The leaf slowly slipped down my forehead, prompting me to focus harder. The sounds of the classroom had faded into the distance in my concentration, with every fibre of my being centred on where the leaf made contact with my skin.

It stopped, then slipped another few centimetres.

I could feel my tenuous gasp on my chakra begin to falter. The constantly shifting energy ignoring my will and slipping through my my mental hold.

The leaf detached from me and fluttered gently onto my desk, where it lay mocking me.

Had I been alone I probably would have unleashed my frustration by slamming my desk, but that would have been rude to the others focusing on their own leaves. In the end I settled for taking a few deep breaths and getting up, maybe walking around a little would help calm me down.

Katsurou joined me after a moment, his usual good cheer unaffected by my repeated failures.

"That was a whole seven seconds longer than last week! You're making good progress Akihiro-kun, try not to be so hard on yourself."

I didn't respond, instead taking a look around the class. It had been three months since I had been promoted into the third tier, along with only three other students. Since then the tier had doubled in size, with a new student or two joining us each month.

The weekend lessons that we had to take were almost entirely focused on the theoretical with the only exercises we took part in being based around manipulating our chakra, which is what lead to my current self-anger. The task should have been easy, just stick a leaf to your forehead for as long as possible using only your chakra.

Most of the other students were having a similar amount of success as myself, which is to say 'not much'. The average sticking time hovered around twenty seconds, with the goal being to hold it there indefinitely.

As the only kid in the tier with sensing abilities, no matter how underdeveloped, the whole thing was incredibly frustrating. I could feel the chakra running through and around my body at all times. The subtle hum of it's movement had been with me the moment I had been born, which resulted in an almost instinctual ability to look into myself and know how to utilise it.

And then I would try to reach out and grab it, only to watch it effortlessly slip out of my grasp. Again, and again, and again.

Apparently being intimately aware of your own chakra did fuck all with actually being able to control it. This was what lead to my constant frustration. Not the failure, I had grown used to that in the sparring circles, but the feeling that I should be able to do this. That success was within reach, but I failed to grab it over and over again.

Speaking of sparring circles, I had finally begun wining some recently which was a nice change of pace. The extra practise and anatomy knowledge taught in the second and third tiers were slowly letting me crawl my way out of the very bottom of the groupings. Of course if I was ever matched with someone who was also tier two I still got consistently demolished, but I was no longer at the very bottom!

Continuing to watch the class struggle with their own leaves while my mind wandered, I asked Katsurou something that had been bothering me for a while.

"Katsurou-sensei, may I ask something? Why is it that I can hear chakra? I know it means I have the potential to be a sensor, but it just seems really... weird. Chakra is just energy, so why would it have a sound associated with it that only I can hear?"

I had thought about it now and then ever since regaining conciousness in this new body, but my recent frustrations with chakra control had caused me to take a deeper look. My first instinct was that it was because it had been a totally foreign thing to me after I had been reborn, so it automatically stood out to me, but something didn't feel right about that answer. I wasn't the only one able to sense the stuff after all. The Lord Second was a famously powerful sensor, and I was pretty sure he wasn't in the same situation I was.

Katsurou rubbed his chin in thought, taking his time before responding.

"Well, I'm not an expert, but from what I've read being able to sense chakra is a seemingly random trait that a small percentage of people are born with. It isn't hereditary from what we know, as it will pop up randomly in both shinobi and civilian families as well as often not appearing even if both parents are sensors themselves.

A common theory is that it is actually a remnant of a specific bloodline limit, which became so diluted centuries after the clan was scattered that almost every shinobi has some relation to it. Such a theory would explain why it can pop up practically anywhere, but doesn't explain why it cant be targeted through planned marriages so it just remains speculation.

What we do know is that it is called 'sensing' not only because it allows you to sense other chakra signatures, but also because all sensors are able to detect chakra through one of their five major senses. Interestingly, if a family produces a sensor it will almost always be through the same sense as other sensors from that family for some reason.

For example, our very own Inuzuka clan will randomly produce a shinobi with sensing abilities, but they always manifest through their sense of smell."

That was interesting, being able to smell a form of energy? Sounded a bit bizarre, but I was hardly in a position to judge.

