A Case Study in the Sturdiness of the Rookie 9
is a Naruto fanfic that explores a world where Naruto and his classmates find themselves assigned to different teams:
- Team 7 contains Sakura, Shino and Chouji.
- Team 8 is comprised of Hinata, Shikamaru and Sasuke.
- Team 10 holds Naruto, Kiba and Ino.
These alternate compositions naturally have considerable impact on their development. At first, the story has a light-hearted tone; over time, however, the consequences of these changes become more apparent. For the genin are not the only ones thrown off by these arrangements; their teachers must adapt as well, and the methods they settle upon aren't all for the best...
Can be read on Archive of Our Own or on Fanfiction.net here.
This fanfic contains examples of:
- Abuse Mistake: Naruto and Kiba convince themselves that Ino must be controlling Asuma as well, when he's the one who convinced her to use her clan's techniques against them in the first place.
- Anticlimax: Sasuke feels this way about his victory over Neji, disappointed in how the battle is called in his favor before he launches his final attack.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Inoichi hits Ino with two in rapid succession: "How many times did you take control of Kiba's body?" followed by "Do you know what happens to one's consciousness when their body is invaded?"
- Asshole Victim: Played With; Sakura sees Ino as one, as does Shino. Ino, for her part, sees Sakura as the Asshole Victim who totally deserved having her victory ripped away from her.
- Attack! Attack! Attack!: Sasuke tends to default towards this mentality, scorning the concept of strategy.
- Berserk Button: Downplayed; Sasuke hates being called a child.
- Bittersweet Ending:
- Team 7 gained a reputation as traitors for how they backstabbed Team 10 in the Forest of Death. However, this incident motivates Kakashi to change his ways, along with encouraging Chouji to find his footing and stand up to his teammates more. By the end, even the stubborn Shino is inspired by Naruto to expand his horizons and start considering others' points of view.
- Team 8 fares the best of the lot: Sasuke has a new family, with Izumo becoming his adoptive father. Konoha's laws continue to make matters difficult, but Shikamaru is determined to tear the system down and rebuild it, with Hinata and Sasuke's full support.
- Team 10 still has to deal with Kiba slowly recovering from the ordeals Ino and Orochimaru put him through, along with Ino's guilt over how she helped break his mind. Yet she and Asuma have recognized where they went wrong and are determined to atone, and Naruto has faith that his team will rebuild itself.
- Book Ends: The story opens with each of the Rookie 9's thoughts before the teams are announced, followed by their initial reactions to their official assignments. It ends in similar fashion, as each of them reflects upon how their teams have turned out.
- Break the Cutie: Poor Kiba goes through the wringer in the latter half of the story, courtesy of Orochimaru and his unaddressed trauma from Ino's treatment of him.
- Broken Pedestal:
- Several of Orochimaru's old students, namely Tsume and Shibi, went through this after his true nature was revealed and his subsequent defection.
- Downplayed and partially Averted For Drama with Team 7. Kakashi's genin continue holding him in high regard even as his many flaws and issues come to light... which becomes a serious problem during the Chuunin Exams. Even after Kakashi has his Heel Realization, Shino and Sakura continue defending his behavior and his teachings, even the lessons that caused the problems in the first place.
- Chekhov's Boomerang: Among Team 7's lessons during the downtime month before the final matches of the Chuunin Exams are lessons about how sealing and summoning scrolls work. Naruto uses this knowledge to summon Akamaru to his side; however, this also sets up how Orochimaru is taken down.
- Cuteness Proximity: While Naruto isn't happy to be stuck with 'Dog Breath' as a teammate, he thinks that having Akamaru around helps make up for it.
- Dark and Troubled Past: The Yamanaka Clan has one, which gets Lampshaded by Orochimaru during The Reveal.
- Ooh, I smell a tragic backstory.
- Death Glare: Sasuke and Neji get into a death glare contest during an awkward dinner.
- Deconstruction Fic: Gradually deconstructs itself; things that are initially played to humorous effect early on are revealed to have serious long-term consequences further down the line.
- Kakashi takes advantage of his students' belief that his chronic tardiness is a sign that he trusts them to manage themselves, rather than simply being a neglectful and unengaged teacher. As a result of this disengagement, he doesn't realize just what kind of lessons they're taking away from him until the Chuunin Exams slaps him in the face with the results.
- Rather than working with the quarrelsome Naruto and Kiba, Asuma takes the easy way out by having Ino practice her Mind-Body techniques on them. The boys' trauma and terror is Played for Laughs... right up until it's not.
