Fanfic / True Potential

Description off FanFiction.Net: "One discussion in the academy introduces Naruto to his first real friends and changes his life forever. Together, they will work hard, push each other, and unlock their true potential. NaruHina"

True Potential is a Naruto Fanfic by DryBonesKing. It's a What If? fic, with the Point of Divergence being that Naruto becomes friends with Hinata and Shikamaru during the Academy. Shikamaru's father Shikaku notices this and suggests to the Sandaime Hokage to place the three together as a genin team, to which the Hokage eventually accepts. Their sensei is the rather unusual choice of Anko. The story slowly spirals outward from there, with many marked changes from the original canon.

One of the fic's strongest points is the usage of Ascended Extra, as many minor or background characters play a prominent role.

The fic is ongoing, currently sitting at over a million words and counting.

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True Potential contains examples of:

• Accidental Pun: Katsumi decides to leave after hearing Kanji and their sensei Naruto making a few puns. However, she accidentally calls them "punny jerks" instead of "funny jerks", much to her embarrassment.
• Actually Pretty Funny:
  • When Mei tells Hotaru that she's not trying to steal Utakata from the latter, Utakata actually chuckles at that before telling Mei that she misinterpreted his relationship to Hotaru.
  • In Taki, Naruto and Fū do a prank that results in Shibuki's Mansion being covered in orange-and-green paint that depicts foxes and horned beetles. Shibuki himself has a hard time preventing himself from laughing when he sees that.
  • While traveling to Shimo alongside his teammates and a few other shinobi, Kanji recites a poem that makes fun of everyone present. Once he's done, the only ones not offended by it are Naruto and Fū, who both found it funny.
• Adaptational Badass: Quite a few, though more as a result of changed circumstances:
  • Dosu is rather notable, as his canonical history amounts to curbstomping Lee and then getting one-shotted by Gaara. This time, he's up against the latter in the preliminaries. Gaara is cocky and doesn't take him seriously. Dosu is quick to show that sand can't block sound, giving Gaara a fairly close fight. While he loses, he does go on to defect to Konoha.
  • Hidan may turn into one, as the author has stated his belief that he was easily the weakest member of the Akatsuki. As such, after a humiliating defeat at the hands of Naruto, Sakura, and Kiba (for context, a newly minted chūnin — albeit, a jinchūriki, for the strongest biju no less — and two genin, respectively), he vows to train harder. And this happens prior to the Time Skip...
    • And when we see him back after the time skip, he made good on that vow. On top of being generally stronger, he can now turn his body into a mass of blood to avoid attacks, use his own blood as a weapon, and summon a trio of zombies with body modifications to fight for him.
  • The circumstances that led to Shukaku being removed from Gaara never happens. As such, the latter has access to all the abilities the Tailed Beast could give him.
  • While Kabuto still grafts the DNA of various shinobi into his body in order to gain their unique abilities after Orochimaru's death, he adds more, which includes Pakura's Scorch Release and Guren's Crystal Release.
  • Naruto is much more adept in using fūinjutsu, which includes using the Adamantine Chains.
  • Due to replacing Sakura as Tsunade's apprentice, Shikamaru learns medical ninjutsu during the time skip.
  • During the Shippūden part of the story, we see Kurotsuchi being able to use Dust Release.
  • Both Hinata and Anko are shown being taught how to use Senjutsu by the White Snake Sage.
  • Likewise, Shikamaru has begun learning Senjutsu from the slugs.
  • Sakura zig-zags between this and Adaptational Wimp. On one hand, there's nothing to indicate that she's Tsunade's apprentice in this fic. On the other hand, she's shown to be using fūinjutsu during Shippūden.
  • All the other jinchūriki have their own versions of the biju cloaks in this story.
  • After unlocking the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, Naruto is shown to use Scorch Release.
• Adaptational Early Appearance:
  • Onoki, Kurotsuchi, Han, Rōshi, Kahyō, Mei, Ao, Utakata, Suigetsu, Yagura, Gamaken, and Karin all make their debuts pre-time skip.
  • The Akatsuki make a much earlier appearance due to Kakuzu being involved in Naruto's first C-Rank Mission.
  • Kido Tsumiki from Sakura Hiden: Thoughts of Love, Riding Upon a Spring Breeze, Tanuki Shigaraki, the Nue, Tagoritsuhime, Tagitsuhime, Ichikishimahime, and the White Snake Sage from the Boruto anime, Metoro and Etoro from Gaara Hiden: A Sandstorm Mirage, and En Oyashiro, Chino, Nowaki, Amuda, Karyu, and Futsu from Sasuke Shinden: Book of Sunrise all make their debuts in the Shippūden era rather than after it.
• Adaptational Heroism:
  • Sasuke isn't tempted to pull a Face–Heel Turn and remains a loyal Konoha nin during Part II, especially since Orochimaru dies during the Sand-Sound Invasion. His loyalty to Konoha is only cemented after Itachi finally reveals the truth about the Massacre to him, and then dies in a fight against the Akatsuki not long after.
  • Dosu and Tayuya pull a Heel–Face Turn and become Konoha nin after the Sand-Sound Invasion.
  • Fū Yamanaka turns against Danzō and helps Jiraiya and Sasuke fight him and a brainwashed Hiruzen.
• Adaptational Late Appearance:
  • Jibachi, Kurobachi, and Suzumebachi of the Kamizuru Clan, Yakumo Kurama, Isaribi and Aoi Rokusho, who all debut in Part I filler, make their first appearance during Shippūden.
  • Minor example with Haku and Zabuza, as they make their first appearance in the Kiri Civil War arc, which happens after Team 7 takes the mission to guard Tazuna.
• Adaptational Nice Guy:
  • Despite having some issues, Sasuke is much kinder here compared to canon.
  • Although it could be argued that he was never inherently a bad person and a good chunk of what he did in canon was the result of Obito's brainwashing, Yagura here is shown to be the complete opposite of what canon implied once freed of said brainwashing.
• Adaptation Expansion: Darui's backstory is expanded upon during Team Anko's first C-Rank, when they run into Nasumareta - a member of the Akatsuki, Kakuzu's former partner, and Darui's older brother. According to him, Hidden Cloud kidnapped their mother for her Storm Release, and used her in a breeding program to obtain shinobis with that kekkei genkai. While Darui was young enough to not really be impacted by it and would later go on to become the Raikage's right-hand man, Nasumareta was old enough that he swore revenge on the Hidden Cloud.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
  • Because Hiruzen chose to put Hinata, Shikamaru, and Naruto on the same team, Shino takes Shikamaru's spot in Team Asuma and Kiba and Akamaru take Naruto's spot in Team Kakashi.
  • In canon, the exact relationship between Han and Roshi is unknown besides being fellow Iwa-nin who were jinchūriki. Here, they are close friends.
    • In addition, the pair serve as mentor figures to Kurotsuchi, with Han serving as her jōnin-sensei.
  • Naruto and Han form a brother-esque bond in this fic.
  • Kurotsuchi and Shikamaru become a couple in this fic.
    • Because of this, his exact relationship with Temari here is unknown.
  • The exact relationship between Yagura and Mei in canon is unknown besides being Kiri-nin who became the Fourth and Fifth Mizukage respectively. Here, not only were they childhood friends, but also, there are hints that they like each other romantically.
  • Homura, Koharu, and Hiruzen serve as mentors to Team 3 during the timeskip.
  • After being inducted to the Akatsuki as an actual member, Kabuto is paired with Hidan after Kakuzu's death.
  • Tayuya become close to Naruto and Karin due to her being an Uzumaki in this fic.
  • Sakura isn't Tsunade's apprentice in this fic. Shikamaru is.
  • Naruto is appointed as Hanabi's jōnin-sensei during Shippūden. In canon, the identity of her jōnin-sensei is never revealed and they're nothing more than in-laws.
  • Kabuto and En Oyashiro start a business type of relationship due to the latter having various underlings from various Clans that have Kekkai Genkai.
  • It's revealed that Oyashiro took Yakumo and made her one of his agents.
  • In hindsight, Sai and Ino don't form a relationship in light of the former's death.
• Adaptational Secrecy Downgrade:
  • In canon, it took several story arcs before Naruto's teammates Sasuke and Sakura learned that he was also the jinchūriki of the Kyūbi (something Naruto himself was aware of since the first chapter). In True Potential, both Hinata and Shikamaru (who replace Sasuke and Sakura as Naruto's teammates) become aware of that secret at the same time as Naruto does as a result of them being present when Mizuki reveals it.
  • Naruto learned who were his parents in canon only after the Time Skip. Also, it took until the Fourth Shinobi War arc before anyone else among the Rookie Nine (Naruto's former classmates) learned that his father was Minato Namikaze AKA the Fourth Hokage. In this fanfic, Naruto learns who were his parents before the time skip, with Hinata and Shikamaru learning about it in the next chapter as a result of the Third Hokage allowing the Uzumaki to share that information only to those he deems trustworthy to not spread it around.
• Adaptational Superpower Change: In canon, Sakura is a Combat Medic with Super-Strength. Here, her main skills are genjutsu and fūinjutsu. In addition, her choice in animal summon is dogs instead of slugs.
• Adaptational Villainy:
  • Sai ends up being hit with this to a degree in hindsight, as until his death, he never interacts with Team 7 or Ino, and is a Satellite Character towards Danzō and joins him when Jiraiya tries to arrest him.
  • Danzo to a degree as not only is his forcing of having Itachi kill the Uchiha clan be painted in a more negative light, but he also tried to sabotage Jiraiya's attempts in forming an alliance with Kumo and tried to stoke the flames of anti-Konoha sentiments in Iwa, culminating in him defecting from the village when learning that his attempts failed.
  • Downplayed with En Oyashiro, as while he's not a good person in canon, he becomes an associate of the Akatuski when he was hired for his weapons and underlings in their upcoming invasion and starts a separate contract with Kabuto as the latter is interested in his Kekkei Genkai underlings.
