"My name's Aoki! It's nice to meet you!" I said sticking out my hand, it was important to leave a good first impression.

Guy enthusiastically shook my hand as well, his hands were calloused and squeezed mine tightly.

I feared that Guy or Kakashi might want to leave after greeting me so I needed to hook them in now.

"Um… Mr. Blue Beast… I've always wanted to see how strong real ninjas are… can we have a race?" I asked, squeezing out as much of my childish cuteness as I could. I had learnt to control this terrible ability a while ago, I seldom used it as such power could taint even the purest of souls.

With great cuteness, comes great responsibility.

…

'How have I not cringed myself to death yet?' I wondered, looking at Guy's face transform into one of excitement.

"My oh my… WHAT A WONDERFUL IDEA AOKI! YOU'RE SIMPLY OVERFLOWING WITH THE POWER OF YOUTH! OF COURSE! LET US RACE!" Guy said, literally bursting into tears as he clenched his fist and tucked his elbows in.

I'm not embellishing at all. The man somehow sprouted a fountain's worth of tears in an instant.

Maybe I had finally gone crazy after all that training… but he looked really cool right now.

'Why do I feel the urge to cry with him? No! Resist Aoki! Resist!'

"First to the gates of the Leaf village wins! I'm ready whenever you-"

"Actually, Mr. Blue Beast… can we go back that way? To the Sarutobi Clan compound? I can't go too far from there" I asked, pointing back to where I had run from. There were two reasons I wanted this, first, Tomo had given strict rules about how far I was allowed to go from home, and I didn't want to get in trouble.

Even if there was no proof, evidence, or even a reason to suspect me; Tomo would find out. She's like a damn psychic when it comes to sniffing out my secrets.

The second reason? I needed Guy to know where I lived.

Guy voiced his agreement and turned on the spot, moving so fast that I barely registered it.

'I wonder who's gonna win.' I thought sarcastically, getting into position as well.

"Alright Aoki! Count us down!" he shouted, digging his feet deeper into the ground.

'He's not gonna go all out right? I mean… what kind of ninja takes a race against a child seriously?' I thought, before realising that Guy was not someone who could be judged with common sense. I wasted no time before indulging the ninja, he seemed to be more excited than even me for the race!

"5…4…3…2… and…" I waited for a moment and flicked my head to the right for a moment to see Guy's face twisted into an excited smile. This was good.

"ONE!"

I used all the strength I had built up over the years to slam my feet into the ground and propel myself forward as fast as possible, my hands flung back as my feet operated like a machine; no wasted movements, primed for one purpose: speed.

Like this I continued, pushing myself faster and further than I had ever done before. Nobody in my class came anywhere near my top speed and I never had the need to push myself anywhere else besides training; this was the first time my speed would be truly tested.

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'Faster… Faster!' I urged myself, breaking every record I had set for myself by the second. The knowledge that Guy, someone who held my fate in his hands like a tiny baby bird was watching me only served to make me run even faster.

The surroundings whizzed past me, I didn't even notice the Clan Compound walls until they were a hundred metres away… but what I did notice was the smiling man standing by the gate, hands on his hips in a pose signifying his victory.

I ignored my loss and still ran, driving my feet into the ground even harder to reach Guy.

*SMACK*

I hit the wall of the clan compound, keeling over in exhaustion.

My entire body felt as if it were being cooked, I didn't think it was possible to run as fast as I just did, the speed that I felt during that whole period was exhilarating!

"You're very fast Aoki." Guy said patting me on the back, he had gained a little seriousness and wasn't acting as animatedly as he does normally. Call me arrogant, but I was very proud of what I had just done; his words were appreciated, and I knew he meant it.

"Y-yeah… thanks," I said, regaining my breath a bit.

"You're positively OVERFLOWING with YOUTH! Continue down this path and you'll be a splendid Ninja in no time!" Guy said, flashing a smile and giving me a thumbs up.

With those words he had said, I realised it was time to begin my theatrics.

Employ Sasuke emotion: [ Aoki's on a Taijutsu Winstreak ]

I looked a little frustrated at his words, but held those emotions off and gave a slightly strained smile, "Thank you…"

"Is something the matter Aoki? Did you want to race again?" he asked.

I shook my head and improved the grin, one I made sure still had cracks in its authenticity, "It's nothing! I'm ok!"

'Please keep asking, please…'

Guy grinned and stuck his thumb at himself, "Don't fret Aoki! As a fellow enjoyer of my YOUTH, if you're having a problem I would be happy to help!"

'Jackpot.' I knew I could count on Guy to be a little nosey, it's one of the things I respected about him.

"It's just… I can't do Jutsu… there's something wrong with my Chakra so I don't know if I can be a Ninja like you say…" I said, my voice trailing off as I spoke.

Every word, every sentence, every movement was practised. The only thing I had to control rigidly was my acting, and that too had been through considerable improvements; the best part is, the acting was easy as I already felt this way, I only had to tone up my desperation a few notches.

Guy looked surprised for a second, and to my shock he shot down next to me and kneeled, placing both hands on my shoulders with a stoic expression. It was clear that he had taken my words seriously.

"Young Aoki, now you listen to me. With hard work and grit, you can accomplish anything that you set your mind to! Just by running alongside you these past few minutes, I can tell how hard you've worked, your effort will not betray you!" He said smiling but still serious.

He tightened his grip on my shoulders as he continued, "It doesn't matter what you can't do, what matters is what you can!"

From the beginning, I was trying to get him to say these words but hearing them was a different beast altogether. I understood everything he said with perfect clarity, those words may have resonated with most but to me, I felt it shake my soul. Regardless of my talents, there will be people and situations out there that I cannot overcome, I need to work even harder than I already am.

I dropped all the pretences I had built up, from here on out there was no need to fib.

"Yes!" I steeled my eyes and shouted, gripping my fists and tucking in my elbows to mimic Guy's pose a few moments ago, "I will be a strong Ninja regardless of everything! Thank you!" I bowed at the end to hit my point home.

"OOF!" Guy made a sound like he got punched and held his chest with both arms, "OH AOKI, YOUR YOUTHFULLNESS HAS INSPIRED ME! KEEP WORKING HARD AND I'M SURE YOU'LL SURPASS ALL YOUR EXPECTATIONS!" He shouted with metaphorical flames in his eyes while jumping into his trademark pose. "I've been burnt by the embers of your dedication! I need to up my training! Farewell Aoki! I'm sure we'll meet again soon!" Guy shouted out, flashing a thumbs-up and running away, producing a dust cloud as he shot away.

I looked on as the visage of the man grew smaller and smaller until he disappeared from my view entirely. There were a lot of things I was thinking at this moment, but the emotion of pure joy reigned supreme.

The first of many plans I had created succeeded. Knowing that I had completed what I set out to do, I felt an immense sense of pride. I created this situation all by myself and will soon reap the benefits; I should congratulate myself with an extra plate of Takoyaki at dinner.

With this, cracks had begun to form in the canon storyline, it was only a matter of time before I shattered it for good.

'Operation Guy-bait is a success!'

'…'

'Name still needs to be re-worked'