[THIRD PERSON POV:]

"Tch." A small groan of annoyance escaped Aoki's lips.

The boy crumpled up the paper he was holding and gripped it firmly with both hands, flooding his palms with Chakra while envisioning a blazing fire. It took only a moment before it started to singe, smoke, and soon after catch fire.

Aoki let go of the paper and it fell to the ground, landing on the kitchen tiles and burning itself out.

'My head hurts.' He thought, grabbing his forehead with a hand and lightly massaging it.

Hanging upside-down by the ceiling wasn't very fun, although he felt like he could keep sticking to the ceiling indefinitely, the blood rushing to his head told him a different story.

Aoki stopped flowing Chakra to his feet and jumped off the ceiling, grabbing the almost fully burnt piece of paper and burning it to ashes, making sure that the plans he drafted out had been fully purged.

His paranoia wouldn't allow for it to exist in this physical plane.

Even though he wrote it out in English, he knew that the genius' of this world couldn't be underestimated, destroying his notes was the safest option.

The boy's brows furrowed as he tapped his feet rather impatiently, there was too much to do, and too little time to do it all.

'I need to fix my Chakra, integrate myself into the Uchiha, start learning seals and endear myself to a few more important characters... the first two things are really fucking me over...' Aoki thought, grabbing a snack from the kitchen counter and munching on it absentmindedly.

For all his bravado and initiative, at times like these, he felt like he was stuck in place. Just as trapped as he was back in Orachimaru's grasp, this time round, with an illusion of freedom.

'Who all can I reap benefits from ASAP?' Aoki considered, going over a mental checklist he created.

'Itachi? Perhaps, but he's too caught up in his clan and family to look in my direction... at least for now. Hiruzen? Nah, dude's getting busier by the day, he seems to be ageing rapidly these past few weeks...' Aoki thought, remembering how tired the Third Hokage looked recently. After every mission, he and his team reported to the Hokage, and each time they saw him, he'd have amassed a few more wrinkles.

Even though it'd only been a month since they'd done their first mission, the Kage looked as if he'd aged a few years.

'Jiraiya...' Aoki thought, his checklist reaching a point at which he often stopped.

'Maybe Senjutsu can save me...' Aoki wondered, looking at his hands as he attempted to mould some Chakra within himself, failing miserably as the thick and dense energy refused to obey his commands.

He had come up with many possible ways to "cure" himself, Senjutsu being one that often graced his mind when the issue was brought up. There were others too, but most were too outlandish for him to consider for now. Even more so than Senjutsu.

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'Sage mode is achieved by mixing nature energy with your own Chakra, how would nature energy interact with my Chakra? I have a body similar to Hashirama's and that man was able to use Sage mode without any frogs like Jiraya or Shadow Clones like Naruto... best case scenario, I might be able to do something similar.' Aoki thought, remembering how Hashirama conjured up Sage Mode with a clap of his hands during the War Arc in Naruto.

Aoki shook his head and got up from his slouched position, there wasn't anything to be gained by needlessly stressing.

Deciding to go for a run in an attempt to ease his mind, he grabbed whatever he needed and exited the apartment.

*****

[AOKI POV]

'So fucking annoying... ugh.'

I had taken all my clothes off and stashed them under a nearby tree, the clearing I came to was secluded and far enough from the main populace of the village that I had confidence in being left alone.

Equipped with nothing more than a trusty pair of underwear, I gingerly placed my feet on the water. The flimsy firmament of liquid held for a moment before my feet broke through once again. I'd been dunking my right foot in water for almost an hour now, and had almost nothing to show for it.

'Guess I'll just practice my handstands...' I thought, placing my hands on the water and lifting myself, balancing on the water upside-down. I assume this is a side-effect of my messed up chakra, but spooling the energy to my hands was much easier than my feet by several magnitudes.

After another hour or so of balancing exercises, I exited the pool and donned my clothes, deciding to go for another run.

Guy was unavailable until our next mission tomorrow, Yakumi and Byakko are busy for the day so I can't visit the Uchiha. There was nothing for me to do, and the creeping worry that spread through my body only served to stress me out more.

I trained, ran, practised and exhausted myself to the bone for the rest of the day. Anytime I felt my fatigue catch up, I pushed myself further.

'Discipline. Be disciplined Aoki.' I repeated to myself, panting lightly as I sprinted through the village, bathed in a golden sunset. I ran past Ichiraku, not feeling up to chatting with anyone for the rest of the day.

'You can't be wallowing Aoki, you gotta keep pushing.' I chided myself, entering my home with a small sigh.

It was exhausting to be this worried all the time. The future was too fragile for me to act as I wanted to, and I was too weak to influence it in any meaningful way.

'Taijutsu won't be enough. I need more.' My mind replayed the images of Guy, a man who stood at the top of this world but fell regardless. The only tool I have so far is Taijutsu, and as powerful as it can be, it won't be enough.

I ate dinner, a simple meal consisting of leftover chicken and rice; these days I had begun regulating my diet with a fine-toothed comb. My body is my weapon and I must only fuel it with the best things available.

My next few actions were strange, but they were necessary.

I never knew if I was being watched.

Seemingly with the intent to go to bed, I grabbed a small packet I purchased during my run and opened it, taking one piece away from it and stuffing it into my pocket. I went into the bathroom and filled it with water from the tap.

The only people who may be watching me are Hiruzen with his crystal ball or ANBU operatives, I can only hope that they both have the decency to not spy on me when I go to the toilet.

Stuffing the enlarged water-filled balloon into my pocket, I swiftly jumped into bed and turned off the lights, reaching under my blanket and taking the water balloon out of my pocket, ensuring that the blanket was fully covering it.

There were certain opportunities that my inability to easily mould Chakra and weave Jutsus provided me with, one of them being a reason to explore Chakra manipulation in ways most others had no reason to think of.

'If there's anyone with an excuse to have "naturally come up with the Rasengan", it's me.' I thought, reinforcing the idea that this wouldn't be suspicious.

Throwing away my useless thoughts, I began practising, willing Chakra to flood my palms and swirl around the balloon. With practiced ease, the energy spilled out of my hands and I felt the sphere begin trembling within less than a few seconds.

I suppressed my oncoming smile and continued.