YMMV / Team 8

• Accidental Innuendo:
  Naruto: Hinata, could you use your eyes to check me out?^note When Hinata expresses confusion, Naruto clarifies that he'd like her to check his backpack to see if he forgot anything, so that he won't have to open up his backpack in front of everyone
• Base-Breaking Character: Kurenai. A large portion of the fanbase likes her for being a more involved teacher for Naruto than Kakashi was in canon, and not only doing more to help him refine his jutsus and learn what it means to be a shinobi, but also deal with the emotional side of being a ninja, and essentially being a mother figure to him and Hinata. Others, however, are more critical of certain aspects, like other characters repeatedly talking about how she's such a great teacher, her almost always being right when she tells off other characters for their mistakes, and her being portrayed as the more competent Jounin instructor out of the three for the Rookie 9, even when it doesn't seem to make sense for her to be. The writer might have picked up on this in Chapter 24, where Iruka tells Naruto that Kurenai may be a good teacher, but that doesn't mean she was always right.
• Broken Base:
  • The fic itself has a lot of fans, but there are also readers who either outright hate it, or don't think it's as great as hyped. Much of this comes from how Alternate Character Interpretation is used, particularly when it comes to making some characters more antagonistic than in canon (mostly the Hyuuga clan); as anyone who's read Harry Potter and the Nightmares of Futures Past might have observed, the author seems to have a preference for the "Black" end of the spectrum when it comes to villains, to nearly Stupid Evil levels. While some of this is apparently justified by the for-want-of-a-nail, some readers feel these characters strain credibility.
  • As with many Naruto fanfics, readers are also divided on any increase of Naruto's powers or competence, due to concerns that it unbalances the power levels of the setting.
  • Somewhat related to the above, Naruto's fight with Sasuke in the Chunin Exams, in which Naruto takes out Sasuke with one punch, is somewhat controversial. Is it a Moment of Awesome for Naruto or terribly anticlimactic? Word of God mentions a few reasons why Sasuke lost; including him being weakened from having the cursed seal dealt with, Naruto having spent the last few months going toe-to-toe with Lee (who beat Sasuke in canon), and Sasuke implying that Hinata's loss to Neji was because she was weak. While some find this convincing, others still don't believe that the fight would have been as one-sided as it was.
  • Some are also divided over killing off Kurenai. Was it a powerful emotional moment, or was it done too early on, eliminating possible story and character developments? Additionally, was the cause of her death—a kunai to the head realistic and shocking, or anticlimactic?
  • Did the author's decision to keep the story on its original trajectory, with Itachi being the one to kill Kurenai, date the fic since in canon, Itachi was working for Konoha the whole time, or did it make for a more original and interesting story that averts a canonical Ass Pull?
• Catharsis Factor: Mixed with Take That, Scrappy!; Sakura overhears Naruto warning Rock Lee about her and after reexamining her previous behavior, realizes what a horrible person she is.
• Fridge Horror: Kurenai, with a letter addressed to Naruto in the event of her death, spells out Hinata's feelings for Naruto. Imagine how he would have taken it if Hinata had died before Naruto learned this.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • Kurenai makes lots of sarcastic remarks regarding early retirement and death. Chapter 20 makes most of them not funny anymore.
  • Shino asks what sort of flowers would be appropriate for Neji's funeral. Not only does Neji die near the end of the main series, but a scene in the Distant Finale sees Naruto and Hinata's daughter leave sunflowers at his grave.
  • Minato and Kushina's sacrifice themselves for Konoha only to have their son be isolated to the point of not understanding what love is.
• Hype Backlash: For similar reasons to Harry Potter and the Nightmares of Futures Past; it's a very popular fic with an avid fanbase, but some readers will likely find themselves turned off by the story, particularly some of the changes the author makes to canon.
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • Like Itachi? You won't in this story, not after he kills Kurenai.
