Hell's Radiance
is a Dark Fic by Angel of the Godless that shows how much a For Want Of A Nail can change the story of Naruto forever. During the Nine-Tailed Fox (or Kyuubi no Kitsune) attack on Konoha. Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze is forced to seal the Fox in a random child as his own child was born far too late to be its jinchuriki. The child he was forced to use was Sakura. But due to the seal being meant for Naruto, that allowed Sakura to meet the fox early than Naruto met the Kyuubi. Creating a tale of anger and vengeance as Sakura tries to get some understanding in her life.
Tropes:
- Acquired Poison Immunity: Sakura due to years of the village testing their poisons on her
- Adaptational Badass:
- Sakura — it helps having the Kyuubi sealed in her. So does having the Kyuubi teach her Jutsu for years, with training from Gai, Kurenai, and Itachi
- Naruto during the Part I parts of the story is much stronger due to having teachers during his childhood and learning the Flying Thunder God Jutsu from Jiraiya
- Zabuza having survived the Land of Waves arc decided to retrain himself. He comes back as the Mizukage
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Sakura here has black hair instead of pink. Her hair was pink, but turned to black after having the Kyuubi sealed in her. It is foreshadowing that the seal isn't as effective here as it was in canon.
- Adaptational Heroism: Sasuke in the Part II parts of the story is much kinder probably cause Sakura stopped him from defecting and he grew closer to Team 7 as a result. He is much saner than how Canon Sasuke was.
- Adaptational Villainy: Kakashi was hit by this. In the manga, he at best seemed to be annoyed by his team at first. Here he hated everyone but Sasuke. And generally ignored them for Sasuke.
- Jiraiya looked to be hit by this. He looked pretty annoyed that Sakura got the Kyuubi instead of Naruto. It turns out his earlier anger at baby Sakura having the Kyuubi sealed in her, was just sadness for her future.
- The main example is Naruto and Sakura. In the manga, they are more or less straightforward heroes. Here they are pretty sadistic. Sakura due to having contact with Kurama at an early age, allowed it to twist her mind. She is very bloodthirsty, as a result. Naruto isn't as bad. He still cares for his friends, but he can be very bloodthirsty towards his enemies. But still a very big difference from his canon self's All-Loving Hero persona
- Even the Tailed Beasts are this. In the manga they were parts of the Juubi, here they are Demons.
- Hiashi is downright despicable here. In the manga, he was harsh but and not the best at parenting, but he did care for his children, his later brother, and Neji's feelings. Here he tries locking away Hinata and seems very willing to kill Neji if he has to.
- All the Other Reindeer: Averted. Sakura wasn't avoided like Naruto in canon by his peers in the academy. Sakura actively found friends, so she could have political power as an adult. They were Shikamaura, Choji, Shino and Hinata
- Becoming the Mask: Sakura at first made friends, so she could manipulate them later, she did the same for Sasuke and Naruto. Eventually, she really started to care for them. Especially Naruto.
- Beneath the Mask: Sakura acts like a dim and happy girl. But her childhood did a number on her. She started working with the Kyuubi, just so she could have someone to talk to and is desperate to be loved.
- Naruto is just like his canon counterpart from Part I. Both act out, but for different reasons. Naruto was surrounded by people that didn't really care for him, just his father's legacy. So they sucked up to him as a meal ticket. He felt consumed by his father's shadow and became bitter.
- Berserk Button: For Sakura, don't mess with her friends.
- For Sasuke, as always Itachi's continued existence and, after the time skip, touch Hanabi, you die
- Bio-Augmentation: The Kyuubi has been doing this to Sakura for a while now, so she is better suited to his power
- Blind Weaponmaster: Sasuke after the time skip. Thanks to Sakura, who also trained him
- Blood Oath: Just like in the manga, after Hinata was Curb Stomp by Neji. Naruto made it, but unlike in the manga he was just a tag along. It was mostly Shikamaru, Choji, Sakura, and Shino doing it
- Bloodier and Gorier: HOLY SHIT. Everyone uses some really messed-up attacks. And the fic just loves telling you the damage. We even get an detailed description of what remains of Deidara's arm after Gaara crushed it
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Sakura is this since she acts sweet and kind while plotting to destroy Konoha.
- Blow You Away: Naruto uses wind chakra much more here than in canon.
- Break Them by Talking: Sakura does this to Zabuza. After showing off her jinchuriki powers, saying how naive it was of him to think of himself as a monster. Zabuza just up and runs
- Brilliant, but Lazy: Naruto gave off this feeling in the academy. He still had the same habits as in canon, playing tricks, cutting class, and all. But was ranked second in class behind Sasuke.
- Of course Shikamaru is this.
- Bullying a Dragon: Like always, no one was kind to a Jinchuuriki. Just hearing how badly they treated Sakura, it makes sense why she wants the village gone. She seems to have had it worse than Naruto did in canon, being sent to the ICU multiple times in her childhood.
- Deadpan Snarker: Naruto and Sakura. Nearly every one of their lines is snarky.
- Death by Adaptation: Sai and Karin, also mixes with demoted to extra.
- And Kabuto
- Did You Just Have Sex?: After the end of the Summit of Konoha, Suna, and Kiri. Sasuke and Shikamaru wonder why Sakura's so tired, but still so chippier
- The Dreaded: After the Time Skip, Team 7 is known as the Death Squad.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Even Sakura is disturbed by Sasori's human puppets.
- Evil Costume Switch: After Naruto joins Sakura's side, he ditches his orange jumpsuit and returns in all-black attire.
- The Exile: Kakashi was exiled by Tsunade for doing such a crappy job as a sensei. It wasn't till the time skip that he came back home.
- Eye Scream: Sakura gouged out Sasuke's eyes in the Valley of the End.
- Fair-Weather Mentor: Kakashi — as he finds Naruto and Sakura disgusting and tries to ignore them as much as possible.
- From Roommates to Romance: After Naruto and Sakura become friends, Naruto lets her move in with him after finding out she's pretty much homeless. Heck on their mission with Jiraiya, they slept in the same bed together. After they started dating, their living arrangement is no longer innocent.
- Harmful to Minors: Kabuto really doesn't care about the target. If he has a job, he'll do it.
- Heroic BSoD: Sakura gets a lot of these, like
- When Naruto nearly died from fighting Orochimaru
- When she thought that Tsunade was dead
- My God, What Have I Done?: Hanabi really regrets her life choices after leaving the Hyuga
- Orphan's Ordeal: Sakura's an orphan in the story. As a result of having no love in her early childhood, she turns to the Kyuubi
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Sakura due to the Kyuubi being more active has red eyes all the time. And she is pretty creepy.
