Fandom #22: Naruto

[trace_by_echo]

Naruto fandom, for me, is a guilty pleasure sometimes. You see, the Naruto fandom to me is all about Naruto himself. I think the canon post-timeskip is screwing him over, and I like the opportunities fandom gives him. EDIT: now that the manga is done, I can say that the final chapter screwed everybody over, to a remarkable degree for an ostensible happy ending. I don't care for the Boruto next-generation stuff, either.

Stories are gen or non-romance-focused unless otherwise marked. 
LAST UPDATE: 8/5/23 - basically all WIPs are dead in the water at this point.

Sites:
~Hidden Village Archives
~TONFA, a.k.a. The Original Naruto Fanfiction Archive
~The Naruto Text Post Meme is terrific. There's something about the mix of a Naruto anime still with a text post that is inherently hilarious. Here are some links to ones by Sasukeeuchiha - Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Extras 1 Extras 2 Extras 3 Extras 4 And some from other Tumblrs: Goreless Hiruma Musouka
~Surfacage has a ton of art, organized by tags, on their website (and on Tumblr). I particularly like "Tacchan and Friends", "Naruto Art Online!!", and "Shisui NO".

Authors with multiple favorited fics:
~Aishuu specialized in small character pieces, and thoughtful, slowly-released longer fic. Her best are:
   -It Takes A Village: "It takes a village to raise a child - but no one said the village would raise them well." A set of drabbles, about the Rookie Nine and Team Gai: what it means to be the product of a ninja village.
   -The Reluctant Hokage: AU, Instead of giving the order to kill the Uchiha clan, Sarutobi compromises by training Itachi as his heir. Politics abound. Technically a WIP but readable as a series of vignettes.
~Askerian hasn't been active in the fandom for a while, and much of what she wrote are Team 7!OT3 WIPs that predate most canon twists. Some of her work still stands the test of time, and has been transferred to AO3:
   -Comrades, Coming Out, and Cows: a humor fic, I think it was gen with implied Sasuke/Neji?
   -Teamwork series: Team 7 has sex and gets Sakura pregnant before anything important from canon happened. I usually hate het!preg, but the WIP series died before it became an issue. However, I am thankful that Asuka fiddled with their ages to make it less squicky.
   -The Bird: Naruto gives Neji a pet. He might like it eventually. Gen.
   -Tripletsverse: After Jiraiya's death, Naruto gets the Kyuubi chakra scroll way too early, and ends up splitting into three - himself, a girl-clone, and a heavily-Kyuubi clone.
~AvocadoLove has been quiet in the fandom, but a few of their fics were quite well-received. Specialized in Kakashi-POVs that seem reasonable and like a real adult's.
   -Inner Vision: an AU with Kakashi being able to see daemons after an injury, and finding out more about the true nature of his acquaintances through their exposed souls has made him interested in Iruka. Eventual Iruka/Kakashi.
   -Teach Your Children Well: Kakashi gets sent back in time, and changes how he trains Team 7. I particularly liked Sasuke becoming a healer.
~Blackkat has been one of my favorite relatively-new Naruto authors to read. She's very prolific, but in an effort to make it easier to find the fics I particularly liked, here's a list: 
   -Backslide: When Kaguya wins, Naruto goes back in time as an adult to several months before graduation. Uzumaki "Kurama" takes in his cousin Naruto, and changes the future. Grown!Naruto/Kakashi and young!Naruto/Sasuke; the original timeline was Naruto/Sasuke and Kakashi/Obito.
   -Criminals Do It Better modern-day AU series: everyone is a criminal, a cop or the FBI. Focus is on Kakashi/Obito, but Naruto/Sasuke and Madara/Tobirama appear.
   -Cry Havoc AU series: Orochimaru and Naruto cross paths when Naruto is very young, and Orochimaru was sentenced to restrictive seals instead of exile. Past Orochimaru/Jiraiya. ***WIP.
   -Dance the silence down to morning: Obito wakes up the week before Kannabi Bridge with memories of the future and a new goal: not falling for Madara's lies. Kakashi/Obito after his return.
   -Drag the mountain down: Post-epilogue, depressed adult Naruto has a dream about Jiraiya and realizes that he doesn't want to become Hokage tomorrow. ***WIP.