"Wait, wouldn't that mean some sensor-types are just better than others? Being able to see chakra sounds much better than being able to taste it," I asked once I had thought about it a little.

"Well, yes and no. Each sensor-type has it's own benefits and drawbacks. Going back to our Inuzuka example, being able to quite literally follow the smell of someone's chakra adds to their tremendous skills as trackers and hunters. Especially since while you can mask your scent and change your appearance, you cant change the smell of your chakra from a skilled sensor.

However it also comes with the unique downside that if you are actually confronting someone, no amount of chakra sniffing will help you in a fight. Meanwhile someone who can taste different types of chakra might not be good at finding someone, but it's been noted that different techniques have subtly different tastes which would allow an experienced user to guess what their opponent plans to use.

Sensing is an invaluable ability to a shinobi but remember; just like any ability, reliance is a double-edged blade. Sight is considered to be one of the best sensor-types due to its versatility, but a large and fast enough expulsion of chakra such as from an A-rank ninjutsu can temporarily blind a sensor just as effectively as any flash bomb."

I pondered Katsurou's words. It made sense in an abstract sort of way, some sort of random mutation causing a particular sense to be more sensitive to chakra. It sounded like I would have to ask around to see if any clans were used to hearing-type sensors if I ended up with specific questions.

"Thank you Katsurou-sensei, you've given me a fair bit to think about."

He just chuckled in return, before handing me another leaf from a pocket.

"Well, see if you can stick it for more than twenty seconds while you do that."

-IV-

The first hint that something might be wrong was when I woke up in the middle of the night to hear Uncle Riki and Dad arguing about something downstairs. While not a common occurrence, it also wasn't my problem so I rolled back around and went back to sleep.

The second was when I was told that Riki would be meeting me at the academy gates after school. Again, while not a common occurrence, it wasn't uncommon either so I thought nothing of it.

The third and most obvious hint, however, was impossible to ignore. The atmosphere in the academy was noticeably different, and while most of the students were oblivious every teacher I came across held themselves oddly. Most were tense, some were filled were nervous energy, the older ones had an air of resignation around them.

Clearly something had happened, I just didn't know what.

Wandering over to my usual desk that I shared with Shuun,I found her napping, hunched over the desk and head resting in on her arms. Unsurprised, I unceremoniously shoved her down the bench to make room for myself, waking her up at the same time.

"Ugghh... Come on Aki-chan, what was that for? We've still got like ten minutes 'till Itsuki-sensei is gonna start," she complained as she rubbed her eyes and stretched to fully wake up.

"If you wanted to nap you should have just moved to the end of the bench. Or would you rather I climb over you to reach the empty spot?"

"Hey! You're welcome for saving you your spot you know. Next time just do the climbing thing," She said. "You're still so small I probably wouldn't even notice after all, are you ever gonna go through your growth spurt?."

I took my seat while rolling my eyes. She had one day decided to poke fun at my size, and apparently my defence of saying I was literally half her age meant it was a sore spot.

It certainly didn't help that she was actually right.

Before the Accident I had been just under six feet tall, which while only average for my country I still considered a decent height. And going from being able to look over people's heads to staring at their knees was quite the downgrade in my opinion.

"Hey do you have any idea what's going on? All the teachers I saw seemed a bit... off," I asked instead of responding to her playful ribbing. She blinked back at me in confusion.

"Uhhhhhh no? I haven't really noticed anything weird going on. You sure you aren't just imagining things?"

I shook my head in a negative. Wasn't there a saying about two things being a coincidence, but three was a pattern? Too much odd stuff had been going on over the past twelve-ish hours.

"Well I guess we'll find out eventually. Oh by the way I wont be able to stick around today, Riki-Oji is taking me somewhere."

"Whaaaaaat? You aren't trying to avoid your wonderful Onee-san are you? I can sniff out lies you know."

Instead of dignifying that wild claim with a response, I started the daily quizzing of her theoreticals. Shuun may be top of the class in the physical department, but she needed to prove she had more brains than brawn if she ever wanted to join me in the third tier.

The rest of the day proceeded as usual with me auto-piloting the first round of lessons, failing to keep up with the older kids during the physical portions, trying not to fail horribly at the sparring and then finally actually paying attention to the interesting stuff during the lessons for the second tier students.

