Dreaming of Sunshine/Fan Comments By Year

This page collects comments from fans from several places, such as the fanfiction.net reviews of Dreaming of Sunshine, the SpaceBattles.com forums, the SufficientVelocity.com forums, the Dark Lord Potter forums, the Dreaming of Sunshine fanfiction.net forum, and various subreddits.

The comments are arranged more or less in chronological order day-by-day.

2011

I am in LOVE with this story. It's nice to see an oc insert that's insightful, mature, introduced to the environment in a unique way...and frankly, just not ridiculous. You see a lot of retarded plot lines with the self insert scenario, but your fic is refreshing. Your writing flows well, your grammar is good, and Shikako is an interesting character. Plus, I'm a total Shikamaru fangirl, and Naruto has a soft spot in my heart, so this story is definitely one of my favorites. I hope you update soon! n_n

I always love how thought out this is and how your understanding of the characters, their motivations, and back stories shows. I would honestly say that, at times, you make particular characters deeper in this story than they are in the actual series, which is really saying something. The self awareness is also entertaining and makes the story much better than it might otherwise be. Props to you for a great fanfiction and please keep up the good work.

It's not often I found a well writen self-insert. Generally I either avoid them like the plague, or read them to laugh at how stupid people can be. Of couse, they could intend for everything to go their way and for their self-insert to be self-serving, arrogant and presumptious but then why not just use a Mary-sue or similar? Mostly though, I don't like them because there are no consequences.

With your fic, I'm seeing plenty of signs it's different. The putting training off becuase it didn't seem real how little time she had? The wrongness of Sasuke's 'dream'? The uncertainty, the hurdles, the difficulties? Those feel real to me in a way a lot of other self-insert fics aren't. It's I do this, and this, and this, and nothing unexpected happens because I know the story so of course I don't make any mistakes - I know the future! That I find incredibly frustrating and I'm hoping that your realism (well as much as an adult dropped off in naruto can be real) will continue, in particular the difficult balance between the author (who knows everything) and the 'you' inserted (who only knows for certain what's happening at the time). Given what I've seen so far though, I have high hopes that this story will stay on my favourites list for a while. ;) So don't let me down! This is shaping up to be a great story!

I find myself really liking Shikako and rooting for her success. the idea of putting your character in the Nara clan is not only different (as far as I have seen anyway), but interesting as well. Her 'genius' can not only be explained easily, but Shikamaru will always be kind of a 'measure' for her... er, to quote Itachi here: "You and I are flesh and blood. I'm always going to be there for you, even if it's only as an obstacle for you to overcome. Even if you do hate me. That's what big brothers are for."

But, you know, more Nara laid back and not depressingly Uchiha cynical.

The amount of detail you put into fleshing out the ninja world for us is fantastic. It really does the job of immersing us into the culture and highlights the stark differences between the real world and the shinobi's. The only thing I can think to suggest is that I would like to see Shikako draw more inspiration from our world, if possible. There's a nice reservoir of knowledge there that could possibly applied to tactics or making new 'ninja tricks' or more mundane tasks, but I understand if you're limiting yourself to just knowledge of the future.

Shikako's influence on Team 7 is noticeable but not overbearing and she makes a solid foundation for the boys, fitting considering her element. I'm really interested to see how everyone grows now that there's a voice of reason in the montely crew. I also enjoy seeing how Kakashi's trying to puzzle her out.

I liked both the team and family interaction and character development. It was believable and at times downright touching: Kakashi's and Naruto's awkwardness, the way Shikako realised that she was the only one with anybody waiting for her...

The administrative stuff was well fleshed-out and surprisingly interesting to read.

And yes, "ninja" and "atomic bomb" together is a terryfying thought. Not just the batshit insane people but also the less then scrupulous leaders of the villages. O.O

2012

I'm not usually a fan of OC/self-insert stories, but this one is an exception. I don't know why, but I absolutely love your writing style. I love Shikako's self-doubt in the face of her knowledge of the future. Many stories involve characters who are adamant about changing events for the better. This realistic deviation is a nice change.

I really don't know what else to say, other than keep up the great work. I'm not the best when it comes to constructive criticism, but I felt that I had to leave a review of some sort for this wonderful story.

Lovely work. I look forward to the Second Exam. :)

My God, everything about this story is brilliant. I'm very wary of OC stories, especially self-inserts... but this is amazing. I love every minute of it, how Shikako's presence changes everything and nothing. The portrayal of the relationships between the characters is astounding, and the little moments and bonding are genius. I just wanted you to know that I love this story, and I thank you for creating it and sharing.

I was initially hesitant to read this since self-inserts tend to be pretty lame, but now I'm glad I hesitated because that means I have plenty to go through now before having to wait for updates!

I'm really enjoying this. It's about as realistic as you can get in a self-insert plus Naruto fandom. The memory issues, the genetic differences, the explanations (which I sometimes skip over since they're technical - but it adds realism when you can explain why they can do such-and-such and sound scientific about it) - all make Shikako more real to the reader. Thanks!

I'm looking for SI stories that are actually readable, things like gaining superpowers, romantic involvment with major characters from the start, automaticaly being on the side of the major factions and random gods showing up to help the SI and reveal some amazing purpose or granting powers etc dont happen, the SI has to work for these things or never gets them, no mary-sue crap or Deus-ex machina, just an intelligent and genre savy with insider info SI.

I believe this one fit your criteria... A girl wakes up as Shikamaru's sister. It's in first person, but there's no POV switches, and she's not super amazing, or "insane".

Absolutely the best SI I've read in ages.

Its well put together, the character is interesting, strong without being TOO strong...

The plot and writing are all top class as well.

I was very pleasantly suprised, and now I wish there was more like that, but I'm sure I'd have heard of them if there was.

Thirded. It keeps itself fresh & interesting without going off the rails. A difficult thing to do when writing anything naruto. Also: Kairin gets MAULED BY A BEAR. I really felt sorry for the anonymous redheaded girl. Instead of cheering for the death of a fan girl.. That's powerful ya?

