(These events occur before the Anarchy Event, sometime after Takumi first arrives in Sand.)
The ghosts of the past were always daunting and relentless throughout history. In every book that Takumi had read, the traumatic events that often plagued a society would always resurface in the mind of an individual. No one could escape the torment of loss and suffering. No one could escape the anger with which war and strife gripped humanity. And now, after reading about it for so long, Takumi was experiencing the same phenomenon. He observed the images that appeared before his eyes. Women screaming and children running as a society literally tore itself apart from the inside out. Families were forced away to make a new home someplace else, where the pain could not reach them. Separation and turmoil were two commonly occurring themes in the falling leaf village, and there was nothing that any one person could do about it.
Having been forced away from his home and into this underground desert, Takumi was becoming victim to a rage that he had never before experienced. Two parts of him were constantly at battle. There was a part of him that loved everything, that remained excited about his future ahead, and stayed hopeful that things would always get better. Then there was another part of him, cold, hardened, and firm in its resilience. That part of him hated what had happened to his village, and pushed him strongly to want to return and fight. As he struggled with these two sides, he could feel the tides of battle within his own being. He could feel the destruction of himself occurring from the inside, just as it had done in leaf. War waged inside of him just as it did on the streets of his home village, and these places were the worst kinds of places for war and death to exist. For, it was those kinds of places where innocence would be cut down and replaced with evil and hatred. Takumi feared that he would not be able to recover from his internal injuries. He would not be able to pull himself from the dark depths of civil war.
Haroku watched his young friend suffer and slowly lose his mind to the chaos. But there was nothing he could do. With his formidable years, he was wise enough to realize that this was a battle that Takumi had to suffer alone. He had to resolve his own differences, for it was a fight that was internal to himself. Two parts of Takumi were at war, and they would need to find harmony in order for Takumi to ever find peace within himself. And when they did finally find harmony, Takumi would be the better for it. He would emerge from his ordeal much stronger, and much more powerful, especially if he didn't give up, and Haroku was right. Takumi never let up in his ambitions. He never stopped training, and he never stopped learning about the things that help him to protect those that he loved.
With his past restraints and desires stripped of him, those of wanting to remain in the academy, and avoid being noticed as the prodigy that he was, Takumi was able to finally ascend into more advanced forms of chakra manipulation. He worked tirelessly to find a compromise between the two distinct sides of his being, the cheerful and the resilient. It was only through training did Takumi finally realize that the two sides of himself were more than just psychological profiles. They were spiritual entities, coexisting in one being, and going to war to determine which spirit should dominate and remain. Knowing that these were spiritual entities, Takumi soon realized that these entities were represented by his chakra alignments. His wind alignment was the playful, cheerful, ambitious, and loving side of his spirit... And his earth alignment was the firm, demanding, and resilient side of his spirit. He realized that, in order to find peace, he would have to merge the sides of his spirit into one again. He would have to crush them together to form a new kind of spirit, and a new kind of being made up of harmony rather than war. He would need to combine these spirits and make them whole once again.
And so his training had evolved. He worked to combine his spirits, and his work spilled its way into his chakra. He worked to resolve the dissonance between his two sides, and resolve the war which had been declared since his leaving Konoha. His work was more than prosperous, for he began to realize that a new kind of chakra was being born. He was mastering a new kind of element, one which he barely knew existed. He was discovering, that by combining his two warring spirits into one, he was creating within himself a stronger affinity: dust. Eventually, he emerged from his ordeal stronger than ever, and more wise about himself than ever before.
He had finally come to terms with reality, and with his resolution, came a new kind of strength. He was ready to move on.
[Advanced Affinity: Dust Application]
The ghosts of the past were always daunting and relentless throughout history. In every book that Takumi had read, the traumatic events that often plagued a society would always resurface in the mind of an individual. No one could escape the torment of loss and suffering. No one could escape the anger with which war and strife gripped humanity. And now, after reading about it for so long, Takumi was experiencing the same phenomenon. He observed the images that appeared before his eyes. Women screaming and children running as a society literally tore itself apart from the inside out. Families were forced away to make a new home someplace else, where the pain could not reach them. Separation and turmoil were two commonly occurring themes in the falling leaf village, and there was nothing that any one person could do about it.
Having been forced away from his home and into this underground desert, Takumi was becoming victim to a rage that he had never before experienced. Two parts of him were constantly at battle. There was a part of him that loved everything, that remained excited about his future ahead, and stayed hopeful that things would always get better. Then there was another part of him, cold, hardened, and firm in its resilience. That part of him hated what had happened to his village, and pushed him strongly to want to return and fight. As he struggled with these two sides, he could feel the tides of battle within his own being. He could feel the destruction of himself occurring from the inside, just as it had done in leaf. War waged inside of him just as it did on the streets of his home village, and these places were the worst kinds of places for war and death to exist. For, it was those kinds of places where innocence would be cut down and replaced with evil and hatred. Takumi feared that he would not be able to recover from his internal injuries. He would not be able to pull himself from the dark depths of civil war.
Haroku watched his young friend suffer and slowly lose his mind to the chaos. But there was nothing he could do. With his formidable years, he was wise enough to realize that this was a battle that Takumi had to suffer alone. He had to resolve his own differences, for it was a fight that was internal to himself. Two parts of Takumi were at war, and they would need to find harmony in order for Takumi to ever find peace within himself. And when they did finally find harmony, Takumi would be the better for it. He would emerge from his ordeal much stronger, and much more powerful, especially if he didn't give up, and Haroku was right. Takumi never let up in his ambitions. He never stopped training, and he never stopped learning about the things that help him to protect those that he loved.
With his past restraints and desires stripped of him, those of wanting to remain in the academy, and avoid being noticed as the prodigy that he was, Takumi was able to finally ascend into more advanced forms of chakra manipulation. He worked tirelessly to find a compromise between the two distinct sides of his being, the cheerful and the resilient. It was only through training did Takumi finally realize that the two sides of himself were more than just psychological profiles. They were spiritual entities, coexisting in one being, and going to war to determine which spirit should dominate and remain. Knowing that these were spiritual entities, Takumi soon realized that these entities were represented by his chakra alignments. His wind alignment was the playful, cheerful, ambitious, and loving side of his spirit... And his earth alignment was the firm, demanding, and resilient side of his spirit. He realized that, in order to find peace, he would have to merge the sides of his spirit into one again. He would have to crush them together to form a new kind of spirit, and a new kind of being made up of harmony rather than war. He would need to combine these spirits and make them whole once again.
And so his training had evolved. He worked to combine his spirits, and his work spilled its way into his chakra. He worked to resolve the dissonance between his two sides, and resolve the war which had been declared since his leaving Konoha. His work was more than prosperous, for he began to realize that a new kind of chakra was being born. He was mastering a new kind of element, one which he barely knew existed. He was discovering, that by combining his two warring spirits into one, he was creating within himself a stronger affinity: dust. Eventually, he emerged from his ordeal stronger than ever, and more wise about himself than ever before.
He had finally come to terms with reality, and with his resolution, came a new kind of strength. He was ready to move on.
[Advanced Affinity: Dust Application]