Today's topic was about how to spot a shinobi attempting to blend into a crowd of civilians, which was actually kind of pointless for me. There was a marked difference between the sound of a civilian's chaotic and untrained chakra, and the carefully controlled chakra of a shinobi who was trying to pass their selves off as one.

Nevertheless the lecture and exercise was interesting, and by the time the lesson ended I had stopped focusing on the odd atmosphere that had taken a hold of the shinobi populace.

Heading to the main gate, I noticed the usual crowd of parents gathering up their children. I had wondered why the vast majority of the families seemed to be civilian for the first couple weeks of starting the academy, and after asking Dad had learned it was because most shinobi-focused families expected their children to be able to find their own way back home.

He had said it was one of the many cultural divides that had begun to form between the civilian families and those that had begun embracing the shinobi system after the formation of Konoha. During the Warring States period the vast majority of shinobi had been members of one clan or another, so when Konoha had been founded and allowed anyone to train to become shinobi those who had few other options had willingly given over their children to be trained so they could hopefully have a better life.

A series of minor conflicts and a world war later the surviving children were now veterans and beginning to train their own children, having a very different outlook on life and society than the relatively sheltered civilian families. This had lead to the development of three distinct power groups in the village consisting of the civilians, the clans, and the first/second generation shinobi families, all of which were at odds with each other and trying to get the Lord Second's favour. Dad would complain endlessly about the whole situation as it constantly made his job harder than it had to be.

I assumed the Lord Second was just as annoyed by the whole mess, which was one of the reasons he had begun projects like the academy and police force which were attempts to bridge the divides before they grew enough to destabilise the village.

Practically, all this made it very easy to spot Riki in the crowd. His unusually tall height combined with the way he was distancing himself from the other parents made him stick out like a sore thumb. Waving as I walked up to him I finally got to ask the question the had been bugging me.

"Hey Riki-ojisan, what's going on with everyone?"

He just smiled and ruffled my hair in his usual manner, but something about him seemed a bit more subdued than normal.

"I'll explain in a bit, but first walk with me. Tell me about your day."

Noting that we were not heading home, I mentally shrugged to myself and followed as I began talking. Riki nodded along and asked a question here or there, but it was obvious his thoughts were elsewhere.

Finally reaching our destination, a small rustic looking tea house, Riki and I took a seat and were immediately approached by a pretty young hostess who already had a tray of green tea and some small sweet treats at the ready. I watched Riki suspiciously as he thanked the woman I vaguely recognised from some of his stories.

"Hey Ojisan, if this is all some play to impress your friend or something, I'm sure there must be easier ways that don't involve me."

It was probably the first thing I had said today that got a genuine reaction from Uncle Riki, as he coughed on the tea he had just taken a sip of in surprise. Carefully putting his drink down and wiping his face, he turned back to me with.

"No, that is most definitely not why I brought you here," he said, his eyes glinting with amusement.

"Its nice to see you still have your father's sense of humour, but no. Unfortunately we're not here for anything as fun as that. You noticed that people are pretty tense right now yea? Well, it's related."

Riki paused to steel himself as my heart sunk. I had a feeling this wasn't going to be a fun talk.

"You're smart, Aki. Everyone knows it. But I think that they still underestimate you. You hear a lot, but don't say much. You'd rather talk to people four times your age than people the same age as you. You read your dad's meeting minutes more than any children's book.

What I'm trying to get at is that, unlike your parents, I think you'll fully grasp the seriousness of what we're going to talk about."

"Wh-What do you mean Ojisan?"

Riki looked at me, dead serious, while my mind was racing in an attempt to figure out what was happening.

"War is coming Aki. We don't know when exactly, but soon. Maybe a couple months, hopefully a year. And I believe you will be expected to take part."

The dread I had been feeling from the ominous start of the conversation settled in my stomach as if I had swallowed a stone.

Already? I had hoped I would have a few more years to prepare, and Riki thought I was going to be on the front lines?! I was halfway to five years old! They wouldn't throw a prepubescent child into a war would they?

A small part of me wanted to laugh at that. Of course they would, Kakashi was only like six or seven when he became a chunin wasn't he? Burying my emotions as much as I could, I stared at Riki before asking what had caused this. I had heard rumours that things were tense but how had everything deteriorated so quickly?

