All Purpose Naruto Fanfiction Thread

He and Naruto tend to play off each other.

Konohamaru is sort of like Naruto Lite.

Yeah, except Konohamaru doesn't have the ability to cheat his way out of any situation with endless shadow clones and nigh unlimited chakra.

And that is why Naruto is the main character and Konohamaru is not.

And yet this is how the fanbase sees things...

-an excerpt from Rise of the Eggfox

While this is a warped, Mary Sue version of Naruto who is always right, the sentiment is still there and excessive at this point in the story.

2014, people.

2014 and people insist that Sasuke is the spoiled, privileged manchild with the cheaper powers/power gains.

His power doesn't even manifest until he nearly gets himself killed, and doesn't fully manifest until he's passed the Moral Event Horizon.

edited 4th Mar '15 4:59:07 AM by FOFD

They might think sasuke power ups are cheep snice they are almost all based on his eyes instead of something else. Naruto is the protagonist and they are supposed to pull power ups out of nowhere.

That excerpt is the main reason I stay the hell away from the Naruto fandom. Sue me, but I like how canon developed. So when the vast majority of fics read like a Take That! Author Tract against the source material... let's just say that the only Naruto stuff I read nowadays is the manga itself. The Naruto fandom archives are too big to spend time looking though to find the exceptions to Sturgeon's Law.

I have a strange addiction to "Naruto gets fundamentally changed" fics, much as I despise them for using Naruto's new powers to utterly incapacitate the Hidden Leaf. Bile Fascination.

That may be, but I'd really have thought by now, we'd at least be ripping Sasuke a new one over his "Revolution" and his "follow Obito" mentalities, rather than his moderately justified tantrums and loner attitude in Part 1.

I'd like to see a "Strong/Smart" Naruto story where it's actually a bad thing in the context of the universe. I am thinking something along the lines of, "You know how Talk no Jutsu may have gotten Naruto out of a few spotty situations? Well, about that..."

..Point being, a lot of the strong/smart Narutos (at least from what I know about them) seem to have implied charisma, but not actual charisma within the story. And in the real world, it doesn't matter how smart you are: smart doesn't sell, nor does it convince people to do what you want them to do. i.e., the (albeit hidden and probably flying over the heads of half of the readers) message would be that Naruto's canon personality matches well with the needs of the universe and characters as they are portrayed, and that he doesn't really need changing... and that doing so would have major plot changes, but not necessarily of the good kind.

And yes, some of you think Naruto is an idiot, everyone in the story is an idiot, the whole plot is stupid and so on and so forth, fundamentally different take on Naruto and Naruto fanfiction/what makes it enjoyable/bla bla bla, but I'm not directing this at you guys.

I dislike those Naruto stories. Naruto is already a good character.

Also, Naruto is charismatic, but in more like; 'likeable due to being a straightforward and honest person' kind of charisma. Its not about him intentionally trying to whoo people on his side, its about him unintentionally inspiring people through his actions and words.

A lot of the strong/smart Narutos are... not really 'strong' or 'smart'. Mostly because the only 'strength' they have is the author tossing a pile of powerups upon them. And their intelligence is limited only to having access to the script, because for the most part, the characters' upper limit on intelligence tends to be the author's own level of intelligence, and those authors tend to be... not very intelligent people.

Furthermore, they're usually charmless buffoons, because they take away everything that makes Naruto likable and replace him with a smug and often cruel jackass.

@Squash

When it comes down to it, Naruto is an Idiot Plot, that only happens because the average intelligence of everyone can be unfavorably compared to that of rocks. That doesn't mean you can't tell fun stories with the canon personalities.

It's not like you can't increase their intelligence level, at least a little, without also changing their character.

the biggest problem is not just keeping them dumb but making them able to plan out a fight against two S ranks almost blow for blow for the entire fight. The same person must also struggle with basic observation skills.

x4 I'd actually really like to see an AU like that. Mostly what annoys me is when a personality change solves more canon problems then it breaks. I'd be a lot more receptive to those types of AUs if it did turn out that canon!Naruto's personality did solve some problems/avoid some conflicts that are now unsolvable or unavoidable. It would make a good payoff for the problems the AU fixes.

x3 Yeah, part of what makes everyone in the manga receptive to Naruto is that they know he's not playing them. Unlike the majority of the characters who are willing to say/do anything that will get people to do what they want them too, Naruto says/does stuff because he really does think it's the right thing to do, which is uncommon. When AUs have Naruto start saying/doing things because that's what he knows people want to see, it's like he's now become a part of the problem that in canon he's trying to fix.

