Comments: Another well executed, completely original idea, it preys on the fact that Naruto values protecting his own more than anything. He's a bit smarter than canon, as implied by him actually thinking about the fox's outburst, and the way he evades Team 7 and Jiraiya during his escape. Character development flows completely naturally, and it fits the events without deviating more than it should from canon - Naruto, Kankuro and Temari are still basically the same, while Gaara (after beaten by Naruto) is understandably his post-invasion self ahead of canon (aside from his cooking antics, that is). The author doesn't stop there: during the invasion, we discover that Orochimaru enlisted the help of the Rock, which rocks the plot HARD. The plot itself doesn't deviate far from The Stations Of The Canon up to Naruto's departure along with Gaara, but it doesn't have to - what matters mostly happens in-between them.
MrMagi - YMMV a bit on this. This troper personally thinks this the fic had an excellent idea, but thinks it wasn't done as well as it could. While the story is written fairly well, the characters comes off as OOC a bit too much personally and the romance angle is a little too rushed. Plus Naruto beating Gaara by using wind and demon chakra alone seemed too unrealistic. However that might be because the author breezed through what Naruto learned. It's certainly not too bad a read, but the story ruins its immersion a bit.
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