It was way better than trying another redo of the Wave arc. Haku and Zabuza are great characters to include. Authors either just redo the Wave arc, or in an attempt to be unique, ignore them completely. Seeing those two in a completely different mission was very interesting.

I love the way they are stuck doing boring surveillance for so long, but as soon as they see something as 'dull' as a single ninja enter the village, it's suddenly all action. Also interesting to see how being stuck without speech has payed off.

 

So there's been quite a few updates since I commented last, and I have to say, this is going to the next level.

The way this fic handled Naruto's first berserker moment was amazing. I've never seen a fic deal with it like that - a complete black out from Naruto, and then him waking up later to see the aftermath. His interactions with his team in the aftermath were great - they do accept him, but at the same time are terrified and wary, with Sasuke completely lost in his own trauma of being the one who blew Naruto's head off.

The interaction between Gaara and Naruto was the most unique take I've ever seen on that as well. That sense of mild awkwardness and discomfort despite Naruto having being ripped to pieces several times in a row is a million times more interesting than the usual uplifting scenes of Naruto sympathizing with him, or beating him into friendship.

The scene with Kyuubi was great too. Naruto didn't pull out his complete disregard for fear and start insulting the Kyuubi, or become best friends with it, or anything like that. He was completely terrified and only mustered courage due to his theory that it was a genjutsu test by Danzo.

The narrative in this is still one of my favourite in the fandom. It's rare you see a smart and cynical Naruto like this who is still written with flaws, self esteem issues and not overpowered.

 

Y'know I read this whole fic earlier today and then, when I later sat down to write this review, I discovered that I could barely remember anything about it.

There was the opening scene with the generic yet implausible chase scene after a prank following by the regeneration reveal that instigated an early graduation. But aside from Kakashi becoming Naruto's mentor and Sasuke's OCD, I'm really struggling to remember any specifics. He just trains with Kakashi for half a year or so, ends up joining a team with the rest of his original classmates anyway and then it gets abandoned. The regeneration thing hardly comes up which seemed bizarre considering it's what started it all.

...And now that I'm reading this thread, it looks like I just read the rewrite while it was the archived version that earned its place in the Library. The rewrite only goes up to Chapter 15 of the original so it sounds like things got a lot more interesting in the next 11 chapters.

So I guess I'll carry on with that one to see what the fuss was all about.

@Ched you might wanna edit your original post to include links for the archived 1st person one and the rewritten 3rd person one, just to help out future readers.

 

Turns out that the story does improve from there.

The direction it took with Gaara was more interesting than how it's usually handled, and took care of my concern about how little impact Naruto's healing had had on the story. The scene felt abrupt but it was suitably horrific with a solid example of exactly what he's capable of surviving. Things did kind of fizzle out however as nothing really happened beyond a bit of stalking, though it might have gone somewhere interesting given the chance.

Another thing I liked but didn't go anywhere was Naruto learning Tsunade's strength. The regeneration being so good that it essentially made his muscle condition - which you'd think they would have noticed earlier - provides a good excuse for him to specifically train to achieve it. It kind of reminded me of The Howling Wind.

Then the latest arc with Kirigakure felt like the point where the story had the opportunity to hit its stride... which is obviously the point where it stops.

It's a shame because I feel like it stops just short of getting real good. Though I probably would have enjoyed it more if I'd read it back when it was being released.

As is, it's a 3/5 for me.