Team 7's Ascension
is a Naruto Fanfic by Eilyfe. It starts with Kakashi not being so laid back as normal due to having his team scouted two weeks prior to becoming their Jounin. Bringing his concerns to the Hokage, he is allowed 6 months to make them the a combat-specialist team and the story moves from there.
Now has a sequel.
Both have since been completed.
Tropes found in this fanfiction:
- Adaptational Badass: Izumo and Kotetsu are both actually ANBU of the Counter-Intelligence squad who Sarutobi gave their positions and ranks as seasoned Chuunin so they could give him the actual story on the general ninja population.
- An Arm and a Leg: Shino gets his arm cut off by a Kiri-nin. It puts him in the reserve forces in the sequel.
- Anyone Can Die: Akamaru was killed during the Chunin Exams.
- Hinata is killed during the war by poisoning.
- Kankuro is killed by his sister to stop him from poisoning everyone.
- Danzo is killed by Sasuke after he learns of the Sharingan in his arms.
- Sasori is killed by Sasuke and Danzo.
- Back-to-Back Badasses: Team 7 during the fight with Izumo and Kotetsu.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: After Temari helped him get away from captivity, Naruto vouches for her to prevent Kakashi from executing her.
- Be Yourself: Kakashi's advice to Sakura in the sequel. She can't compete with her teammates in chakra or strength, so she has to find her own way.
- Big Damn Heroes: The Hokage himself appeared to save Team 7 as they were about to be attacked by Akatsuki and Orochimaru.
- Danzo helps fend off the Third Kazekage puppet to buy Team 7 time for attack Sasori in the last chapter of Lines in the Sand. Wasn't enough to save him from Sasuke killing him after learning about him using the Sharingan in his arm.
- Blood Sport: The Hole, where Konoha forces in Sand can fight. Kiba has been at it for a year and has a reputation.
- Break Them by Talking: Kakashi breaks all three of their illusions of talent and what being a shinobi of the village entails from their time in the Academy the moment he meets them. He tells Sakura she doesn't have enough stamina, Sasuke's pride would be his downfall, and Naruto at some point stopped trying in the Academy and became a prankster rather than an aspiring student and ended up being the dead last.
- Child Soldiers: Explicitly stated and shown.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Ren subjects Naruto to this. He still doesn't crack to him, but its enough to make him silently plead with the Kyubi for healing, which he hates.
- Later on, Sasuke does this to Ren to get information, but Naruto decides they shouldn't go this far and just Mercy Kill him.
- Convenient Coma: Kakashi is in a medically-induced coma due to the poisons in his system by the start of the sequel.
- The Coup: By Chapter 8 of the sequel, this has happened in Suna.
- Dangerous Deserter: When Team 7 leave Konoha to go after Kakashi they break a lot more laws to get their jobs done, up to and including kill Daimyo guardsmen.
- Deal with the Devil: How Naruto comes to regard bargaining with the Nine-Tailed Fox.
- Death World: The Forest of Death is a goddamn nightmare. It has tigers, snakes, bears, insects, and if you slip up once death can take you.
- Defector from Decadence: Temari, who's willing to risk execution just to stop the rebels from destroying their own country.
- Defiant Captive: Naruto, after being captured by Temari's rebel faction in the sequel. In the end, he escapes with Temari's help.
- Do Wrong, Right: Danzo in the sequel basically said this about the three helping children from Sand. He doesn't have a problem with them getting the children away from the assholes that were abusing them, but the fact that it resulted in open fighting showed that the Tree was not united and they should have done it stealthily. Same goes for when they were trying to get themselves appointed for their escort duty. His issue is that the lack subtly.
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: Naruto during the Time Skip between the sequel, though they are preparing for war at the point.
- Danzo for Naruto.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Naruto has the title of "Waterboy" by Chapter 4 of Lines in the Sand.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Poisoning their own city and people was enough to drive Temari into turning traitor and going with Naruto's group, despite the fact that it could mean their death.
- Faking the Dead: Naruto has Sakura use Genjutsu to fake their deaths when the escort gets attacked in Chapter 4 of Lines in the Sand, while he gets taken captive.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Kakashi invokes this on his Team by making them spend their first two months in the Forest of Death. It worked.
- From Bad to Worse: Both Akatsuki and Roshi appear in the next-to-last chapter in Lines in the Sand.
- Gladiator Games: Iwa has monthly tournament for the clan-less shinobi in this format, built by Oonoki himself. The Tsuchikage frequents it regularly to see what they have to offer.
- Healing Factor: Kabuto like in canon. They kill him no less than three times before he runs out of chakra and it sticks.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: The Iwa-nin that tried to get the drop on Naruto while he was wearing a cloak of Kurama's chakra. A tail promptly spears through him and then flicks his body away.