  • Hiashi does this when he disguises a training session with Hinata to beat her. The rest of the cast is visibly disturbed when they find Hinata battered and bruised, starving, and unable to stand because she hadn't slept at all. If Kurenai's post-death letter is any indication, Hiashi may also be the one pulling the strings on the incident that killed her former teammates after it was revealed that Kurenai's best friend had the Byakugan despite not being a Hyuuga and refused to join the Branch Family and submit to their treatment of them, which would include getting a Curse Mark(something that would allow the head family to torture and/or kill him at any time, for any reason).
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Sakura Haruno was The Scrappy for large portions of the canon, and her love for Sasuke Uchiha was poorly received. In Team 8, although Sakura starts out hostile to the heroes, after overhearing Naruto criticizing her faults, she resolves to do better. While she still retains a Tsundere side and her crush on Sasuke, she makes an effort to be kinder, and also looks at her attraction to Sasuke more objectively. Also, she impales the head of a giant snake.
• Ron the Death Eater:
  • In this series, the entire Main Branch Hyuuga clan, with the obvious exception of Hinata, are in general much worse than they are in canon. Hiashi's cold exterior is more than a case of acting as his station dictates; he's just an abusive dick. He is abusive beyond just strictness to Hinata, and even his canon Pet the Dog moment of begging for Neji's forgiveness after telling him the truth about Hizashi's death is replaced by a Kick the Dog moment in which he only cares that Neji has lost; the only thing Hiashi is interested in is seeing him punished for "disgracing the clan." Similarly, Hanabi is quite dismissive of Hinata and completely unappreciative of Hinata helping to rescue her. According to the author, the original divergent event that lead to the events of the story also caused the change in the Hyuuga clan, but that cause has not been revealed yet.
  • To a lesser extent, Sakura more readily bad-mouths Naruto than in canon, due to them not being on the same team, and so not having the same ties as in canon. Her flaws are also criticized more heavily in this fic.
  • Sasuke acts a bit more coldly than in canon. The most striking instance is in his preliminary match with Naruto, where he insults Hinata to Naruto's face, when she was just hospitalized from her fight. While this is admitted to be a valid (if misapplied) psychological tactic, other characters still note that it was a pretty callous move. In canon, Sasuke could be rude and abrasive, but he was more aloof and uncaring than he was actively hostile.
• Signature Scene:
  • Naruto and Hinata's Sleep Cute in chapter 5.
  • Naruto and Hinata's conversation by the stream in chapter 8.
  • Kurenai's death in chapter 20.
• Take That, Scrappy!: Sakura, an irritating Tsundere in the anime and manga who beat up Naruto with little provocation, is served a large slice of Humble Pie when she overhears Naruto warning Rock Lee to not waste his time on her, describing her as beautiful but cruel. This serves as a Jerkass Realization for Sakura, who vows to be better and starts mending bridges with Ino (the latter happened in canon, but under different circumstances).
• Tear Jerker: Has its own page.
• Too Cool to Live: Officially Kurenai, who died after breaking Tsukuyomi. With Fridge Logic of all things. Namely, realizing that the scenario Itachi puts her through makes no sense, and deliberately running with the correction.
• The Woobie:
  • Hinata up to eleven compared to canon due to the "nail" shifting her family life from aloof to outright abusive.
  • Naruto also has an even harsher life than in canon due to the nail. The story significantly explicates on this aspect of Naruto's life, and there is hinted to be an organized conspiracy against him; he was even treated by an academy doctor as a monstrous murderer. Although Naruto still puts on a brave face like in canon, it's clear that he is left quite insecure due to the treatment.
  • Sarutobi as well. The more aware he becomes of the injustices that Naruto faces, the more guilty he feels when he fails to stop them.
  • Kurenai, given what we've learned so far about her backstory, qualifies bigtime. She lost her entire team at a young age, and was even considered a suspect for their deaths. She devotes much of her energy toward finding the truth behind the tragedy, but dies before she can get any conclusive answers, let alone see justice done.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Some readers believe that Kurenai was killed off too early, and her potential as a character was wasted. Others believe that this serves to emphasize Naruto and Hinata as the true protagonists over Kurenai, and that her letter might inspire Naruto to find the truth about what happened to her team.

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