Don't mind me, just doing some training (P)

It was said that all Jounins were such masters of Ninjutsu that having a second chakra nature was a given, and acquiring a third was not a rare occurrence. Hearing these details, and knowing full well the skill that jounin had, it was little wonder why Jinhai was in a bit of a sour mood. True, he had gotten his promotion to the rank of Tokubetsu-Jounin, but it seemed unlikely he'd ever progress any further unless he could at least master a second element, among other things. This sort of situation and potential for crippling internal doubt was just the perfect scenario for self-help books and How To Guides (Shinobi For Dummies, Second Edition. He would shamelessly admit he'd leafed through that copy numerous times). Books that he currently had resting on top of him as he was lazily rested on his perch atop another one of the common Konoha Giantass species of trees.

Books that he sincerely considered throwing over the side to test that the laws of gravity were still functional. Honestly, now that he was an actual ninja, and had gone out on more dangerous missions for the sake of the village, it was almost laughable he had read those books in the first place. Yes, it was quite informative on organizational and structural matters, as well as discussing the values and philosophy of the shinobi, but in terms of tangible, worthwhile information ... it was a considerable waste of money. Had he been suckered in by feel-good language?

'Or maybe I feel I don't belong ...' He darkly mused to himself before gathering up the books into a neat stack and setting it further away on the branch. Still, the fact of the matter was his skills were barely adequate for his current rank. If he wished to progress further, then he would need to master basics. And mastering basics meant chakra manipulation. Admittedly, this was a field he was ... rather weak in. Frankly it was quite a miracle he had even been promoted in the first place, considering his inability to efficiently use jutsu in the heat of battle. Either Konoha's standards were getting even more lax, or desperate enough that he had managed to make it this far.

Still, there was no harm in reviewing basics, as he shifted and brought his legs up onto the trunk of a branch to assume a cross-legged seated position. Chakra, the fundamental energy born from both physical and mental energies. How long has it been since he practiced molding chakra? Evidently far too long, as he plucks a green leaf and sets it atop his forehead. From here, concentration was important, but his mind continued drifting on its own. While focusing to keeping the leaf stuck to his forehead, the strangest images came to mind. Between the summer heat, his own begrudging admission at his lack of skill, and minor embarrassment at engaging in a basic exercise (why else would he hide himself far up a tree as possible), it felt like either something inside his heart or mind was going to burst into flames. But, that sensation was always fleeting, even out there in the few times his own life was seriously at risk.

It was like he was some withering flame, fading after that first brush with death. After the searing, hellish flames that tore apart his world and ...

The green leaf came unstuck, fluttering down and grazing his nose as it floats into his lap. All the while, beads of sweat formed across the rest of forehead. Why was something from years ago still bothering him now? Why was his blasted elemental nature fire? And why did summer have to be so goddamn hot?

The almost-Jounin could't help but scowl, as he plucks the leaf up again with his left hand, and wiped his brow clean with the back of his other hand. He knew the answers to these questions. Psychological trauma was never easy to get over. He was born with that nature perhaps by virtue of genetics alone. This was the goddamn Land of Fire ... notorious for its bizarrely copious amounts of forests and fertile soils. It would be erroneous to believe that the Land of Fire didn't have hot summers, or else it would have a more fitting name, like the Land of Snow ... unless mapmakers and politicians are bored fucks who love ironic names.

After replacing the leaf, he concentrated again, trying to keep it in place through chakra alone. What sort of passion did he expect to have? Perhaps since he was young, he had anticipated a bright burning fire. Instead, what he saw himself as was ... was a sickly flame, fated to become nothing more than ashes and embers, dulling out into nothingness. The green leaf slips partway down his forehead, barely kept stuck at the last moment. Was he just going to be a weak, faceless member of the ranks?

'Never.' He declares alone, in his mind, forcibly trying to change that mental image into something else. That little flame, he refused to accept that that was all he would be. Perhaps it was true that was what he is now, but to remain like that forever. Never. It wasn't the Will of Fire. It wasn't for the sake of others, or the village, or his comrades. As he sat here, visualizing a firestorm, he could only think of himself.

901/1000 (1st Element, Fuuton)

Why did he see flames? No, he knew why ... he lived in the Land of Fire, taught to respect the Will of Fire, with a Fire nature affinity, and his life radically redefined by flames. But he hated the heat. He certainly hated fires, as they would inevitably bring smoke and excess heat. Damn, it really was some sort of cruel irony that his home had to be here in Konoha, and his nature had to be that of Fire.