"I don't know how long it'll take before word gets out to everyone, but the Lord Second was attacked."

It was my turn to choke on the tea.

"Attacked? Who would try something so stupid in Konoha?"

"He wasn't in Konoha." Riki responded, looking grave. "Tensions between the countries have been growing, and they weren't looking like they were going to stop any time soon. Encountering shinobi from other villages during missions was becoming more and more common. No ones died yet, but small scuffles are on the rise and it was only a matter of time with the encounters becoming more dangerous.

Hokage-sama and the Raikage decided something had to be done to prevent another war, so they decided to meet in order to come to an agreement. That's when he was attacked."

I leaned back in my chair, mind racing.

"They stabbed us in the back and tried to assassinate the Lord Second?"

To my surprise Riki shook his head in a negative.

"No, from what we know they were ambushed by a third party. The reports get fuzzy here, so I don't know who attacked, or what happened to the Raikage and his guards. Some are saying he was killed, others say he got away without a scratch.

Either way the attackers managed to wound the Lord Second pretty seriously, and while he is going to be fine it sends a clear message."

"...That they want the war."

"Exactly."

We both sat in silence for a minute, munching on the provided treats but too preoccupied to enjoy the taste.

"Ojisan, why are you telling me this? You said you hoped I would understand the seriousness, but I don't understand what I'm supposed top do about any of this. It's still going to be years before I leave the academy, how am I gonna take part in a war?"

Riki looked me up and down, sizing me up for some reason before responding.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that last point."

"I know you mentioned talented kids graduate early, but I'm still only in my first year. How do they expect me to be ready to fight?"

"Listen Aki, you've caught the attention of a number of important people. Your teachers are saying you're smarter than kids three times your age. Not exactly in what you know, but instead in your ability to reason and process new information which is, quite frankly, almost unbelievable. I've even had some department heads asking if you have Hyperthymesia, which means you have a perfect memory. The fact that I know you don't makes your progress even more absurd. The only kid that seems to be able to match you is that Namikaze boy, and I've heard even crazier things about him than you!

Before he left for the meeting village, Hokage-sama asked me about you during one of my reports. Do you understand how unusual it is for a Hokage to take an interest in an academy student?"

The stone that had been sitting in my stomach since the mention of war grew ten times heavier. People thought I was a genius? The Lord Second had asked about me?

The only reason I was so far ahead of the other kids was the fact I had the mentality of a twenty-something, not some crazy genius level intellect! How long would it take for them to discover I was a fraud? And then what would happen?

Nothing good I imagine.

Riki leaned back into his seat, toning down his intensity a bit.

"Aki, I'm not saying this to stroke your ego or anything, not that I think you are that type of person. Your parents disagreed, but I thought you should know. 'Forewarned is Forearmed' and all that." He continued, mistaking my shell-shocked expression for something else.

"Katsurou-sensei and Itsuki-sensei both want to promote you to the fourth tier, but Hiroto-sensei has been blocking it. He is adamant that, while you may be leaps and bounds ahead of your peers mentally, your physical abilities are nowhere near ready to join that level of competition. And I have to say that I agree with him. Nevertheless with Hokage-sama starting to take an interest it's only a matter of time before you are moved up, ready or not.

And once you reach the fourth tier, well, graduation will follow soon after."

This was bad. Bad bad bad bad bad. I had overplayed my hand, and now I was being fast-tracked through the academy, disregarding one of my biggest flaws.

"So what do I do? Hiroto-sensei's right, I'm not ready at all. I can't even beat some of the first tier students!" I asked in desperation, and suddenly there was a shift in Riki's bearing. His previously serious and concerned expression calming.

"Well that's where I come in. I had a rough time convincing your Dad especially, but I have a plan. I even proposed it to the Hokage and he seemed to approve of the idea."

I had to prevent myself from throwing something at Uncle Riki as he trailed off, not explaining this marvellous plan of his.

"Ojisan, I'm stressing out right now and you being proud that the Hokage liked your idea isn't really helping."

This got a small smile out of Riki, before his demeanour flipped back into his serious mode.