- In order to maintain control of his family grounds, Sasuke has to stay at the Uchiha Compound, surrounded by constant reminders of everything he lost. Trying to help his teammate forces Shikamaru to confront just how archaic and screwed-up Konoha's legal codes are, particularly when it comes to the matter of adoption, as whoever becomes Sasuke's legal guardian would have to adopt his surname.
- Determinator: Shikamaru turns out to have more in common with his mother than first thought once he sets his mind to fixing Sasuke's home situation.
- Didn't See That Coming: Orochimaru is completely caught off-guard when he discovers that the Hiruzen he's taunting is actually a disguised Kurenai. He then gets hit by this again when Tsume, Shibi and Hiashi reveal they brought backup via summoning scrolls.
- Disappointed in You:
- Chouji really regrets going along with Sakura and Shino's plan after Shikamaru tells him that after what happened, he doesn't want to be assigned any missions with him.
- Inoichi lectures his daughter upon learning how she was misusing their family's techniques.
- Doublethink: Team 7 justifies their decision to betray Team 10 in the first round of the Chunin Exam by pointing out that the situation was Not a Game, and everyone should have been expecting things to go they would have in the field. They subsequently try to convince themselves that their targets were being overdramatic in calling them out, since Team 7's actions would just mean their targets would be "a bit inconvenienced." The alternative would mean considering that leaving allies in the Forest of Death, surrounded by teams from rival villages, could actually have gotten them killed.
- Dramatic Irony: Ino blames Sakura and Shino for corrupting Chouji, insisting that they made him go along with their plan. The reader knows that Chouji is the one who suggested it, albeit reluctantly.
- Dramatically Missing the Point:
- When first evaluating the characters of his team members, Asuma outright acknowledges that Ino has inherited some of the sadistic tendencies of the Yamanaka- that is, the same traits that make them some of the most terrifying interrogators in Konoha. However, he still concludes that Ino is the only unproblematic member, compared to Naruto and Kiba- and outright encourages her to use her clan's feared Mind-Body Transfer Technique to terrify them into line. As it turns out, using a technique meant for interrogations against rowdy children doesn’t go well.
- After the Wave Mission goes sideways, Asuma recognizes that he let Ino terrorize the boys too much. Sadly, his takeaway is that he needs to find some other way to force them to work together, rather than addressing the underlying trust issues he created.
- Team 7 falls headlong into this; thanks to Kakashi's teaching style, they can't identify why so many people have a problem with their decisions during the Chuunin Exam.
- Embarrassing Nickname: The 'Gifted Losers' is a nickname assigned to teams made up of genin that were 'left over' after specialized genin teams have been formed.
- Et Tu, Brute?: Things start going to hell in Chapter 9 when Chouji betrays Ino, something that proves to have massive ramifications for all involved.
- Foil:
- Kakashi has a largely functional team which he leaves to their own devices, versus Asuma's team being highly dysfunctional, with Asuma trying to force them to work together.
- Kurenai serves as one for Kakashi and Asuma by striking a balance between guiding her genin and encouraging their independence, while both of her fellow instructors latch onto 'quick and easy' solutions that turn out to have long-term ramifications.
- Genma treats Team 7 with more respect and care than their assigned instructor. Unlike Kakashi, he takes an interest in the trio from the moment they meet, working with them and growing closer over time.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Team 8, in comparison to both Team 7 and Team 10. Sasuke, Hinata and Shikamaru at first glance should come off as the most mismatched trio, but thier journey to become a real team and thier respective Character Development while ironing thier personally kinks is by far the smoothest of the three teams, thier trust in each other utterly eclipse the other two teams and they end up with a Family of Choice bond, with Sasuke even outright admitting that he loves both Shikamaru and Hinata. Thier last scene all but states that all three are planning to use thier influence in order to change Konoha for the better politically and socially, a decision that its strongly implied to be born from thier experience with both Sasuke and Hinata's home life.
- Foreshadowing:
- Asuma advises Kurenai that Nara like intellectual challenges. As it turns out, this includes things like navigating the legal challenges required to secure a proper family for Sasuke.
- Asuma and Kakashi repeatedly tempt fate when discussing how they've taught their respective teams, denying that the very things that will eventually become major issues are actually problems.
- Ino notes that something feels strange about being in Naruto's head. Once the existence of the Nine-Tailed Fox inside of him is revealed to her, she comments that she sensed something was different and naturally favored possessing Kiba over him, hinting that she broke Kiba's mind down to a far greater degree.
- The fact that living beings can be sealed into scrolls is brought up during Ino and Naruto's sealing lessons. This comes into play when Naruto brings Akamaru along with him this way... and when the adults use this to set up an ambush for Orochimaru.
