Webcomic / OrangeLemon's Sannin Swap

What if Orochimaru decided that Naruto made for a more tempting prize than Sasuke? What if he'd decided to leave his mark on the young jinchuuriki instead, as part of a ploy to land some much bigger targets? What if Naruto wasn't quite so forgiving, a little less of an All-Loving Hero, and all those pent-up frustrations boiled over?

Such is the world explored within OrangeLemon's Sannin Swap, a series of comics wherein Team Seven end up mentored by different members of the Legendary Sannin.

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This series contains examples of:

• Abusive Parents: Hiashi uses the fear of potentially being shunted into the Branch House and sealed to motivate both of his daughters to fight each other for the right to be the heiress.
• Adaptation Personality Change: Thanks to Orochimaru and the Cursed Seal's influence, Naruto is much more vocal and virulent about his frustrations with Konoha and the shinobi system, and much more resistant as well.
• Adaptational Sexuality: The series favors Sakura/Ino and Naruto/Sasuke.
• Anguished Declaration of Love: Played With; Ino's initial Love Confession to Sakura during the Pain fight isn't quite as desperate as her flustered response when Sakura finally gets around to trying to address it. If anything, during the former instance, she's calm and fully composed despite vocally acknowledging the mortal peril she's putting herself in, while she turns into an incoherent mess in the latter.
• Armor-Piercing Question:
  • Gaara combines this with a pep talk, admitting to Sakura that as much as he cares about Naruto, he's not capable of reaching his heart.
    Gaara: I can't. Can you?
  • Chouji interrupts his arguing classmates to point out how all of them were complicit in Naruto's misery, ending with one of these:
    Chouji: So when people who are treated badly step out of line, the solution can't just be to eliminate them for disrupting the status quo. We can't just let them wander around hurting themselves or others, but killing them? Imprisoning them? I mean, what is the point of anything if not to help people grow and be happy?
  • At the Waterfall of Truth, Dark!Naruto opens with one:
    Dark!Naruto: Why did you call Gaara worthless? You busted your ass avenging him against that Deidara guy... but then you called him worthless. Why?
  • When Sasuke remarks to Killer Bee that Naruto matters too much to him, they start calling that sweet, then hesitate, belatedly picking up from his tone that he doesn't consider that to be a good thing. When they remark upon this, Sasuke doesn't respond to their query.
• Armor-Piercing Response:
  • During an argument with Karui and Omoi in Part 6, Sakura points out that Killer Bee might have willingly joined Naruto's rebellion to escape the way he was treated in Kumo. Neither one is able to respond to that; after all, as the next page shows, the two are personally familiar with the sort of discrimination Bee and Yugito faced in their village.
  • When Sakura broaches the matter of Ino's confession, causing her friend to flip out, it culminates in one of these:
    Sakura: Why are you being all shy? Aren't you the one who was always throwing herself on Sasuke?!
    Ino: Because I didn't LOVE HIM! AAAARGHHH STUPID BILLBOARD-BROWED LOSER IDIOT NOT-EVEN-CUTE NERD WHO THINKS SHE'S SOOOO SMART—
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Belligerent romantic tension, at least. Despite her Love Epiphany coming pre-timeskip, Ino can't help but butt heads with Sakura after she returns. She vocally laments this to her teammates in the subsequent panels.
• Berserk Button: Deidara mashes Naruto's when he casually wonders whether he'll last as long as Gaara did.
• Berserker Tears: Sakura after Ino sacrificed herself to obtain the location of Pain's real body. All the more painful because she had just intervened to help her in the face of certain death while confessing her love with a smile. The elder toads have to snap her out of it.
• Calling the Old Man Out: In Part Five, Neji confronts his uncle on how he's used the threat of the Caged Bird not just against the Branch members, but to control both of his daughters, making them desperately chase after his conditional love for fear of being sealed themselves.
  Neji: I know my father called choosing death freedom. But I think you understand, uncle, that the pain you allowed to happen meant he couldn't see a different way out.
• Commonality Connection:
  • When asking Tsunade to take him as her apprentice, Sasuke cites how both of them come from the clans who founded Konohagakure. Later, she puts a much darker spin on this while observing how little power either of them hold.
  • Similarly implied by Sakura's speech to Jiraiya; as she talks about being from a no-name clan and being the weakest member of her squad, he flashes back to a memory of Hiruzen holding him back from going after Orochimaru.
  • Naruto uses this to convince Killer Bee to join his cause.
  • In Part Seven, Kushina reflects upon their own similarities to Naruto. Namely, the fact that she was also mistreated and used by Konoha as a means to their own ends.
• Didn't Think This Through:
  • Played for Laughs during the Time Skip montage; Orochimaru clearly wasn't prepared to deal with Naruto's excessive amounts of energy and constant demands for attention.
