Shifting Winds

As the third year at the academy started for Shiran and company, they could feel a palpable tension in the village. The higher-ranking shinobi seemed more on edge recently, and the villagers were irritable because of the prices that were rising too fast for them to keep up with.

"Do you guys f-feel like it seems different in the village lately?" Yuta asked quietly while looking around at the tension that crept everywhere in the village.

"Yeah, it does seem that way. I just wonder what it is," Kiyoko also looked around at the strained smiles in the marketplace and the serious faces of the shinobi walking by.

Shiran, just like the others, was also looking around, but he had a different perspective on everything that seemed to be going on.

'Inflating food costs, more expensive ninja tools, the shinobi are more serious than usual. Around this time, the second shinobi war should be starting. Could that be the reason that everyone seems more stressed than usual?'

Arriving at the academy and hearing what Takahiro-sensei had to say all but confirmed my suspicions.

"Alright, class, I have something exciting to tell you. The Uzukage has been so pleased with your growth as a class that he has decided to push for accelerated curriculum and possibly have you guys graduate early!" He said with a big fake smile on his face.

Deadpanning, I looked at him. 'Yeah, real exciting news there. You just told all these kids that they'll be heading to the battlefield even quicker than they're supposed to, and everyone in here is elated.' I looked to my side to see Shin staring back at me with an inquisitive yet tense expression. 'Perhaps he feels that something isn't right here as well.'

"Well, let's get started today, class, and show the Uzukage what we're made of."

------

It was lunchtime when we all gathered around the tree to eat our food. Curiously, Shin wasn't with us yet, which was a tad odd, but everyone brushed it off.

"So how do you guys feel about the accelerated curriculum? I think it's awesome that Lord Third is already recognizing how great of shinobi we'll become!" Benimaru, with his signature arrogance, piped up while smiling cockily.

"I wouldn't get too ahead of yourself, carrot-top." A voice sounded out from behind Benimaru as Shin came back into view and sat down with the group.

"I was just talking with 4 different kids from other classes, and they all said their class is going through the same thing," I raised my eyebrows as he finished speaking.

"That's not like you to go out and talk to complete strangers like that, Shin," I questioned as he unwrapped the sushi his dad must've packed for him.

"Yeah, I just had some hunches and questions that I needed sorted out. For example, why now? The village seems extra tense lately, and then, boom! Out of nowhere, the village is now pushing us for early graduation? I mean, the majority of us are only 7 and 8 years old; we wouldn't be much help out on missions right now." Everyone nodded their head in agreement.

"So I went to see if the whole school got the same speech, and it turns out they did. So, why is the village wanting an entire couple graduation classes to graduate early? I think that something big is coming, and they're trying to prepare in advance for it."

The whole group's eyes widened at hearing that. "So they're doing this to get more ninja in a short time span," Kiyoko added, ever quick on the uptake of things.

Shin nodded. "Exactly."

"I guess it's a good thing that we've been training super hard for the past year then," Miki said in between bites of her rice balls. "I'm sure it'll all be okay though, I mean what terrible thing could befall one of the 6 great hidden villages that we couldn't recover from?"

The group seemed to agree with that statement as I just looked at Miki with a little astonishment and amusement in my eyes. 'If only this girl knew what the original timeline ended up like.'

The bell rang, and soon we were all going back into the academy to finish off the day.

------

Getting home, I was thinking about what would or wouldn't come to pass in this timeline.

'In the original timeline, I believe that Uzushiogakure got destroyed after a couple straight weeks of fighting, and it took the combined might of the Cloud and Mist to take them out. Not to mention the tacit agreement on Konoha's part to not help them in any way, so they could have a little more time to prepare for the upcoming war.

But what about this timeline? We have 2 tailed beasts compared to the 0 in canon, and I'm not sure the Leaf would want either of those 2 villages to get another tailed beast when they could have an ally keep them instead. Honestly, I really have no clue. Things could go sideways just like canon, or they could go smoothly, and we could get out with minimal losses.'

Walking inside, I went to find my dad to see if he was around, and luckily he was, just sitting in his office with a heavy face.

"Hey dad, do you have time?"

He broke out of his stupor and sent a fatherly smile my way. "Of course, I do bud, what do you need?"

"Well, I was thinking about making a seal that used the concept of chakra resonance between siblings to create a seal that could let us communicate wherever we were relative to each other."

My father gave an intrigued look and a hum. "That's indeed a very interesting idea, using the similarities in your chakra signatures to send messages over a long distance through a seal. I'm glad you came to me with this. If I'm not mistaken, this falls under the Master sealer tier, and you're not advanced enough yet to make a seal like this. With my help though, we should be able to get it done no problem." I smiled as he said this.

'As much as I don't like the uncertainty surrounding Kushina's situation right now, I want to make sure I can give her something to allow her to always have an anchor and landline.'

"How long do you think it'll take to make this?"

"Hmm, well, it is a bit tricky, but 'a bit tricky' has never stopped the Uzumaki before. I mean, we made a jutsu that literally summons the death god." He laughed at the absurdity of the thought. "You'll learn about that jutsu when you become old enough," he said, standing up and patting me on the head. "And to answer your question, it'll take around a year, especially since I want to make sure you know what to do and how the process of making a seal like this happens."

I nodded while looking forward to the practice on a Master level seal even though I'm still in the Practitioner stage. Plus, I'll get to spend time with my dad; what could be better than that?

As I left his office, my father watched my back. 'I just wish war wasn't looming over the village right now. That way, Shiran and Kushina could reach an older age before experiencing their first real battles. Everything was going well too, but now that the Mist village is really poking and prodding us, we might have to use a show of force soon. But that could also be the spark that sets off the next great war. I'm so glad that I'm not the Uzukage.' A bark of laughter escaped Haru as he went to sit back down and finish his work.