Very very good story, and I sincerely enjoyed reading it. Took me twelve hours on Friday-Saturday and I was reading on and off from then on and just finished it on Sunday night. I think my reading speed is somewhat lacking _

I love reborn stories, especially character insertion and character replacement that does not rely entirely on fully grown OCs being thrown into the canon reality.

Thank you, this was very well written and very detailed. I learnt a lot more of the Naruto-verse and enjoyed the theories and concepts applied to this fic.

Straight SI (reincarnation type)... that do not suck, cast is in character (and no bashing), SI is not Mary Sue (and actually forgot most of plot - and it's believable) and things actually change if not much because butterflies are not big enough yet.

I would like to add a holy shit to the exclamation pile.

Also of note is that Sasuke is an emotionally scarred 12 year old and not a spoiled princess and Naruto is simply a difficult person to deal with.

HUGE changes imo, just because the characters are genin and therefore can't change things like the sound invasion, doesnt mean that sasuke's character growth isnt HUGE.

[Posted 4:02AM] Hm. Read the first few chapters of the SI fic.

It's ... surprisingly promising. And well-written. I'm quite amazed, actually.

Even though none of the actual characters have been mentioned yet, the believable, involved way she explains everything that happens to her, and the wayshe explains it - no flowery speech, just honest, to-the-point explanations ... it's really awesome.

Faved.

[Posted 9:00AM] Holy shit. Chapter 32. Just ... chapter 32.

That, right there? That's how I've always wished for the Naruto vs Neji battle to go.

That chick is awesome.

Her jutsu and seal explanations are very well though out, and make the story more interesting rather than bogging it down with technical explanations. We experience the SI learning about them, and its all very plot driven.

Also, 200,000+ words, 42 (really 41) chapters in 6 months is very promising.

The plot butterflied WAY before.

Team 7 has a different composition - Sakura dropped out and went into Med-Nin school.

Naruto wasn't as friendless as he was before.

Zabusa and Haku survived.

Through the interactions of the main character with the others, Sasuke and Naruto kinda-sorta get along. Sasuke's a lot more calm and at peace. He also considers Naruto a good ninja, and wasn't blindsided by Naruto's potential ability while suffering from the Curse Seal.

Naruto's a LOT more skillful than he was in canon. He's got multiple techniques besides the Kage Bunshin, uses his techniques well, and is one of (if not the) strongest Genin before the Chunin Exam finals.

The matchups are different for the Chunin Exam Finals - Shika also wins.

Sasuke never took out the Sound team - Shikako (the SI) did. Being injured and weak from Orochimaru's attack, she didn't have the strength to just beat them, and was forced to kill them. It weighs on her mind, and leads to a good talk with her father.

The Rookie Nine are more tight-knit, and they were ALL there during the battle with Gaara, and contributed in their own ways.

There's a lot more, but this should be enough. Oh, and despite Sakura not being a member of the Rookie Nine, they still take the time to visit and consult her, which definitely earns the author my respect - even when it would have been easy to segue out a character, she didn't do so.

Eh, the plot does sorta... minor butterflying so far. The major events (wave mission, chuunin exams, sand invasion) stay more or less the same it's just that the details differ (Zabuza/Haku survive, lineup is a bit different, everyone vs Gaara). There's no major diversions from events yet (ie: no major event has been skipped or ended in a massively divergent way such as outrigth failure).

It's still a pretty nice read though and some of the mulling over of topics like chakra and sealing is pretty interesting.

I love this fic. Your thoughts regarding the whole situation around Kushina and the fear of the villagers is one I haven't read in ten years of reading Naruto fanfic. LOL. And I like the whole born as a Nara thing. It's new.

Regarding Sasuke's character: yes, not much has changed, but that's because the major character development moment for him in this time period is Itachi mind-crushing him. Notice what doesn't happen in this fic.

The whole wave arc really wouldn't change without a significantly more powerful character: to change it basically requires Zabusa to be defeated and to also have the character defeat Haku as well.

Regarding the Final battle with Gaara, yeah, that's pretty much not going to change. It's a bunch of inexperienced characters against an extremely powerful one. Once Gaara get knocked out/really stressed, he's going to release the tailed beast. At that point, pretty much everyone on the field becomes useless(it's a bunch of rookies, after all), unless they have a trump. For instance, the toad summoning.

Finally, one of the things I think this fic does well is that while the Self Insert does change things, they don't suddenly have everything revolve around them. Yes, this means that quite a bit of canon happens, but that's inevitable due to the nature of a world with multiple powerful players doing things.

I am fairly impressed. Not only is the main character an SI/OC, but she is pretty obviously a broken character in the making. And yet I don't mind one bit. I still hope for a real break from canon with the Sasuke business though.

I'm fairly amazed at the amount of insight you've provided in the wave arc. I've seen at least one author declare that they won't ever write the wave arc again. Or an author might completely switch up to keep it new. I suppose being written from an OC's perspective makes it new but other than that it's not a major shakeup but it wasn't boring at all.

You brought up a few things in the story about Tazuna and Zabuza I haven't really thought of before. In retrospect it is obvious that Tazuna didn't have ninja after him before he made it to Konoha; he may have had mercenaries after him though or else got word that Gatou was hiring ninja.

For Zabuza again in hindsight it's obvious he was not trying very hard to kill them, there is often not cause to analyze it during or after the action though.

What I found the most insightful however was something I thought of that was made possible from the way you wrote this world and the tone of the story. When you said, "The difference in price between a C-rank mission and an A-rank was about two zeros. Hiring ninja isn't exactly cheap." well first saying that it would cost a hundred times more in this way made me think about it. Second I realized what a big deal it was. Usually the thought is Tazuna should have been upfront and gone into debt with Konoha or appealed to the Hokage's kind nature.

I realized that this world isn't like ours, like you said information is hard to come by, there is no internet and there may not even be telephones (though there are radios). So Tazuna may not have even known for sure there would be ninja or even that there would be high rank ninja, nor does he know if the Hokage would be willing to to help out; so he lies paying for a C-rank mission hoping it would be enough.