"Right. To put it bluntly, I'm offering to give you some serious personal training. I asked the Hokage for a full year's leave, which he wasn't pleased with, in order to devote my time and focus on your training, with the caveat that if you don't show enough improvement I'll be put back on the active roster. I managed to convince him that a year of personal training combined with the academy training, was an investment that will pay off far more than one extra Tokubetsu Jonin running missions in the long run.

Don't think this would be easy though. This is going to have to be a two-sided effort if this is going to work. We no longer have the luxury of taking things slow. If you agree, I am going to have to push you to your limits, before you leave for the academy and after you come back, every single day. Once you accept there is no backing out, and no slacking off. It will be painful, and you will have to listen to and follow everything and anything I tell you to do.

War is coming, Aki. I need you to be as prepared as you can, as quickly as you can. So will you work with me?"

I sat there, contemplating his words. They thought I was some sort of genius on the level of Minato, but I was self aware enough that I knew I would never reach that level. The chance of getting them to think I was just a normal kid was now long gone, so the only real option left was to fake it.

The story of the first part of canon was all about how hard work beat natural talent, and while I would probably never be on par with someone like Minato I could maybe get close enough if I worked hard enough.

This offer was my best chance. My only chance. Failure meant either death in the war, or embarrassment to both my family and Konoha in general for not living up to what they thought was my potential.

And knowing how important appearances and saving face was in this new world, embarrassing the village would probably result in death. Just look at what would eventually happen to Sakumo.

I could practically feel the lead ball of dread that had been sitting in my stomach firm and harden into an iron resolve. I had been given a second chance at life, and I refused to have it end as abruptly and ignominiously as my first.

This was my best chance, my only chance.

In order to have any hope at all of surviving I would need to grasp onto this lifeline, and pull myself up with every ounce of strength I could muster. I needed to stop thinking of escape, and focus on survival first above all else. Living free far away from here would never happen if I didn't have the strength to get out in the first place

And as I thought this to myself, a strange thought crept into my head. Of another student, one who was remarkably like me, but a mirror image.

One who's physical skills were head and shoulders above the rest but who's book smarts weighed them down, not letting them reach the heights of their potential.

I stood up and looked Riki dead in the eyes as I gave a small bow.

"I will work with you, Riki-ojisan. But I have one request."

"Oh?"

"I know of someone else who needs your help just as much as I do."

"...Tell me more"

-IV-

The next day I wandered the halls of the academy, trying to single out the hum of my targets chakra. It was slow going, separating his particular sound from the dozens that surrounded me at any given time, but was still faster than just aimlessly walking around.

I had managed to convince Uncle Riki to accept Shuun as a secondary student, with the caveat that If he found her motivation or progress lacking, she would be dropped, and was now looking for the other blond I was at least somewhat familiar with.

As much as I thought associating with Minato would be dangerous in the long run, only a fool would deny he was a true genius. I thought it would be only fair to tell him about what I learned yesterday. He was probably in the same boat as myself, and the Lord Second's attention was a double-edge blade that I thought he should know about.

Plus any advice he had about my new training I would receive from Riki could only help in the long run. The kid was a fountain of good ideas.

Finally locking on to his chakra I followed it up to the roof, where I found him sitting near the edge of the roof eating his lunch while looking down at the field below. Wordlessly taking a seat next to him, I looked down as well to try and see what he was looking at.

The bright red hair of the academy's only Uzumaki clan member stuck out like a sore thumb.

With that question solved in record time, Minato spoke first.

"Akihiro-san! I'm happy you decided to find me after all! I was afraid we were never going to talk again after our previous... issue. I would like to apologise again for not revealing my actions after-"

I waved away his apology. He was just a kid following his teacher's instructions, genius or no. I couldn't actually stay angry about that, it had just been a convenient excuse to break contact more than anything.

"Don't worry about it Minato-san. I'll admit I may have overreacted a little, but what's done is done. I actually came to talk because I learned something... concerning, that I thought you should also know."

Minato's expression became pensive.

"I assume you are talking about the coming war."

"...I feel like I shouldn't be surprised you already know about it."

He chuckled at that, grinning ruefully.

"Adults tend to forget that even children like us have ears. Especially children like us. But I dont know everything, why don't you say what you've discovered, and I'll share what I know? 'Forewarned is Forearmed' after all."