   -Go find your heart (take it back): when Obito dies for the canonically-last time, Rin sends him back, and he becomes the most talented stalker non-ANBU protecting the Hokage. Kakashi<--->Obito, but perhaps they'll get it eventually. ***WIP.
   -No Line On The Horizon: Jiraiya doesn't die but is skipped to another universe in which everything went well, apparently. Tones of OT3 for the Sannin.
   -Rivers Know This: AU, Tobirama's old student has an unusual idea for reconciling the Uchiha with the rest of Konoha. Tobirama/Kagami. May become a series.
   -Stormborn: Epic-length AU; Naruto is the reincarnation of the Sandaime Uzukage, and the ruined city of Uzushiogakure is calling him home. Eventual Naruto/Sasuke.
   -The Life and Times of a Shinobi Den Mother series: Genma Shiranui is a soft touch for orphans, and ruins the canon plot by gradually taking in Iruka, Kotetsu, Izumo, Naruto, and probably most of the Rookie Nine/Konoha Twelve (at least the ones without parents). Starts as Genma/Raidou, eventually Genma/Gai.
~Erisabesu dabbled in romance fics sometime after Sai was introduced but before the biggest canon events. I re-read the following:
   -Reconstruction: Sai/Naruto/Sasuke triangle. Sasuke has returned - but Sai doesn't give in, and speeds up his romancing of Naruto instead.
   -Team Gai: Chronicles: Tenten/Neji/Lee, with background Ino/Chouji/Shikamaru and Sakura/Naruto/Sasuke. Team Gai grows up and grows together.
~Firefly is another author who left the fandom before everything went down(hill). Their funniest fics, in my opinion, were:
   -Inamorato: Tobi gives all of Akatsuki character-appropriate Valentines. 
   -One of the Cool Kids: Hilarious, pre-spoiler fic about Tobi joining Akatsuki. ***Dead WIP.
~Fringeperson is a bit cynical about every 'verse they write in, but I like on occasion to get at canon from a different angle. The fics I liked best:
   -Beauty, Danger, They Are The Same: A young Naruto, kicked out of the orphanage, is taken in by strippers. He learns both mental and physical flexibility.
   -She Likes Bugs: AU, the Kyuubi is just an overly large spirit who didn't know she was killing sentient people. Naruto's team (him, Shino and Hinata) act like real ninja, not samurai.
~Kraken's Ghost wrote a beautiful three part series AU [Sasuke returns post-timeskip, but not for long; Neji survives and is assigned to take down Sasuke] taking on what it means to be Neji, Gai and Naruto, as well as a nod to the theory about the ninjaverse as a post-apocalyptic Earth. The fics are: 
   1) Twenty Matters of Pride to Hyuuga Neji, Gen.  
   2) Twenty Unknown Secrets of Maito Gai, Gen. And
   3) Twenty Times Uzumaki Naruto Didn't Die. For the last, there's implied Sakura/Sasuke and Naruto/OFC who is a Hyuuga. 
~Maldoror wrote the seminal fics for the Lee/Gaara pairing. They also predate the last ten years of canon, so bear that in mind. Links to specific fics (all Lee/Gaara unless otherwise marked):
   -Big Heart, Drunken Fist, and its counterpart Chicken Soul for the Demonic Soul :a domestic diptych of ill-health and drunkeness. Established relationship.  
   -Break in the Routine, the Gai/Kakashi friends-to-FWB fic I've always wanted.
   -Diplomatic Relations: Lee becomes an ambassador to Suna, and freaks out the Suna nin in his attempts to become Gaara's friend. Sequel: Kindred, in which Lee's young cousins become their traumatized wards.
   -Missing: established relationship, and one day Lee is missing. I like the tense switches and how they reflect Gaara's state of mind.
   -Something in the Water, a humorous non-pairing fic. Basically, Tsunade figures out why her population of ninja is decreasing.
~Pentapus was known to me before for their artwork, but all of their Naruto fics are well worth the read. The fic tends to be Kakashi/Iruka. Particular favorites:
   -Animal Crackers: Konoha needs to do better at keeping its dangerous forest limited to natural dangers.
   -B-Movie Love Story: soulmates are real, apparently, and you find out when they're dying.