The main thought I had though was on Kakashi. Why would he risk his team after encountering the Demon Brothers? I believe now that he understood Tazuna's situation, the money really is unimportant, and he also underestimated the danger. It is not necessarily that he believed his team was ready to face an even more dangerous opponent. But he clearly felt he could protect both Tazuna and his team. (I once read a fic where Kurenai's team is given the mission to wave and she basically get's pressured into continuing and it's a disaster).

Anyways besides the fresh look at Kakashi, Tazuna and Zabuza I really liked the shadow clone shogi scene in this chapter. I'd also like to note often I've seen the wave arc go horribly wrong in a time-travel fic but in this story though Shikako knew what happened in the past, she doesn't remember events too clearly, and she doesn't try particularly hard to fix things and yet just the small change of her being there is enough to change things for the better, though not effortlessly à la Mary Sue; It's refreshing to see a story which (so far) is following canon closely without being a simple rehash of canon.

One last point here, right at the beginning you mentioned two fics which you said were much better fics. I wouldn't say that between the three any of them is better but I do want to say this story has both of them beat in terms of length; both of those stories felt like they were only getting started and then they ended, either dead or in hibernation, whereas this story is nearly seven times as long and is definitely still alive. Anyways hoping what is left remains just as good and keep up the good work.

You know, over the years, I have read many fanfictions. During that time, I have always cringed when I saw author/self inserts in the summary. I usually stay clear of those, as there have been very few that have actually been done well. I'm glad I took a shot at reading this work. At first, I was skeptical, but as it went on, I found myself enjoying it more and more. Good work so far :)

When your story is character driven, and you're deliberately including certain situations from the start in your plan "filler" is a silly title to put on things that advance character development anyways.

Self-insert into the Nara clan;Shikamaru gets a twin sister. Protagonist replaces Sakura on Team 7.Cue shenanigans. Best SI I've ever read; as good as A Cage of Blood and Circumstance(which I wish would update) and much longer.Plus, up till about three weeks ago, it was updating once or twice a week.Largely follows canon(so far) with great characterization, appropriate power levels and some clever jutsu work.And the author writes good fight scenes. Her Naruto v Neji fight was a thing of beauty. Now go read the damn thing!

You really should read [the chapters based on anime fillers]; she's used the filler arcs to set up and support canon events.She has a positive genius for using events in the anime for supporting manga canon.What she did with the Waterfall mission?Exquisite.

Anyway,we're moving back into canon territory.The Sound Four are here.

Dreaming of Sunshine takes its time but I like that about it. It engages in a lot of things that are implied and make a more coherent world. Which is why I recommend it if you favour slow and coherent stories.

Regarding DoS: IMO, the character Shikako has does about as well as she possibly could under her circumstances, by only meddling where it was safe to meddle. I can agree that the author giving them the same missions was a bit of a drag, but the team interaction in each one (mainly Shikako not being a Sasuke fangirl nor dismissive of Naruto) has dramatically improved their team cohesion, to the point where they're starting to make different choices in a major plot-affecting way.

As for the changes she *didn't* try to make - if she had attempted to avert the Uchiha massacre by talking any of the parties out of their course of action, she'd be dead, or worse. If she'd attempted an anonymous warning to the Uchiha, they'd have attempted to overthrow the Hokage and there would have been a civil war in the city, which would have gotten a lot more people killed.

If she had made the team stay out of the Chuunin exams, she would have undone a bunch of the progress she'd made with Sasuke and possibly Naruto. Orochimaru might still have gone after them, but wearing a different shell she wouldn't know to be wary of (plus, as was stated, since the second exam was a team exercise, all three should be safe from lethal attacks so long as Orochimaru wants to see Sasuke fight; if he's not in the forest, then the survival of Naruto and Shikako is optional.) In addition, some of their friends might be killed in the forest because the sound-nin were bored and sadistic; Sasuke wouldn't learn the Chidori nor Naruto toad summoning, without which they couldn't make Gaara flee the stadium (many more casualties from the audience) or defeat him (which would have left that job to Jiraya or the Jounin, who would have killed him and his siblings), which means Gaara wouldn't be able to bully the remainders of the Suna force into surrendering or fleeing...nor become Naruto's friend or the Godaime Kazekage.

Yes. A thousand times, Yes. This is easily one of the best Naruto fics I've read recently.

My review from the Quality Naruto Thread:

I've been power-reading this (read: I haven't slept much...) and I gotta say, that was pretty damn good. Characterization is mind-blowingly good, and the author's ability to tell a story from Shikako's perspective is beautifully done.

One of the only gripes I have with it is that Shikako hasn't gotten as much recognition as I think she deserves for a few things. Things like Shino getting promoted to chunin after losing to Shikamaru, while Shikako, who captained a squad against an unknown number of invading enemies and a jinchuriki and led them out with minimal injuries, didn't.

That bugged me.

I'm not exactly a OC-SI expert, but this story strikes me as being the best they either can or have to offer.

The main character is not a Mary Sue by any stretch of the term, the action and dialogue are engaging, and it's honestly enjoyable. This is one of the few stories I have no hesitancy recommending.

5/5 for quality, consistency and overall enjoyment.

What I liked the most about this chapter was that Kidomaru wasn't treated as just a chump, which his loss to a genin would have implied.

The man was a member of Sound Four for a reason, and if Neji wasn't optimized to handle him (arrows are kinda worthless against Byakugan, or would have been if his blind spot hadn't been identified so quickly - which is a point in Kidomaru's favor, really), he would have simply steam rolled pretty much the rest of the rescue team.

This is a man who can snipe you from miles away with an arrow that can punch massive craters in the ground while also moving fast enough that the wind from it's passage can kick up dust as high as trees. He can also target vital organs from that distance, and his arrows can change direction mid-flight on his whim.

This is also a man who, despite specializing in traps and long-range attacks, has a defense powerful enough to shrug off explosions.

It's good to see him get some respect. Just because someone's not S-rank doesn't make him/her worthless.

I found it really enjoyable. No bashing of characters is a great plus.

