Naruto recs
Sooo… I'm suddenly reading Naruto fic. (Because I'm a terrible procrastinator.) I watched a little bit of Naruto many years ago and since then occasionally asked LB what's happening/kept up via fannish osmosis, but it's never been a big fandom for me and I don't think I'll ever finish reading/watching canon. But recently I got one rec and then sort of… followed breadcrumbs.
Remember to check the archive warnings and ratings for each fic.
Break to Breathe by Okami Rayne
The series link on AO3 has the first three stories, and the fourth one is on ff.net: Under These Scars
Nara Shikamaru/Hyuuga Neji +other pairings, 1,240k (!) – I read it in five days because I couldn't put it down.
Summary by me: Neji and Shikamaru stumble into a strange something between them that might make them lose everything in fights for freedom and against the ghosts from the past – or it might save them.
Why I love it: One of those cases where I simultaneously simply want to say "everything", with hand gestures and excited noises, and talk about it for hours if only I knew where to begin. (Not literally talk, I still have a sore throat.) And when I look back I wonder if it was really as good as I remember it or if it just grabbed me and didn't let me go, but it's too long to reread and check, and anyway that's almost the same.
The series was recced to me as a great example for canon-compliant worldbuilding, but I can't say much about that because I don't know canon enough. I do know that the series builds an incredible background of characters and histories and relationships and events, and even as someone less familiar with canon I could keep up with everything.
The combination of adventure + plot + reveals + relationships is great and works very well. The first fic and the last one especially have excellent adventure plots (2 and 3 mostly set the stage for 4 in that regard.) And there's a lot of character + relationship development that I loved, I can't even pick favorites. (Maybe Neji and Ino if I absolutely had to.)
Two big themes in the series are betrayal and sacrifice, which pushed so many of my buttons, it was fantastic. There are several scenes I'll definitely reread often (the whole thing is too long for that.) Other themes are freedom&choices and dealing with the past. The series takes time to follow several storylines, expanding outwards from the first story, and handles all of them well and with care. Despite the length the series never felt long or drawn-out (with the exception of some of the sex scenes, especially early, but that's probably a ymmv kind of thing.) There's a bit of purple prose at times, especially in the beginning, but nothing over the top.
( Spoilers )
Diplomatic Relations and the sequel Kindred by Maldoror
Gaara/Rock Lee, length unknown because it's all on LJ but I estimate maybe 80k all in all? Could be wildly off.
Summary by me: Lee becomes Konoha's diplomatic envoy in Sunagakure and falls in love with Gaara. In the sequel there are kids.
Why I love it: I read the stories for the first time a while ago (after reading Maldoror's also excellent Gundam Wing fic) and they are just as great as I remember. It's a lovely story of two very different (and both in some ways not exactly "normal") individuals building a relationship together, and she does a great job of selling the ship. A great look at both characters, and very sweet :-) I would happily read a dozen more sidestories. (My favorite of the existing ones is probably "The Question", it always makes me flail and squee even more than the other chapters, and at one point fistbump because fuck yeah that will shut them up.)
In Good Company by weialala
Sasuke/Naruto, 133k, WIP
Summary: This will sound a little ridiculous, no matter how Sasuke phrases it. I see dead people is embarrassingly tacky, and I'm half-spirit seems like something Sakura might say when she's stoned sky high. So he settles for a shrug.
Why I love it: This is an ongoing WIP with irregular updates, 11 of a planned 25 chapters, and the last update was in January. I don't usually like to rec WIPs, but this one I already reread at least two times and would also rec if it was unfinished.
It's an AU where Sasuke left Orochimaru and came back to Konoha. The story begins when he starts seeing the ghosts of the former Hokages. He still plans to kill Itachi (survival is not really part of his plans), the village still sees him as a traitor, and he's also pining after Naruto.
This fic is fantastic. Sasuke can't believe in his own redemption, but he slowly starts forming bonds again, even if some of them are with ghosts and snakes. His relationship with Kakashi here is written so well and hurts a lot. The whole fic does a very specific kind of angst very well, where you really really want Sasuke to get a happy ending and finally understand because he's suffering a lot, but are also happy when someone punches him because seriously?, have you looked at what you do to your friends?, yes you have friends you moron, and somehow the balance is just right. Is there such a thing as emo whump? That's what this is, and it's delicious.
survival of the fittest by cywscross
Gen, 25k
Summary:Sakura is thirteen, still a Genin, lost in the middle of Earth Country, lugging an unconscious Chuunin around, and so far beyond scared that she's moved right on to pissed off.