   -Dinner With the Special Assassination and Tactical Squad: Iruka has a knack for accidentally exposing ANBU's secrets and thereby losing his chances at promotion (he thinks).
   -Recommended for Admission: post-canon but ignoring the epilogue; Iruka gets an ANBU tryout, has to diagnose and steal a kid, and helps Kakashi get his groove back.
   -The Full Umino Experience: the kind of AU you'd get if (spoilers) Rin survived with the Sanbi and no-one knew about it, Kakashi's mother smuggled him out of Konoha and jutsu'd his memory, and Obito was super-pissed about all of it. Iruka doesn't teach children, and doesn't have the foggiest idea what to do when babysitting Asuma's teenage team.
~Wingwyrm wrote a few fics a couple years ago, then disappeared. The fics below are emotionally powerful and - even for the reader who knows the children are lying - likely to wring out a few tears:
   -Team Tensai series: Team 7 grows up to age thirty-whatever, decides they want to change history, and goes back in time to occupy their 5-year-old selves; the changes cascade from there. The main fic is recently completed, while the sidestory focusing on the Uchiha Mangekyo Sharingan is complete, and the Sakura-centric Relatively Civilian is a dead WIP. 
   -Teacup Tempest: AU, Fem-Naruto/Kakashi, although the latter is unaware of this for the first 9/10ths of the story. A young Naruto is raped and gives birth; she creates an alternate identity to be her child's mother in public, and it happens to be someone easy for the various jonin-sensei to befriend. Friendship leads to more, but Naruto won't go to bed with Kakashi until she can tell him the truth. 

Fic (Finished)
~Flotsam and Jetsam Chapter 33: 20 Truths, a take on Naruto and his tenant. 
~20 Reasons Itachi Does the Shopping For Akatsuki, by Domlandbubbles. Of *course* Itachi was the shopper - look at how everyone else would've fared!
~20 Truths (Uzumaki Naruto), by Jitka Taylor. Suzumi is who taught Naruto Oiroke! (Psst: she's one of the indistinguishable backup chuunin teachers.)
~A How-To Guide To Shinobi Life series, by IncompleteSentanc. Team 7 and Shikamaru come back in time to prevent the end of the world. While this series is about time-travel and fix-it, I actually prefer the stories told from the POVs of those who are not the time-travelers. In particular, I like the third fic How To Survive The Weirdest Experience Of Your Life, since it covers Obito's perspective on the new timeline, and his POV is hilarious. 
~A Justifiable Excuse, by Reimars. Itachi has Capgras Syndrome. "There is no sin in killing your family, when they are only imposters." 
~All The Broken Pieces, by Princess Tyler Briefs. An Iruka/Kakashi courtship, instigated by a Hokage's bet.
~An Invincible Summer, by Shanastoryteller. Epic in length despite having only five chapters, here Naruto suffers the hackneyed "attacked by a civilian when young" trope, but uses it to change his identity to a slightly-older girl, fakes his own death, and becomes an excellent kunoichi while preventing or fixing most of canon. I liked most of it (the end had a lot of "pair everyone up to make babies", which is not my favorite trope). 
~And all the fire's at your fingertips, by Pandaflower. Canon changes a tad when Tobirama rescues a young Kagami from a pelican-summoning clan of child-stealers.
~Believe, by Bugpimp. Naruto spurns the acceptance of fair-weather friends; he knows whose support was the most important. Warning: character death.
~Cleaning No Jutsu, by Erisah Mae. An OC named Hikaru, a civilian who is an amputee from the Kyuubi attack, becomes the ninjas' cleaning lady of choice. Eventually she is paired with Gai, which I applaud - more Gai fics please!
~Do Over, by Kyogre. The bijuu and Naruto go back in time from the moment they are melded together to the day Naruto was born. An equal mix of crack and wish-fulfillment.
~Field Trip, by tucuxi. Iruka as a new teacher, learning how to discipline baby ninja.
~First Try and sequel by Lucilla. Naruto manages to pass the Academy test the first time, due to the Horseshoe Nail of a chuunin instructor having food poisoning and disrupting the planned test. His adventures with his first team and then Team 7 feature. 
~Five Reasons, by Eminyet. A set of drabbles in each chapter, centered around different themes. Mostly, an underlying idea that Naruto is neither so stupid nor so forgiving as canon suggests.