- It Gets Easier: As Naruto notes. Which is exactly why his seal on the Kyuubi is breaking.
- Leave No Survivors: Naruto's orders when encountering an enemy in the forest. Dead men can't get revenge. Sakura spares one team and keeps it from him because he or Sasuke would come to finish the job.
- In the sequel, Naruto is the one who stops Sasuke and Sakura from killing a priest because he knew Naruto housed the Kyuubi.
- Luxury Prison Suite: Gaara is placed in one post-invasion, meant to dampen the voices of Shukaku so that he can be at peace, with visits from Naruto and being taught various subjects by Sakura.
- Manipulative Bastard: Kakashi during training. He manages to get his students past their issues while making them hate him.
- Master Poisoner: Kankuro is the one who made the poison used on the Suna's cities.
- The Medic: Sasuke fulfills this roles after getting his basic medical license during the Time Skip.
- Mêlée à Trois: Orochimaru vs Akatsuki vs The Hokage.
- Only in It for the Money: Hunters during the second exam of the Chuunin Exam dropped the idea of competition to get the gold coins and state this. The coins aren't even real gold.
- Parental Abandonment: Sakura is the only member of Team 7 who has a living parent and he dislikes Shinobi since his parents and wife were killed in two separate attacks, so he wasn't thrilled with her becoming one and grew distant, even disappearing at work for days on end.
- Reality Warper: Danzo uses Izanagi numerous times to save himself and Team 7 from being killed by the Third Kazekage puppet and Sasori.
- Redemption Earns Life: Temari is the only surviving member of the Rebel faction, though she's been stripped of her official rank because of it by the end of Lines in the Sand.
- Reformed, but Rejected: Gaara is set to become the Kazekage in the sequel, but many in his village still remember his rampages or assume he has been dyed in Konoha's colors.
- Revenge: One Iwa-nin wants to get revenge against Naruto and tries to take it in Chapter 12 of Lines in the Sand with Roshi. He fails.
- Royal Brat: Kurotsuchi, the Tsuchikage's grand-daughter. Oonoki blames her mother for it.
- Sadist Teacher: Kakashi even acknowledges it to himself while training them. Not that it stopped him.
- Hell, he admits as much in the sequel while training Ino.
- Self-Made Man: Oonoki became the Tsuchikage through his own efforts, without a clan backing him.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: Kakashi attempt to get back to Konoha after learning of Suna's betrayal. It ends with his sharingan removed before he was captured.
- These Hands Have Killed: By the sequel, Naruto is forced to accept that he's killed too many people to properly become a Jinchuuriki like the first one that bonded to the Ichibi.
- Time Skip: The sequel picks up several months after the group's return to Konoha.
- Tournament Arc: The Chuunin Exam, but it is wayyyy bloodier than canon.
- The first exam has the three members of the team go into three different rooms, one each. One has to undo a Genjutsu, one searches for a combination, and the other gets an obstacle course with actual corpses included.
- The second exam has the teams enter the forest to retrieve golden coins and they would only accept the eight teams with the highest amount and they can keep them once it's done. A lot of people get killed over them on the first day and the coins are actually fool's gold anyway.
- Training from Hell: Kakashi's training makes Canon look like grade-school material. Several times over all three of them nearly died.
- His first act: Toss them into the Forest of Death for two months with only a backpack containing a pouch of shuriken, two kunai, and two small scrolls to survive on their own. Later on he then sprays their clothing with pheromones while they sleep so the animals will attack them, leaving them in a state of constant alertness. This includes snakes, tigers, and bears.
- His next act: Send them to the capital of the Land of Fire for a month or training in swordmanship (Sasuke), politics (Naruto), and courtesan-training (Sakura).
- His third act: Chase them for eight days and then have them start of D-rank missions while forcing them to stay in a Training Ground at night without food or water that they didn't hunt or gather.
- War Is Hell: The sequel explores this.
- Welcome Back, Traitor: Team 7 gets off relatively light for their desertion. They can't become Jounin barring field promotion, they were suspended from duty for six months with community service, and only the future Hokage have access to the records that they actually left rather than went on a mission (and Danzo for some reason).
- Temari is not executed for her acts once Gaara took office and allowed to remain in the village, but she can never be an official shinobi again.
- You Have Out Lived Your Usefulness: Verbatim by the adviser Komon to Naruto after he leaves Konoha as a rogue ninja to save Kakashi.
- You Killed My Mother: Sakura believes that Sasori killed her mother. In truth, Gaara was the one to do so when he was younger, which he hides from her.