Why I love it: This is just good old-fashioned adventure action whump, the sort of story I miss from my SGA fandom days. Sakura and Shikamaru are lost in enemy territory and trying to get home, which isn't easy. It stays gen, which I liked, but they gain a lot of mutual respect and appreciation. Also a very good Sakura story.
Remember to check the archive warnings and ratings for each fic.
Break to Breathe by Okami Rayne
The series link on AO3 has the first three stories, and the fourth one is on ff.net: Under These Scars
Nara Shikamaru/Hyuuga Neji +other pairings, 1,240k (!) – I read it in five days because I couldn't put it down.
Summary by me: Neji and Shikamaru stumble into a strange something between them that might make them lose everything in fights for freedom and against the ghosts from the past – or it might save them.
Why I love it: One of those cases where I simultaneously simply want to say "everything", with hand gestures and excited noises, and talk about it for hours if only I knew where to begin. (Not literally talk, I still have a sore throat.) And when I look back I wonder if it was really as good as I remember it or if it just grabbed me and didn't let me go, but it's too long to reread and check, and anyway that's almost the same.
The series was recced to me as a great example for canon-compliant worldbuilding, but I can't say much about that because I don't know canon enough. I do know that the series builds an incredible background of characters and histories and relationships and events, and even as someone less familiar with canon I could keep up with everything.
The combination of adventure + plot + reveals + relationships is great and works very well. The first fic and the last one especially have excellent adventure plots (2 and 3 mostly set the stage for 4 in that regard.) And there's a lot of character + relationship development that I loved, I can't even pick favorites. (Maybe Neji and Ino if I absolutely had to.)
Two big themes in the series are betrayal and sacrifice, which pushed so many of my buttons, it was fantastic. There are several scenes I'll definitely reread often (the whole thing is too long for that.) Other themes are freedom&choices and dealing with the past. The series takes time to follow several storylines, expanding outwards from the first story, and handles all of them well and with care. Despite the length the series never felt long or drawn-out (with the exception of some of the sex scenes, especially early, but that's probably a ymmv kind of thing.) There's a bit of purple prose at times, especially in the beginning, but nothing over the top.
( Spoilers )
Diplomatic Relations and the sequel Kindred by Maldoror
Gaara/Rock Lee, length unknown because it's all on LJ but I estimate maybe 80k all in all? Could be wildly off.
Summary by me: Lee becomes Konoha's diplomatic envoy in Sunagakure and falls in love with Gaara. In the sequel there are kids.
Why I love it: I read the stories for the first time a while ago (after reading Maldoror's also excellent Gundam Wing fic) and they are just as great as I remember. It's a lovely story of two very different (and both in some ways not exactly "normal") individuals building a relationship together, and she does a great job of selling the ship. A great look at both characters, and very sweet :-) I would happily read a dozen more sidestories. (My favorite of the existing ones is probably "The Question", it always makes me flail and squee even more than the other chapters, and at one point fistbump because fuck yeah that will shut them up.)
In Good Company by weialala
Sasuke/Naruto, 133k, WIP
Summary: This will sound a little ridiculous, no matter how Sasuke phrases it. I see dead people is embarrassingly tacky, and I'm half-spirit seems like something Sakura might say when she's stoned sky high. So he settles for a shrug.
Why I love it: This is an ongoing WIP with irregular updates, 11 of a planned 25 chapters, and the last update was in January. I don't usually like to rec WIPs, but this one I already reread at least two times and would also rec if it was unfinished.
It's an AU where Sasuke left Orochimaru and came back to Konoha. The story begins when he starts seeing the ghosts of the former Hokages. He still plans to kill Itachi (survival is not really part of his plans), the village still sees him as a traitor, and he's also pining after Naruto.
This fic is fantastic. Sasuke can't believe in his own redemption, but he slowly starts forming bonds again, even if some of them are with ghosts and snakes. His relationship with Kakashi here is written so well and hurts a lot. The whole fic does a very specific kind of angst very well, where you really really want Sasuke to get a happy ending and finally understand because he's suffering a lot, but are also happy when someone punches him because seriously?, have you looked at what you do to your friends?, yes you have friends you moron, and somehow the balance is just right. Is there such a thing as emo whump? That's what this is, and it's delicious.
survival of the fittest by cywscross
Gen, 25k
Summary:Sakura is thirteen, still a Genin, lost in the middle of Earth Country, lugging an unconscious Chuunin around, and so far beyond scared that she's moved right on to pissed off.
Why I love it: This is just good old-fashioned adventure action whump, the sort of story I miss from my SGA fandom days. Sakura and Shikamaru are lost in enemy territory and trying to get home, which isn't easy. It stays gen, which I liked, but they gain a lot of mutual respect and appreciation. Also a very good Sakura story.