'… right, so that plan's making progress. I should play more shogi with Yami, might help my strategy and decision-making. Befriending Yakumi's going to be tough however…'

My right hand held a twig, it was lightly smoking while I clenched it. My left hand was attached to the ceiling where I was hanging from, as of now, this was the best exercise to improve my Chakra control I could think of; it leveraged my entire body weight and forced me to stay attached using only a small surface area.

It did get tiring after a while though.

*Thunk, Thunk, Thunk *

Hearing footsteps that unmistakably belonged to Tomo, I dropped down, threw the stick into a corner of the room and leapt towards one of my school-books which I opened up and laid on the bed.

Tomo opened the door and announced, "There's mail for you, Sasuke too." She had a complex expression as she handed me the letter, she left soon after presumably to hand Sasuke the one meant for him.

I opened it to find something that churned my stomach in anticipation, the school was officially accepting graduation exams for my year, the fourth year was coming up and many students in my class had unofficially been accepted already.

Anyone who showed a good level of competence in all of the subjects taught, including Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, would be eligible to shoot their shot at graduating. Almost everyone in my group save Yami and Arashi felt prepared to take it on, the former told everyone it'd be too much of a bother to graduate early. This form had details on how the graduation process occurred and a sign-up sheet to go alongside it.

'There's a lot to consider...' I sighed as I recounted my knowledge of this world's future.

The Uchiha massacre is coming up but my knowledge of canon isn't as detailed as I'd like it to be, I have no idea what year the genocide occurred. All I know is that it happened roughly one year after Shisui Uchiha was found dead.

I had plans for how I'd work around the Uchiha but it required a lot of effort, as well as a heaping amount of luck. I considered just letting it pass without affecting it in any way, but I couldn't.

I want to make one thing clear, I am no bleeding heart who'd risk his neck for strangers, no. But I am also not someone who would sit by and allow something horrible to happen *if* I had control over it… especially when there were personal gains to be made when preventing an atrocity.

My control was limited, I agree on that part… but how much influence is needed to change the course of history? Even if I cannot turn the situation completely in my favour, can't I at least try to reap some benefits?

I wasted no time in taking out a pen and signing my name on the sheet, I needed to expedite the growth of my influence as soon as possible. My physical energies need to be improved and that cannot be done by sparring with children, I need true growth beyond the Academy's walls and I need it quick. Even though I can't use Jutsu, I have a few ideas on how to graduate anyway, Rock Lee did it, and so can I.

The moment I would hear of Shisui's death, I'd be working on a timer; sadly for him, I had no plans to change his fate, mainly because I deemed it impossible for me to change. There are a few stray ideas I have floating around my head on how to influence the future, but I stored them away for later. Currently, I had a few goals I was working towards and was completely focused on bringing them to life.

First, I must gain Guy's interest more. Since our first meeting, I have met him once more in the village where he suggested a race between us. Needless to say, I readily accepted.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

I need to get as close to him as possible to increase the chances of becoming his student. Furthermore, to learn the Eight Gates technique he has to trust me with that amount of power. I believe that the Gates, or the journey to them, might hold secrets on how to relieve my Jutsuless curse.

Secondly, my nature transformation and Chakra manipulation have to improve, if Jutsus aren't possible I need to develop other skills that can fill in the void left by them.

Third, I must increase my contact with the Uchiha clan as much as possible. This was a dangerous gamble I was taking but after a long time of considering it, I came to the conclusion that the possible benefits I'd get when doing this were too attractive to ignore. When doing this operation, I need to value my safety above all else.

Fourth, increase my reputation as much as I possibly can within the village. This came with another added risk of me getting on the radar of dangerous people, I trusted Hiruzen to protect me for now, at the very least until I could protect myself. The Hokage can be unreliable at times but his passion for the village's security reigned supreme over all else for him, as long as I prove to be an asset, I believe he will help.

After completing my mental checklist I groaned a little internally, there was a lot to do, but as someone who didn't want to end up as Otsutsuki chow, I had to do it.

-----

"How about this?" I asked, putting a gentle smile on my face and tilting my head slightly.

Sasuke inspected my face a little before turning away and shaking his head, "It's still not right… just do it like you did before! That felt a little better at least!"

I shook my head, back then I was just doing my best to imitate Sasu but that was a crutch I didn't want to keep relying on, improving my acting ability would let me make whatever expression the situation called for instead of reaching into my bank of Sasu masks.

"Watching you try to put on a nice smile is like… hm… a monkey going to school! Or a baboon dressing up! it's unnatural!"

'Or like a kid that's bald.' I felt tempted to add on but I stifled my roast and nodded, the boy was trying to help in his own cruel way.

My next attempt was deemed slightly more passable by Sasu, it seems that I had my work cut out for me.

-----

"Push-ups can be hard to start with, look here," I said as I pointed at a few steps, "if you do some push-ups on an incline and practice those, you'll be able to work your way up to regular push-ups in no time!"

The cabbage vendor nodded solemnly as if taking advice from a great sage, "And those will help me burn the weight off?" he asked.

I hummed a little and thought for a moment before replying, "All movement is good movement, as long as you eat healthy and work out, you should steadily improve your physique!". The man had a little bit of a beer belly hanging out from his shirt, it was clear what his intentions were when he stopped me during one of my morning runs.

More and more people had been greeting me as they got used to my presence, getting connections to the villagers was a hidden benefit to Operation Guy-bait.

The man nodded at my statement and thanked me with a free cabbage, I got a few weird looks running around with the leafy ball while screaming about push-ups, but Tomo was happy to see me "finally pull my weight" as she so nicely put it, apparently feeding me was no cheap task.

------

"Ya know Yakumi, you're getting a lot faster these days!" I said, smiling as I reached a hand down to help him stand up. The Uchiha scoffed and got up on his own, not sparing me a glance and taking a seat. He didn't form the seal nor did he accept my peace offering but at least he didn't throw a tantrum like he usually does. I even noticed the running drills he'd perform at lunchtime and complemented him on his growth, but he still ignored me.

I sat back down to see Ryoma look at me with a stunned expression, the boy looked like he was trying to catch flies with his mouth.

"What?" I asked, not knowing what had happened for him to be so shocked.

"You... kind?" he sputtered out like a caveman, mouth still agape.

"I'm always kind!" I bouted back, I had never purposefully antagonised the boy nor had I hurt him any more than what was necessary!

Ryoma shook his head, "No, you're usually smug… and you don't hurt the body Aoki, when you fight... it's the other person's soul that gets abused" said the boy with a wisened expression stroking his non-existent beard. It was clear that he was trying to annoy me but I held back my urge to snap at him; this would be good training in dealing with Yakumi's penchant for nagging.

I rolled my eyes at his antics and defended my new mindset, "Well I just wanted to change a bit! It's good right? You should support your friend's growth!"

"Watching you be nice feels scarier for some reason…" Ryoma said with squinted eyes and a sly smile.

I resisted the urge to thunk the blue mop of hair on his head and just observed the next few matches instead, talking with Ryoma too much was bad for my health.