Content Harry Potter Naruto

Reviews

Nights Silhoutte posted a comment on Sunday 3rd February 2013 5:23pm for Geniuses of Hard Work

A great chapter.

omgoth posted a comment on Saturday 2nd October 2010 8:44pm for Geniuses of Hard Work

Okay, you just wrote one of the funniest out-of-context lines I've ever read: "Hinata privately wondered how much her rear end would hurt when this was over, but she only said "Hai!" in response."

Did you do that on purpose, or was that just a funny coincidence, because I laughed for like 10 minutes after reading that.

{review_anonymous_reviewer} posted a comment on Wednesday 30th May 2007 6:24pm for Geniuses of Hard Work

awsome work
I can't wait to read the rest

kwp posted a comment on Thursday 27th July 2006 1:16pm for Geniuses of Hard Work

Thanks, again, Matthew for another exciting and delightful chapter.

I enjoyed the insight into Naruto's thinking at the beginning of the chapter, especially the party about him learning to pay close attention to what Kurenai did. Trying to figure things out on his own is good practice, but also important. Naruto, while clearly capable of learning from instruction, seems to learn best by doing. Trying to reverse engineer how someone else achieves results will help him learn the how and the why faster than if she just told him.

However, never getting the hints on how to do anything correctly leaves one constantly starting from scratch. Naruto's astonishment that instructors are their to do anything else is both fresh and very believable to me, while at the same time vaguely heart wrenching. I doubt everyone had that emotion evoked by the exchange, but I did.

Speaking of the exchange at the beginning of the chapter, I really enjoyed the occasional inter-splice of the sparring session that Naruto and Kurenai were observing at the time. You managed to avoid the usual heavy dialog exchange, and still show us something. I enjoyed it.

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Naruto shrugged. "Iruka’s different. He grew up without parents like I did, so he cuts me a break."


and the next line

"No," Kurenai said firmly, "he’s not. He’s doing his job properly. Evidently, he’s one of the few instructors that is."




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"Exactly," Kurenai murmured as Hinata leapt over Shino’s leg sweep. "A student that actually wants to learn is a blessing to a teacher. Why should I want to discourage that?"



and the next line

"But... why didn’t the instructors want..." Naruto’s voice trailed off. "It’s because of me, isn’t it?" he asked coldly.




In earlier chapters, Kurenai speculates to herself that all jonin develop quirks to handle the stress. I wonder if her own "No knowledge is wasted" and "Everything is a lesson" are the starts of her own stress adaption. Certainly more useful to her students than an obsessions with green spandex.


I am not sure that the ellipsis in the following quote are really necessary. The ellipsis earlier in the same paragraph works very well, however. It is your call of course:

Naruto couldn’t wait... he wanted to show everyone that he wasn’t just empty boasts.




I wonder what Hinata thought she was apologizing for when Naruto tells her she would never do something to be mean. Of course, I find it very amusing that he essentially mirrors the same words back at her that Hinata used herself when talking to Kurenai about Naruto. Good stuff.

The scene with the Rock ninjas at the border did a nice job of showing that Naruto's senses are getting sharper. He is able to catch fragments of the conversation that Hinata has to lip read to find out about. Speaking of which, lip reading and the Byakugan -- very nice combination. I wonder when Hinata's training about uncovering information might start to apply to her own household and home. When it does, and when she starts breaking out of the rut in her thinking, I expect we will have some interesting surprises.

I loved the ending of this scene. Naruto begins to internalize and realize the real cost of war. He begins to understand that heroes are more complex than his childhood dreams may have let them be. He begins to realize some of the burdens of the Hokage. And the foreshadowing of the last line, "he would think back on this conversation many times in the years to come," works very well for me. Once cannot tell from this line if a war is coming, or if the lessons and implications of an old war will wear upon his mind. Either way, the hints of what is to come leave me thinking about the future of the story and the character. So, well done.