~Freedom in the Eyes of Another, by Oroburos69. AU during Wave: Team Seven ran into a Mist wetworks team who recognized Kakashi/Sasuke, and Sakura has to break them out (which she does after getting whammied by Kakashi's Sharingan into confidence). All three genin are damaged, and more bloodthirsty than in canon. 
~Haven, by Crazy_toffee. A touching Gaara/Naruto.
~History has its eyes on you series, by tasalmalin. Time travel, several times over: Kakashi is one of several people to go back and attempt to prevent Obito/Madara/Sasuke slaughtering everyone. This series offers a rare example of the initial attempt being a failure - thus the first two fics are tragedies, the third is about Kakashi-as-a-child finally getting some treatment for his PTSD, the fourth fic is more lighthearted and and follows a humorous approach to Kakashi's changed genin team, and the fifth fic wraps up all the storylines.
~How to Win Friends, Influence People, And Start A Secret Ninja Organization, by sparrowette. I love the idea of Naruto accidentally starting a cult, overthrowing local yakuza, stealing ninja from other hidden villages, and turning prostitutes into a fire brigade. Bonus points for Naruto being the one person Kabuto actually isn't trying to con.
~Ibiki's Apprentice, by May Wren. Naruto is graduated early, and draws Ibiki as his potential sensei.  It's too good to spoil, but I will say that the way he passes Ibiki's genin test is terrific, and I would absolutely read a long-fic with this plot. EDIT: Gremlin Jack started a sequel, The Lies and Times of Naruto Uzumaki, that is unfinished, but Chapter One covers his introduction to Kakashi and the Bell Test, and stands on its own - I'm happy to see any continuation, however small. 
~In Bloom, by Emmar. AU, in that Sakura behaves like a kunoichi when her crush turns traitor.
~In Good Company, by Weialala, Another AU that accomplishes the almost-impossible feat of making me appreciate Sasuke's character & motivations (I mostly ignore him; Necromancer and It's Just That Any One Of Us Is Half... are the other two stories with his POV that I like). Sasuke's time with Orochimaru went a little differently, and now he's been rescued from death by his snake summons and consequently seeing dead Hokages all over the place. EDIT: as of 2017 there is a WIP sequel.
~It's Just That Any One Of Us Is Half Without Another One Is You, by Branch. Part of a series, Avalanche. The Naruto world if anyone had common sense and subtlety. Gen, but some background sex, including Hinata/Neji, and the Team 7 threesome in a few chapters. 
~Lessons Learnt Along the Way, by Jamjar. A series of vignettes about Naruto's travels with Jiraiya. 
~Naruto, by Fastforward. Naruto/Sasuke. Naruto has been in a coma for years, and the ninja world is his fantasy. How things change when he wakes... 
~Naruto Pern AU by Tonko-Ni. A slow building Naruto/Neji at a Weyr.
~Necromancer, by V-chan2k6. Gen, but UST between Tenten and Sasuke. Tenten reminds Sasuke of family... and over time, pre-chuunin exams, she manages to reach him, and change his mind. 
~Not Heaven, by Almighty-Frog. Naruto/Gaara. "Maybe this world's not heaven, but it's as close as two demons are ever going to get."
~Nothing Gold Can Stay, by Ayien. Yugito Nii centric. She was the Two-tails, killed quickly by Akatsuki.
~Of the River and the Sea, by Aleycat4eva. Another SI fic that's great - what is it about SIs this year? AU in that the SI is a Mist kunoichi who teams up with Zabuza and Kisame, and topples the world order in a way that had me cheering (and I'm a politics geek, so...). Also, the SI is reasonably insane for the circumstances, rather than sailing through unscathed.
~One Small Kindness, by DigitalTart. Uchiha Mikoto is momentarily kinder to a child than in canon, and it snowballs into a different outcome to the Uchiha massacre. 
~Persistence of Vision, by sna. Kakashi's teammates are always looking out for him.
~Pulling My Weight, by Invincible Shadow. AU in that Sakura realizes she was useless in Wave and decides to get stronger before the Chunnin Exams (most stories that change Sakura do so unsuccessfully imo, as they don't keep her in character, but this one works). Genma is her shinobi equivalent of life coach/replacement sensei.