I couldn't help my snort of amusement.

"You know that's the second time I've heard that phrase in as many days, after never hearing about it before? Anyway according to Riki-Oji,..."

I recounted much of yesterday's conversation to Minato, including the mentions of the Lord Second's interest in the both of us. Once I had finished Minato sat there in thought for a minute or two, processing the information.

"Apart from the rumours about me, most of that lines up with what I'd heard. Apparently the meeting was attacked by Kumo shinobi who were against the de-escalation treaty. A lot of people thought it was all planned from the beginning to assassinate Tobirama-sama, but I've recently started hearing rumours that the Raikage either died or was crippled in the ambush. The people who were there are being pretty tight lipped about the whole thing though." Minato said

It didn't escape me that he was apparently he was familiar enough with the Lord Second to use his first name, but looking back on it he had always called me by my first name too. Either way I filed that little curiosity away for future reference as Minato started speaking again.

"I'm actually more impressed with your uncle than anything else."

"What do you mean?"

"It must have been a hard sell to get Tobirama-sama to agree to give a Tokubetsu Jonin a year's leave when we are on the brink of war. Not only that but it looks like he's setting up a pretty elaborate long-term political gambit."

And Minato had already lost me.

"Could you explain that? I'm afraid I don't see it."

"Not a fan of politics I assume?" Minato said with a wry grin. "Basically from my perspective he is trying to set you up to be a major influence in the long run. You mentioned he had talked to both Tobirama-sama and a number of the department heads right? Well if he wanted to help you stay safe from the war, the obvious thing to do would be to downplay your abilities, make the rumours and reports sound exaggerated to make them think twice of fast-tracking you through the academy.

Instead, he offers to give you personal training and putting both his reputation and position on the line by essentially saying it will only take a year to get you to genin level, and if you don't reach that point he'll admit defeat and go back to his normal duties. By doing this he makes sure that the scrutiny and expectations from the higher ups will continue to grow.

Therefore I believe he is gambling on the fact that if you succeed, you will not only already be known to the most important people in the village but also have a reputation for being able to rapidly improve with the right resources and attention.

All of that plus the recognition of the Uzuki name would then place you into the perfect position to one day assume a position of power in the village, increasing the overall power of the new shinobi families' political circle. All you need to do is not fail to meet expectations."

I stared at Minato. That honestly sounded more like a conspiracy theory than anything else. Also 'recognition of the Uzuki name'? Looks like I would have a question or two for Riki when we start the lessons next week.

"Interesting, but I have a counter theory," I finally responded

"Alright, let's hear it."

"The reason he wants to train me is so that I, his nephew, don't get horribly murdered in this war the moment I'm outside of the villages walls, because he likes me and my death would make him very sad," I said with the most deadpan tone I could muster.

Minato just burst out laughing.

"Sure, maybe that's why. But any shinobi worth their salt should always be able to read what's underneath the underneath."

Lunch finished, Minato got to his feet and stretched.

"This was a good talk Akihiro-san, we should do it again sometime."

And with that he took a step forward and hopped off of the roof, landing on the ground four stories below us with no issue whatsoever. The abrupt exit clearly calculated as he landed directly in front of what could only be Kushina Uzumaki, almost giving her a heart attack judging by the panicked shout.

Watching him get an earful, as well as a few well deserved smacks, I couldn't help but laugh under my breath.

That kid was absurdly well suited to become Hokage one day. Even the possibility of an imminent war didn't seem to shake him, and I couldn't figure out if that was scary or reassuring.

A/N

Fun fact, I had first considered naming this fic 'Praemonitus Praemunitus', which is latin for 'Forewarned is Forearmed'. Considering the whole 'knowing about canon' and 'knowledge is power' thing shinobi have going on I thought it was fitting, but 'Per Laborum' would fit better into the grander story arc so I went with that instead

Maybe I could use it for a side fic if I ever reach that point? Food for thought.

So yea, turns out we get one more chapter of academy because otherwise this chapter would become both A) incredibly long, and B) incredibly dense, with a lot of lore dumps and exposition shoved down your throats. And just like everything else, exposition is best consumed in moderation.

As always; criticism is appreciated for one can never improve without it, and all questions are welcome!