FanficRecs I'm sorry - I'm afraid this one gets my personal thumbs down
Perhaps I shouldn't have tried this one to begin with (prior to someone's rec here), but even knowing it would probably be a little dated to begin with (and that it wasn't to take a positive view of Hiruzen, Minato and Kushina), I felt it deserved a chance.
It started strong, with some deeply-drawn characterisation and good cause-and-effect concerning consequences. It looked like it would be maybe the most thought-provoking Naruto fic, and maybe one of the best.
Then... female Kyuubi. Married to the other demon, and being motherly to Naruto (honestly, this should tip you off for why I became hesitant). On top of that, some contrived Year Within Hour Without scenario with Naruto inside his own head, because... I'm not sure why.
Perhaps this would work for you. Me, I get iffy when gods and angels and demons are involved at all, especially when it becomes increasingly heavy-handed over time. Some people like it, but there's a reason I swore off Time Braid even before it was removed from the recs pages (and when I just broke and read the last chapter there, I felt glad I'd stopped)... The sad thing is, I'd actually somewhat read ahead to certain scenes, and the Chunin Exams looked promising. Sadly, the set-up waned my interest before it could even begin.
I guess my issue is, the mythology doesn't match-up. Even with the fact this came before The Reveal about the Tailed Beasts (which I was aware of going in, despite my strong and strict adherence to Canon), it was simply too... detached from what I considered "Naruto". It's not the story I recognise barring some window-dressing, and so I cannot bring myself to enjoy it.
Perhaps this makes me biased, but then isn't everyone?
However, this story might just be for you - and if it is, I wish you luck. It has strength of narrative and characterisation (for what I observed to), as well as a measure of Deconstruction going on... it's just not for me.
Whichever option you choose, I will not judge you for it, and I hope you don't regret your decision to enjoy this one or not.
FanficRecs Hazy Opinions
Destiny is a Hazy Thing by Calanor is a different take on Naruto, and that is just about the only thing that can be said about it with certainty. While the story itself is incredibly well written and thought out in the first chapters, the story itself is ailed by the same thing that destroys so many pieces of fan-fiction, bashing.
While most of the time it is well thought out, with motivations and actions being justified in any sort of sense, it suffers the same fate Chunin Exam Day suffered from, the motivation is simple. The main characters have this strange bias towards themselves, as if they are the only ones that can think rationally, and everyone else is given drastically simpler thought processes. Characterization falls just short of being realistic - it reminds me of Orson Scott Card's novels outside of the original Ender series, where it reads more like a thought experiment than a novel.
Don't get me wrong, it is an interesting read, and well worth sitting through, if you can stomach it. It has the same theme as a lot of Perfect Lionheart's work, a theme of general progression and serial escalation, and unlike a lot of PL's work, it's done incredibly tastefully. You just need to stomach the rather unique take on bashing - generally in Naruto fan-fiction circles bashing is focused on Sasuke, and if they bash the Third Hokage, Minato and Kushina it's done in severe moderation, so that Naruto has someone powerful to look over them as a political ally. The dead can do no wrong, and they can't tell you you're being a total douche either.
Calanor seeks to defy the common fanfic tropes, apparently, or at least subvert many of them, so instead of not bashing people, he decides to bash Naruto's biological parents instead.
So, over all, interesting read, especially if you thought Chunin Exam Day was just a tad to extreme for your tastes. It's writing is good, it's founding concept is good, it's main character progression is good, and it's surprisingly rational, but it isn't quite perfect. If a story where God-Mode OC's elevate the rookie nine to legend is your thing, this is definitely a good gig. Or, you know, you can read, ''Yet Again''
, if you really like this sort of thing.