  • Yakumo Kurama appears to have fallen after spending time with Oyashiro based on her desire to destroy Konoha.
  • Isaribi was an otherwise nice girl who was Trapped in Villainy because Amachi dangled the cure for her condition in front of her (and in the end, he admitted he couldn't cure her at all). Here, she becomes fiercely loyal to Kabuto after he not so much cures her but at least makes it possible for her to change into full human form at will.
• All Your Powers Combined: Like in canon, Kabuto grafts onto himself the DNA of many ninja to acquire their abilities. Unlike canon, though, he extends this to far more people than just Orochimaru, the Sound Five, and Taka. He has revealed to possess so far Kimimaro's Dead Bone Pulse, Guren's Crystal Release, and Pakura's Scorch Release. And he plans to raid more cemeteries in order to acquire even more Bloodline Limits.
• Alternate Universe: Downplayed. While most of the changes are the result of the initial divergence, a few others are not, such as Tayuya being an Uzumaki or Roshi still living in Iwa instead of Walking the Earth.
• And This Is for...: In the omake from Chapter 7, Anko smacks Naruto on the head twice; the first time for using his Sexy Jutsu, the second time for using it in front of their client Yen. She also does this twice to Shikamaru; the first time for having a nosebleed (thus indicating he stared at the Sexy Jutsu for too long and enjoyed it), the second time for talking back to her after she smacks him for the first time. And then, she smacks Yen on the head when he has a perverted grin and gets a greater interest in ninjutsu after seeing Naruto's Sexy Jutsu.
• Anti-Climax: Kimimaro is unceremoniously killed off by Kabuto while in a coma, having never even encountered the heroes. Somewhat justified post-Time Skip: Kabuto gives Kimimaro's body to Sasori for use as a puppet and as a peace offering.
• Anywhere but Their Lips:
  • In Chapter 29, when Naruto is hesitant to let Hinata fight Kankuro by herself, the Hyuga girl uses her adrenaline to come closer to the Uzumaki boy and kiss him on his cheek. The blond ninja's eyes widen exponentially, which is followed by Hinata smiling and telling him she'll be fine. That kiss serves as the first step in making him realize he has feelings for her later on.
  • At the end of the Kiri Civil War arc, Misora kisses Dosu on the cheek before he leaves alongside the rest of the Konoha shinobi. This happens two days after she decided to think about her feelings for him in more details, with the kiss indicating that she came to her conclusion.
  • During Naruto's fourteenth birthday, Hinata kisses her boyfriend on the cheek after giving him a kimono as a gift, making him blush and stutter out his thanks.
• Arc Number: Three. Naruto, Hinata, and Shikamaru form Team 3, there's a lot of emphasis on legendary trios such as Hiruzen, Homura, and Koharu, and the Legendary Sannin (with Team 3 becoming the next legends of their generation), and Naruto's Genin Team is Team 9, which is 3 squared.
• Armor-Piercing Question:
  • In Chapter 39, Tayuya doesn't want to forgive Masakado for trying to kill her, Naruto, and Karin. However, she widens her eyes when Naruto asks her "What if I didn't forgive you? For all the work you did with Orochimaru?"
  • In Chapter 87, in regards to a possible war between Konoha and Iwa as a result of the Kamizuru Brothers being murdered by ROOT agents, Fū Yamanaka isn't as bothered by it as others, saying that it is Konoha shinobi's duty to die for the village. However, his brother Kanji asks him "You know I'd probably die in that war, right Fū-nii? Cause if we went to war, then even the genin would get deployed. And I'm sure as hell not qualified yet to fight in a war. Do you think it'd be worth it if I died?" In turn, Fū is taken aback by that and eventually concludes that it's not worth it.
• Ascended Extra: Aside from Shikamaru and Hinata, many prominent characters had very little canon deveopment.
  • Anko, despite being the former student of Orochimaru, had very little screentime. She's initially not happy with being assigned a genin team, but eventually grows to like them. In addition, she plays a crucial role in killing Orochimaru, and later is inducted into the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.
  • Dosu survives the Chūnin Exams and narrowly avoids getting assassinated by Kabuto; he later provides Hiruzen information on the Orochimaru's plans and eventually defects to Konoha, when he later accompanies Anko, Shikamaru, and Hinata on a mission.
  • Special note goes to the jinchūriki. The author specifically laments how most of them were underutilized in canon.
    • Han is met by Naruto on the latter's first C-Rank mission, as a jōnin-sensei. The Iwa shinobi is very bitter towards humanity in general, and he advises Naruto to give up on ever making friends. The younger jinchūriki eventually manages to get him to loosen up.
    • Roshi is (initially) Han's only friend, though much more upbeat. He has a slight case of Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!, as well as a rivalry with Jiraiya (see below on Sitcom Arch-Nemesis).
    • Utakata tries to avoid the Kiri civil war, despite both sides wishing to recruit him. He's eventually convinced to join the rebels, upon being impressed with their resolve.
    • Yagura functions as the Big Bad of the Kiri Invasion arc (albeit with Tobi as the Man Behind the Man). He shows exactly why he's the Mizukage, taking on Naruto, Mei and Utakata at the same time.After being freed from the mind-control, he accepts being declared dead so that Kiri can heal.
    • Fu is locked inside Taki after one of her teammates tried to kill her, and is barred from leaving the village for her own protection. Hidan and Kakuzu gather a small army in order to crush Takigakure and capture her. After surviving the invasion, she's forced to move to Konoha while Taki undergoes reconstruction.
  • Kurotsuchi went from being a rather minor character who was only prominent in filler and in the epilogue, for replacing her grandfather as Tsuchikage, to supplanting Temari as Shikamaru's love interest.
  • The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist as well. Besides sparing and expanding Zabuza's role, Jinin Akebino, Jinpachi Munashi and Kushimaru Kuriare are prominently featured in the Kirigakure Civil War arc, the former two fighting for Mei, and the latter two fighting for Yagura. and all of them minus Zabuza end up dead during the arc.
  • Hanabi gets this when Naruto is assigned as her jōnin-sensei during the Shippūden timeframe.
• Bad Boss: Suien kills one of his subordinates simply because he was taking too long to beat Anko, and to test his Hero Water-infused powers.
• Battle in the Center of the Mind: In order to release Yagura from Tobi's control, Naruto has to travel inside his mind and fight an avatar of Tobi, as well as the Sanbi.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: Why Isaribi becomes loyal to Kabuto, as he was able to help make her "normal" after being stuck in her Kaima form.
• Believing Their Own Lies: Before dying, as a final request, Danzo asks Hiruzen to acknowledge that everything Danzo did, he did it for Konoha's sake. Hiruzen concedes that, at the very least, he believed that, even if it wasn't true.
• Big Bad Ensemble: Akatsuki appeared to be the sole villain of Shippuden given Orochimaru's death in Part I. However, after the failed Kumo invasion Kabuto finds out that Tobi is Obito Uchiha and unmasks him in front of Nagato through the use of an Edo Tensei Rin zombie, which convinces Nagato to drop the whole Moon's Eye Plan. This leads to a new Akatsuki under Nagato and Kabuto's leadership, which kept all of Akatsuki's resources and followers, which now follows the goal of destroying the current ninja system while abandoning the pursuit of the Tailed Beasts, and another faction comprised solely by Obito and Zetsu, who still want to carry out the Infinite Tsukiyomi despite their current lack of resources, allies, and most importantly, the Rinnegan.
• The Big Damn Kiss:
  • Naruto and Hinata have one after they confess their feelings to each other during the Kiri Civil War arc.
  • This happens twice during Naruto's fourteenth birthday:
    • The first is when Shikamaru and Kurotsuchi have a private talk with each other, resulting in a Relationship Upgrade for the two of them.
    • The second is after Naruto says "I love you" to Hinata, which is the first time he says those three words instead of "I like you" to her. She's so touched by it that she gives him the most passionate kiss they had so far.
• Big "OMG!": Ino, who has been trying to find the perfect girlfriend for Shino, mentally screams "OH MY GOD!" when she sees the Aburame blushing while talking to Fū and realizes the latter is perfect for him.
• Big "WHAT?!":
  • This is Anko's reaction when Hiruzen asks her to become Team 3's jōnin-sensei. Given that this happens during nighttime, her reaction is so loud that it awakens several inhabitants of Konoha.
  • Naruto, Anko, and Kiba all have this reaction when Shikamaru forfeits his match against Sasuke.
  • Masakado has this reaction when he learns that Kabuto has Mito Uzumaki's corpse.
• Big "YES!": In Chapter 79, Naruto declares that his life goal is to make his student Hanabi (who has strong dislike of swearing) say either "fuck" or "shit". In the omake from the same chapter, he's overjoyed and shouts "YES!" when she accidentally says the word "shitty" in response to her teammate Kanji's poem.
• Birthday Beginning: Naruto's fourteenth birthday is an inverted example. Said birthday happens during Chapter 56, which is the end of a story arc rather than the beginning of it.
• Birthday Episode: A good chunk of Chapter 56 focuses on Naruto celebrating his fourteenth birthday alongside his loved ones.
• Bittersweet Ending:
  • The Iwagakure arc ends this way: Kurotsuchi defeats Suzumebachi, becoming the new Tsuchikage and thus averting a potential war against Konoha, and her resolve impresses Mu so much, he's able to break free from Edo Tensei and returns to the afterlife; however not only Onoki and Kitsuchi died, but to add insult to the injury Kabuto escaped with their corpses.
  • The ROOT arc ends with Danzō's death but at the cost of Hiruzen sacrificing his own life.
  • Also the Kumo Invasion arc: while the invasion is repelled and Akatsuki suffers a devastating blow, Kumo takes massive damage and the defenders also take heavy loses, such as Atsui, Shikaku, Choza, Ebisu, and one of Kurenai's Genin.
