Lea's Determination

Leander Kaguya was always a determined boy. He had a certain, special determination about him that would not allow him to fail if he put his all into some thing. The was a good thing and today it was working in his favor. Some one had told the Genin that he would never be able to learn a second Elemental Nature, that he was not nearly strong enough or smart enough. This infuriated Leander to the point he felt like his blood was boiling. He hated, HATED when some one told him he could not do some thing. He refused to doubt him self no matter what. That was the reason Leander Kaguya, a mere Genin of twelve years of age, had made his way to the training ground on the sunny Sunagakure no sato day. However, as he stood of to the side of the Sunagakure no sato training grounds, Leander did not know or have the slightest inclination of how to unlock his second elemental nature on his own. He had gone to a shop to try and buy a scroll containing some other elemental nature but had not found any scrolls. The shop owner had suggested trying a few fairly simple techniques, each of different elemental natures. So that is what Leander was going to do. Leander had arrived at the training grounds today to do just that. He stood firmly, focusing his chakra to his hands.
The shop owner had described one attack that the Shinobi of Iwagakure no Sato had once used. It was an Earth Release technique. Leander doubted he had an affinity for Earth elemental Nature so that was why he wanted to try this jutsu first. However, not knowing what exactly his second elemental nature would be he would have to give it his all and try everything to bring out the element. So, he stood and focused chakra into his hands for a while. Seconds passed into minutes as Lea held the chakra in his hands. As much as he could spare he poured into his hands. The Technique that the shop owned had told Leander about was called Doton: Kengan no Jutsu or Earth Release: Fist Rock Technique. From what he'd been told, Leander thought he understood what the Technique did. The shop owner had been oddly detailed about the techniques Leander should try. "By encasing their arm in rock," he'd said,  "the user can deal a powerful hardened punch against an opponent while being protected from direct contact with their target. If necessary, the weight of the rock can be increased to further increase the punch's destructive power." 'Encase their arm...in rock' Lea thought as he concentrated his chakra to his hands still. He tried to picture his chakra around his hand, he could feel it flowing around them. He tried very hard to imagine the chakra forming into a large hard rock capable of smashing into his foes. He closed his eyes to see his mental image clearer. He was trying to force the chakra to solidify, willing it to form into a rock around each of his hands. He held his concentration for several long minutes. Sweat began to drip from his forehead, soaking the green camouflage bandanna he wore. His hands began to ache from the effort. Opening his eyes he would thrust out a sudden punch, releasing all his stored up and gathered chakra in one solid punch. He looked down his arm and to his hand, his bare hand, and sighed. Not so much as a spec of dirt had formed on his hand, at least no dirt that was not there to begin with. Lea was not giving up there. He still had another hand that had been storing up chakra. He pushed more chakra into his left hand. He focused again for several long long minutes. He once again, slowly closed his eyes. He pictured a mountain this time, an unmovable mass of earth, the strongest thing Lea could possibly think of. Then he thought of it surrounding his hand. Thought of wielding a mighty mountain on his had, no! not on his hand, the mountain was his hand! Holding tightly onto the image in his mid he thrust out his left hand, throwing the mountain around like it weighed nothing. He punched his mountainous punch! Only, when he opened his eye there was no mountain, there was no stone or rock just his plain hand same as the last attempt. He feel back onto his rear, suddenly tired. He had put a lot of chakra into those first two attempts. 'This would be quicker,' he thought, 'if I knew what my second nature WAS!' He sat on the ground, panting slightly. He was far from done yet but wanted to catch his breath. He had not thought he would be able to use earth nature. He was not the strong earth type. A small glimmer of him self had slightly hoped he would be able to use earth nature though. Even this one technique he was trying here could greatly help his taijutsu. But on the other hand, he already had something a little bit like the fist rock technique. His Kaguya bones could harden denser than some steels. That was enough of a boost for his taijutsu. So with that in mind he decided to give up his last little spec of hope in being a earth nature user. Standing up he brushed the dirt from his back side. 'What was the next one that shop owner had told me about?' Lea wondered, trying to remember all that he had been told. It was quite a bit of information and Lea had not bothered to write it down, figuring he would be able to remember each technique when it came time to try them out. He scratched his head for a moment though, drawing a blank. 'I know it had some thing to do with Fire Release' Lea thought, trying hard to recall the shop owners words to him.