Some people have commented on the changes in the naming of the techniques. I have no problem, as long as you are consistent. I really appreciate having them translated in the notes at the end. I also have no problem with Naruto giving two different names to the same technique, based solely on if he centers about himself and if he hurls in a direction. It seems in keeping with his character for him to praise himself by considering them separate 'special' jutsus.

However, I do have one question. You give us a sense or a hint of time between all of the scene breaks except the start of the grand battle and aftermath that is the last 3/4ths of the chapter. Have they been doing this 4 weeks, 6 weeks, or is this the next day after meeting the Rock ninjas?

I do not know if Hinata makes the right call her or not. However, she does make a decision. Given her indecision on so much else in her life, I agree that her sensei does the right thing after the battle in listening to her explanations and supporting her in making the call. I wonder how much self doubt Hinata will experience later on this point, though.

The battle as a whole does a great job of mixing the pace of the action and describing it without getting bogged down in every strike, twist, and countermove. I enjoyed it very much, and found it very thrilling.

Through out this battle, I am left unsure if Naruto is shielding himself from fire damage with his chakra, or just applying enough chakra to heal almost instantly from the injuries. The descriptions you have leave me unsure, and give me the impression that Naruto would have no idea himself. I suspect Kurenai will have an idea based on her observations, or will ask him to clarify for herself later.

cold black eyes gleamed like chips of obsidian.


Wonderfully vivid description, which combined with his "steel skin" jutsu later leave me with strong impression, but no evidence, of him as a Rock ninja.

Hinata ran upside! Very cool. No one comments on it after the battle, and Hinata's own recollection of how she handled things makes it clear that she might not even realize she did it.

In the first half of this battle, Naruto shows his creativity again. From the application of a jutsu intended to wash dishes and fill canteens to counter the fireball, to his use - twice - of his training weights as distance weapons, you show us his originality, rather than just tell us about it. Very good stuff.

Speaking of showing, I appreciate the fact that all of Team 8 make rookie mistakes of one kind or another in this battle. You show us their inexperience, without emphasizing it, and without reducing the great accomplishments or abilities that they do show. Hinata and Naruto freeze in the middle of the battle from unexpected information. Shino does not finishing incapacitating out his captive, and is then taken by surprise from a jutsu he should have expected. Simple mistakes that cost them dearly, and ones they will not make years from now.

Shino gives a very good showing of himself, here, though, and deserves strong praise. He moves effectively without being excessively flashy. He struggles on despite great injury. More and more, I admire and like his character for his strengths and dedication.

The pacing of the battle has both of his team mates out of action before the release of red fox chakra berserker. They do not see it. From what we gather after the fight, neither do our two rescued hostages, Konohamaru and Hanabi. Hanabi might have, given that we know her family's abilities see through light cover. However, her behavior seems to indicate strongly she did not see the resolution of the battle. With three enemies dead, only Naruto and Kurenai know what happened. This allows Naurto a little more time before his friends will see, but the consequences are not going to be that easy to put off.

The experience of killing a foe in battle is not one I am sure Naruto was ready for. The experience of not only killing his foes, but wanting them dead, wanting to see them suffer for a bit while they die, under the red haze of an inhuman fury... That I am sure he was not prepared for. His comment immediately afterwords about going crazy and killing everyone support that notion. He's going to have some processing to do over the next few days.

I am surprised about what thing in the battle. I expected to see Raiton: Shokkingu Haji used against are steel skinned foe. Given the build up from the last chapter on the use of this jutsu, and the power level being used, I was ready for Naruto to disable or outright kill his opponent with this junior level technique. I did not expect Naruto to punch his fists through him. Gruesome, and an ending to the fight that leaves Naruto with no way to lie to himself that he intentionally killed to of his foes.

The aftermath of the battle was well done. The relief force that showed up and their reactions to events played out very well. Hinata's clan moves slowly into the category of suspicion; of course Hiashi comes across as a pure jerk, and the arrogance he has encouraged in his heir rightly annoys Naruto. The question of why and what for still intrigue me, and Kurenai's lingers half voiced suspicions make me wonder where you are going with the long term plot of this story.