~Shame and Fame, by ckret2. Obito was a stronger influence on Itachi than anyone else... and the careless words of a babysitter have long-term ramifications.
~Soft as an Unready Mind, by BC_Brynn. AU, Inoichi decides to adopt Naruto and raise him as Ino's brother & as a Yamanaka - complete with learning how to manipulate people among other psychological techniques.
~Spying no Jutsu, by Daniel-Gudman. Naruto is given a special mission, requiring Oiroke no Jutsu. "She" entrances both Sasuke and Yugito (the Two-tails) while infiltrating a festival.
~Strong and Strike, by CollaneR. Gaara/Lee ---> Gaara/Naruto. Two immortal jinchuuriki meet to celebrate the 100th birthday of the Kazekage.
~Swallowed a Fly, by Ronsard. Naruto/Jiraiya. Naruto goes from Sakura, to Sasuke, and ends up with Jiraiya as the person who understands him the most.
~Switch It Up, by Blackkat. Role Reversal: Because Yamato would have been a better jounin-sensei for Team 7 from Day 1. 
~Symbiosis, by Emmar. AU, Sakura's parents were farmers - so she's not inclined to shirk work or dirt.
~Team Seven Versus Paperwork series, by LullabyKnell. This is pure crack, but sometimes I need that in fics. Team Seven, from the Sannin onward, cultivates a tradition, a habit, or a curse (depends if you're superstitious) of terrible mission reports. Who can break this trend? The last story is WIP, but all of the others to that point hang together as a complete series.
~The Eyes Have It, by Shana The Short. AU, Sakura develops a dojutsu near the end of the Academy - enough time to ditch her crush on Sasuke, and be assigned to Team 8 in place of Hinata. There's an incomplete sequel Now You See It, but if you stop at the 23rd chapter it's mostly resolved. 
~The Prettiest Princess, by Ninjagrrl. A beauty/talent contest for young kunoichi has a purported jinchuuriki-controlling tiara as the prize, and no practical way to get the prize other than by winning. The Akatsuki, and everyone else it seems, of COURSE enter a contestant... but who's the lucky s.o.b. for that pack of missing-nin?
~The Night the House of Cards Was Built, by Drakensis. Six-year-old Naruto makes his way into Konoha's Poker Night. His luck takes care of the rest. A follow-up chapter, for the morning after, is fun but not required.
~The Way of the Apartment Manager, by Elizabeth Culmer. An OC-genin survives the Kyuubi, and years later is in the position of leasing to Naruto. She ends up seriously changed by his influence on her life. Complete, with WIP sequel: The Guardian In Spite of Herself, in which Yukiko works, and time goes on, post-Uchiha massacre, with Sasuke coming to live at the apartments.
~These Roads Grow From Me, by Blackkat. AU, Zabuza and Haku end up finding a sealed-and-frozen Senju Tobirama in some isolated wastes of Water Country.
~Thought and Feeling Interwound, by tucuxi. Apparently the Hatake have a bloodline limit that is remarkably akin to a soulbond, but one that can happen at random levels of intimacy. Iruka/Kakashi.
~Time & Again, by KyLewin. One of several time-travel Naruto fics I've read. This one does it right. 
~Tobirama Kicks Some Sense Into Konoha, by AllSeer15. A time-traveling-via-Hiraishin Tobirama lands in Naruto's childhood, and immediately rejects the current Konohan society as corrupt. 
~Training Kakashi, by Ranty Rie. One of the many Iruka/Kakashi fics, and fairly long. I've forgotten the specifics.
~Under Cobwebs, by Crinklescofftrip. An exploration of Itachi's psyche. It uses the Tobito theory, but long before it was a fad and LONG before the manga showed what really happened to Obito.
~Uprooted, by Orrunan. Danzo is always a fanatical moron, but here he's somehow missed that putting Naruto, the master of what fanon calls Therapy-no-Jutsu, in Root with a bunch of socially impaired ninja is not the type of plan that will cover him in success and glory.
~Yet, Mad I Am Not, by Erisah Mae. Itachi dies per canon, and wakes up in a kinder, gentler AU. Naturally he has trouble fitting in as their Itachi.

