Title: Naruto's Compensation
Fandom: Naruto
Pairing: Gen
Categories: Action/Adventure, AU, Dark, Drama, Pre-Canon,
Length: Epic (85,000)
Warnings: Violence, Mentions of Psychological and Physical Torture,


Author on LJ: n/a
Website: Disobedience Writer's FF.net profile

Summary: Young Naruto is prohibited from being Ninja of the Leaf. Left to his own devices he takes an unusual path to power as a Puppeteer.

Review: This story approaches the entire Naruto story line from a different perspective. While it is commonly accepted that Naruto was neglected if not outright abused by the citizen's of Konoha I have found few stories that deal with the ramifications of that neglect. Even in canon the abuse is only used as a reason for Naruto to prove himself to the village. I have always wondered why somebody who was hated by virtually everyone in their life would feel the need to protect a village that they had no real connection to.

This story follows Naruto's path if he didn't feel that sense of loyalty, and it manages to do so without making Naruto evil. That is not to say that he is all together good. Naruto is shown as an amoral man who is loyal beyond measure to those he cares about, but doesn't let that loyalty dictate what he will do.

One of the only problems I had with the story was the fact hat Naruto came of as more or less all-powerful. Luckily, Disobedience Writer was aware that the story was falling into that cliche and made sure to point out the flaws in Naruto's abilities, which kept Naruto from coming off as too obnoxious.

Overall I found this to be one of the most compelling Naruto stories I've read in a long time, and one that you don't need to be a hard core Naruto lover to enjoy.

Naruto's Compensation