One of the things I got from canon was that a lot of the characters actually do know that the system they're in sucks, but compared to how it was before (Waring Clans Era) it's a whole lot better and no one wants to risk going back to that. However, they haven't figured out how to go beyond the current era that they're in, so when individuals make the case that they've figured out how to do that, they're pretty willing to give them a chance. And oftentimes those individuals show signs of giving them a new system that just as bad (or worse) then the warring clans era. Heck, the manga even points out that both Obito and Pain could have succeeded earlier then Nartuo does...

edited 4th Mar '15 11:21:43 AM by ObsidianFire

Imagine a strategy, something like Civilization or Master of Orion. In those terms, what kinds of variables would be associated with a hidden village?

For example,

[Leader.fame: {Ninja fame} {Civilian fame} {Daimiyo/political fame} {Enemy fame} {How-much-other-leaders-want-him-dead fame} {How-much-shit-would-go-down-if-killed parameter}]

[Leader.skills: {Combat jutsu separate for Ninjutsu, Taijutsu and Weapons} {Support Jutsu Genjutsu, healing separately, many others probably crammed together} {Motivational skills} {Personal approach skills aka charm} {Tactical thinking} {Covert-ops thinking} {Quick thinking}]

[Squad: {Speed} {Mobility} {Attack different kinds?} {Defence physical, Nin-, and Genjutsu} {Stealth} {Tracking} {Additional traits}]

And then there's economy, outstanding individuals, and stuff like that. Covering all possible details would be impossible, but what would be manageable in a game?

I think elemental affinity should be in there somewhere. Like, squads get some bonus if their element matches the village's. Gives a reason for Mist to have a jillion water-users and no fire-users, or whatever.

That's actually a pretty odd detail that I've never bothered to really think about before, why are certain chakra natures more common in certain parts of the country? Chakra's only a thousand years old which is nowhere near enough time for the distributions to clump themselves in convenient element clusters. The country names are clearly reflective of the element distributions, so would like, there be some lingering effect from Kaguya that effects parts of the land like that...

Or I guess it could just be Hagoromo's doing, though why he'd give out chakra like that I have no idea.

Maybe it's a comfort thing. Water-aspected clans tend to just feel right in the place where it rains all the time, lightning-aspected clans like being high the fuck up, fire-aspected clans like being around shit that burns so good?

I'm thinking it'd be subtle, but strong enough to account for migratory patterns over the generations.

edited 15th Mar '15 12:32:28 AM by rikalous

Chakra is a very mental energy, and certainly this could be an observation of migration habits caused by individuals seeking out lands tuned to the frequency of their very souls.

... Actually, is it ever made a point? Because I don't recall it actually being that way.

And the final Databook went out of its way to give everyone like three affinities anyway...

Otherwise...

People, you're forgetting the simplest way to explain it.

It's the best place to use their powers. Water users are at their strongest in places with loads of water. Fire users are at their strongest in a hot place with lots of stuff to burn. Wind users are at their strongest somewhere flat where nothing can stop their attacks. Earth users are at their strongest in a rocky area. Clans with those affinities would migrate to those spots, simply because they're better fighters there.

edited 15th Mar '15 10:45:05 AM by IAmNotCreativeEnough

That's the theory I read in a fanfic once and I pretty much agree with it, as far as we can tell the primary element of the large elemental countries synergies well with the local environment.

And I'd still think the primary affinity does matter, it's probably the easiest affinity to learn and use for the user. Maybe there is also, to use a Pokemon term, Same Type Attack Bonus involved.

That's kind of a boring explanation. Imagine if you asked Onoki why he and so many earth type chakra natures lived where they do and he just says, "oh, it was just easier I guess".

Ninjas aren't benders, though. They mostly vomit up their elemental attacks, rather than relying on the ambient environment. People can puke up clay just as effectively in the clouds, or spew forth wind just as effectively when it's raining.

If it's just naked utility, I'd expect there to be a jillion water users in the desert, where being able to make water appear on command is really fucking useful.

Don't they hsve to be really skilled to make water on demand? I thought average ninja needed a water source .

Ninja can't cough up their elements, though. Tobirama being able to do it was supposed to be a big deal.

Thank god for power level retcons, making top tier feats a mooks bread and butter since 1891.

Flame techs at least are mostly spit out, right? Because Sasuke was doing that shit back in the Forest of Death.