Like a flash it hit Leander's brain. He remembered clearly what the shop owner told him now. "Next, " The shop owner had said to Lea when he was there, "is a technique where chakra kneaded inside the body is converted into fire, and expelled from the mouth either as a massive orb of roaring flame or as a continuous flame-thrower. The scope of the attack is altered by controlling the volume of chakra that is mustered. The released flames will engulf their target, and leave a crater on the ground's surface. This technique is called Fire release: Great fireball jutsu, as I'm sure you guessed." Lea had smiled at that. He had actually guessed the name because he had heard about it before. His dad had often told him stories about life years ago. He had said that once the Uchiha clan used this jutsu to judge the younger members for man hood. How fitting it was now that Lea was trying to use this technique to judge his own man hood. Leander stood still again and tried to gather chakra. He had rested for quite some time so he had recovered what he had wasted with the failed earth nature attempt. He focused now on his chest, storing up chakra there. He planned to channel it up from his chest to his mouth when he felt ready to try and produce a fireball. For the time being however he just let his chakra well up inside his chest. He closed his eyes again. It really helped him to concentrate. He pictured a camp fire. He wanted to start with an easy association. We let himself feel the flames mentally, trying to let the idea of warmth infiltrate his whole body, his whole being. He did not really know if any of this mental imaging helped at all, but he thought it could not hinder either. He let his small camp fire grow into a large blaze. Heat and light seemed to dominate his brain. Lea kept expanding the great bon fire in his mind. All the while still gathering chakra in to his chest area. He thought he felt warmer. The bon fire in his mind now grew to a large forest fire. Lea tried to imagine the immense heat that such a fire must produce. It was almost a little frightening to picture. Lea did not want to burn himself. He had never been to fond of fire. He had trouble starting a simple dry pile of wood on fire, mostly for fear he would burn himself. He was almost scared of the things he was picturing, the bon fire and forest fire. So instead he opened his eyes. He glanced up at the sun, not starring at it directly but looking at it the way people do, hands covering his face. He figured he would have to risk being burnt a few times if fire really was his second elemental nature. With that thought in mind and reining in his fears, Lea would unleash the built up chakra, allowing it to flow freely up to his mouth. He tried to add fire to the chakra, breathing out with all the force of his lungs. Unfortunately Lea only blew a large gust of air, his wind nature bleeding through in the chakra and air he expelled.  He blinked once, then twice. He was thinking maybe there was a delay and the air would suddenly catch on fire but that never happened. He quickly tried again, inhaling a large amount, gathering chakra, and exhaling again. He encountered the same result however, not even blowing hot air, just a cool swoosh of wind. Handy in the desert heat Leander supposed, but not what he came her to accomplish. Lea gave up on Fire elemental nature just as he had given up on earth elemental nature a few minutes before. He sat back down, landing in the hot desert sand with a thud. He played with the sand in his right hand while he rested, breathing heavy again. Sweat freely ran over his body but despite this Leander felt a cold chill. He drew odd shapes in the sand before swiping them away, clearing the sand only so he could start over. He had a slight hint of doubt now. One could see it by the way he hung his head and slumped his normally strong shoulders. 'What if i can not figure out my second element? Or worse, what if I do not have one?' Lea thought to himself, trying to ignore the thoughts but thinking them all the same. No, that could not be it. He had to have a second elemental nature, he knew it. He could feel it, he just did not know what it was yet. He still had two more to try! So thinking, Lea rose again. Failure was never an option for Lea. He fell beck into the sand, momentarily dizzy. His head spun and he lost his balance, which is what caused him to fall back to his sitting position. He landed, none to softly on his backside. 'I guess I am going to sit here for a few more seconds' Lea thought to him self, surprised. He had not thought he had used all that much energy but he must have put more chakra in to his attempts then he thought he had. He unscrewed the lid off of a small jug of water he had brought with him and took a few large gulps. The water slid down his throat, quenching his thirst and easing his dizzy spell. Lea stood again, not falling back to the ground this time, and brushed the sand from his pants yet again. He wiggled his toes in the sand, enjoying the warmth but feeling his feet were dirty. 