• Bleed 'Em and Weep: Hinata is traumatized after she killed an enemy for the first time. Later at night, she breaks down and cries into Naruto's outfit over what she's done. It's only after talking with Naruto that Hinata is able to calm down and be able to sleep for the first time since she did her first kill.
• Blood Knight: Anko has this, as befitting someone working in Torture & Interrogation. However, she also manages to combine it with Genki Girl, which greatly unnerves her students.
• Blood Magic: Hidan uses this trope more extensively compared to canon, as some of his skills post-timeskip include turning himself into a mass of blood or use his own blood to harm his enemies.
• Blunt "Yes": When Anko is giving to her students some Training from Hell in Chapter 6:
  Shikamaru: You're a sadist... you know that?
  Anko: Yup.
• Borrowed Catchphrase: Just like in canon, Shikamaru has this habit of using the word "troublesome". During his fight against Sasuke in the Konoha Chūnin Exams, Sasuke punches him and asks him while smirking "Had enough yet Shikamaru? Is this too 'troublesome' for you?"
• Breather Episode: Chapters 99, 100, and 101 are meant to set up the Akatsuki Invasion during Kumo's Chūnin Exams and how Konoha will prevent this.
• Broken Bird: Roshi ultimately is revealed to be this after confronting with his inner darkness.
• Broken Pedestal: A rather comedic example occurs to Naruto's view of Jiraiya. The two first meet when Naruto is learning about his heritage, and Naruto actually knows who the Sannin is. He's suitably awed and happy to get to know his godfather, especially once Jiraiya starts teaching him some jutsu. Then Naruto learns about Icha Icha...
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Doku Sugita, the director of the Kiri rebellions medical corps, is very passionate about wounds, examining each wound to try to find out how it happened. He also believes that a person's blood type reflects their personality and compatibility with others. However, he's also shown to be an exceptional healer.
• The Bus Came Back: The Kumo Chūnin Exams arc might as well have this as its title, as many characters who were Out of Focus after dozens of chapters and real-life years without showing up come back, notable examples including Temari, Misora, Karin, and Yagura.
• Chain Pain: Post-Time Skip, Naruto can use the Adamantine Sealing Chains.
• Challenging the Chief: Iwa has the tradition of the "Yama no Osu", where a shinobi with enough public support can challenge the Tsuchikage to a non-lethal duel for the position. It is how Mū became Tsuchikage. It may also be team-fight. Suzumebachi challenges and beats Onoki by using a resurrected Mū as her partner, before going against tradition and killing him. Kurotsuchi uses the appalled crowd to challenge her in return right on the spot, beating her and becoming Tsuchikage herself.
• Clingy Sleepers: In the omake from Chapter 17, Kurotsuchi decides to prevent Shikamaru from sleeping during an entire night as a revenge for when he declined to play a card game with her earlier that day. The next morning, Naruto walks into the room and sees the two of them sleeping, with Shikamaru underneath the covers and Kurotsuchi on top of them while also cuddling each other. The Uzumaki then leaves the room and grins while thinking about having found "the perfect blackmail". This is followed by Shikamaru and Kurotsuchi waking up and, after realizing their current position, agreeing that this never happened.
• Compensating for Something: During their first meeting, Etoro smirks and asks Hidan if the latter's scythe is compensating for something or if it's just 'absolutely necessary' for the Akatsuki member to have something like that for his fighting style. This does not put Hidan in a good mood.
• Cooldown Hug: After seeing Risho almost killing Kiba, Naruto gets angry and calls what he did "disgusting and pathetic". This is followed by Hinata gripping Naruto's shoulder tightly and saying his name. It calms him down and he thanks her as he really needed it.
• Cranial Eruption: Kanji gets one after he manages to get Tenten angry in the omake from Chapter 62. This is after he asked why the word 'kunoichi' is a thing. Tenten did a passionate speech about it, only for Kanji to ask why not using the word she-nobi instead. She wasn't too pleased that he asked that question just to make that pun, giving the impression that he thought everything she said was a joke.
• Cry into Chest: Hinata cries into Naruto's outfit when she's traumatized over killing someone for the first time.
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • Ino loses her fight against Dosu during the Chūnin Exams preliminaries pretty quickly. Both Naruto and Kurotsuchi are quite shocked at how fast the fight was over.
  • During the Konoha Invasion, Hiruzen has to face the Sound Four in their full-power Cursed forms. It's so one-sided as to be a Foregone Conclusion, with Tayuya only surviving due to Hiruzen suspecting her lineage.
• Curse Cut Short:
  • Kanji makes a really sarcastic comment in Chapter 62. After hearing this, Katsumi crosses her arms and says "Sarcastic ass-" before being interrupted by the arrival of Lee and Tenten.
  • Roto almost says the F-word to Risho, only to instead say "Shove off Risho." when he notices his mother's look towards him.
• A Day in the Limelight: Chapter 121 could be this for Konohamaru, given that a good chunk of the chapter is focused on him and his inner turmoil.
• Death by Adaptation:
  • Orochimaru and Baki die during the Sound-Sand invasion.
  • A very minor example not many people will notice: Anko here states that her teammates died after they were unable to survive being branded with a cursed seal. However, the manga shows that at least one of them is still alive (Kabuto's team's sensei in the Chūnin Exam).
  • Ranmaru from Part I filler is dead when Raiga is introduced.
  • C (the Fourth Raikage's blonde sensor-nin bodyguard) is murdered by Fu & Torune on Danzo's orders, in the latter's efforts to ruin the possibility of Konoha/Kumo peace.
  • Onoki made all the way to the end of the manga. Not here, where he dies in a duel against Suzumebachi Kamizuru.
  • Same goes for Kitsuchi, who survived the Fourth Ninja War, but is killed by Kabuto here.
  • Sai as well, who is killed by Sakura during the ROOT Arc.
  • While it's hard to pinpoint given how much the fanfic changes regarding Shippūden, it can be say that Danzo meets his demise earlier than he did in canon.
  • Atsui made it alive to the end of the manga. Not so much here, where he dies during Akatsuki's invasion of Kumo.
  • Oyashiro dies during said event as well, while he's still alive in canon.
• Death Faked for You: After being freed from Tobi's mind control, Yagura is given the identity of Kamui, a rebel shinobi who was stationed in Kirigakure as a spy for Mei. Being rather religious, he's not too happy with the name, but goes along with it.
• Demoted to Extra:
  • The rest of Team 7 (Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi) receive much less focus, due to the protagonist being on a different team. However, Sasuke does receive significant development during the Chūnin Exams, even being convinced to not pull a Face–Heel Turn. Sakura is later developed during a return mission to Nami no Kuni, dealing with her feeling of Can't Catch Up. Both also become close friends of Naruto regardless.
  • Due to Jiraiya being the one who becomes Hokage here, Tsunade's role is simply that of mentor to Shikamaru, but even then, she doesn't appear much, with her only notable role being part of the pursuit team in the ROOT arc.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: Itachi dies in Sasuke's arms, much to his younger brother's grief.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation:
  • In canon, the Sound Four met their end during the Sasuke Retrieval Mission. Here, with the exception of Tayuya, whom is left alive, Hiruzen kills them during the Sand-Sound Invasion.
  • Rather than dying from a mixture of his illness and overexerting himself, Kimimaro is killed by Kabuto while he's in a coma in order to harvest Kimimaro's kekkei genkai samples.
  • Instead of pulling a Heroic Sacrifice during the Sand-Sound Invasion, Hiruzen pulls one during the ROOT Arc, which takes place three years after the event. Unlike in canon, his death didn't involve him using the Reaper Seal.
  • Itachi is not killed in battle with Sasuke, but is instead killed in battle against Tobi and Kisame while (ironically) fighting alongside Sasuke and Tayuya.
  • Konan, Kisame and Deidara, as well as Ao are killed during the Kumo-Invasion.
• Didn't Think This Through: By his own admission, Danzō did not consider the possibility of Orochimaru having an interest in Kabuto when sending the Sannin to either kill him or to make sure that he's dead.
• Do Not Call Me "Paul": Honorific example, as Kabuto dislikes it when the revived Orochimaru calls him "Kabuto-sama".
• Door Stopper: A monster that's over 100 chapters and a million words, you'll find very few fanfics longer than this one.
• Dope Slap:
  • Anko has done this more than once:
    • In the omake from Chapter 7, she does this to Naruto, Shikamaru, and their client Yen due to all of them doing stuff that makes them perverts (and also after Shikamaru talks back to her when she smacks him on the head for the first time).
    • She smacks Naruto in the head after he snatches one of the Chūnin Exams forms from her.
    • She does it to Naruto again after he loudly complains when Sasuke gets to have his fight in the preliminaries before he does.
  • After the Time Skip, Sakura smacks Kiba on the head for making fun of Sasuke's former haircut that looked like a duck's butt.
• Embarrassing Nickname: Anko's nicknames for her genin are "Whiskers" (Naruto), "Stutters-Chan" (Hinata), and "Lazy Ass" (Shikamaru).
• Enemy Mine: Upon learning from Itachi of Akatsuki's attack on Kumo during the Chūnin Exams, Jiraiya tries to convince the Raikage that, even if an alliance won't happen, at least they should work together in order to fight this threat.
• Enmity with an Object: In Chapter 6, the narration refers to paperwork as Hiruzen Sarutobi's "number one nemesis of his entire life".
• Erotic Dream: While in Shimo, Jiraiya has this kind of dream before being awakened by a furious Raikage.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Kisame has shown to dislike the deception Danzō has done for the "greater good of Konoha".
• Everyone Can See It:
  • Naruto and Hinata, much like in so many other NaruHina fanfics. At one point, Mei learns through some investigation that the Hyuga has romantic feelings for the Uzumaki. Much to Anko's amusement, Mei knows about that before even meeting Naruto and seeing him interact with Hinata. After their Relationship Upgrade, characters such as Shikamaru, Sakura, and Anko point out to Naruto and/or Hinata how obvious the latter's feelings towards the former were.