The motivations for this raid also come into question. Which kid was the target, and which one the victim of opportunity? Or, was one part of an alibi or cover story? Hmm... Good questions that leave me wanting to read more.

Hinata speaking up to remind Team 8 of its obligations - a priceless scene, especially as it involved standing up to her family! Naruto stepping in to defuse the situation, and being partly aware that he was doing so - wonderful!

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"No," Shino answered, shaking his head, "they think Naruto is the Fourth Hokage and are therefore terrified of him."


and the next line

Naruto wanted to sink into the earth




The confidence and pride that Shino's father demonstrates in him felt really good. I am glad to see that Shino finds himself progressing and developing more than expected as well, pushed by his sensei and his remarkable teammates. Getting a second colony seems something both meaningful to him and a demonstration to others of how pride his father has in his ability. Very nicely done.

Iruka being alive is something I expected, but was not sure about. I remained open to the idea that it could go either way, but am very glad that Naruto will have a bit longer to interact with his first real sensei. Besides, I like what you have shown us about a friendship between Kurenai and Iruka.


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"Well..." Naruto said, racking his brains for something to say to her. "More for us! I’m really starving, and Shino is eating for three now!"
and the next line
In all honesty, the fight



Final comments:

I continue to enjoy this story very much. I look forward to seeing what the aftermath of this adventure well be. I thought the battle contrasted nicely with that in "Geniuses of Hard Work." Here, they responded with out a good plan, and were nearly destroyed. The warning they received earlier found concrete reality here. Yet they managed to overcome and survive. Where as in the earlier battle, Hinata gave the final conclusion to the battle, this time she "is the first to fall" and it is Naruto who carries the day. Only, no one but Kurenai and Naruto know the exact details. While Shino deduce what happened, looking at the injuries inflicted on their foes, and the blood that covered Naruto? What story will Naruto tell his teammates? And what *was* the purpose of this kidnapping? Has Iruka figured anything else out about the conspiracy against Naruto?

Needless to say, I eagerly await more.

Is this a meaty enough review to encourage you?

Uldihaa posted a comment on Monday 17th July 2006 1:28pm for Geniuses of Hard Work

Hmm, in re-reading this fic I've been reminded of a minor error in this chapter. When Naruto and Hinata first spend an evening training together, Naruto mentions that Shino and Hinata are working on tree-climbing while he's still having trouble with the water-walking that was introduced two weeks before. The order of the training is incorrect; it's tree-climbing, then water-walking. The water-walking was stated in canon as being much more difficult than tree-climbing.

You might want to go back and edit that. Maybe have Naruto state that while he was able to finally get the tree-climbing, he was having a lot more problems with water-walking. As for Hinata and Shino, they could be working on both while carrying a training dummy or weights to make it more difficult, and to show that they'd advanced beyond Naruto's current skill.

Thought I'd point this out before I forgot about it again :p

Viridian replied:

Actually, Kurenai did that on purpose. The exercises are different, but her motivations were rooted primarily in safety. Since a shallow pool was available on the training grounds, Kurenai decided to teach the water walking first. If her student loses concentration mastering the first post-genin chakra control exercise, they get wet feet. If, say, Kakashi's student loses concentration, they fall backward and maybe get a cracked skull. Especially since she was having her students work on chakra control by themselves for the most part, Kurenai decided teach them in that order.  When they start working on tree-climbing, they are already a little more adept at regulating their chakra flows...

Jeff posted a comment on Sunday 28th May 2006 12:48pm for Geniuses of Hard Work

KEEP WRITING!!!! I LOVE your stuff, and I'm still reading your Harry Potter fan fic. I daresay you could write quite the interesting novel?

Nubbus posted a comment on Saturday 27th May 2006 12:09am for Geniuses of Hard Work

Awesome story. Even though it uses a bit of a cliche'd plot you made it very original.