Fic (Inactive or Dead WIPs)
~Addendum, by Shanatical (aka Shana The Short). AU/SI: Tsukimi replaces Sasuke, except she also replaces herself (the 21st century girl takes Tsukimi's mind over on Graduation Day, so it's a universe with always-female Sasuke. Tsukime-2.0 is really appealing as SIs go, and what Team Seven is like is quite original in terms of dynamics. 
~A Drop of Poison, by Angel of Snapdragons. Since Mizuki's weapons were poisoned, Iruka is unconscious and can't give Naruto a passing grade in time. Naruto ends up going back to the Academy... and begins the "prank" of a lifetime. Extra points for intelligent use of kage bunshin as a plot device.
~A Twist of Chance, by MockV. Naruto's father's relatives move to Konoha. Excellent use of kage bunshin.
~An Alternative Path, by Zessei. Kakashi wises up and actually tries to teach team 7 skills.
~Bitch Nights, by Blackwidina. Sakura/Naruto/Sai/Kakashi. AU, Team 7 gives up on Sasuke, and move on together. Sasuke, however, has not given up on team 7.
~The Black Sheep 'Verse, by Cywscross. AU, the Yondaime caught Orochimaru's insanity and helped him reform. Five years later, he bumps into the village pariah and changes both their lives for the better. Bonus for plenty of Anko.
~the bridge that always burns behind us, by elumish. Bad future AU sends Shikamaru and Neji back in time, to just before the Uchiha massacre. It's hard to prevent things when you know Danzo's always looking for bright youngsters to grab.
~Catch Your Breath, by Lang Noi. In keeping with my current trend of reading SIs, this one is about the older sister of Hayate, the chuunin who was killed in the middle of the exam arc in Naruto. It's fairly long, like Dreaming of Sunshine and Of the River and the Sea, and the changes to the canon are significant (and logically result from the SI's presence). 
~How Long Is Forever? by Aoutrance. A rare time-travel AU where Sakura is the traveler, and fixes Team Seven before it starts.
~Hush, by Xov. A Naruto from an alternate canon future ends up in the past, as an adult, in an AU where he was never born, the Yondaime is still alive, the Uchiha have not staged a coup, and a teenage Itachi has a crush on him.
~Impossibility, Like Wine, by Talavin. Obito sends one of those backup chunin to the past to prevent Kaguya from destroying the world. Cue poor Izumo trying to deal with early-canon Konoha.
~In dreams you follow (but I dream in the dark) series by blackkat. AU, Kiba overhears Jiraiya talking about Akatsuki and decides to offer himself to Tsunade as an infiltrator. Kiba-->Neji UST, supposedly Kiba/Shikamaru endgame; some Konan/Tsume and Deidara/Hidan.
~In the Eye of the Beholder, by Ragga. Pre-Founding of Konoha AU: desperate for survival, the Uchiha perform a ritual to get Amaterasu's blessing. She gives them Senju Tobirama as her Beloved avatar.
~In Which The Akatsuki Become Cats, by Tozette. Sometimes you need a cracky AU, where Sakura ends up taking in what she initially mistakes for nin-cats.
~Kamikakushi, by Pandaflower. In a jump to the left, Tobirama ends up marked by the spirits, and has to learn how to deal with them, his new status, keeping it all a secret, and those irritating Uchiha.
~Mieru, by uzumaki_rakku. In the midst of the usual ninja conspiracy nonsense, Kakashi and Naruto struggle with mutual attraction.
~Motivation, by Durandall. Gen. A few changes to the night Naruto heard about Kyuubi, and suddenly he, Shino and Shikamaru are striking out a path to greatness as the best of the Rookie Nine joint genin team. EDIT: a sad case of author existence failure. 
~Red Rope AU, by Pandaflower. The Uchiha secretly practiced bridenapping, and are still inclined to honor such elopements even when performed accidentally and by an enemy. Tobirama/Kagami, looks like Itama/Izuna.
~Reflection, by JapaneseAnimeFreak16. Canon-Kakashi slips into an alternate timeline, in which he was the one who (really) died in the cave. The alterworld is repeatedly astounded by his changes in personality and ability.
~Something to Die For, by Macavity the Mystery Cat. Ibiki teaches team 7 instead of Kakashi.