  • There's also Shikamaru and Kurotsuchi. The former's teammates and parents can tell there is something between these two before Shikamaru and Kurotsuchi themselves acknowledge it.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: After being saved by Naruto, Dosu has a hard time understanding that the blond genin didn't do that in exchange for some form of payment.
• Evil Counterpart: Tatsuma Aburame is this to Shino. While the latter (and presumably, the rest of his clan) shows a lot of care for his kikaichu, Tatsuma only sees them as tools and submits them to harsh conditions in order to make them stronger, not caring that most of them die as a result.
• Face Doodling: During his genin graduation test, Kanji ends up having a mustache and a beard drawn on his face after he uses his Mind Transfer Jutsu on one of his sensei Naruto's clones.
• Face Your Fears: Why Hinata accepts to act as the Hokage's bodyguard during his meeting with the Raikage: to show everybody that she isn't afraid of him or Kumo from what happened during the Hyuga Affair.
• Facepalm:
  • Han facepalms when he realizes that teaching Naruto how to meditate is going to take a lot of work.
  • In the omake from Chapter 13, this is Kurenai's reaction after reading Anko's scroll titled "How to be a badass proctor for the exams" (along with tossing it to the side).
  • Ibiki does this when Anko yells "HEAR THAT WHISKERS? EVEN MORINO FUCKING IBIKI IS PRAISING YOU!" to Naruto during the final part of the Konoha Chūnin Exams.
  • In Chapter 39, Masakado facepalms when both Naruto and Tayuya fail to make a sealing paper remain stuck on the wall.
  • Upon seeing Naruto giving a peck to Hinata, Shikamaru has this reaction as he finally realizes that the reason why Anko made him and Dosu come along with her to do some errands was just so Naruto and Hinata could spend some time together alone.
  • Han has this reaction more than once when Tayuya tries to find him a girlfriend. Similarly, Kurotsuchi, Roto, and Risho all facepalm when Tayuya only has one single argument over Susumu dating Han (which is that they're both artists).
  • In Shimo, Naruto and Hinata try to find some way to help Fū after the latter lost control of Chōmei. The Hyuga has the idea of asking a jinchūriki to talk to Fū. In response, the Uzumaki comments that he could send a message to Han in Iwa, only for Hinata to point out that the two jinchūriki from Kumo (Killer Bee and Yugito) are both present in Shimo. Naruto facepalms upon realizing his mistake and chuckles over it.
  • Risho facepalms when Roto makes the mistake of asking Kurotsuchi if it's true that she and Shikamaru "are really that kinky in bed".
  • Kido Tsumiki facepalms and says "Zip it, geezer." to Yoshikane when the latter feels the need to insult the former while they're trying to exit Konoha.
• False Flag Operation: Happens multiple times with different people behind it:
  • It seems to be a favorite tactic of Danzou and ROOT, who stage both and assassination attempt on the Raikage (trying to blame Jiraiya in oder to sabotage his negotiations with the former), as well as the murders of Suzumebachi's brothers (trying to pin them on Onoki, albeit they get found out).
  • During the Chūnin Exams on Kumo, in order to sabotage the ties between the villages, Akatsuki hire several mercenaries from Oyashiro to kill several Genin while disguised as foreign ninjas.
• Fantastic Racism:
  • Kiba and the rest of the Inuzuka Clan blame Iwa for the large casualties among them during the Third Shinobi World War.
  • Risho and the other Kurogane hate Konoha for the same reason, albeit Risho learns to overcome his hatred.
  • Masakado strongly hates Kumo and its citizens for the downfall of Uzushio and holds a grudge towards them in present day.
  • The Iwa arc shows a lot of distrust and open hostility against Konoha among Iwa's general population, although many of them reconsider after witnessing Shikamaru's fight in the "Yama no Osu" against Suzumebachi.
• Fire, Water, Wind: Affinity wise, Shikamaru is fire, Hinata is water and Naruto is wind.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: No, seriously, this fanfic loves this trope.
  • In Chapter 17, when Hinata asks Naruto and Shikamaru not to hate Neji for his behavior, adding that Neji has his reasons, Naruto replies that no matter what Neji went through, it doesn't excuse him being rude to her.
    Hinata: That's...my cousin. He...wasn't always like that. P-Please don't hate him for that. H-He has his reasons for his behavior...
    Naruto: I don't care what reasons he has, no one can be that rude to you. He better hope we don't have to fight!
  • Risho, who's from Iwa, curb-stomps Kiba and almost kills him in the preliminary exams. Why? Risho is from the Kurogane clan. During the Third Great Ninja War, over a third of Iwa's casualties came from said clan alone. Sasuke and Sakura aren't sympathetic and the former clearly hopes to avenge Kiba. Naruto, while slightly sympathetic and pointing out that Kiba was also a jerk, also adds that Kiba had nothing to do with the Kurogane clan's casualties:
    "Disgusting." Naruto finished Han's sentence with a slight growl. The blonde was clenching his fists tightly. "...even if he lost most of his clan, even if Kiba was also being an ass, that is no excuse for that. He looked like he was going to straight up kill him, and Kiba didn't do a damn thing! He wasn't the one who killed anyone in war." The Uzumaki turned his look over to where Risho was in the corner of the room. His eyes narrowed. "It's disgusting and pathetic!"
  • Later subverted: When meeting Risho's cousin, who's even more of a Jerkass, verbally abuses Risho, and threatens to have him thrown out of the clan, Naruto quickly sympathizes with Risho.
  • An old woman explains to Shikamaru and Suigetsu in Chapter 45 that she is excited about the execution of five bloodline wielders because her husband and children were killed by the Kaguya Clan (who happens to have bloodlines). While they hide it, Suigetsu (who has a bloodline himself) later tells Shikamaru that he's not sympathetic at all and that he's sure that the people about to be executed have nothing to do with the woman's family's death. Shikamaru agrees:
    "I know about the fucking mission, okay? I'm doing what I can! But it's kinda hard hearing these bastards talk about how they're excited to watch people like me die." Suigetsu hissed at him. "I don't care who or what killed their families. It wasn't me and I sure as hell know it wasn't any of the people they're going to execute. So sorry if it pisses me off listening to them talk for too long!"
  • When Hiruzen orders Tsunade to come back to Konoha, he tells her that the loss of Dan and Nawaki is not an excuse to become bitter towards Konoha, as it would dishonor the very thing Dan and Nawaki fought for:
    Hiruzen: I know what happened to Nawaki and Dan, Tsunade. I know you are still affected by the events, but we have all experienced loss. I gave you all of the time in the world to mourn; I did not give you time to allow your grief to consume you. And I did not give you time to place any form of bitterness against Konoha, the very village that both Nawaki and Dan loved above all else! They would both be honored to see you as the Hokage and you know that. Don't reject the title [of Hokage] out of bitterness; the very action is a direct insult against everything they stood for!"
  • And again, when Naruto finds out that Kabuto used to be a ROOT agent at the tender age of ten, and that his childhood was probably many times worse than Naruto's. However, the Uzumaki still makes it clear that this doesn't excuse all the evil things he's done since then.
• Funny Conception Story: When Naruto asks his genin students to introduce themselves, Kanji decides to have some fun by telling the story of how he was born. It doesn't take long before his sensei interrupts him, saying he doesn't need to know about the sex lives of his students' parents. Kanji tries to continue his story, only to be interrupted by Naruto throwing a kunai that barely passes his student's head. Afterwards, the genin no longer attempts to continue telling the story of his conception.
• Genre Savvy:
  • Deconstructed. Not being related to the clan head, Kanji Yamanaka realized that he's pretty much a Red Shirt, somebody who will probably never go past chūnin, will die during a mission or battle, and no one besides his immediate family will mourn or remember him. The reason for this line of thinking is that his older brother Fu Yamanaka disappeared one day many years ago on his way to the Academy, and Kanji felt that the clan did very little to find him, not helped by the fact that very few people went to the funeral.
  • On the other hand, both Onoki and Kurotsuchi suspect that Naruto has a connection to the Fourth Hokage due to his Hair Color Spoiler.
• Get a Room!:
  • At the end of the Kiri Civil War arc, Naruto wakes up from a coma after three days. When he's reunited with Hinata (who became his girlfriend by that point), she hugs him tightly and expresses some relief over him being safe and sound. It is then followed by this exchange:
    Hinata: But whatever; you're good now! Now-
    Anko: -you two can get a room?
  • Following a mission in Suna, Naruto is reunited with Hinata, where they end up hugging and kissing each other. Hanabi tells them to get a room, making the two lovebirds blush.
• Giving Someone the Pointer Finger: In the omake from Chapter 35, both Jiraiya and Roshi do this while also exclaiming "YOU!" when they recognize each other.
• Grave Robbing: As per canon, Kabuto, although he's doing it to augment his body by gaining access to the person's Kekkai Genkai and other genetic abilities.
• Hand Gagging: When Haku almost accidentally reveals Hinata's feelings for Naruto to the latter, the Hyuga panics and covers Haku's mouth before whispering to him that she's planning on talking to the Uzumaki about it later that night.
• Handicapped Badass: Misora, a Kiri kunoichi who's actually blind, but learned to sense chakra to such a point that she doesn't appear to be blind.
• Hannibal Lecture: The brutal Kiri bloodline executioner Karitoriki gives one to Shikamaru while the latter prepares to kill the former via immobilizing him with shadow jutsu, and then sticking explosive tags all over his body. The executioner taunts him, gleefully pointing out that Shikamaru is brutally killing him in revenge for his earlier murder of bloodline users. Karitoriki kills those with bloodlines due to one of them murdering his family when he was young. Thus, he proclaims that he and Shikamaru are exactly the same, laughing manically as Shikamaru detonates the tags just to stop his taunting.