He walked across the training grounds to a near by stream, dipping his feet into the water, sitting on the edge. The water was cold and he shivered slightly, but it was not uncomfortable so he kept his feet in the water. Bending down he began to rub his feet to get some of the dirt that clung to them off. It felt nice, he had not realized his feet were sore. Seemed he was always on his feet lately. When he finished that and his feet were clean he stood in the water, the water only reaching about shin high, not high enough to touch his shorts. He thought of the third elemental technique that the shop owner had told Lea about. It was a water technique where the user would flow their chakra in to a nearby water source, the chakra then would manipulate shapeless mass of water that the user could then use for attacks. Lea stood shin high in the water, feeling it flow by, around his legs, under his feet, flowing away. It was much less frightening then fire. It seemed soothing in fact. Lea quite liked it, especially right that moment. He let it was around him, flowing ever forward as he slowly and carefully gathered chakra to his hands again. His breathing calmed and his frustration seemed to melt away. He body relaxed from his feet upwards until he felt very tranquil and almost at peace. It was odd how the little things could effect you. Tension Lea did not even know he had been holding washed away. He rolled his head from one side to the other, closing his eyes and letting his neck pop and crack as a kink vanished. He let the chakra in him slowly flow to his hands, seeming to cool his body as it moved through him. Finally, calmly, Lea bent down, placing his hands into the stream. He felt the cool water running over his hands and smiled. Then he tried to expand his chakra out and grab hold of some of the rushing water. This attempt at nature manipulation some how felt different than his two previous attempts. When he released his chakra in to the water, he did not feel as if it just left his body. He thought it felt as if it was tugging at his hands. Slowly he lifted his hands from the water. Between his two hands, rising with them up out of the water, was a cool blue bubble. The water was rolling and shifting but held in place between his hands. He lifted the small mass of water out of the flowing stream and let out a startled happy little cry. In his excitement though he momentarily forgot about controlling his chakra and the water fell back into the stream. Lea looked at his hands, his body tingling with excitement. He thrust them back into the stream and gathered chakra again, holding it steady this time as he lifted his hands, and the water from the stream. He stared at the shifting shape for several long minutes, examining the changing orb of water. Not knowing what to do with the water now, Lea tried to remember what the shop owner had told him about the technique. "The user can use this technique to transfer the water to different locations, send the water at some one else or form it in to a whip to assault a target". Lea was already proving he could move the water around so he tried to shape the water. He slowly separated his hands, tugging at the water with his chakra, trying to shape it. At first it moved very slowly, not leaving the shape of an orb. So Lea tried using some more chakra. He increased his pull to much and the water splashed out sideways, falling back in to the stream. Lea sighed. He bent down again, repeating the process and pulling a mass of water from the stream again. He tried to shape it differently this time, holding it in place with one hand while the other tugged at it, separating and moving to the side. He pulled the water in to a long shape using this method but it did not look like a whip yet. So Lea tried again, kneading his chakra along the water, thinning it and making it longer and more whip like with every tug. After another few long minutes the water was thin enough that it looked like a whip. Lea held on to the handle like part of the water with the chakra in his hands. He let the chakra freely flow through out the water which was about four feet long now. He moved his hand back and forth, causing the water whip to ripple first left then right, following the motion. He would then slowly walk out of the stream and over to a near by tree. He stood back from the tree to just the end of the water would hit the tree trunk when Lea used the whip. He concentrated and then lashed out with the water, trying to snap the end and whip the bark of the tree trunk. The water whirled back over his shoulder but slowly. He tried again, using his chakra to try and direct the water like a whip at the tree trunk. It worked a little better than his first try but did not CRACK like a whip should, only tapping the tree trunk. Lea was still smiling though. Never willing to give up he tried again and again and again until he could crack the whip on the tree. It seemed like hours to Lea, though it probably was less than one in all. Eventually he got the hang of it. He snapped the whip out again and heard a loud satisfying SNAP as the water broke through the bark on the tree. It left a small cut in the bark of the tree trunk. Lea, sweat covering his body, stepped closer to the tree trunk to inspect the bark. He was immensely