A minor gripe with the story is, that it's at times a bit too close to canon, it could definitely deviate a bit more from the standard story. I also dislike the inclusion of so many of the anime filler episodes and the movies. I don't really care about them, they don't add anything to the story in my opinion.

Overall a 4/5 if you don't dislike anything that isn't Naruto-centric.

I'm on Ch7 of Dreaming of Sunshine and I have to say it is very well written and entertaining. I do hope the author does something good with Sakura after pushing her aside to fit in their OC. Supporting the recommendation.

This is a great story and from what I've heard about SI-fics, that's quite an accomplishment. I've only read one other SI which was relatively well-written to so I can't make any proper comparisons.

The SI is realistic and interesting; she's more than an insignificant bystander but still does her best to change the Narutoverse for the better. She's not overpowered but competent and, in terms of abilities, fits in well with the rest of the Rookies.

The fact that she's isn't some otaku who's memorised everything in Naruto is something I find refreshing. She can never be sure that she's making the right changes and is shown to the reader how difficult it is to analyze the events when she's actually living through them.

The characterisations and interactions are engaging and the writer shows some interesting insight on how various things work in that world. The changes she's made so far aren't that big in the short-term but we can see they'll be great effects in long-terms.

My only problem is that it can be a bit too much like canon at certain times, especially with how she follows anime fillers arcs. Though fortunately, she limits those missions to rather short chapters so they don't drag on.

4/5 with definite potential to reach 5/5 in the future.

I don't get why people think Sasuke is going to go to Oto. We know this time around his choice was to NOT go to otogakure. He made that choice when he went to the hokage with orochimaru's offer. The purpose of this whole chase was NOT to stop sasuke going to Oto, it was to ambush the enemy.

Since we know that he's already decided to not go, it doesnt MATTER if Orochimaru and guren show up and try to railroad him into going. He's decided to stick to Konoha, meaning if they take him its as a prisoner, meaning he's still not a missing nin, and that won't work well for Orochimaru. Canonically, Orochimaru right now is pretty much useless, and Guren isnt going to beat Gaara, Naruto, Sasuke, Lee, Hinata, Temari, Kankuro and Kakashi(When he catches up), all of whom are completely fresh and in the case of Naruto and Sasuke, have just recieved a rather large powerup.

Its not like we're waiting for the major divergence to happen in the next chapter or two, ITS ALREADY HAPPENED like 10 chapters ago, and now we're seeing butterflies.

It does drag in some places, mostly because it follows canon missions and plot lines so closely, I feel like I know what's going to happen next all the time. In the latest chapters Sasuke has made the decision not to defect so hopefully the author will be forced to write original content during the time skip years.

One other problem is Naruto's character, which I feel is completely dumbed down in comparison to every other character of the same age group, with the exception of Kiba. I feel like if every other 12 year old in the fic is going to be a genius or make great insights, Then Naruto can be stepped up a little and be a much more enjoyable character.

I do have to say the author does a great job of not overpowering the characters too much and keeping it within reason... I'll definitely stick with this and I'd like to say good job to the author, and thanks for writing it (If she reads these posts, that is.)

That was a really good moment in this chapter when Shikako reflects that "not all the danger in the world was bandits or missing nin". I have to say I really enjoy the slice of life elements to this story more than the action. The exposition works well in slice of life, but it gets clunky and awkward during battles, even when the action itself is well thought out.

I'm really impressed with Shikako's maturity in this chapter. The battle was really well-portrayed and interesting. Naruto's character arc continues to be the most interesting thing about the story, event-wise. The fact that he DIDN'T freeze up here and blame himself for anything makes me wonder if you have something vastly different planned for the rest of the Land of Waves arc. I'm not very interested in reading a recap, so I've got my fingers crossed for something special.

One other thing I liked about this chapter was how you pointed out Naruto's highly revealing clothing actually had a practical use as a ninja. It made a lot of sense. You've done a fine job reconciling the blatant shonen aspects of the series with the dark, pragmatic world of the shinobi.

When I first read this, I wasn't really sure how much I liked it. But after I caught myself rereading it a few times, despite remembering what happened, I've got to put it in my top tier of Fanfics. 5/5.

Reading this has kind of gotten me on a kick for more decent SI/OC Naruto fics.

While true some like because it is done with out the SI becoming a sue or being pushed to the background. Some people complain that it fallows canon to much and while it does in story there is nothing that the SI could really do to change that. Some events the SI has no possible control over (ones that originate out side Kohona) and the ones that the SI does are ether minor or ones that take a long time to see any change in (like what has happened in the last few chapters). It is not a story about an SI appearing in Naruto and changing things to make it better or fix the broken stuff but one about an SI appearing in Naruto and trying to survive and protect the people she has come to care about.

2013

Despite her Mary-Sue set-up and supposed self-insert premise, Shikako is shockingly well-written, and one of very few female characters I've ever been able to like and identify with.

The first few chapters before the canon storyline starts are a bit slow, but once the cast becomes genin, it picks up a lot. The fic has some of the best action sequences I can remember reading.

Silver Queen does a great job of making a competent main character worth rooting for, without making her take over the canon story. The world obviously does not revolve around her, and the canon characters all remain special; in many cases moreso than she is.

Warning: WiP; there's plenty to read, but it's yet to be finished.

Really love the amount of detail you go in to for things like culture, self, jutsu, etc etc, you know, details. Just makes the fic so much, more. Absolutely love how you've crafted Shikako's personality, especially in where the self-insert ends and the OC begins. Usually SI's just feel like their own character, even in the really well written SIs. The way you write them on the other hand, there's the knowledge always that why yes she's a self-insert (or some kind of insert anyways) but at the same time the cultural trappings of her being inarguably a citizen of Konoha, a Ninja of the Leaf, is always at the forefront. There's no mental separation between the main character's psyche and everyone else is what I want to say I guess. Sure theres the moments where she realizes everynow and again that she's /other/ but usually SI's, crossovers, OC's have that /other/ feeling going on 85% of the time or so. So that was a surprisingly nice read.