• Hate Sink: Karitoriki, after losing his family and friends in the destruction of his home village by a bloodline clan, entered Kiri's ranks to become a shinobi, and eventually became the "Bloodline Hunter", gleefully joining Yagura in his Final Solution plans against every single bloodline wielder. A merciless executioner, he loves to torture his subjects. Introduced taking advantage of a civilian village's toxic hatred of people with Bloodline Limits, he plans to execute 5 bloodline wielders, one of them being a child, whom he taunts about her parents' death and the destruction of her clan. When Shikamaru, Honoka, Kiri (a character, not the village) and Haku attempts to crash the execution and rescue the 5 persons, Karitoriki (after being freed from Honoka's chains by Guren), having placed explosives inside the 5 bloodline wielders' hearts just in case, spitefully blow them up, killing them all and only regretting that he was unable to torture them. Despite his tragic past, no one is sympathetic, with Suigetsu pointing out Karitoriki made him go through a similar tragedy when executing his brother.
• Heel–Face Turn:
  • Dosu and Tayuya end up working for Konoha, and all the happier for it.
  • Fū Yamanaka as mentioned in Adaptational Heroism.
• Heroic BSoD:
  • Shikamaru has one after the above Hannibal Lecture. It takes several chapters and a pep talk with his team and family for Shikamaru to get over it.
  • Fū (the Seven Tails jinchūriki) also has one after she fails to control her Tailed Beast power in a spar against Killer Bee and Yugito.
  • Kanji Yamanaka and his brother Fū (the ROOT agent) share one upon reuniting with each other, to the point that Fū allows Kanji to scan his mind so he can know what happened after Fū was inducted into ROOT.
• Heroic Suicide: To make sure Danzo dies for good, Hiruzen stays in the area of effect of the former's self-destruction jutsu in order to make sure he doesn't try to cheat death again.
• Hidden Depths:
  • Yoshikane is such a stickler for tradition because it justifies the death of his youngest son. The real reason he opposes the abolishing of the Caged Bird Seal is because he's jealous that his eldest son won't have to mark one of his children like he did, especially since the seal is ultimately what led to Hizashi's death.
  • Fu might look like a female Naruto at first sight, but she's also a skilled gardener, and enjoys writing poetry.
  • Naruto himself picks up cooking during the time-skip.
  • Dosu enjoys brewing tea, owns a collection of antiques and as a member of the T&I department has some training in psychology.
• High-Heel–Face Turn: When the Sound Four fight against Hiruzen, he easily kills all the male members, but spares Tayuya on the grounds that she might be an Uzumaki. She later forsakes her allegiance to Orochimaru and becomes a Konoha ninja.
• Historical Villain Upgrade: In-Universe. The people of Iwa regard Minato as a monstrous mass-murderer, due to him defeating a whole army of theirs on his own during the Third Shinobi World War.
• History Repeats: Hanabi notes that the Akatsuki's planned invasion during her first Chūnin Exams is similar to Orochimaru's during Team 3's.
• Hypercompetent Sidekick:
  • During the Konoha Chūnin Exams, Neji believes Shikamaru is this to Naruto and Hinata.
  • While having a discussion about Naruto being Hokage, Shikamaru notes with a teasing smirk that he and Hinata will probably be by Naruto's side during his time as Hokage so he doesn't "fuck up things." In other words, Naruto will work on the peace while his two friends will do everything else for him. This comment makes Naruto tell Shikamaru to shut up while rolling his eyes.
• Hypocrite: Roshi's inner darkness claims that he is the embodiment of this.
• Hypocritical Humor:
  • During his first C-Rank mission, Naruto thinks that Yen talks way too much. Considering that the Uzumaki himself is known for talking a lot...
  • After becoming the fifth Hokage, there are a few instances where Jiraiya complains whenever someone doesn't knock on the door when they walk in his office or when they knock and enters without waiting for permission to enter the room. Each time this happens, the other person rightfully points out how hypocritical it is for him to say that given his habit of entering through windows.
  • After learning that Gaara is now Kazekage, Shikamaru smirks and tells Naruto that the latter is slacking and should step up his game. Smirking back, the Uzumaki points out that the Nara is the last one who should make such a comment.
  • On his way to Shimo alongside his team, Kanji recites a poem where, among other things, he says that Katsumi is whining. The latter then replies by saying "If it's about the 'not having a mission by ourselves' thing, then you're a goddamn hypocrite, cause you did the exact same thing!"
  • In the omakes from Chapter 91, Tayuya suggests having Kurotsuchi as Han's girlfriend. Kurotsuchi refuses because, among other things, Han is over ten years older than her. She then angrily suggests to have Tayuya herself become Han's girlfriend. When Tayuya says she doesn't want to because she herself isn't into men who are over ten years older than her, Kurotsuchi angrily points out her hypocrisy.
• I Do Not Own: Every chapter starts out with one in some form, with DryBonesKing sometimes jokingly trying to buy out the rights from Masashi Kishimoto.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: The first thing the fifth Hokage Jiraiya does after reading a letter from the Raikage is to drink an entire bottle of sake to deal with the stress caused by said letter.
• I Need to Go Iron My Dog:
  • After a training session with Anko is over, Hinata nervously asks Naruto "W-Would y-you like to go s-somewhere together to eat o-or something?" He misunderstands what she's saying and thinks she wants the two of them plus Shikamaru to spend time together, much to her disappointment. Noticing her reaction, Shikamaru says he can't come because he has clan stuff to do. This is then subverted as it's later revealed in that same chapter that he really has clan stuff to do and thus isn't making up an excuse to not come with them.
  • During the Kiri Civil War arc, at some café, Anko notices Naruto blushing at Hinata and smirks at that sight. She then comes up with the idea of having some business to do and needing Shikamaru and Dosu to come help her with that just so they can Leave the Two Lovebirds Alone.
  • Upon seeing how well Fū and Shino are clicking, Ino leaves and drags Choji with her, claiming that she and her teammate have to help her clan with something without further elaborating about it.
• I Owe You My Life: During the Third War, Kakuzu saved the life of a Takigakure ninja who would become its Jōnin Commander. Of course, Kakuzu exploits this debt in order to gain access to the village and capture Fū.
• Irony: For all his talk of doing everything for the sake of Konoha's safety, Danzō's actions ended up bringing more harm than good in the long run: in addition to being responsible for Kabuto's Start of Darkness, which is something Kabuto himself acknowledges, and an implication that he is responsible for the creation of the current Akatsuki, Tanuki Shigaraki and Kido Tsumiki managed to join the Akatsuki so that they can get revenge on Konoha for Danzō's death. Kabuto briefly reanimates Danzō just so he can gleefully rub in how badly Danzō's efforts backfired in the end.
• It Has Been an Honor: Fū (Yamanaka) and Torune mentally tell this to each other after failing Danzo's plan to assassinate the Raikage, knowing that they will be executed.
• Karmic Death:
  • Unlike canon, Hayate's murderer Baki is killed by Anko.
  • Similarly, Orochimaru is Killed Off for Real by the sensei he tried to murder with the aid of the student he turned into a guinea pig.
• Klingon Promotion: One can become Tsuchikage by beating the current one in a duel. However, in order to be able to challenge them to begin with, one must have a lot of popular support behind.
• Knuckle Cracking:
  • In the omake from Chapter 55, Kiba makes fun of Sasuke by pointing out that the latter's haircut looks like a duck's butt. Upon hearing that, Sakura narrows her eyes towards Kiba and walks closer to him while cracking her knuckles before hurting him in a way that he makes a loud howl of pain that various animals could hear from afar.
  • In the omake from Chapter 62, Kanji asks why the word 'kunoichi' is a thing. Tenten makes a passionate speech about why that word is a thing and how proud she is to wear that title. However, while grinning, Kanji asks why not using the other word, which is she-nobi. Tenten is in disbelief that he asked that question just to make that pun. Soon after, she has some killing intent towards the boy, approaches him slowly, and cracks her knuckles before asking in a soft voice if he thinks everything she just said was a joke. The next paragraph indicates that Kanji now has a comically-large bump on his head that causes him pain.
  • Anko does this three times in Chapter 72:
    • The first time is when she warns Naruto and Fū not to pull any prank on her or else they'll regret it.
    • The second time is before she manages to scare two civilians who were negatively talking about Fū.
    • The third time is before she does some one-on-one sparring with Fū.
  • In Chapter 76, Anko does this again when Shibuki asks her to help him get answers from Zagi Kariudo, who helped the Akatsuki invade Taki.
  • During a mission in Shimo, Sasuke cracks his knuckles while expressing some eagerness to fight Naruto once they both return to Konoha.
  • During the ROOT arc, when Jiraiya asks if brute force would work against the wall preventing him and his group from pursuing Danzō, Tsunade walks towards the wall while cracking her knuckles, only stopping when Hiruzen says that he doesn't recall any case where brute force would work and that Tobirama designed the wall to be as impenetrable as possible.
• Lady Swears-a-Lot: Anko is one of these, much to Hinata's discomfort. Also Tayuya. To a lesser degree, Katsumi, and her teammate Hanabi habitually corrects her.
• Lame Pun Reaction:
  • How Katsumi reacts towards Kanji's puns. Much to her chagrin, most people find them genuinely funny.
  • Also, how Naruto reacts when Yugito (the Two-Tailed Cat host) makes a cat pun. She takes offense when Naruto negatively compares it to Killer B's rapping.
• Lampshade Hanging:
  • Shikamaru comments on how often C-Rank missions end up becoming more dangerous than they should be due to somehow ending up involving fighting against a high-level missing-nin (as it happened to Team 3, Team 7, and Team 10), to the point that he thinks that the "C" of the C-Rank stands for "Curse".
  • A similar conversation happens when they find out about Akatsuki's plan to invade Kumo during their Chūnin Exams, which is similar to the Sand-Sound Invasion that happened during Konoha's.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
  • Rōshi is an author who has written several novels in his life. When he ends up fighting several Otogakure shinobi, he thinks that these shinobi aren't anything special and are "nothing more than 'filler characters', waiting to be killed by the power of the author."