• Exact Words: When Kiba and Shino arrive as backup, Kiba tells Sakura that "Shikamaru sent the two of us," making her realize that both are clones, since Kiba wouldn't go anywhere without Akamaru. Furthermore, she recognizes that Shino's presence is meant to signal that she needs to follow his kikaichu, as they lead her to where Pain is hiding.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: Ino decides to get her hair cut again before the Fourth Shinobi War begins, using one of her old red hairpins from childhood to accent the look. (Much to the dismay of her father, who laments her chopping off all of her beautiful long Yamanaka hair again.)
• Flaw Exploitation: While fighting the Pains, Ino realizes that they all share the same eyes, allowing her to leap into Nagato's body and figure out his location.
• For Want Of A Nail:
  • Orochimaru targets Naruto instead of Sasuke, biting the Cursed Seal into his neck. This influences Naruto into leaving Konoha in favor of Sound.
  • Since Naruto is the one running away, Shikamaru assembles a different team, taking Sakura, Ino, Hinata and Tenten along.
  • Sakura is much less willing to tolerate Jiraiya's tendency to neglect his teachings in favor of pursuing his favorite vices. She herself notes that unlike Naruto, she's not so starved for any kind of affection to be satisfied with a few crumbs; she's with him to learn, and won't wait patiently on the sidelines while he wastes her time.
  • No counterpart to Team Hebi is formed after Naruto leaves Sound, as he subconsciously fears getting attached to any companions.
  • Hinata almost rushes in to try and help Sakura against Pain, but Ino takes her place.
  • Instead of Gai, Rock Lee goes toe-to-toe with Kisame in Part Seven.
• Foreshadowing: During his fight with Sakura at the Valley of the End, Naruto rants about how nobody in Konoha cared about him, but stumbles on his words when Iruka's smiling face flashes through his mind. Much later on, Sai uses a summoning scroll to reunite Iruka with his wayward student.
• Godzilla Threshold: Tenten opens the Gates in order to take down Jirobo in his fully transformed state.
• Hypocrisy Nod: Kakashi's attempt to convince Sakura that she doesn't need to carry the weight of her friends' choices on her shoulders is countered by her pointing towards his Sharingan eye.
  Sakura: Look who's talking.
  Kakashi: Do as I say, not as I do.
• In Spite of a Nail:
  • A Hyuuga still ends up facing off against Kidoumaru, and Lee still arrives just in time to help fight Kimimaro.
  • Gaara is still kidnapped by the Akatsuki, with Team Seven getting involved with the rescue mission.
  • Sasuke still defects from Konoha.
  • Danzo still becomes the interim Hokage after Pain's assault on Konoha.
• Internal Reveal:
  • Naruto lets Sasuke know why Itachi was after him, explaining about the Nine-Tailed Fox while complaining about how he was Locked Out of the Loop until recently.
  • While drunk, Tsunade reveals to Sasuke how the village used to treat the Uchiha with suspicion right up until he was the the last one, "who they could parade around like a tragic little angel."
  • In Part Three, Sasuke learns the full truth of the Uchiha Massacre from Danzo's personal files.
  • Tobi tells Sakura, Kakashi and Yamato about Itachi and Naruto's parents, making them aware of the latter before Naruto himself finds out about his own heritage.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
  • Tobi occasionally gets panels where he gets to complain about how the changes in this reality are mucking up his plans, or to remark on some of the opportunities the series takes that didn't occur in canon:
    Tobi: Wow Danzo has Hashirama's ability and Sharingan. Everything you need to control the Ninetails. Imagine how disappointing it'd be if we brought that up and then it just never happened.
  • When Ino goes on her rant against The Last, Sakura outright asks her just what she's referencing.
• Living Is More than Surviving: Or as Shino puts it:
  Shino: We can make "shinobi" mean something more than "endure".
• Love Epiphany:
  • Partially inverted by Hinata; as she faces off against Kidoumaru, she muses that she didn't really love Naruto so much as she admired his courage, while berating herself for how she never spoke out against how he was treated for fear of being punished.
  • Played straight by Ino, who finds the strength to resist Ukon by forcing herself to face her denial over whom she's really crushing on.
• Magnetic Hero: Naruto retains his ability to give Rousing Speeches, which is denoted as "Dark Talk no Jutsu" as he convinces Killer Bee to join him.
• Moment Killer: Following the fight with Pain, Ino's greeting to Sakura is disrupted by a tearful Hinata lifting them both up off the ground with the force of her embrace, followed by Lee and Tenten running in aghast that the notion that they're missing a hug moment.
• Morality Chain: Downplayed with Iruka, who serves as a Living Emotional Crutch to Naruto. This doesn't prevent Naruto's defection, but it's made clear that he's deeply unhappy about having to leave the one person whom he believed actually gave a damn about him behind in Konoha.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Sai helps Sasuke look into some things, leading to the latter discovering the part Danzo, Hiruzen, Homura and Koharu played in orchestrating the Uchiha Massacre. As a result, Sasuke poisons the elders before leaving, with Sai blaming himself for the part he unwittingly played.