And just at that moment, he felt a rather invigorating breeze passing by ... which also took the leaf that was barely clinging to his face with it. Being the mature fellow he was, who was currently a bit light-headed from the concentration and the heat for the past hour or so, responded appropriately to having his focus broken

"Motherf-" He began, before slipping and now plummeted down the tree. And it was times like these, he remember he was a ninja and immediately lashed out to grab the branch he had just cleanly slipped off of, while attempting to press his feet against the trunk of tree and hopefully ... maybe, gain a foothold through chakra. The good news was that he was quite successful in his attempts to avoid dropping a rather painful distance down, the bad news was that his right arm felt a bit like shit. Resisting the urge to groan, Jin would slowly walk himself back up to his perch, and crawl onto the branch again before lying down, feet towards the tree proper.

'Why did I ever think being a ninja was a good idea? Or cool? Or awesome ... or ... or ...' He grumbles again internally, before another breeze passed by. And then he saw a couple stray leaves, perhaps disturbed and stripped off by the stems by him, flying away with the passing air. ... Wind, huh? Thinking back, he did always have a strange fondness for windy weather. Perhaps, he could attain the nature of wind, but ... how? Lazily, he reached above his prone position to where a cluster of leaves and small branches were, snagged another leaf, and crushed it in the palm of his hand. The flames were easy for him to imagine, so much so that he quickly had to release his clenched fist and gingerly shake off the sudden heat that had built up against his palms. From within, the blackened remains of a burnt leaf fell and drifted down to the ground.

"Tch ... so it's still fire that comes naturally, huh? Fine."

The youth would take his earlier precarious seated position on the branch again, this time plucking numerous more leaves with both hand yanking them straight off the branch. If he was going to master another element, that meant going back to basics ... after all, it was purely mental in terms of which nature transformation manifested, so if he stopped thinking about flames and think about ... winds ... then surely he could attain it.

-3 hours later-

The afternoon sun was beginning to set, painting the blue skies on the horizon a strange combination of red and orange. Meanwhile, Jin was still sitting on his ass trying to figure out how the hell he was supposed to work out his second chakra nature.

It wasn't like he was expecting to master a new element right off the bat, but he also wasn't expecting to burn through a couple pounds worth of leaves either. In fact, the sheer amount of ash he was making was rather uncomfortable, given the smell from the burning leaves disgusted him. But ... it wasn't all bad, after what may have been the thousandth leaf, he at least wasn't burning them immediately, and instead it felt as if there was a gentle cut forming through the leaf in question. Of course, attempting to check for that resulted in the leaf being burnt by the time he opened up his hands to see how he had been doing. The sensation of wind would have to be able to supplant the images of roaring flames and their heat ... somehow.

-4 hours later-

Night had clearly fallen, and yet he was still at it. Not that he was crazy, mind you, but it felt as if he had made a breakthrough! A leaf partially nicked, without being burnt to a crisp for a few brief moments before his overenthusiastic joy resulted in the only proof of his progress reduced to cinders. It was certainly progress far beyond what he had hoped for ... but, thinking of the flowing winds wasn't enough. If the visualization was to rival the sensations he had towards flame, surely ...

'It has to be just as intense ... no, even more intense, if I want to manifest it ...'

What then, should he think of? Simple breezes weren't good enough. They were too 'carefree', idly travelling from one place to another, often at their own pace and rarely fierce. A storm, then. Fierce winds that howled, with or without peals of thunder. Tearing through, practically invisible to the naked eye ... their presence only truly felt and barely seen in how they ripped through the world itself: Swaying trees, rattling glass, trembling bodies, the earth itself torn and carried off. His thoughts would have continued, but for a moment he felt a pinprick of pain in between his hands where he cupped and pressed down on a leaf. And to his surprise, he found that the leaf was torn in half, but ... It also appeared appeared to have gained additional creases along its length, sharply contrasting against the darker veins. It was as though the leaf had been crumpled between the palms of his hands

'... What?' That wasn't ... the manifestation of wind. What was it even? Scowling, he promptly set the shredded, crumpled leaf inside one of his books. After all, he couldn't discard it without heading home and finding a more informative text to try and understand what he had just done. That and it was rather late ... and awfully quiet. Quiet until his stomach angrily reminded him he hadn't eaten today either.

OOC:
901+1013 = 1914
1914 / [1000 (Fuuton) + 2000 (Raiton)]

-A walk home and a hot meal later-

It didn't quite make sense. His affinity was still fire, that much was a given after he burned a couple of sheets of chakra-conductive paper. But, that leaf ... not only had he apparently shown an inkling of generating wind-nature chakra (a feat replicated through intense concentration on a chakra-conductive paper, and the sheet being split in two rather than burnt), but ... lightning? The crumpling, folding pattern was characteristic of lightning users, or so he had read so far. Could be a load of bogus just as much as the self-help books.