  • After Sasori and Deidara bring Kabuto to the hideout in the Land of the Rivers^notethe one where Shukaku was extracted from Gaara at the beginning of Shippūden, the latter replies with "Really? A rock blocking a secret entrance? That sounds like something out of a kid's manga".
• Leave the Two Lovebirds Alone:
  • Hinata nervously asks Naruto "W-Would y-you like to go s-somewhere together to eat o-or something?" However, Naruto misunderstands what she's asking and thinks she wants the two of them plus Shikamaru to spend time together, much to her disappointment. Noticing Hinata's reaction, Shikamaru tells them he can't come given that he has to go home for some clan stuff (which isn't an excuse he just made up), thus allowing Naruto and Hinata to spend some time just the two of them.
  • During the Kirigakure Civil War arc:
    • At some café, Anko notices Naruto blushing at Hinata's encouragement in becoming a seal master. She smirks and comes up with the excuse of having some errands to do and needing Shikamaru and Dosu to help her with that, just so Naruto and Hinata could be together alone.
    • Later on, during Naruto's conversation with Yagura, they're interrupted by the arrival of Mei. The latter and Yagura have a Big Damn Reunion where they hug each other and have Tears of Joy. Smiling at that moment, Naruto decides to walk out of the room as he feels they need their time.
• Long-Distance Relationship:
  • Shikamaru has one with Kurotsuchi. At one point, he expresses a little jealousy over Naruto and Hinata being able to see each other every day.
  • Dosu also enters one with Misora after the Kiri Civil War. He is noticeably miffed about not being selected for the Kumo Invasion, thus missing the chance to meet her.
• Love Confession: Naruto and Hinata confess their feelings to each other during the Kiri Civil War arc.
• Master of Illusion: Sakura learns Genjutsu in this fic.
• Might Makes Right: Invoked. For Hinata and Neji's plan to unite the Main and Branch houses and remove the Caged Bird Seal, they have to defeat the leader of the elders and Hiashi's father, Yoshikane, in a public duel in front of the rest of the elders. Yoshikane brings Sai to the fight as his partner to even the odds. Hinata and Neji rise victorious, making it a case of Right Makes Might.
• The Mole: Itachi feeds intel on Akatsuki to Konoha (and unlike canon, we both get to see it and Konoha gains valuable knowledge on the enemy). However, the fact that Team Three was in Taki to warn them about Akatsuki trying to abduct Fu just when Kakuzu and Hidan were about to do that made them realize that it was too much of a Contrived Coincidence and that there's a traitor among them.
• Mythology Gag:
  • After meeting Neji (who, at this point, is still a Jerkass) for the first time during the Konoha Chūnin Exams, Naruto tells Hinata "He better hope we don't have to fight!" Naruto doesn't fight Neji at any point during the exams, but it happened of course in canon, with Neji losing against the Uzumaki.
  • The fact that Naruto neutralizes Tenten's weapons via Wind Release during the Preliminaries is similar to how Temari does it in the anime.
  • Hinata develops the 'Protection of the Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms', which is a jutsu she created in the Search for the Bikōchū filler arc. When she explains it to her father, she thinks while blushing about how thankful she is that nobody saw her when she practiced that jutsu at some waterfall, implying that she did it while being nude just like in that filler arc. And considering Hinata's reaction when she learned that Naruto DID see her (without realizing who she was) in that one episode...
  • Shikamaru "loses" his match with Sasuke the exact same way he "lost" to Temari.
  • Hinata defeats Kankurō in a similar fashion to how her cousin defeated Kidōmaru in-canon.
  • In Chapter 84, Tayuya plays through a flute a song called "Haruka Kanata", which is the second opening theme to the first Naruto anime series. Two chapters later, she plays "Blue Bird", the third opening theme to Shippuden.
  • In Chapter 111, Naruto's inner darkness calls itself "Menma Uzumaki" and has black hair that is longer and shaggier than Naruto's, all of which are references to the latter's World of Ninja version from Naruto the Movie: Road to Ninja.
• Named by the Adaptation:
  • Hiashi's father had no name in neither the manga nor the anime. This fic gives him the name "Yoshikane".
  • Hiashi's wife is given the name Hitomi.
  • The Kumo-nin who tried to kidnap Hinata is named Yotsuki Kashikoi.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast:
  • Koharu is the "Grim Reaper of Konoha". Chapter 57 shows that she more than lives up to the name.
  • Karitoriki is Kirigakure's "Bloodline Hunter/Executioner". In his first appearance, in Chapter 45, he executes five people who happened to have bloodlines.
• Necromancer: Aside from the Edo Tensei users, Hidan learns to reanimate the corpses of the victims he kills via his Cursed Jutsu. Unlike the Edo Tensei reanimations, these ones behave more like stereotypical brainless zombies (though they're far from brainless).
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Suzumebachi manages to galvanize plenty of support in Iwa towards challenging Onoki to a formal duel for the position of Tsuchikage in her plot to erase all the progress he's made and go to war against Konoha (especially after Danzo's operatives manage to kill her brothers but fail to kill her); traditionally, when the duel is won, the loser and all of Iwa will follow the winner's lead without question. But after her victory, Suzumebachi then coldly executes the unconscious and helpless Onoki. This blatant breaking of tradition and cold-blooded act of murder immediately turns the entire crowd against her, guaranteeing they'd never follow her as Tsuchikage and leaving the alliance with Konoha intact.
• Not Just a Tournament:
  • Like in canon, the Chūnin Exams during Part I ended up being used by Orochimaru and Otogakure to invade and to brand Sasuke a Curse Mark.
  • The Akatsuki plan to use Chūnin Exams in Kumo during Shippūden in order to kidnap various jinchūriki who plan on showing up.
• Not Me This Time: When Kakuzu shows up to the Akatsuki meeting alone, everybody assumes he just killed his partner again. While Kakuzu was planning on killing him anyway, he quickly points out that his partner was actually killed by a feral Naruto.
• Not So Similar: When Anko calls out Suien for killing one of his own henchmen, Suien points out that Anko was also trying to kill him and that, like him, she didn't care about the henchman's life. Anko's rebuttal is that he was her enemy and his goals opposed hers, but he was Suien's subordinate who shared the same goals, and Suien only killed him out of pure sadism.
• Oh, Crap!: This is Danzō's reaction when he learns that his former subordinates Tanuki Shigaraki and Kido Tsumiki joined the Akatsuki with the intent of getting revenge on Konoha for his death.
• Official Kiss:
  • Naruto and Hinata have their official kiss right after they have confessed their feelings to each other during the Kiri Civil War arc.
  • After the Kiri Civil War is over, Misora hugs Dosu and kisses him on the cheek. He confessed his interest towards her two days prior, but she said back then she wanted to think about her feelings for him in more detail before coming to a conclusion. Thus, her kiss serves as a way to tell him she does reciprocate his feelings.
  • Shikamaru and Kurotsuchi have theirs while having a private conversation with each other during Naruto's fourteenth birthday.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: At several times in the story, important events such as Naruto learning the Rasengan or Neji learning the truth about his father are skipped over or only alluded to. According to the author, these moments occur more or less identically to canon, and he felt he couldn't add anything meaningful to those scenes.
• One-Steve Limit: Chapter 77 lampshades that there are two characters named Fū. The first Omake of Chapter 85 has Naruto and his friends trying to find a way to avoid confusing one with the other.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • The second chapter begins with Naruto arriving at the academy twenty minutes before class, which is something he never did as he would usually arrive ten minutes late instead. Some of the instructors and students gap at his early presence, while others give him a confused look. The reason Naruto is so early is because he wants to see and talk with Hinata and Shikamaru, who became his new friends in the previous chapter.
  • Whenever Anko calls her students by their real names instead of their nicknames, it's a sign that she's being serious.
    • Hinata nearly gasps before Anko does a rant against the Hyuga Clan for two reasons: 1. Anko called Hinata by her real name instead of her nickname; 2. She asked for permission to say what's on her mind, even though she's the kind of person who wouldn't ask for permission in the first place.
• Our Zombies Are Different: On top of the canonical Edo Tensei reanimations, there are also the Revenants, zombies made out of Hidan's sacrifices to Jashin and modified for combat purposes. Hidan summons three of them in his fight against Fū.
• Out of Focus: Shikamaru, Anko, and to a much lesser extent Hinata once the story enters the Shippūden timeframe, due to Naruto's Genin team being introduced and hogging quite a lot of spotlight.
• Passing the Torch: In Chapter 113, Homura offers to teach Shikamaru his Ninja Art: Holy Barricade technique, which he accepts.
• Please, Don't Leave Me: A devastated Sasuke begs his older brother Itachi not to leave him again as the latter dies in his arms.
• Poor Communication Kills: Played for Laughs: Anko first meets her students by bursting into the Academy room with her trademark banner... and then Iruka sheepishly tells her she wasn't supposed to do that for another hour. Later on in an omake, Anko rushes in late to a meeting about the Chūnin Exams, only to be told that she isn't a proctor this time due to having participating students.
• Properly Paranoid: Pain, Konan, and Tobi rightly begin to suspect that Itachi is the mole who's been leaking vital intel based on Kisame's reports. As such, Tobi makes a point to monitor Itachi.
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: At one point during the Invasion of Kumo, Hidan wonders out loud "WHERE. THE. FUCK. IS. MY. SCYTHE."
• Pungeon Master:
  • Naruto's student Kanji is one, much to his teammates' dismay.
  • Downplayed with Yugito, who likes to make puns (usually cat-related) from time to time, but nowhere near as often as Kanji.