Got to say though, the filler chapters were .. bad? I guess? I'm of the persuasion that Manga trumps Anime of course, and most of my knowledge of the fillers come from fanfiction, but I found the flow there... exactly like fillers. As in they were inserted in to the story just because it was required. I was somewhat familiar with the Snow and Idate arcs but even then everything had a.. meh feeling to it. The fact that the Lightsaber got handled so lightly was also weird. Not in how Tsunade handled it (could totally imagine her doing that, even if the dialogue was a bit strange) but rather in just normal procedure at the end of missions and how something as important as a relic could be skipped.. Well, I guess Ibiki's politicking, shuffling up the procedure kinda messed that up, but I guess it just felt a little strange that it got missed in everything.

One of the things I have really appreciated about DoS is the extent to which you have made Ino into more of a fleshed out character. This chapter was a good continuation of that effort, and I'm sorry it was so hard for you to write. It makes a lot of sense that Ino, who seems to have always prided herself so much on a strong sense of self, would be his especially hard by having her identity contaminated. It swung back to the theme of Ino as an organizer and center of social groups too.

One criticism, though. It doesn't help that you yourself held a lampshade over none of Ino's "other friends" showing up for the party or just being involved and nearby visiting her. It made the story ring false. I think throwing in a few minor original characters would have been a good idea to show-not-tell the concept that Ino really does have a wide social circle. It didn't read well to have Hinata and Tenten there instead of some other two girls that Ino knows better and who know her better, your attempts to explain it away notwithstanding. Like you're afraid of using original characters in minor roles or something,.

Alright, here's my first review for your story, and I'm hoping to be able to give one for each new chapter from here on.

First off let me say I really enjoyed this. I've read a lot of Naruto fanfiction, but this is the only one that ever had the type of things I like for in order to favorite a fic. The whole concept of the story is nice with the possible reincarnation playing into introducing a self insert who is born and raised, but that alone is nothing on what makes this story great.

The main thing you have done is make the characters loveable. I don't mean loveable like all cute and cuddly, although the brother sister moments can induce a "D'aaw" here and there, and I wish there was some more detail given on family time, but considering how much plot you have to move through, that would take a ridiculous amount of time and effort on top of the ridiculous amount you've already put into this.

The main thing that kept me reading is that I cared enough about the characters in the way you write them that i actually kept reading because I had to know how everything was going to turn out to them. As I read I form a connection to them all through your attention to emotional details. When the characters are happy I can see the happiness in your writing, and at serious moments I can feel the intensity along with them.

I absolutely love the way you stay on top of the emotional impact of every situation. You describe feelings, thoughts and reactions in detail and make each character unique to your story just as it should be. I believe that every person sees the characters in a different light. Even when seeing the same actions we all imagine different thoughts and feeling happening to a character as we watch them in canon that make their image unique to us, and you've done an awesome job at displaying your image here.

I honestly couldn't care less about background descriptions in writing, just enough to set a vague image, and let the reader imagine everything else is half the fun of reading, but the emotions and feelings of each character let us connect closer, and give it more impact. It's not just Shikako with Future sight prepares her favorite characters from the Narutoverse for a war she hopes they can come out of better than in canon. She's fighting for her brother, her parents, her friends, and everyone in the village.

She's not always focusing on trying to make everyone stronger for Madara simply for the sake of the upcoming war because that's the plot. She knows how many people will suffer from their lack of strength, and not only that, but as a friend she genuinely want to see her friends become better people as they all grow stronger together.

All in all I greatly appreciate your efforts, and hope you continue this story for as long as you find it satisfying. I know how stressful it can be to try and maintain constant updates to your stories as you deal with everything in real life, and anyone who can do what you do despite all that effort not having any sort of tangible payoff gets a lot of respect from me.

From Author to Author I respect everything you put into this story, and hope you keep writing for a very long time.

On the plot side of things, I really like how you line up with canon. Shikako's first clumsy attempts at becoming sociable were not only really cute to me, but made a good base for her reliance on other people. Yeah she's a strong fighter, and well rounded, but she knows she needs other people with her to be truly strong.

Her reliance on Shikamaru in the early chapters did very well to illustrate just how much personal growth she had gone through over the years once she gets to the point where she's reaching out to people she's not even particularly close to like Hinata and Kiba, and even that little bit of strength it took for her to keep Naruto and Sasuke close to her manages to save Sasuke even if not from the curse mark at least from Orochimaru's possession.

I like this Sasuke much better than canon, and the sad thing is I feel like this interpretation of Sasuke's character could have been easily possible if someone like Shikako did, had just made that extra effort to get closer to him without making him feel like they were holding him up, and in his perspective stopping him from growing stronger personally.

The additional team training sessions not only brought them closer as friends, but gave them all a way to measure their progress. Sasuke wasn't suddenly made to feel inferior by Naruto's quick growth because They were all together as a team growing stronger, and Sasuke could see exactly what it was that made Naruto start progressing so quickly.

In this most recent chapter though, I loved the girl time, and was thrilled you were bringing Tenten into the mix, she's way too underused, and I was glad she got some attention. I honestly felt bad for Ino going through what she did, and I'm glad to see she's still determined to pursue her goals despite her doubt in herself from having a piece of Orochimaru inside her.

I was honestly hoping that either Naruto or Sasuke would help her through her self doubts somehow. Sasuke has the level 2 curse mark now, and is branded by Orochimaru because of it, he could relate to what exactly Ino is experiencing by having an unwanted mark showing you to be tainted. Naruto on the other hand may understand even better what Ino is experiencing.

He knows more than anyone what it's like to have an unwanted presence inside you, waiting for any chance it could to take over, and ruin anything it could. She's worried Orochimaru's twisted will may taint her decisions, and lead her to doing things he wanted, and every time Naruto has to rely on Kyuubi's power he has to wonder if that will be the time his will is overwhelmed, and the Kyuubi hurts the people that are close to him. I think them having a talk could be very beneficial for her, but that's just my personal take on it. You might well have something better planned, or even have this chapter show her character growth in that she's strong enough to move forward on her own will.

