FanficRecs One of the most depressing of all Dead Fics...
Never have I loathed the concept of the Dead Fic so much as in this case. Time and Again and Here and Now may not be perfect Naruto fanfics (in general they're rather too much Darker And Edgier and Bloodier And Gorier and there have been a number of unfortunate deviations from canon) but they're actually superior stories to the actual Naruto manga. Apart from a bit of a slow start, the story told in these two fics is simply superb with real drama, mystery and likeable characters far beyond anything Kishimoto himself has been capable of.
Flaws? OK, it gets off to a really slow start- it takes Naruto 2 chapters to stop being a prick to everyone because he doesn't believe they're real (this should have been resolved in the first chapter after the prologue) and his schtick about not being able to control his 12-year old body enough to even walk down the street in a straight line for the first several chapters gets old really fast and really doesn't add that much to the story. But aside from that, the only real flaw with the story is that Here and Now is a Dead Fic- which is an absolute tragedy. The characterisations of Sasuke, Sakura and Hinata especially are exceptional -it takes quite a lot of effort to make a character as fundamentally unlikeable as Sasuke appealing without completely rewriting his entire personality- and the author also manages to write a really good Naruto, who still makes dumb oversights because no matter how old and embittered he gets, he's still an Idiot Hero at heart. And he also writes possibly the most evil Orochimaru ever. The story is packed with Crowners of all types and is something I can reread over and over again.
It's a minor blessing that the last written chapter of Here and Now ends on a least a minor conclusion of the current arc, wrapping up the immediate fights and preventing it from being too much of a cliffhanger ending, but that doesn't change how annoying it is that the story hasn't been updated in 2 1/2 years and probably never will be again. I'd sooner see this fic continued that Naruto itself, so it's a crying shame that that probably won't happen. Still, what exists is a fantastic story which every Naruto fan should check out.
FanficRecs Review by Clendy82
I don't often give CMOA status to most of the fanfics I've read, but one here is worth mentioning: All throughout the story, Naruto is constantly building up to a final battle with Orochimaru during the Chuunin Exams that he is sure will set everything right. However, when he finally gets there and he seems to be victorious, it turns out that the Orochimaru-in-a-Grass-ninja-body he had just beaten was, in fact, a real Grass ninja! It's not so much the event itself that is the CMOA, but the heightened sense of tension that comes from reading the next several chapters, constantly wondering which body he has actually taken over.
FanficRecs Bad Bad, Bad
When i read time and time again i was interested on the fic, i said cool a new peggy sue, however it really went down, Naruto keeping it secret, distrusting everybody, Rin a hardened Veteran somehow is convinced that Naruto is the kyubi when her FUCKING SENSEI WAS THE YONDAIME and one of the best seal masters, not to mention Rin trusting the word of OROCHIMARU MISSING NIN S RANK.
And then Naruto is kidnapped by Orochimaru, at that point is said fuck this shit, because thats why it is, it features character derailment and a poorly planned story, nothing really works out and Naruto is always on the losing end.
Did i mention Orochimaru gives a fuck about Naruto in canon? even if he is the Jinchuriki Naruto still gives two fucks, he wants the Sharingan, why would he kidnap naruto? I've heard people say this is great, Time Mix up is great, a wrinkle in time is great, a dozen other peggy sue fanfics are great, this? this is a power trip pulled on the finest style of Devilzxing and Mistress Winowyll (on her fic the bet at the very least)
So i cannot reccomend this fic in good concience, go and read the index for anything but this.
As some one said this fic has now more in common with Ninja scroll and Basilisk than Naruto.