rec: narusaku -- Shade of the Leaf

[askerian]

Shade of the Leaf by quoth_the_ravyn. It's a NaruSaku, post-eventual return of Sasuke by a year or two.

Le gasp, I'm reccing a Naruto/Sakura. It should be noticeable that they're not my favorite solo ship of the three team seven possibilities. XD Love their interaction as part of team Seven, kinda hate that most NaruSaku I've seen suffer from an acute case of "Sasuke who?" (Not that I read pure SasuSaku at all, because I'm not that much into epic Romeo-and-Juliet things that assume Naruto is a friendly, irrelevant pet rock. NaruSasu at least has the rivalry/intensity/hotness to compensate a tiny little bit for the usual lack of best-pink-friend.) But I digress.

As for this fic, I like the writing, I like the attention to the setting, I love all the details of the life going on around them, and while Sasuke isn't extremely present, it even manages not to foist him off on Hinata, Ino or the ramen girl, or turn him into an empty shell whose opinion doesn't matter anymore or some kind of twisted, jealous asshole who doesn't even want Sakura but will steal her defenseless little heart away anyway.
Okay, at some point Sakura is wondering if she ever loved him at all, but since the option is also given, I'm going with "she loved him but it eventually died." I like it better when fics acknowledge that first love =/= immortal/best love instead of going the "on, canon was joking, s/he NEVER loved ANYONE ELSE before this guy/girl, otherwise s/he'd be a cheating whore and this is my OTP so it can't happen so they're both pure untouched virgins" route. Might bother you if you're a staunch SasuSaku fan, though.

Did I mention I really, really enjoy all the scenes and mentions of a whole life and a whole village still carrying on all around them. It gives the story so much more depth. And oh, their whole reasoned background intrigue on how to get Naruto to be Hokage! squee squee squee. X3 I would love seeing this develop, even if the romance stays first in the fic.

It's not complete, though. Wahhh. Still, the chapter that is posted is big and lots of things happen. Might as well start reading it anyway, hint hint. >____>

Comments

[akapiratequeen.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the rec, really enjoying this.

[therhoda.livejournal.com]

this was really good. Now i must bother the author till she gives us more.

[askerian]

Thank you very much for sharing, but plz not to be posting pr0ns in mah unlocked posts that minors can find?

at least post new porn or something, this one's been around since the birth of the internet. XDDD

[cherii-emrei.livejournal.com]

Hi there! I'm popping out of nowhere, so let me first say that I am a fan of your works (you're on my author alert list) AND that I just finished reading and reviewing Shade of Leaf (this is important).

I know this is SO random. I saw your review was enlightened, and then felt strongly compelled to tell you THANKS for writing that review. I'm still healing from the first love and this line gave me clarity and hope: "The first is usually confusing and messy and it leaves its imprint, but that sure doesn't mean it's the strongest or the most-long-lasting,"

[mezzo-marinaio.livejournal.com]

Hey there. ^^

First of all, let me tell you that I really admire you for being able to read and review something about a pairing you don't particularly like - and being so objective about it too! I'm not sure I could do that - though I usually only read fics whose pairing/plot/writing style picks up my attention and interest, so... who knows? ^^;

On a different note, I recently found a fic on fanfiction.net that REALLY left me speechless, and since you were kind enough to let us know of 'Embracing Dreams' (which I'm now reading ^^) I thought I'd pimp it out to you (though you may know of it already *shrugs*). Here it is:

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3346446/1/La_Belle_Dame_Sans_Merci

It starts off after Sasuke leaves Konoha and both the plot AND the characters are developed wonderfully (also, pratically no one is ignored... Hanabi, Gaara, the sannin - they're all in there and they're all THEMSELVES); the main pairing is NaruSasu, but there's also a little bit of Sasukexeveryonehegivesadamnabout (which means, a little bit of OT3 too ^^), and other interesting couples.

Personally, I really loved the entire concept - though it may not be for the faint of heart: violence, inner struggles, political compromises and really - REALLY unfair situations abound, just like they should in a ninja village, and it can all get very tragic at times (...okay - most times. Man, this fic made me cry a lot). Also, there's MalePreg. Sort of. Not really. Well, only technically! *gestures helplessly* Uhm, I swear it works, anyway. And I usually hate that sort of thing.

Anyway, I'd better shut up now or I'll write you a novel. *cough* I hope this fic is new for you, so that you may alleviate your boredom! ^_^

[askerian]

Aw. ;_; *sends you huggles and pets*

I'm glad you found it helpful. *strokes wise love-guru beard* u.u

(it does get better with some time! And now you probably will have a better idea of what you want and things, too. oh yeah, i'm smooth.)

[askerian]

Heh. I've read it as it was posted and nnnnngh *whinewhine* I don't rec it because it BROKE me and I usually hate fics where nothing they do can end well and it permeates everything. I still couldn't put it down, needed to know what happened, so that's a good point in its favor, and people who love gloomy atmospheres and stream of consciousness-type writing will probably like it, but it's too depressing for me to pimp it. XD

[mezzo-marinaio.livejournal.com]

Aw, that's too bad! ^^;

I admit I'm quite fond of emotionally exausting stories, even though I love just about anything that is well-written and in character! Did you finish reading it in the end? Because I suppose the last chapter could be considered a - well, a happy ending of sorts. *shrugs*

Anyway! ^^ I'm sorry I could not relieve your boredom with a rec - should I come across anything new and well-written, I'll let you know!

[cherii-emrei.livejournal.com]

*purrs*

omg, thank youuu for not being weirded out by the random comment!!

You are smooth.. smooooooth like butta?

I definitely have a better idea of what I want, and I know what to look out for now! :)

Mutual Stalker

[(Anonymous)]

Hi, I just wanted to mention that this author in general is awesome. She and you are the only fan fic writers that I stalk, but you are both so talented that I cann't bear not to. I don't know if you are totally opposed to Rurouni Kenshin for any reason but Quoth_the_Ravyn's works in that fandom are excellent as well... if you are looking for a good read. Anyway, I am so happy that you are enjoying one of my favorite authors too!