~Storm of Sand, Rage of Fire, by Muera Rashaye. AU in the sense that Naruto, Gaara and their right-hand men (Kakashi and the main character OC) are thrown back in time to years before the Naruto cohort was at the Academy. They do their best to prevent the kinds of problems (Akatsuki, mainly, but some internal politics) that led to a multinational Shinobi Alliance.
~Team 8, by S'tarKan. Possibly future Hinata/Naruto, but gen for now. What would happen if Kurenai requested for Naruto to join team 8, instead of Kiba... this author does it right. Mind you, I would be ecstatic if this actually became a Shino/Hinata/Naruto, but at least Shino gets his dues in characterization. 
~The Art of the Deal, by Case13. Naruto is not a ninja, but instead... he's an aggressive, 21st-century-style-smarts businessman.
~The Lavender Beast of Konoha, by Mark Doherty. Somehow, Hiashi is even more of a terrible father than usual, and Hinata is moved up a class/grade at the Academy. She gets Neji's place on team Gai, while he gets to be on one of Kakashi's failed teams.
~The Nine Broken Mirrors, by Ayien. AU; the Jinchuuriki (mostly OCs not corresponding to the later canon) band together on Naruto's urging, and withdraw from the Hidden Villages; the Kyuubi shows him two futures during his fight with Gaara and makes him choose which path to follow.
~True to Myself, by flitterflutterfly. A young Sasuke, trapped in Tsukiyomi after the Massacre, ends up giving his life and body to the SI, a woman from our world who had just been raped and murdered. She tries to keep to canon enough to maintain the same Team 7 assignments, but beyond that it just trying to stay alive and sane. Hints of SI/Shikamaru.
~Tuna Fish and Red-Splattered Pages, by Pitch Black Magpie. AU, Naruto is quite a bit weirder, probably due to realizing about the Kyuubi at a young age, but unlike most fics with that premise he's still recognizable. Team Seven is consequently friends at a younger age, and they create Academy personas just to arrange their being on a team in the future. The fic currently goes past the Sasuke Retrieval Mission, which succeeds as he didn't want to leave.
~Village Hidden In The Plot Bunnies, a series by WDW. A bunch of AU stories linked only by the general crackiness of their plots, a propensity for time travel and a focus on Team Minato.
~Visionary, by Esama. In an AU where Kaguya and the God Tree won, Naruto, Obito and Kakashi try to go back in time to prevent it all. They end up in one shared, mismatched body, during the time leading up to the Third Shinobi War - and they meet the pre-Sannin, of which Orochimaru is particularly interested in them. Leading to Orochimaru/"Na-O-Ka", but Esama has declared a hiatus - thankfully at a good stopping point.
~What Doesn't Kill You, by Zbluez. SI, Orochimaru uses Edo Tensei, for reasons currently unknown, to choose a soul for his daughter. She's Team Gai's age, and trying not to get killed by her new-father; she's only slowly getting over the amoral callousness she learned as a result of her mode of first-death, and is having trouble realizing that she can really change fate. 

Fic Related to the "Dreaming of Sunshine" verse:
~Dreaming of Sunshine, by Silver Queen. *The* original good self-insertion fic. Shikako is Shikamaru's twin sister, and she remembers, literally from day one, her former life in the real world. Epic length, with twists on standard canon "stations" (ex. Shikako is the third member of Team Seven, displacing Sakura to the medic corps, and naturally she handles the situations differently) and a respectful analysis of what growing up twice in two quite different cultures does to a person.
--->There are many excellent recursive fanfics for this universe. I particularly like wafflelate's fic, especially:
1) the 'verse where Shikako goes back to a time before the Uchiha massacre, and makes friends with Uchiha Shisui, one way or another. Fics include: Shadow Under Water (Shikako is on Shisui's genin team with Aburame Muta); From the Desk and watch not one another out of fear (a suddenly-appearing Shikako joins the police force and combats discrimination);
2) Early is on Time (Shikako and Aoba go back eleven months before Jashin);
3) Introductions (Pakkun meets Kakashi and eventually Gai) and
4) Mist POVs (of canon DoS-verse) and
5) A Shot Through the Dark (Shikako sends Kakashi back in time to make everything better, he lands in the Snow Country mission)
One from DawningStar, the Aoba Lives AU, is just as advertised.