- Freaky Is Cool: Naruto's opinion of Ino shifts when she reacts this way upon learning about the Kyuubi.
- Guile Hero: Shino, Sakura and Chouji learn the value of deception under Kakashi's tutelage, especially when he assigns their first C-Rank.
- Heel Realization:
- Kakashi has one when he learns how his team handled the second part of the Chuunin Exam, as they proudly and happily report their actions without the slightest notion that they might have done anything wrong.
- Chouji is the first member of Team 7 to have this set in, though it's crystalized when Shikamaru admits that he doesn't want to be assigned any missions with him.
- Ino gets hit hard by one after seeing Kiba give in to the curse seal's influence and subsequently learning just how much she was hurting her teammates with her clan's techniques.
- Hourglass Plot:
- At first, Kakashi's Pride and reluctance to admit any fault leads him to ignore his genin team, barely paying them any mind. Following his Heel Realization, he tries to correct his mistakes, only for Shino and Sakura to ignore what he and several others are trying to tell them because they subconsciously don't want to face their own Fatal Flaws.
- Played for Laughs with the Naras. Initially, Yoshino spends a lot of time nagging her listless son while Shikaku watches with amusement. By the end, their roles have shifted around: Shikamaru's found his motivation, and presses his father to step up and take clan politics more seriously, much to Shikaku's dismay, while Yoshino gets to stand back and enjoy the show.
- In Spite of a Nail:
- Orochimaru still ambushes one of the Leaf-nin teams in the Forest of Death, and puts a cursed seal on one of their members. Specifically Team 10, with Kiba as his chosen victim.
- Ino and Sakura still face each other in their preliminary match during the Chuunin Exams.
- Shino similarly faces Zaku in his first round, and Hinata is still pitted against Neji.
- Ironic Echo: One of Chouji's self-justifications as to why he and his teammates were justified in how they handled the Forest of Death is that the Chuunin Exams are Not a Game — that rather than a mere test of their abilities, they're meant to show what they're fully capable of. Shikamaru unknowingly echoes that same sentiment while explaining why he's so disappointed in him: Team 7 showed what they were capable of, including betraying their allies.
- It's All My Fault:
- Upon learning what his daughter has been doing, Inoichi blames himself for not teaching her better.
- Ino laments this after her Heel Realization, rejecting Naruto's efforts to comfort and reassure her otherwise.
- Kiba blames himself for giving into Orochimaru's influence and accepting the cursed seal, alongside accidentally alerting him to how the adults have discovered his plans.
- Knight of Cerebus: Orochimaru's entry into the story helps cement its shift into darker territory.
- Laser-Guided Karma: After laughing at his team's expense over how their wiretap exploits turned out, Kakashi gets hit with this when Genma casually outs him as the chocolate thief.
- Last-Name Basis: Kakashi addresses Shino and Chouji by their surnames while referring to Sakura as 'Pinkie', making her question whether he's even bothered to learn their given names.
- Licked by the Dog: Akamaru's willingness to try comforting Ino after her Heel Realization offers hope that she can make amends with him and Kiba.
- Loser Son of Loser Dad: When it appears that Kakashi taught Team 7 to betray their allies, Shikamaru muses that they shouldn't have expected any different from the son of Hatake Sakumo, who was once regarded as one of Konoha's greatest traitors.
- Lost Food Grievance:
- Chouji is deeply annoyed by how somebody's been swiping chocolate from his secret stash of snacks at home, and convinces his teammates to help him find the culprit.
- Kakashi proves to be even worse about this than the Akimichis, tricking his team into a fake 'C-Rank' mission aimed at humiliating Genma over how his comrade swiped his dessert.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: In the finale, Dosu betrays Orochimaru after he killed his teammates.
- Moment of Weakness: Kiba has one when hearing Ino's voice makes him assume that she's about to use her Mind-Body Switch technique on him again, spurring him to accept the cursed seal just to get away from her.
- Moral Myopia:
- Ino uses her clan techniques to make her teammates utterly terrified of her, but is utterly infuriated by Team 7 tricking them in the Forest of Death. Justified in that Asuma encouraged Ino's abuse; once she realizes the full scope of what she'd been doing, she's horrified at herself.
- Shino and Sakura both struggle with this in the latter half of the story, feeling righteously justified in their anger at Team 10 while failing or refusing to recognize how they effectively created the grudges being held against them.
- Mundane Utility: Team 7 uses a wiretap to try and figure out who's been stealing chocolate from Chouji's secret stash.