• Not So Similar: Before leaving, Naruto remarks to Sasuke that he'd originally thought they had a lot in common. Unlike him, however, Sasuke was treated kindly by the village, offered support and admiration while Naruto was shunned and shunted aside. When Sasuke defects himself and finds him again, he tells Naruto he was right.
• Ocular Gushers: Hinata sports these as she embraces Sakura and Ino after the Pain fight.
• Puppet King: Discussed; Tsunade notes that while the Senju and Uchiha clans founded Konoha, that doesn't translate to either of them being treated with respect, even after she became the Godaime.
  Tsunade: You and me, kid? We're the last gasps of the clans that started this whole corrupt place. And for all the crowns they put on us, they don't want us to have any power.
• Properly Paranoid: Danzo was distrustful of any Uchihas even without suspecting that Sasuke had discovered the role he and the other elders played in the Uchiha Massacre. This saved him from being poisoned as badly as Homura and Koharu.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • Naruto gives one to Gaara for being a Category Traitor, accusing him of turning his back on his fellow jinchuuriki.
  • Dark!Naruto combines this with Shapeshifter Guilt Trip while systematically dismantling all of Naruto's reasoning and self-justifications for his actions.
• Role Swap AU: Switches around which members of Team Seven get trained by the legendary sannin: Naruto joins Orochimaru in Sound, Sakura accompanies Jiraiya on a training trip over the Time Skip, and Sasuke remains in Konoha to learn from Tsunade.
• Rule of Symbolism: When using the Cursed Seal alongside his Bijuu form, Naruto's transformed state is divided right down the middle, reflecting how his experiences and choices have left him mentally torn.
• Shapeshifter Guilt Trip: At the Waterfall of Truth, Dark!Naruto constantly shifts forms throughout his fight with Naruto in order to accentuate the impact of his Breaking Speech.
• Skewed Priorities: A moment of Sakura gushing over the sight of Sasuke with his hair clipped back is contrasted with Temari reluctantly agreeing while reminding her that her brothers are still in mortal peril.
• So What Do We Do Now?: Naruto runs headlong into this after dealing with Orochimaru, asking himself what he's going to do now that he's not staying in Sound anymore.
• Splash of Color: Recurrently, whenever the subject of the Caged Bird seal comes up, it's accompanied by monochrome panels where the seal is the only source of color, rendered in a Sickly Green Glow against the foreheads of its victims.
• Stepford Snarker: Ino gets her moment of this when Sakura finally gets around to talking to her about how they feel about each other. Saying Ino deserves her honesty, Sakura tells her she's got too much on her mind and needs time to sort her feelings out. Ino snarks at her that she's not going to wait forever, walking away saying they have a war to prepare for. The next panels show Ino's tears falling as she walks away. Fortunately, her dad is there to comfort her and cushion the blow a little.
• Super Mode:
  • Under Orochimaru's tutelage, Naruto learns how to use the Cursed Seal and his Bijuu forms simultaneously.
  • Sakura learns Sage Mode from Jiraiya, achieving the Perfect Form where the only physical change is her frog-like pupils.
• Take That!:
  • As noted in Leaning on the Fourth Wall, Tobi throws shade at the canonical series for not taking advantage of Danzo having the ability to take control of bijuu.
  • In Part Seven, Ino panics when Sakura finally addresses the matter of her Love Confession:
    Ino: How about you answer me in two-to-three years in a crappy, out-of-character movie that makes you too stupid to know what love is despite your prior behavior, and let's also rip off some other couples' backstories, okay?!
    Sakura: What are you referencing?
• Tragic Keepsake: Sakura keeps Naruto's headband, along with Sasuke's when he defects.
• Traumatic Superpower Awakening: Gai instructed his whole team in how to open the Gates, though Lee was the only one to do so successfully at that time. Tenten managing to do so during her fight with Jirobo is therefore an example of this; the author justifies this by saying characters are doing it all the time in canon anyways.
• Vengeance Feels Empty: Averted with Danzo; Sasuke declares that getting rid of them felt good, like finally cleaning filth from the world.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • Played for Laughs when Ino takes offense at Shikamaru indirectly implying he doesn't trust her the same way he does Chouji.
  • Sakura's parents call her out off-screen for going off on training trips with her frog summons without telling them what she's doing first.
  • Naruto's reunion with Gaara prompts an angry rant about how he's working with the same people who treated them so horribly for so long.
  • After dealing with Danzo, Naruto calls out Sasuke for using the Sharingan to ensure his compliance.
    Naruto: I thought we were doing this together. Don't just control me. I am not a tool. That's what the village would do. You're not like them, Sasuke.
• Wrong Assumption: Due to the Sexy no Jutsu, Shikamaru figures that an all-girl team has the best chance of convincing Naruto to return home. Sakura notes that he invented that jutsu because he wants attention, not girls.
  Ino: That's Shikamaru for you: high intelligence, low wisdom.

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