I like the character developement in Naruto and Hinata but you seem to be leaving Shino out a bit.

Anyway I'll be following this Fanfic and I hope you update soon!

OngKhan posted a comment on Tuesday 16th May 2006 5:49pm for Geniuses of Hard Work

I've seen the "put Naruto on a different team" idea before, but never was it done as well as in this fic. Please keep up the good work and thanks for an excellent story.

javonne smoot posted a comment on Tuesday 16th May 2006 12:08am for Geniuses of Hard Work

I love it keep it up. my first reading of a fanfic other than Harry Potter. can u tell me of any others that rival yours in skill if there are any and possibly any well written HP. Ive read several that were well written as in spelled and phrased correctly but without such creativity and skill like yours. Thank You (esmoot1222@bellsouth.net)

Roary1 posted a comment on Tuesday 2nd May 2006 8:24am for Geniuses of Hard Work

This story is great, please continue it. Perdy perdy please!

Ed posted a comment on Thursday 20th April 2006 11:06am for Geniuses of Hard Work

I only watched some of the Naruto anime before reading this fic, and I had liked what I saw, so hought I'd give this a shot. I liked it so much, I downloaded the entire manga and read all 300 chapters of it in three days. I'm now [i]very[/i] curious as to how you'll adapt to the storyline or if you'll just make up something entirely different. As to Kurenai, could her enemy be the Akatsuki?
Update soon please!!!

-Ed

Quizer posted a comment on Friday 7th April 2006 10:47am for Geniuses of Hard Work

Regarding the discussion why this fic is so popular, I think your portrayal of Kurenai (and the role she plays) might well play a large part of it. In canon, Naruto does not seem to have a decent normal person who could serve as a role model. Iruka would probably be decent enough, but he doesn't seem to have much contact with Naruto once Kakashi enters the picture. Kurenai is perfect for him. She has demons of her own, but it only hardens her resolve to bring out the best in her team. She's also someone not to be trifled with, yet she doesn't completely lack a sense of humor. I love her character as you show it.

Hopefully the next chapter of Naruto goodness will soon be ready...

Quizer

Quizer posted a comment on Friday 7th April 2006 9:58am for Geniuses of Hard Work

> "That was a very realistic henge, but
> normally, I can see through a henge a
> block away...

Come to think of it, the Henge no Jutsu in another of Naruto's specialities, as he has proven many times in the anime and manga, not the least with his perverted jutsus. I have to agree with Iruka's critique though; those are a waste of Naruto's talent. As a recon specialist, I imagine Naruto's female counterpart could find plenty of other uses. As he has not shown himself in that form in this AU yet, hardly anybody should be able to recognize the disguise. Will we see her return in this story, in non-sexy mode?


Quizer

Adrian R Brown posted a comment on Monday 20th March 2006 8:14am for Geniuses of Hard Work

One thing that I'm curious about, where the future is concerned, is what you're going to do about Jiraiya and Tsunade. In the cannon, because Kakashi pretty much abandoned Naruto to go train Sasuke, Naruto was forced to seek instruction with Jiraiya.

I don't foresee him having that kind of lack of a mentor this time around. One the one hand, it's good. On the other, if he doesn't learn some from J, he'll never have the opportunity to learn things like the Summoning or Rasengen. Both of which are pretty integral to him. With him learning to manifest his chakra physically in this fiction, I could almost see him learning/creating something similar to the rasengen on his own. This, however, wouldn't be the case for the summoning.

Also, his interaction and experiences with J are integral to 'convincing' Tsunade to come to the village. Very curious to see how this develops.

maxatronus posted a comment on Sunday 19th March 2006 5:15pm for Geniuses of Hard Work

Excellent work, its definately nice to have a break from harry potter and the usual naruto storyline, ive watched up to episode 124, and people like sakura and sasuske were just starting to bug me

very well written
props
-max

Quizer posted a comment on Friday 17th March 2006 1:48am for Geniuses of Hard Work

> 2. Naruto of course doesn't realize that
> the whole point of calluses is to prevent the
> kind of 'wear and tear' damage that his body
> repairs so quickly it barely registers. He
> just thinks they look cool. *rolls eyes*

From the way it sounded, I thought that Naruto's thoughts went further than aesthetics. I thought it was so he could do more damage with his punches and get hurt less in the process.