Still, at least it seems that focusing on storms was enough to have provoked him into molding wind chakra. Powerful, slicing chakra, practically invisible to the eye ... But now, lightning nature chakra? What was the nature of lightning after all, to him? Fire was a burning passion, the cause for his existence. Wind, was the dichotomy of his wants, a relaxed breeze and harsh gales ... luxury of peace and craving of power. But lightning ... Lightning was dispersed by winds. But lightning also scarred the earth, sometimes starting roaring fires. Fire was his passion. Wind was his drive. What was lightning?

The most immediate answer popped to mind, informed by the little few storms he'd seen in nature: Power. Lightning was power.

They say wind was the sharpest of all natures, and wind could disperse lightning, but there was no doubt ... comparing a single lightning bolt to gale-force winds? Both destructive, both having great lethality, but there was a raw energy in lightning that wind did not have. His hand drew another small sheet of chakra-conductive paper, a small present from a ... well, I guess friend wasn't quite the right word. Supposedly, if he were to ever take on genin as a responsibility, this could be a useful tool if they were skilled ones. An ironic notion, given his own age and relative inexperience.

Fires ... raging flames, that consumed all in their path. The radiant heat would not only warm and burn others, but enable it to spread. This was his nature, and the flames of his soul burnt the paper to ash. Another sheet was taken from the pile.

Winds ... roaring gusts, incapable of being contained. Both cool and sharp, they flow in the direction they desire, easily bypassing obstacles in their path, or if necessary, slicing through them. Wind was his will, how he pressed and soldiered on, and the sheet split into two.

Lightning. Those brilliant lights they gave off reminded him too much of flames, charring another sheet. Their crashing noise, merely a cousin of a thunder, was not enough to distinguish from forceful winds rending and uprooting trees, homes, and the earth itself, slicing another sheet. This would repeat several times, within the confines of his own small home, and eventually the problem became known to him. What other properties of lightning could he think of? There must have been something more tangible that could come to mind, setting the way for him to convert his chakra into electricity?

... Electricity.

Rather than the heat or the cold, perhaps it was like a feeling of numbness. An overwhelming sensation of power that fried even the nerves themselves, making it difficult to feel anything. Yes, although it was bit erroneous to how lightning probably worked, it was a good sensation to latch onto. Power for its own sake, after all, was a hollow endeavor, meaningless and empty. To gather power was not an admirable goal, only how one used it. And so, if Lightning was power, and his act of channeling lightning like this, without jutsu, was acquiring power ...

Then an emptiness of mind, a chilling sensation similar to cold, the tingling of his nerves, a dark desperation amidst a cloud-blackened sky ... before the inevitable flash. These things he began to associate with lightning, trying to break away from the other traits that brought forth other elements in his mind. Minutes pass, and still he is holding the same sheet after making this realization.

The chakra-conductive paper in his hand does not react. It trembles slightly from both his wavering arms, and the flow of chakra ... but it does not burn, or tear.

What would he do with that power, which he associated with lightning? After all, acquiring power alone he decided was meaningless. Strength meant nothing if you horded it to yourself, and never used it. Weapons become rusted and dust-covered if kept forever in storage. The mind and body dulled with disuse. Villages waned in importance, if they did not exercise military might, no matter how strong their standing forces were.

So, what would he use power for? ... Honestly, he didn't know. Would he use it for the sake of Konoha? Probably, given this was the only home he really knew, but. That wasn't a compelling answer. No, his power was for himself, to protect himself maybe. As selfish and childish as it sounds, he craved power because he loathed feeling powerless, forgotten ... a disposable burden. Power to protect himself, to better fight, to better survive. However he would exercise that power did not matter, so long as it was his. Slaughtering the enemies of Konoha, helping the citizens of Konoha. Sparring with his comrades. Turning on his comrades. War with another nation. Sabotage in the lands of another nation.

As much as he tried to keep his wits and morals about, he could not deny that the world was a cruel, uncaring place. To survive in this world, while he could depend occasionally on others, he must first be able to rely on himself. And to do that, he needed this power.

'To hell with the world. To hell with the people! To hell with what they might think!! I want power for power's own sake, and I am gonna use it to make sure everyone knows it!' He finally snaps in his mind, clearing the lingering emotions and thoughts with the realization.

And then he realizes his eyes are closed, though that wasn't too hard considering all he saw was the blackness behind his eyelids. Slowly, he peeks open one eye, and stares towards his hand. There, the small paper rested, completely crinkled and crumpled in between his fingers.

It was still a far cry from true mastery, after all, he would have to learn the jutsu and be able to generate far more nature-transformed chakra, but ... the powers were slowly falling in place. And he would aim to become strong.

OOC:
1914 + 1086 = 3000
3000 / [1000 (Fuuton) + 2000 (Raiton)]