Even so I loved that she wanted her friends to all be close to her when she decided to move forward, and as long as she always remembers how imprtant they are to her, I doubt Ino has anything to worry about.

Well, this ended up being longer than I intended, so I'll close the review now, thanks again for writing this, and I'm looking forward to reading anything you put out

The one thing that turns me off faster than anything else is having the SI express contempt for elements of the setting and explain how he's going to do things the sensible, smart, real world logic way. Or deliver some kind of sermon to the setting characters from a position of moral superiority.[1] I enjoy the stories a lot more when the SI actually likes the characters in the setting and tries hard to earn their respect.

I think that's the reason that I actually enjoy 'Dreaming of Sunshine', in spite of the fact that it's in many ways a blatant fix-fic. Even though the SI is basically going around improving the original story, she always does it from a position of deep respect for the Naruto Universe characters and their own talents. She treats them as people rather than a bunch of fictional characters whose story she's going to rewrite.

I like how so many people mention that there are methods by which she could spread information around. I mean, yeah, she could. And then she'd be taken to T&I(or maybe Danzo) because she should not have that knowledge. So, obviously, she's a plant of some kind, and bad end for her(possibly better end for the world, maybe worse, hard to say).

Really, it comes down to the fact that, at this point, she can only react to things already put in place by others. Oh, she can set her own plans(which she does, and some of those would seem to have far reaching consequences), but she does not have the power of a tailed beast, or enough time to build her strength up over years in order to effect change(note that the other story happens over a couple decades and is set before everyone's plans start happening all at once). So she had to got the slow route.

Granted, I disagree with some of the things she's chosen to do(but that has more to due with taste than logic), but at the very least, starting from her initial points, I can't disagree with the path she's taking.

Personally I give the author credit for having the patience to write everything she has. I've always found that in most cases ‘’actually writing’’ the backstory or groundwork makes for a lot better fics than not (any exceptions would be on the quality of the writing not the subject). And as for the parts that aren't necessarily important? That's what makes a good fic into a great fic.

I cannot tell you guys how many times I've stopped and said "Wow. I'm really glad the author threw in that scene. It didn't didn't really advance the plot but it was still enjoyable". ...Not often actually. But that's because most authors write the bare minimum necessary to tell their story. And I hate that. Too often it leads to story's that read like a synopsis. I want to be able to say that.

DoS isn't about an SI's journey to be the greatest ninja in the history of Naruto or even an SI's journey to be a ninja great or otherwise. It's a story about an SI's ‘’life’’ as a ninja.

If that's not your cup of tea then fine. You don't have to read it. But don't get all offended when other people like it or rec it.

Or, y'know, you could just realize that what you're reading is essentially well written slice of life that happens to also be about ninjas.

Alternatively you could accept that this kind of fic is what happens when someone applies actual common sense to a time travel/knows the future scenario in such a setting including such delightful issues as people having you interrogated, tortured and/or executed for knowing things you have no reason, purpose of logical way of knowing or doing things for reasons you cannot or will not explain well enough. You know, the kind of shit half of you bitch about people getting away with in the majority of terrible time travel fics.

Lastly, and this is my personal favorite, you could just shut the fuck up and stop bitching about the same fucking thing every time DoS is mentioned. We get it, you're all too braindead to appreciate anything that doesn't involve a person being eviscerated every other paragraph while a twelve year old orders the leaders of the brink-or-war world to do whatever the fuck they want 'because they know the future'.

My complaint is that she clearly isn't even trying to write her own storyline and just blindly follows the rails of canon. Compare her other fic where the protagonist is the sister of Obito, its a thousand times better and more interesting because "Gasp!" it actually shows us something we haven't seen before! If the author can't be bothered to think of a way for Shikako to change things then drop the fic and start again with a protagonist that can actually have her own story instead of just being marginally more competent Sakura.

Reincarnation Roulette I think it was called, now that I would dearly love to see continued while with Dreaming of Sunshine I skim through the entire chapter to see if something interesting happens and guess what? It doesn't.

Team Seven bascily does two important things before the time skip.

1) Stopping Gaara during the Chunin exams. Why would she want to stop that? 2) Saskue joins Orochimaru. That is pretty much the climax of Part 1. And guess what? She changed it. Saskue is still loyal to the Leaf, opening up to his team.

She's following the rails of canon, but thats because she is taking it form the viewpoint that change only what a mostly unimportant Gennin can change. And thats what she's done. Is it mostly the same? Yes. It is good, well written, with interesting changes that above all make sense? Yes.

Personally I give the author credit for having the patience to write everything she has. I've always found that in most cases actually writing the backstory or groundwork makes for a lot better fics than not (any exceptions would be on the quality of the writing not the subject). And as for the parts that aren't necessarily important? That's what makes a good fic into a great fic. I cannot tell you guys how many times I've stopped and said "Wow. I'm really glad the author threw in that scene. It didn't didn't really advance the plot but it was still enjoyable". ...Not often actually. But that's because most authors write the bare minimum necessary to tell their story. And I hate that. Too often it leads to story's that read like a synopsis. I want to be able to say that. DoS isn't about an SI's journey to be the greatest ninja in the history of Naruto or even an SI's journey to be a ninja great or otherwise. It's a story about an SI's life as a ninja.

If that's not your cup of tea then fine. You don't have to read it. But don't get all offended when other people like it or rec it.

I don't know about everybody else, but my beef has been that it is boring to read about stuff happening that I've already read about before. All of the divergences have had very minor present day effects, which makes the present day stuff into a canon rehash. There are some tantalizing hints of new developments in the future, but (1) we're 300,000 words in at this point; (2) the update rate plummeted as the author has started to ease off the canon rails; and (3) the author seems to feel obligated to go through the filler episodes. These things do not give me a lot of hope for future developments.

None of this is power-level dependent--if the same SI had (say) been a year older and taken Tenten's place on Team Gai, then given us 300,000 words of new slice of life stuff without really derailing the Naruto-centered plot, I would have no complaints.