> 5. Yes. (Was that vague enough?)

D'oh! That's no hint at all. I bet you thought it'd make up for that by being extra vague, didn't you?? *grins and rolls eyes*

> I owe the HP fans a new chapter of NFP first, so...

Don't worry, those update prognoses you gave in the mailing list were good enough for me :)


Quizer

Quizer posted a comment on Thursday 16th March 2006 11:55pm for Geniuses of Hard Work

> "If there is an inquiry of any sort, I will
> deal with it, and make whoever raised it
> sorry to have done so."

Hmm... I wonder, will there be one in future chapters? Might be interesting to see her dress down Kakashi...


> Naruto was frustrated that he couldn’t build
> up calluses and scar tissue on his knuckles
> like Lee could.

Hmm... Looks like Naruto's regenerative capabilities come in distinctly unhandy here. I never thought that having that sort of ability could have anything but advantages (disregarding torture settings).


BTW, what does that 'ano' word mean which Hinata frequently uses? ^_^
And the -teme 'honorific' that Naruto uses for Sasuke? (the general tone makes it quite obvious it is anything but...)


You know, if Hinata used her Jyuuken on Naruto, he'd discover his 'resistance' to it earlier, before his fight with Neji. Or doesn't he know how to channel the Kyuubi's chakra yet? Is any of that coming up? (You can use your usual vague hints to answer if there might be, it makes waiting for it more fun!)


Hope you'll update soon!
Quizer

Viridian replied:

1. She'd probably enjoy it as well.

2. Naruto of course doesn't realize that the whole point of calluses is to prevent the kind of 'wear and tear' damage that his body  repairs so quickly it barely registers. He just thinks they look cool. *rolls eyes*

3. It's sort of the equivalent of "Um" or "Excuse me,"

4. The best translation I have seen is "-bastard" so it's "Sasuke-Bastard" to you, buddy! =)

5. Yes. (Was that vague enough?)

I owe the HP fans a new chapter of NFP first, so...

 

ShadeHawk posted a comment on Saturday 11th March 2006 12:35pm for Geniuses of Hard Work

I like this fanfic very much, even if I haven't watched the original manga (well, I haven't watched that much manga at all). Well done training angle, well done character development and a bit of romance in the air, very well done mission/fight scenes.

Keep up the good work. May writing be always joy to you.

--
ShadeHawk

Alcatras posted a comment on Thursday 9th March 2006 3:43pm for Geniuses of Hard Work

I like your story. please continue it.
It is the only sotry i have ever read where Naruto is on team 8.
If you know more of this kind could you tell me where to find them?

Giringiro posted a comment on Thursday 9th March 2006 10:17am for Geniuses of Hard Work

I'm a faithful reader of the Naruto manga (no access to the anime so far). And I must say, I like your Team 8 more than the original Team 7. With Kakashi at the helm and the utterly boring romantic triangle and predictable rivalry/bickering dynamic, the one thing Team 7 is good for, is consistent comic relief... But not much else.

It's uncanny how you're showcasing all my favourite characters! Besides Naruto, there's Hinata and Shino (along with Iruka and Shikamaru), it's a real pity they're rarely featured in the manga. You did a great job illustrating the Naruto/Hinata partnership, and how both can benefit from the other's abilities and personality.

I wonder, how long are you planning to follow the original plot? Chuunin exam, Hokage death, Sennin fight, pursuit after Sasuke, the three-years-later power-up? Will you mirror the entire Naruto series or do you have a different ending in mind?

Well I'm enjoying this fic. Thanks and please keep writing!