- My God, What Have I Done?:
- Kakashi has a Heel Realization when it hits him that he taught Team 7 how to betray their allies.
- Ino is hit even worse when her father explains to her just how their clan's bloodline technique works.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
- Asuma encourages Ino to use her clan techniques to instill fear into her teammates rather than learning how to work with them.
- Kakashi's pettiness towards Genma ends up having far-reaching implications for Team 7, as they come away with the belief that it's fine to betray your allies in order to achieve your goals.
- When Ino and Naruto try to figure out what happened to Kiba, she accidentally presses her teammate's Trauma Button and spurs him to accept Orochimaru's cursed seal.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Sakura and Ino's fight goes this way, as does Hinata's match with Neji.
- Not Brainwashed: Naruto and Kiba mistakenly assume that Ino is mind controlling Asuma as well, and attempt to free him from her influence, to no avail.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The typically laidback Shikamaru finds himself wanting to rush along when he and Hinata visit the Uchiha compound for the first time.
- One Degree of Separation: Invoked. Choji is able to convince Genma to teach them (as part of a "mission" from Kakashi to prank them) by bringing up how cool it would be to teach his former teacher's son and his teammates.
- Parental Sexuality Squick: Chouji is deeply disturbed at overhearing his parents having an intimate moment. So are his teammates.
- Primal Scene: While investigating who's been stealing Choji's chocolate, Team 7 suspect Choji's parents and place wire-taps into their room. They end up hearing the noises from such events between his parents.
- Sadist: Asuma briefly worries that he's encouraging Ino to become one with how he has her 'managing' her unruly teammates, but dismisses those concerns.
- Secret Test of Character: Team 7 mistakes Kakashi's extremely delayed arrival at their classroom as a sign that he expects them to go looking for him instead.
- Smug Snake: Orochimaru, who spends most of his time taunting poor Kiba over their supposed shortcomings.
- Stop, or I Shoot Myself!: Ino uses a variation against the Demon Brothers, possessing one and making him hold a kunai against his own neck, exploiting the fact that her victims don't know how her technique works.
- Sure, Let's Go with That: Deconstructed. Kakashi abuses this tactic with his genin, letting them misinterpret his negligence as 'encouraging their independence'. This comes back to bite him when they learn something he never intended to teach them, and continue to believe that they were in the right as he frantically attempts to correct their path.
- Switching P.O.V.: Frequently bounces around between the perspectives of each of the Rookie 9, with their instructors coming into play in the second chapter.
- Team Member in the Adaptation: Mixes up the team rosters and sees what comes of that.
- Team Mom: Invoked by Anko declaring herself the newly self-appointed team mom of Team 10.
- Tempting Fate:
- Throughout the first chapter, most of the Rookie 9's hopes for how they'll be assigned prove to be this. Particularly how Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji take it as a given that Ino-Shika-Cho will be kept together, and Kiba doesn't care who he ends up with... until he finds out who he's ended up with.
- Kakashi repeatedly thinks that being a teacher is easy, since he wound up with a team that works on their own initiative thanks to Shino.
- Asuma dismisses any warnings about encouraging Ino to abuse her Mind-Body Switch technique in order to 'rein in' her teammates.
- This Is Going to Suck:
- Shikamaru reacts this way upon realizing that Ino-Shika-Cho has been dismantled, meaning that he'll have to learn entirely new strategies in order to work with Hinata and Sasuke.
- Kiba dramatically laments to Akamaru that 'they're ruined' after learning he's been saddled with Naruto and Ino as his teammates.
- Ino's response to Kiba declaring that he's going to be Hokage instead of Naruto is to sigh and warn Asuma to "Give it a second" before the screaming starts.
- Toxic Friend Influence: Played With in Team 7. While Shino and Sakura's drive and determination help push Chouji to become better focused himself, they also influence him to accept their skewed ideas about Kakashi and his teachings. This leads to Chouji suggesting that they exploit his connection to Ino and betray Team 10 — something that Ino blames entirely on their corruptive influence.
- Tranquil Fury: Shino is prone to these, lapsing into an extended one after Ino possesses Sakura and makes her surrender in their match.
- We Used to Be Friends:
- Played Straight with Sakura and Ino, who have a particularly ugly match in the third round preliminaries that escalates into a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown.
- Downplayed with Shikamaru telling Chouji that he doesn't trust him enough to want any missions with him anymore. This solidifies the latter's Heel Realization, and they work on repairing their friendship.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Ino is utterly furious with Sakura during their match, calling her out for convincing Chouji to backstab her and her teammates.
- Your Favorite: Chouji uses this to encourage Sakura to eat on the day of the Finals.