Also, the fact that a genin in the main character's situation can't do anything major is really beside the point. We all recognize that the author has not actually been reincarnated into the Naruto-verse, right? If you start writing a story and realize that your protagonist is locked into a really boring line of action, you need to switch something up.

Sauske's non-defection was the first [divergence from canon] to have real, immediate, huge, and obvious consequences.

Wave's ending had real, distant, and likely huge(in that distant point) consequences. The Exam part 2 divergences had some real, distant consequences(Karin is dead), as well as minor, real, immediate consequences(SI kills partially lead to different exam, at least one Jonin surviving, Sauske and co avoiding Kabuto, Sauske brought back from a brink, Ino making final round) Lead up to Exam Part 3....it's complicated. Not really many points for divergence, given that I don't think anything except parts of the Naruto scenes are touched by Canon at all. Did bring her to Jiyara's attention. Exam part 3 had only a couple(but the fights were extremely different, and many were made out of whole cloth). It also brought SI to the attention of others(minor consequences, but still). Invasion fight was very pretty different from canon until they pulled out the One Tail(but then it basically skips that part), and some nice Character stuff(why would they allow the Sand siblings to go) Itachi part is pretty canon until Itachi hits SI(though, again, largely glossed over), which is a massive, massive divergence. Also brings SI to Itachi's attention(maybe good, maybe bad). Also gets SI involved with Akatsuki(no longer sent to T&I for finding out about them!)

Filler arcs....this is one of my less favorite parts for several reasons. There are a couple aspects I do like, mainly how a few of them are integrated into the overall world(some I feel could be cut no issue). Mainly, the parts that reveal how much control Orichimaru has in the villiage are good. Best is probably the race filler, which begins possible linking between Rain, Pein, and Akatsuki something like 3 years ahead of time(and lightsabers!). Also some spreading of the warning about Akatsuki.

I'll admit to being somewhat biased, as I have not followed the anime at all post, oh, end of the Exam, and somewhat sporadically before that. Therefore, most of those filler things were entirely new to me(I think I'm also a bit less hateful of stations of canon, assuming it makes sense). Still, I feel there has been quite a bit of change at least set up in the story. Given that so much of the plot of Naruto, especially at early points, is set up by external factors, I feel this is appropriate.

I think [whether or not a reader is pissed off about the pacing] is at least partially dependent on the style: DoS is a monthly Serial, so having 300,000 words doesn't mean as much, because it's only x smaller percentage of words, basically based on the new chapter, possibly the old chapter as well(if I feel I need to reread it, which has happened on occasion).

This is the BEST OC fanfiction I've ever read. And believe me, I've read a LOT. There's the usual "your character is not a Mary Sue" criteria, but it's more than that.

Instead of just letting sticking to what you and your readers know, you expounded on the world of Naruto, filling in the tiny cracks that nobody knew needed to be filled to make the place more alive. Not only did your character improve steadily through hard work, but you let your readers see it, instead of just telling it or letting them see the results, not the hard work. Your character improved in stages, something completely true to life and something most writers forget. Seeing Naruto's world through Shikako's - and your - eyes brought it to life for me, in a way that the anime and manga never did. (I've only watched the first few seasons of both the Naruto and the Shippuden series and never found the energy to finish the rest.)

Read this whole thing over the past two days, and there are things I like and things I don't. There are many more of the former.

So first off, you're a fantastic writer. Your word choice, grammar, and general skill are incredible. There's no question about that-in the technical areas, this story is superb.

Second, your narrative voice-Shikaro's voice-is a refreshing change from the dull descriptions we usually get. You don't even bother with the actual events as much as you do with explaining them, but you do it in such a way that even when Shkaro is lecturing us on some alien concept of physics, it both holds our interest and maintains her-your-unique character.

Third, the other characters are kept almost perfectly in character. Ino might be a little less self-centered than she was in canon, and Sakura a little less shallow-remember, this is still pre-Shippuuden, when canonically she hadn't gotten everything straight, although you have addressed that with her test failure. But that's all forgivable in the name of avoiding character bashing, which is a goal I can stand behind completely.

But there's one issue where this story is less than perfect-still good, but not perfect. The plot. I mean, of course, its following the canon plot, but that's both not my point and AT THE SAME TIME exactly what I'm saying. I did see you're author's note where you explained that this story was never meant to be butterfly effect, and that's clear-you change as little as possible. But it doesn't work, when you really think about it. I can see some things working, and you've worked around others, but at some point it just stops making sense. I understand you're not interested in the butterfly effect, but when you apply common sense the addition of the new variable Shikaro represents MUST change the end mixture. But you do seem to realize that-Sasuke's remaining loyal, her warning Fuu and Gaara...Those change things. It just remains for us to wait and see how.

Thus the only complaint have that remains is that you're writing EVERYTHING. Manga, anime filler, movies, even OVAs of all things... I suppose it's understandable, given that what you're doing is writing about the Naruto story from Shikaro's perspective-that's the whole POINT-but in the time leading up to the Sasuke retrieval arc after the Chuunin Exams, I'm not going to pretend it wasn't VERY annoying. I wanted to see what happened to Sasuke!

But I do understand, and I have to accept that the story I'd write is not the one you are writing. And that's fine, since your story is still amazing.

So keep up the good work, and I hope to see an update soon!

Keep writing!

This is the first decent SI I have read... then again I normally ignore SI's. My only real issue is the lack of sensory descriptions. It's gotten better as you've gotten farther and farther from canon events though. But maybe consider how to describe the sights, smells, literal feel of a scene. The haze and smell of smoke, crackling of fires etc. How people's bodies tense or relax and their body language rather then just (or only) saying that they are angry or worried.

Though as I noted its gotten better the farther into the story, so keep it up.

You've incorporated a ridiculously large amount of filler episodes and other random plot points into your story. It seems like all the episodes that we've all seen but never really thought about are here. Most of the time stories just skip over them completely, I like your way better.

As of now, I'm waiting to see the Hoshigakure arc, or that one arc with the samurai ghost, you know, some of the other less well known filler episodes. But at the same time, I want to know about the plot, how much longer until the time skip. And then what?

