FanficRecs Recommendation
A very long fanfiction over 420K words long, this fanfic is not only well written, but also one of those fanfics thats not afraid to kill off important people
. Very deep insight into the psyche of humanity as well as a well-paced plot. Doesn't contain movie related canon references until much later into the fiction, which is always good to hear if you're someone who's watched everything but the movies. It does reference one movie-centric thing in the very beginning, but it isn't something where you need to watch the movie to get the plot. Believable progression of power gain as well, and surprisingly up-to-date on the canon content (as of 1/8/2014, though that isn't guaranteed).
It has a slightly bad habit of underplaying important fights from the side character's point of view when everyone is fighting everyone, but that's the only re-occurring blip it has.
Has a TON of Wham episode, Crowning Moment of Awesome, Tear Jerker, and a whole lot of HSQ moments, all from a Martial Pacifist standpoint unless you ROYALLY piss him off.
Epic is an understatement.
FanficRecs Read/enjoy with discretion
It should come as no surprise that fanfiction in general abides to Sturgeon's Law, but Sage does an excellent job of creating an entirely original and well conceived story that can be considered one of the best that Naruto fanfiction has to offer, but not without some particularly misleading flaws, and confusingly indirect ones at that, especially from a critical standpoint.
I'd like to be clear that this is by no means a bad fanfiction. Rather, it is very well written and original, as far as fanfiction go. A previous review accurately compared it to Avatar: The Last Airbender, and correctly so, given it's focus on the elements and the world surrounding them, which is probably the series' main pull. However, my main problem stems from its identity as a Naruto power flick with severe scaling issues, which inadvertently detract from the world building aspects. For example, we start off with Naruto unlocking the Rinnegan.
This leads me to my main point: this fanfiction goes of in it's own direction, with little to no connection with canon, in the sense that you shouldn't expect to see or enjoy too much from of your favourite characters or aspects of the original series. A majority of the characters and concepts that this fanfic focuses on are entirely original or remodeled, including but not limited to Naruto going around absorbing all the Tailed Beasts into himself. The plot isn't bad but it's not entirely a masterpiece of planning either. It's original, but it's just there.
I give my credit to the characterisation. Naruto himself is changed to a pacifistic monk, travelling the lands and generally helping people, but is still trained and expected to fight when necessary. The character is done well, but takes a complete 180 from the obnoxious and outspoken ninja many have come to find endearing. His origins are also changed drastically having run away from Konoha after witnessing and committing murder. The fact that most of the remaining cast is original speaks for itself. Again, you may find something interesting, but it all depends on your perspective on how close a fan work should be to the original product.
I don't mean to outright criticise this series, which is easily one of the better fanfiction online, but these were aspects of it that caught me off guard, so I can only hope that others will be better informed of them.
My final score: 6/10