thrilled with this seemingly small cut in the bark. He grinned from ear to ear, feeling like he had accomplished a huge thing. He turned and leaned on the tree, then slid down it to sit with his back against the tree to support him self. He was exhausted. His breathing was heavy again and he was sweating. He stunk from the sweat. He did not think he had the energy to stand up again right at that moment, but wanted to go to the deeper part of the stream and swim around a little. He had left the water whip drop before he slid down the tree. It had soaked in to the sand and was gone already. He sat for several minutes before finally he dragged him self off the ground, using the tree, pushing off it to right him self. He walked over to the stream and stepped in to it, shin deep. Lea then waded through the stream, water getting higher and higher as he walked farther and farther, He paused when he had walked far enough for it to be over his waist slightly. He then leaned back slowly, lifting his feet off the bottom as he did until he was floating in the water. It felt nice to just float effortlessly after such a long day of training. He let the water drift him slowly as it flowed along. He just floated on the current. It lead to a small frog pond on the out skirts of the training grounds. Lea could hear the frogs and toads croaking to one another and splashing in to the water off of their lily pad perches. He kept his eyes closed though, relaxing in the water. He slowly floated to the middle of the small pond, then the current stopped propelling him. He was content to just lay there, floating with his mouth and nose just above the water. However, before to long he felt like he was wasting precious time. He sat up in the water, slowly treading water to keep him afloat. He looked around, trying to find a target he could use his new elemental nature on. He came up with an idea to try and steady him self in the water, using only his chakra and not kicking to tread water. He stopped moving his feet and slowly started to sink. His first reaction was to put his chakra to his feet and 'climb' out of the water using his surface walking technique, but he fought that urge. He instead used his chakra in his hands, trying to move the water around him to push him forward. It did not work however. Lea only had a vague understanding of chakra natures it seemed. Eventually, needing air, Lea kicked to the surface. He broke through the surface of the water and inhaled a large gulp of air. Then, doing as his instincts had told him before, he used his chakra to 'climb' on top of the water and stood up. He then tried to pull the water up to his hands, with out sticking his hands in to the pond. He tugged with his chakra again, and the water below him stirred a little. He pulled harder, and the water surged up a foot before falling back in to the pond. Lea took a moment to breath then pulled a third time. The water sprung up, long and thin and perfect for a whip. Lea smiled and lashed it out at a vacant lily pad, snapping the pad in half. Lea felt great that he had learned his next element and a new technique as well. He played around with the water a little, moving it in a circle around his body and twirling it around in spiral shapes. He was not only playing but improving his grip of the technique. He even tried to mass it all together and push it away from himself, splashing as a whole in to the pond a few feet away from Lea. After some time the water he was playing with dropped and he sunk in to the pond with a splash. His chakra was almost all depleted. It had been a long hard day of training. With a tired smile he swam over to the edge of the pond and pulled himself out. He stood now on the sandy bank, the sand sticking to his wet feet. He did not stink as badly as before but was even more tired. He walked back towards the tree, following the stream. He wanted to lean against the tree again for a little while. He slowly trudged to the tree and plopped down in front of it. He rested his back on it again and sighed. 
Lea sat, leaning on the tree and thinking of his day. His first attempts at elemental nature manipulation seemed silly now. He could see himself clearly in his mind. He thought he must have looked foolish, punching the air and thinking a mountain would appear, or trying to breath fire. He had not tried the other technique that the shop owner had told him about, and part of Lea wondered if he still might have yet another element to unlock. He thought of his first day meeting Kojin, when he had used his lightning in the desert. It was so fast and so destructive. "Maybe.." Lea said aloud, voicing his curiosity. 'Who knows,' he thought, 'I've heard of others having a third element.' Lea shrugged his shoulders. He thought he had done enough for one day and would wait a while before trying anything like this again. Lea was dreadfully tired all of a sudden and thought he might even fall asleep on the tree. 'Go Home.' He told himself, raising again. It had been a long day, but Lea had done what he had set out to do. He slowly walked off, heading for his home. It was not the first time he had left the training grounds dead tired, nor would it be the last.

[exit. TWC 4018. requesting Water element. 20 stats, 10 chakra, 5 health, 5 stamina]

Approved till April.