. If Kazuto really wanted to test himself, it meant Kaho would have to push himself harder than he had in a while. As Emi and Sho wandered off to find themselves lunch in the forest, Kaho began to stretch. He couldn't help but wonder if he had been stagnant for too long. If the relative peace of the land had softened him. He was a far cry the anbu once known as Kanan, The flamed calamity. In fact there were few left in the Village who still knew what Kaho had been during his anbu days, the violence and ferocity he had fought with. The One eyed Dragon of the leaf they also called him, he had been a force of nature. Nobody would have ever thought Sarutobi Kaho could of been such a person, he was relaxed, jovial, composed and an advocate of peace.

Kazuto was of the few who would know of his true history. He had always wondered if it had made Kazuto look at him different, when the man had found out. It wasn't like he was ashamed of his time with the Anbu, it was simply he did not experience battle like that anymore. In fact it had been quite a few missions since he had seen proper combat. All it took was one slow step, one wrong reaction against the wrong opponent.

Senju Kazuto

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0

[Senju Kazuto]

He had woken up early. Blinking at first as he was met by the darkness of the first hours of the day as the orange glow of the sun peered over the snow capped mountain to the east. It took him a few seconds still to move and with a groan sit on the edge of his bed. Yawning, the Senju would rub his eyes with the index and thumb of his right hand before looking to the other side of the bed, finding it vacant, wondering for a second where had Miho gone only to be reminded that she had told him about her late night shift in the hospital. Lingering for a few more seconds, Kazuto would then raise to his full height, the familiar popping of joints before he readied himself. Fifteen minutes would pass from waking to when he left, wearing the same dark grey trousers, training boots and black tank-top before making his way through the village an into the training fields outside Konoha. At first it was all but a walk, ignoring the grumble of his stomach as it protested having nothing but rations to fill itself, but he ignored those protest, compartmentalizing the discomfort as he had done before during missions or training. But as he continued, following the familiar streets and byways of the village he would begin to pick up his pace, the gear that he carried at his waist and the shuriken and kunai holster strapped to his right leg above the knee began to jingle with each step he took. By the time he was running, the sun had risen, dispelling the cobalt darkness of night and caressing his face with its warmth before leaving the village gate behind and heading into the training fields outside the village. He ignored the feeling of exertion that slowly began to crept in, his mind solely focused on getting this part of his training for today done, this warm up, so he could meet with an old friend and begin the next stage. Kaho had been a strange mixture of an old brother and mentor figure in his life ever since Kouki had died. And though he had not always seen eye to eye with the man, he could understand why he had taken after the old Hokage the task to watch over him. He himself had taken into that same role with a young Uchiha, although she had called him master whereas he had never called Kaho such. As he reached the training filed amidst some rolling hills sparsely occupied by trees that swayed in the morning breeze. As beads of sweet rolled down every inch of his skin he closed his eyes and listened to the sounds of nature before he would take in a deep breath and then open his eyes as he heard the steps of a man, a fox and a monkey. "Hello there." He said with hint of a smile.

-tag- Sarutobi Kaho -words- 504 -notes- --- -music- ---

MADE BY VEL OF GS

[Sarutobi Kaho]

All you have is your fire
And the place you need to reach
Don't you ever tame your demons
But always keep em' on a leash

There was kindness in Kazuto's voice, but also reservation. It wasn't just because he was anbu, the boy had always been a very closeted person in Kaho's eyes. Not that the older Sarutobi could blame him, he had lived a hard life. A life that had only seemed to make him stronger, sharpen his edges instead of blunting them. Kaho returned the half smile, with one full of teeth. His pronounced canines standing out as they always seemed to.

"Been awhile Kazuto," the man said, rolling back and forth on his heals.

"Though I'm glad you reached out, it's been sometime since I've trained proper."

There were few in the Village Kaho considered superior to him in skill, even with his recent lack of combat practice. That wasn't simply because of his own power, but because he fought with the might of the Sarutobi monkeys at his back. He was under no illusions his strength came from the friends he had but even counting that the boy who stood before him was one he was sure could overcome him and his own. And it was good to test yourself.

"What exactly we working on today?" he asked, knowing Kazuto well enough that the boy probably had a plan. You didn't become anbu captain by simply winging your training. Perhaps that was why Kaho was just an ops team leader and his best friends had both become Hokage. He could learn a thing or two from Kazuto's methodical methods, the only question was, would he? He asked himself that silently as he listened to the mans answer.

Senju Kazuto

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0

[Senju Kazuto]

"It has, senpai." Kazuto would agree with the older male. For an instant he fondly remember the time that Kouki had presented the Sarutobi to him and that the few times that he had been under the tutelage of the man before he would return to the matter at hand. He didn't simply ask a random member of the village to train him, after all, he needed to improve and he would not trust the matter of his training at least not what he wanted. He understood that he would need to improve, that he would need to become better and seek a way to avoid damage by not being there rather than just powering through any form of attack. It was just something that could not be done given all circumstances. "Well, I do hope you're ready then." He would tell Kaho before he cleared his throat as the wind would blew and the sound of leaves and grass would deafen both for a few seconds. "I need your help to train myself to dodge." That was the truth, the simple truth about his needs at the moment. He would hope that Kaho would see that this was to benefit, after all he would shake the rust from his inactivity, but also that would mean that Kazuto himself would be on the receiving end of attacks, be it long, mid or short range. "In short, I want you to attack me relentlessly." He expressed to the man, hoping that he would agree. "From different angles, use clones if you have. I need to become more proficient at dodging attacks." It was a risk that he would need to take, something he was require himself to do as he etched the memory into every fiber of his muscles, as he trained his mind and his reflexes. "Are you up to for this, then?"

-tag- Sarutobi Kaho -words- 323 -notes- --- -music- ---

MADE BY VEL OF GS