Comments: The character development feels entirely natural, the action sequences are very well-written and entertaining, and the plot is unique: I've read lots of For Want Of A Nail Naruto fanfics, but I've never seen one before that had Yugito attempting to kidnap Naruto to give him a 'better life' in Kumo, or Konoha ending up supporting a rebellion against the Fourth Mizukage.
Zeful: Many of the character's are wildly out-of-character though many of them are pretty believable (Sasuke is far more extreme and vengeance-oriented than canon, but the situations are radically different). A couple of the downsides to the fic are poor editing (every chapter has either missing letters, or repeated words) and a tendency to to push Naruto toward God Mode Sue territory (Kakashi's teaching him new jutsu under Gai's nose. Naruto getting massively stronger very quickly compared to Lee and Tenten and Naruto learning to control his powers as a Host to a Tailed Beast). The original characters and setting are far better than other Naruto fics (notably, no actual physical abuse from Kohona citizens). The good tend to balance out the bad fairly well though so it's a good read.
LifeOfPi: Just a few more notes. While the editing has its bad sides, I was so drawn in that I really didn't notice useless it was massive (For example, there was a part which fans loved where a villian unleashed a "fluffy of blows" against Gaara, but that's been fixed). It's certainly better written than 97% of everything else in the fandom. The original ideas are the shining light here. This fic, in terms of its originality and effort, is a diamond in a sea of rhinestone. Naruto's growth can be a bit of turn off, but it's still handled leagues better than most fics. His growth in controlling the Kyuubi's power isn't handled badly either as Naruto makes it a clearly defined goal from the get-go, and until recently, he's never tried to do so in canon. Characterization is pretty good across the board (though there is the occasion pitfall), and the point of any For Want of a Nail is to show how things change with one notable instant. Overall, I recommend it.
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