• The Quisling: Zagi, Takigakure's Jōnin Commander, helped Kakuzu and Suien invade his own village. Though unlike most examples of this trope, he doesn't do it out of personal gain, but because Kakuzu saved his life during the Third War, which Kakuzu cashed in for his collaboration. While fighting for Taki's enemies, he felt horrible doing it and hoped Shibuki and the rest of the Taki ninjas could kill him.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: Chapter 57 shows why Homura and Koharu held their positions as the Hokage's advisors as long as they did, as despite their old age and not having been in active service for some time, they have proven to be able to hold their own against Team 3 during a training session.
• Really Gets Around: The Kiryu Clan, much to Kurotsuchi's bewilderment when she learns of how many Lava Release users exist outside of Iwa.
• Reasonable Authority Figure:
  • Contrary to his usual depiction in fanon, Hiashi Hyuuga is one. While he begins distant as usual, his views begin to change during the pitched match between Neji and Hinata. After the Invasion, he personally begins training the two, in hopes of convincing the clan elders to change traditions on the Cursed Seal.
  • In a similar vein, Koharu and Homura are shown to be reasonable, if strict, in the limited screen time they get.
• Rebuilt Pedestal: Itachi becomes this to Sasuke, and eventually to most of the top-ranking shinobi in Konoha after the truth of the Massacre comes to light.
• Relationship Upgrade:
  • As it turns out, Yagura and Mei were quite close prior to the former's appointment as Mizukage, and rumors suggested that they were going to marry. However, then Tobi mind-controlled Yagura, and Mei began to lead the rebellion against him. This is one of the primary reasons why Yagura's survival is kept top-secret.
  • Also, Naruto and Hinata during the Kiri Civil War arc.
  • Shikamaru and Kurotsuchi become a couple during Naruto's fourteenth birthday.
• Related in the Adaptation:
  • Tayuya is an Uzumaki in this fic, thus making her a distant relative to Naruto, Nagato, Karin, and Tsunade.
  • This fic goes with the assumption that Kahyō, Hakuhyō, and Rahyō from Kakashi Hiden: Lightning in the Icy Sky are members of the Yuki clan, thus making them distant relatives to Haku.
• The Remnant: After Orochimaru's death, Yoroi and Misumi decided to gather an army in order to destroy Konoha and avenge him. Unfortunaterly, the small army they gather is easily wiped out by a trio of Konoha ninjas.
• The Resenter: The real reason Yoshikane opposes the new seal, as stated by Hinata. He's jealous of the fact that his descendants, including his son and grandchildren, won't be forced to mark their children like he had to with Hizashi.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: An invoked trope. After the Kiri invasion, Yagura's survival is kept as an S-class secret. However, gossip is already spreading that Naruto helped to kill him, and Hiruzen is well aware that Naruto won't be able to entirely keep in his discomfort at maintaining the lie. Instead, he suggests that Naruto admit discomfort due to "killing" a fellow jinchūriki. This seems to work so far.
• Retired Badass: Koharu and Homura. Although it's subverted when in the wake of the deaths of Danzō and Hiruzen, they make a request to the Fifth Hokage to come back to active service.
• Rock–Paper–Scissors: Anko and Kahyō play a game of this (or janken as they call it) to decide who will kill Raiga. Zabuza snorts at this and requests to have the winner mention to Raiga that his executioner was chosen by a game like janken, given that it's "the kind of thing that would piss him off before he dies."
• Running Gag:
  • During the final part of the Konoha Chūnin Exams, there's Ibiki constantly being annoyed every time Anko is loudly cheering for one of her students.
  • Kanji making a pun and Katsumi being annoyed by it.
  • Hanabi correcting anyone who curses in her presence, as she doesn't like swearing.
• Sadist: Being one is a requirement for working on Torture & Interrogation. And you will become one after working there for some time if you're not one to begin with.
• Sadist Teacher:
  • Anko loves to make her students suffer.
  • Yoshino Nara loves to inflict pain when training her son, Naruto, or Hinata. To her credit, it proves to be a very effective method.
  • Ibiki as well becomes this for Naruto's genin when he becomes their temporary sensei, putting on a terrifying display and scaring them to death. However, he himself admits he did it just for his own amusement, and in practice he actually averts this trope.
• Save the Villain: Naruto ends up saving Dosu (one of the Sound Ninjas working for Orochimaru) from being killed by Gaara during the Chūnin Exams preliminaries. Hayate, Anko, and Han also step in to prevent Gaara from killing Dosu.
• Saying Too Much: During his confrontation with Kabuto, Tobi unwittingly hints that it's him, not Pain, the true leader of Akatsuki.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
  • When Lee and Gai are doing one of their trademark over-the-top emotional moments, a little girl sees them and feels like she's seeing not only a sunset despite the fact it's currently the afternoon, but also a cliff and waves. She concludes that she's hallucinating and decides to head towards her home as fast as she can.
  • During his fourteenth birthday, Naruto has a conversation with Han, who decides to draw and tells his fellow jinchūriki to find better companionship in one of his friends, such as Hinata. He then winks at Naruto, who blushes and nervously says he doesn't think about that kind of stuff. This is followed by Han replying that he merely implied that the Konoha ninja might enjoy her company more given that they are in a relationship and that anything Naruto thought the Iwa shinobi was implying was something that the young Uzumaki thought to himself. He then says "There's actually a psychology student about such thought-", causing Naruto to stand up and say "Okay, I'm leaving!"
  • There is more than one instance where this trope is Katsumi's reaction to hearing one of Kanji's puns.
  • Two Taki civilians who were badmouthing Fū have this reaction after Anko manages to scare them.
• Shared Family Quirks: While having a conversation with Tayuya, Sasuke notices that she's doing "that stupid back-of-the-head rub that Naruto does" and sees that as a sign that they really are related.
• She Is Not My Girlfriend:
  • In the Forest of Death during the Chūnin Exams, Shikamaru decides to make Hinata stop being upset by teasingly referring to Naruto as her boyfriend. She blushes and nervously says that they aren't dating yet, only for her friend to point out that the keyword in her sentence was "yet". This makes her blush even further.
    • Prior to Naruto and Hinata becoming a couple, there are a few instances where Shikamaru would tease his two teammates after they just had a romantic moment, causing the latter two to blush and Naruto to tell the Nara boy to shut up.
  • During the Chūnin Exams preliminaries, Kurotsuchi asks Shikamaru if Ino is a friend of his, but he replies that she's just an acquaintance. Naruto then tells Kurotsuchi that Shikamaru is all hers given that he and Ino aren't that close, causing Shikamaru and Kurotsuchi to ominously ask him what does he mean by that. The blond ninja then tries to nervously Change the Uncomfortable Subject by pointing out the next match is about to start.
    • When Shikamaru invites Kurotsuchi for dinner, Shikaku tells him "Anybody that you actually have an interest in must be something special.", making his son widen his eyes as he realizes what his parents are thinking before telling his father that he and Kurotsuchi are just friends and nothing more. Shikaku replies "Not yet." with a snicker and a teasing grin, much to Shikamaru's annoyance.
  • During the Kiri Civil War arc, Hotaru learns that Mei met Utakata several years ago. Mei then tells Hotaru that the former is not trying to steal the latter's man. Utakata chuckles at that while Hotaru blushes:
    Utakata: You misinterpreted our relationship, Mei.
    Hotaru: [nodding in agreement while still blushing] Y-Yeah! You did!
    • A few chapters later, Mei once again misinterprets their relationship, causing Utakata to be annoyed this time.
• Shockingly Expensive Bill: Anybody dumb or naive enough to treat Naruto to ramen will find themselves with one of these.
• Shout-Out Theme Naming: Konohamaru can summon a monkey named Okorizaru (that's Primeape's Japanese name), and has two Bojutsu moves called "Close Combat" and "Rock Smash".
• "Shut Up" Kiss: During Naruto's fourteenth birthday, Shikamaru and Kurotsuchi do this to each other during a private conversation that results in their Relationship Upgrade.
• Shy Finger-Twiddling: Besides Hinata doing that from time to time like usual, Masamune does this when Tayuya asks him "What was that, Masamune?" after he mumbles under his breath that she has less of a filter than Setsuko in Chapter 69.
• Significant Name Shift: In Chapter 98, after learning everything her grandfather Yoshikane did in relation to Danzō, Hinata starts referring to him by his first name rather than as "Grandfather", indicating she no longer has any respect for him to refer to him as such.
• Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Jiraiya and Roshi have this dynamic, their hatred from each other being born not out of being ninjas of feuding villages (though there is bad blood from a Noodle Incident during the last war), but out of being dueling writers. Jiraiya's books sell better, but Roshi argues (not without reason) that this is only due to the porn. Not helping matters is the fact that Naruto genuinely likes Roshi's books and dislikes Jiraiya's.
• Sinister Scythe:
  • Misora carries two of them.
  • This is also Zagi's weapon, which he uses to channel Wind Style jutsu.
• Sneeze Cut:
  • In the omake from Chapter 55, Kiba makes fun of Sasuke's haircut by saying it looks like a duck's butt. Two paragraphs later, Sasuke sneezes after returning to Konoha following a mission. Kakashi asks the Uchiha if he's sick, who replies he doesn't get sick. However, Sasuke has a strong desire to punch Kiba in the face without knowing the reason why.
  • In Chapter 66, Dosu shares his theory with Hinata and Shikamaru that Anko and Zabuza have a thing for each other. The Hyuga and the Nara both laugh at that. The next paragraph features Anko sneezing, causing Kahyō to ask if she's sick. Zabuza tells the Konoha kunoichi to stay far away from him if that's the case, as he would rather take a kunai to the back then catch a cold. Anko replies that she's not getting sick, but she thinks "some bastard is talking about [her] if [she] had to guess."
• Sonic Stunner: Dosu has his Melody Gauntlet as in canon. The match against a cocky Gaara demonstrates that it can ignore his otherwise-invulnerable sand.
• Spared by the Adaptation:
  • Team 3's interference saves Han from Akatsuki.
  • Zabuza and Haku don't die during Team 7's Wave Mission.
