Title: Daybreak: Part 1
Author: Digital Tart
Rating: M
Genre: Drama/Adventure
Status: Complete
Library Category: Other Fandoms/Naruto
Pairings: None
Summary: One of Konoha's greatest enemies is long dead, but Akatsuki lives on, and a new threat to peace is rising in the shinobi nations. The question is... who are the heroes, and who are the villains? AU.
Link: FFN

This is one you may have seen in the Quality Naruto Fics thread and is the sequel to a five-star story One Small Kindness (FFN/DLP). This starts several years after the events of that fanfic, during which a number of divergences have occurred, when Team 7 graduates with Itachi as their jounin sensei.

The story has a lot of originality to it that makes it stand out among other Naruto fics and only follows canon in a general sense that doesn't last for long. Most of the characterisation is top-notch, there’s character development all around and I genuinely enjoyed a lot of interaction between different characters throughout the fics. Team 7 and the other genin get the chance to show their skills on multiple occasions; being skilful for their level but still amateurish on the overall scale. And the story did an excellent job of showing Naruto’s charisma and empathy which are some of my preferred traits for his character. The divergences resulted in us getting the chance to see all sorts of known characters thrown into different environments and groups to really shake things up.

It’s not perfect though. Naruto feels softer than his canon self which doesn’t sit right after spending years as a part of a shinobi household and being genuinely more skill. Kakashi also seems to have a more immature personality which I found off-putting, though I think he improves when he gains a more prominent role. Nor did I like shinobi being nerfed so they’re only as tough as regular humans and the use of “primary and secondary affinities”. I felt that Naruto’s chakra reserves were being underestimated when he finally learned kage bunshin and for unexplained reasons, he was taught the kinjutsu rather than the ninjutsu despite the situation being completely different.

But those are more nit-picky complaints and the pros far outweigh the cons, in my opinion. A more serious problem is that the writer has no intention of doing the final part, essentially leaving us with two thirds of a trilogy. So despite the fic being complete, the story being told is not and we aren’t left with much closure. But I wouldn't let that stop you from reading it.

Personally, I’d give it a 4.5/5 rounded up to 5/5 for the official rating.

 

This wasn't recced yet? Wow. Talk about slacking. Get your arses in gear, you no-account bums!

Anyway, in all seriousness, this is an excellent piece of Naruto fanfiction by an author who exemplified much of what DLP is here for. Saw the first review of her firs story. Moved to the WBA, took the good advice, ignored the bad advice, made improvement, and then caused no drama. 4.5 as well, with 5/5 for official rating.

Definitely Library Material.

Details: I'm a real big fan of the technical writing here. It's very solid. She doesn't linger on unneccessary details, but highlights important ones very well. You're rarely left wondering (except when on purpose) what it is your missing and why that last scene didn't make sense.

If I had one complaint, I would be that it's not Naruto-centric enough. Even though he's a major player, he's not The. Protagonist. Which grates on me a bit.

Edit One: WHAT. Not continuing? Hiss Boo! 4/5. . Still library material, but no longer perfectly qualified.

 

SPOILERS FOLLOW:

Yes, amazing story.
Top-notch characterization, plotting, writing and a whole lot of fresh ideas for a stale fandom, like Sage!Sasuke, charismatic and empathetic Naruto, Good!Akatskui, etc.

. I'm very disappointed to see this trilogy be abandoned. One of my favorite ongoing fics, I had high hopes for it.

Easy 5/5



There are issues, however:

The general nerfing of shinobi in general and the compression of the skill difference between different skill levels of shinobi is frustrating. I felt as though the gap between S-rank shinobi and A and B rank shinobi as greatly reduced from what it is in canon. In canon, you literally have no chance against an S-rank if you're not an S-rank yourself or somehow match their weakness perfectly.

The only example I can think of that contradicts this at all is Sakura and Chiyo versus Sasori. Even then the two ninja were very skilled themselves and almost perfect counters to Sasori's puppet and poison skills with Chiyo's puppets and Sakura's strength and evasion.

I didn't get that impression from this fic, and its a pet peeve of mine when S-ranks are nerfed to make the setting make more sense.

Just didn't sit right at all for me.

I also felt as though there was some inconsistency with how Edo Tensei is portrayed. When Mito is summoned by Orochimaru against Sarutobi she almost immediately dismisses herself after she frees herself and helps out a bit, though this is at odds with canon's portrayal of what a shinobi might do if they free themselves from the summoner's control.

Fine, its an AU and a pretty broken technique. But when Edo Tensei is used later on in the series its brokenness and general OP nature is not toned down, with the shinobi possessing unlimited chakra and regeneration. So its a little frustrating to see an apparent weakening of a technique (which is reasonable) later somewhat reversed to make the antagonists more of a threat.


I also agree with the characterization of Naruto being a little out of place for the reasons stated above. He and Sasuke also seem quite unskilled taking into account the training they've had compared to canon. But that may be a general symptom of the toning down of shinobi power rather than a weakness on their part. Its a little hard to tell.

 

I personally hated the story as soon as I was done with it. But I can acknowledge that others might enjoy it and definitely think it's worth being in the library. So, 4/5.

 

Really loved the story and while I wasn't too happy with the initial portrayal of Kakashi, although I understood why the author thought she needed to change his behaviour, it was, overall, an excellent story with very fascinating changes from canon that were truly intriguing and awesome and I would have loved to see the trilogy finish.

Too bad it most likely won't.

Still, this and its prequel, One Small Kindness, are worth reading.

5/5