Title: And then suddenly, Ninjas!
Author: The Sage of Toads
Rating: T
Fandom: Naruto
Genre: AU
Status: WIP, 8 chapters posted (40k words).
Summary: On the day Naruto Uzumaki was born, the Third Hokage made a decision that would one day turn the world upon its head. Twelve years after the Fourth Hokage killed the Nine-Tailed Fox, Naruto Uzumaki sets forth to become the greatest Ninja of all time!
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6778627/1/And_then_suddenly_Ninjas

So the plot hook here is that the Third decides against letting the village in on Naruto's furry little secret. He buys off the silence of the Uchiha by increasing their status within the village, and the Hyuga through an arranged marriage... Really, the important thing though is that this is a Sage of Toads production, which means that everybody takes two or three levels of badass and the Rule of Cool is in full effect.

Spoiler

The objective was simple. Three scrolls, a Heaven, Earth, and a fake that could be either or a blank, were handed out at random to the many Genin teams. They then had five days to traverse the forest, and reach the tower at the center. They of course had to have an actual Heaven and Earth scroll when they got there or they failed. How they got the scroll from their opponents in the battle? Well…that was entirely up to them, and when they were told that killing was allowed…many had the same thought.

That arrogant little orange shit was a dead man.

"Find that piece of shit Naruto Uzumaki!" An Iwagakure team's leader declared as they rushed into the forest.

"We've got five days to get to the tower," A Rain-nin said to his comrades as they moved through the trees, "Until we find that orange asshole, I just won't feel good about myself."

In another part of the woods, a Kusagakure team was in hot search as well. "When we find him…he's dead."

It takes a little while to really get going, but once it does it turns into one of the more entertaining Naruto stories out there. Plenty of humor and over-the-top action with the occasional serious moment. This author has a knack for keeping the feel of the characters intact while changing the overall story pretty dramatically.

 

The first chapter was terrible.

The Hokage starts by killing one of his ANBU who wasn't quick enough on the uptake when he decided to slip the truth of Naruto's birth under the rug. It's also implied that he's going to kill the other who witnessed the sealing later.

It starts almost like a bad crack story.

Do not want.

 

It's actually not that bad. The first chapter is pretty poor I'll admit; but once you push through that; it gets significantly better.

Well, I enjoyed it at least.

8/10.

 

This really isn't anything other than an "I'm going to fix Naruto, so that it makes awesome sense!" story. It's pretty run of the mill, frankly. The writing is decent, but not amazing, the plot is pretty much factory standard, and the characterizations are competently handled (except for the Sandaime, of course). The first chapter is the weakest, but it's basically a tongue and cheek slapstick routine.

Spoiler

Even with Naruto "killing" Orochimaru, I'm not utterly offended by this piece. I have a sneaking suspicion that the Snake is going to show up again shortly. Honestly, I think that saving Zabuza and Haku to make the 'Village Hidden in the Mangroves' is probably the biggest and lamest ass-pull in the series so far.

I would rate this 3/5, for being just above the mediocrity line. Decent enough reading if you're really bored.

 

That's because it's barely making the cut as a GOOD crack fic. Read it only if you're tired of cliches and need to laugh at something. Barely scrapes a 4/5.
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I should have mentioned, the author's specialty is writing stories that stay just this side of turning into crack fics, but with surprisingly recognizable characters. I think it's something that tends to either really connect with the reader or just leave you completely cold, although in this one it doesn't really kick into gear until the exam.

 

Personally, really enjoying this fic. If you have a need to take everything deathly seriously, it's probably not for you, but if not, it can be damn funny along with appropriate levels of badassery.

As for the Orochimaru thing, it's not like Naruto walked up to the guy and challenged him to single combat with a trump card of his hitherto unknown blood limit--he got a lucky shot in with O. was distracted by other, more powerful opponents. And there's still a few hints dropped that things aren't over.

4.5/5.