  • Dosu chose to leak Orochimaru's invasion plan to Konoha when it was revealed that he was a pawn to the Sannin instead of trying to recklessly fight Gaara after the Preliminaries.
  • Hiruzen chose to spare Tayuya on a belief that she's an Uzumaki.
  • Yagura has his brainwashing removed thanks to Naruto and never had Isobu removed from him.
  • Kakuzu and Hidan's plan on capturing Fu failed due to Itachi leaking their intents to Konoha.
  • Chiyo doesn't sacrifice her life to revive Gaara since he never had Shukaku removed.
  • Yugito and Utakata are also not captured by Akatsuki.
• Speaks Fluent Animal: Fu is able to communicate with insects.
• The Spymaster: After Jiraiya is appointed as Godaime Hokage, he appoints Tayuya as his successor.
• Stone Wall: The reason why Homura is known as "Konoha's Guardian Angel" is due to his "Holy Barricade" technique, which, according to Shikamaru, is considered to be one of the best barrier ninjutsu.
• Straw Vulcan: Misora, the blind Kiri kunoichi, who believes all ninja should be ruled by logic and discard emotions. Dosu, however, points out that, if she followed logic like that she should never had become a ninja in the first place due to her blindness, yet she defied logic and trained in order to develop chakra sense fine enough to replace her lack of sight.
• Summon Magic:
  • The snakes allow Anko to pass on the snake summoning contract to one of her students. She eventually picks Hinata.
  • Shikamaru learns to summon slugs from Tsunade.
  • Tayuya signs the mole summon scroll from Masakado.
• Sympathy for the Devil: Inverted. Deidara is a little sad upon learning about Onoki's death.
• Take a Third Option:
  • During the fight between Shikamaru and Shino, Choji initially has a hard time deciding who he should be rooting for given that the Nara is his childhood best friend while the Aburame is one of his teammates. Ultimately, he decides to root for both of them to do well enough to earn their chūnin promotion.
  • During the fight between Hinata and Neji, several Hyuga elders are watching it. One of them says that he wasn't expecting Hinata to be a match for Neji given that the latter is supposed to be the best of the best of this generation. Another says it's almost insulting that Hinata hasn't won already given that Neji is just a member of the branch house. Then, a third elder says that those comments are just a disservice to both Hinata and Neji as they "are proving to be extraordinary so far", with another elder agreeing with him.
• Take That!:
  • It's subtle, but chapter 95 gives one to the fanon idea of Naruto actively being physically abused by Konoha's citizens during his academy days, with the ROOT agent Kido saying that only a fool would willingly assault Konoha's only jinchūriki.
  • In chapter 140, it's mentioned that all the rebel Genin who took part in the Kirigakure Civil War were given a Field Promotion to Chunin (and some to Jonin) as a reward once the war was won. Upon hearing this, Naruto says that remaining a Genin after helping win a war would suck a lot. This is clearly a jab at how Naruto was never given a promotion despite all his amazing deeds through the series.
    Dosu: I mean, that makes sense. I can't imagine helping end a war and having to remain a Genin in the aftermath.
    Naruto:[...]I know I'd raise hell if I was a Genin and then they refused to promote me because of some stupid "you didn't do the Chunin Exams" bullshit technicality.
• Talking Is a Free Action:
  • This trope is lampshaded when Dosu has to fight Tomoe. The latter says several sentences in a row, causing the former to comment that she talks a lot and to ask if she enjoys the sound of her own voice:
    Dosu: It's a legitimate question. I've never known why so many shinobi like to chat when they fight.
  • Invoked by Naruto and Anko during their fight against Kabuto, as while he's rambling about his past of being a ROOT agent, the two are gathering Natural Energy to enter Sage Mode.
• Team Pet: Hebihiro, Hanabi's snake friend, is this for Team 9.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: During the Kiri Civil War arc, Hinata is forced to work with Ao, a rebel shinobi who had taken a Byakugan eye from an Hyuga he killed in the previous war. Ao thinks of her as a self-righteous hypocrite since Hinata wouldn't care if that Hyuga killed Ao instead, while Hinata sees him as representing the entire reason for the Hyuga Clan's division.
• That Came Out Wrong: In Chapter 70, Anko meets Jiraiya at the Hokage's office. He's a bit grumpy, but he explains that he was just wanting some alone time and was expecting to be bothered by someone like Hiruzen's old teammates, although he will gladly talk to her. Anko repeats "alone time" in disgust and thinks he does you-know-what in his office. He's horrified by what she just said and scowls before saying:
  Jiraiya: Hey, you know I'm not the kind of person to that in this office! I may be a super pervert, but I'm not that perverted!
• That Liar Lies: Kiba calls Kakashi a liar when the latter tries to explain why he was late for the final part of the Konoha Chūnin Exams.
• This Is Unforgivable!: Shino and Fū's reaction when they learn that Tatsuma (an Aburame ROOT agent), in order to create fire-resistant kikaichu, had to submit generations upon generations of kikaichu to a fiery death until they developed fire resistance. On top of that, he also developed a special breed of kikaichu that attack by blowing themselves up.
• Title Drop: Chapter 76 is titled "Takigakure no Kyūseishu", which means "the saviors of Takigakure". At the end of that chapter, this is what Shibuki calls the Konoha shinobi when they're leaving Taki after they defended the village against an invasion from the Akatsuki.
• Touché: In Chapter 64, this is Naruto's answer when his student Kanji points out the irony of the Uzumaki wishing to become Hokage despite the fact he's "not the biggest fan of political crap."
• Trademark Favorite Food: Naruto and ramen, as always, but also Anko and dango. The similarity is lampshaded several times.
• Training from Hell:
  • Anko is quite fond of this. Most of the time, her students are completely exhausted by the end. Naruto, when he gets his own genin team, emulates her in his own way.
  • In Chapter 6, when her students are complaining about her training, Anko tells them it's not that bad and they should see what Gai does to his own genin squad.
• Training Montage: Chapters 99, 100, and 101 are dedicated to Team 3 getting Senjutsu training from their respective summons. In addition, Team 9 is getting their own training.
• Tyrant Takes the Helm: Invoked. Suzumebachi really wants to replace Onoki as the next Tsuchikage, and undo all the progress he made towards Konoha in order to start another war.
• Undying Loyalty: Kabuto claims to the reanimated Danzō that he is this:
  Kabuto: I am the most loyal shinobi you have ever seen. I always give everything to my master, no matter what. No matter what the ethics of the decision are, I do everything to make sure there will is accomplished.
• Unrelated in the Adaptation: Onoki isn't the grandson of the first Tsuchikage. This was done to avoid making him related to the Kamizuru siblings, who are also featured in this fic.
• Villainous Friendship: Formed between Kabuto and Hidan during chapter 100, due the fact that the two of them are the first person to treat the other with a smidge of respect. It's quite the contrast compared to the latter's relationship with his previous partner.
• Wacky Marriage Proposal: This is how Minato proposed to Kushina. He wrote "Will you marry me, Kushina-hime?" on the Hokage monument and painted a chibified version of himself on his knees. Her answer was to write "Yes!" underneath and paint a chibified version of herself kissing him.
• Worth It:
  • After Kanji asks why the word 'kunoichi' is a thing, Tenten makes a passionate speech about why that word is a thing and how proud she is to wear that title. However, Kanji asks why not using the other word, which is she-nobi, making Tenten be in disbelief that he asked that question just to make that pun. She then cracks her knuckles and asks in a soft voice if he thinks everything she just said was a joke. The next paragraph indicates that Kanji now has a comically-large bump on his head that causes him pain. Even with that bump, he still thinks it was worth it.
  • In Chapter 69, even after getting a hangover, Anko thinks that the previous night she spent drinking was still worth it.
  • When Ibiki Morino agreed to temporarily replace Naruto as the sensei for his genin team, he did it mostly so he could get the opportunity of scaring a genin team through both a speech about how brutal his training of them will be and a summoning of the Torture Chamber. When he does all that, the genin's horrified reactions make it all worth it to him.
• Would Rather Suffer: After Anko sneezes in Chapter 66, Zabuza tells her to stay far away from him if she's sick, as he hates getting sick. He adds "I'd rather take a kunai to the back then catch a fucking cold."
• Why Won't You Die?:
  • Raiga screams "WHY AREN'T YOU DYING YET?" to Anko during their fight.
  • During his first fight against Kabuto, Naruto grits his teeth together and asks "Why won't you die already?"
• "You!" Exclamation: Jiraiya and Roshi do this upon recognizing each other in the omake from Chapter 35, all while pointing at each other.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!:
  • Naruto had a lot of expectations regarding his first mission as a genin, hoping it would be something important. Instead, his first mission consists of pulling weeds, which makes him shout "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"
  • In the Omake from Chapter 17, Kurotsuchi tells Shikamaru that she told his teammates her plan to keep him awake that night (as revenge for when Shikamaru refused to play at least one card game with her because he was too tired) and, as a result, said teammates are sleeping in other rooms. His response is to say this trope word for word.
  • Anko has this reaction upon seeing the bill after treating Naruto to ramen. Teuchi mentions to her that Iruka and the Third Hokage had similar reactions.
    • Later, when Anko is confronting Naruto about having to blow a week's worth of pay on ramen, Naruto says that he tried to eat less than usual since he didn't want Anko to spend too much money on him. A rather shocked Anko tries to ponder how Naruto can eat so much ramen and, more importantly, pay for it with his Genin earning.
  • Hanabi looks at her sensei Naruto in horror and tells him "... Please tell me you are kidding." when he brings up the possibility of once again doing the D-rank mission of finding a cat named Tora.
  • In Chapter 87, Onoki growls "You have got to be shitting me!" after learning about the Kamizuru Brothers being murdered by ROOT agents.
  • Kabuto says "You have GOT to be shitting me right now?" to Danzō when the latter reveals why the former was considered a liability to ROOT.

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