I'm torn, lol.

Oh, wow. This fic is amazing.

Shikako is an excellent character and you handle her motivations behind wanting to become a shinobi, become strong, be able to change the way things unfold very well. The sense of real *fear* that permeates the story - especially the earlier parts - works well to maintain a sense of danger even though there have been relatively few fatalities in the story so far. It's like she has this little voice whispering in the back of her head 'I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die'. Her awareness that she is fallible and squishy and that she and her team mates and even her whole family could be killed creates a reality to world and to the actions of the people who live in it.

The relationships with the other characters are good as well. I particularly enjoy seeing her hug Kakashi for some reason. Maybe just because I think Kakashi needs more hugs.

You've done a great job of making use of all the fillers as missions that Team Seven has as normal 'well duh, shinobi are mercenaries who don't get paid if they don't work' parts of life that have a bizarre tendency to go A Rank on them. Tsunade is not going to be happy this ferret hunt has turned into another one.

Man, I pretty much read your entire story in the last 30ish hours. SOOOOOO GOOD. I remember I had started it a long time ago, closer to when you first published, but I never continued. I am so glad I finally got the motivation to read this.

I like how you've structured your SI. She doesn't know every little detail about the anime/manga and more often then not forgets things. I also love that you made her a Nara. Shikamaru was always one of my favorite characters, and giving him a sister is just sooo awesome.

I'm kind of wondering how you're going to do the time skip? You've changed a lot with regards to Sasuke, but you've also alluded that Naruto is still going on his training trip. So are you going to cover stuff over the skip in detail, skim it, or just skip it?

You've also been covering a lot of the filler arcs and movies. I don't mind as it fills out the plot more, but it's getting to the point where I'm tiring of it slightly. This is partly because everything seems spaced so close together that Shikako is not getting downtime to train.

I do like what you've done with Shikako. The seals are awesome, and the mechanics that you've come up with are sooo cool. I like how you haven't limited her to shadows. Also, you mentioned it this chapter, but Shikako has been neglecting shadow training. She doesn't have to catch up to Shikamaru, but I'd like it if she made *some* progress. That Shadow punch pic on your author page is super cool.

Anyway... super long review, mostly cause I'm reviewing 67 chapters... Good luck with your writing!

Oh my god. This fic is SPECTACULAR. I think that I remember reading somewhere in the early chapters that you were writing a self-insert, the "sin" of fanfiction writers everywhere. From you, however, self inserts are clearly not a sin. They're salvation for self inserts everywhere. Because this is far and away THE BEST self-insert I have ever read. It's a testament to your skill that at this point, Shikako feels like a real character in the Naruto universe. She fits in perfectly.

Actually, your overall characterization is really phenomenal. I think one of the major problems of the Naruto 'verse is that it's really easy to make the characters exaggerated and one-dimensional, but you've avoided that trap really well here.

Additionally, I think you've done a great job not overpowering anyone or making them too weak. Their battles and physical abilities are very believable while still being incredibly exciting.

To sum it all up, I think this fic is amazing. I read through the whole 68 chapters in a day. I can't wait to read more! Keep writing!

What an excellent thing you have wrought into being. Shikako won me over from your first chapter; a determinator who is curious, methodological, patient and honest with herself. 'I want to be special' indeed.

She's come along way from merely inserting herself into the narrative-verse of your Naruto. As time went by she seems to have fully embraced her new world. You have several call backs to herself before her days of the Self-Insert, but there are all perfectly placed. No huge mope sessions about 'home' but enough flashes to remind us that that is where she is from. Although I wonder if this chapter may lead into more reminiscing due to the technological nature of this arc?

She has her own subset of social circles, she's not out there interacting with all the other characters she might find cool, she's living her life carefully and acting within the bounds of her 'Shikako knowledge base'. I love how she's never tried to self identify by her previous name, and while some of her old world values still stick she's been pragmatic about the whole thing. She hasn't tried to 'fix' the world because apart from yanno things, she can't/shouldn't be the one to change societal values like federalism, or killing on a mission or even the quasi-patriotism Konoha has going on because it isn't necessarily broken, just different.

Your home-verse characters are viable samples of humanity as well! Sasuke's almost personable but not at all removed from how he is in canon just a Sasuke who went down a different path. Still jealous, and anxious, determined and scared. I particularly loved with deep abandon how you and also Shikako have handled Sasuke. I'll admit to a lot of rage and derision on my part about canon!Sasuke, a new chapter would bring miniature tantrums to surface , and to see him where he should be is a relief that to an ache I did not even realize I had, oddly enough. While I am tempted to simply bog you down with mindless praise about every other single character you have writt- oh who am I kidding?

Naruto - not a dullard, progressing, you gave him friends during the academy (yay for love) chunnin!Naruto / responsible!Naruto, you didn't even try to restrain his awesome power just used more thinkingly, I'm pretty sure if I were twelve I'd be right there with Hinata crushing on him.

Shikamaru - the twining of hands when Shikako was void natured (or is that shadow natured?)(him initiating it, I mean), the protective older brother (squee!), the white knuckled grip on the railing in the Chunnin exam before Shikako forfeited, calling her 'Kako', letting his sister boss him around but taking up leadership when it suits him.

Kakashi - paying attention to each of his students, seeking out that missing 'duckling' who had a nightmare, holding still in the bell test when Shikako had him pinned-ish, how awkward he is to hugs, listening to his students, protective of them when he's been away or something has happened, late excuses (not your invention I know but you obviously put thought into keeping him in character with each one), his reaction to the team photo that Shikako's mother took.

Ino - sometimes not knowing if she was trolling everyone with her Sasuke love, her ability to small talk and be sociable, the slits in her eyes after she got 'tangled' with another entity, her frustration at being as she perceives 'weak'.

Kiba - protective and in some cases understanding, able to take good nature ribbing, helping his team mate even if he's got a knife in his gut and the only thing he can do is ask his pup to help her, being 'recruited' to deal with Naruto's 'energy' in the Academy.

Chouji - A character of few words who still manages to radiate warmth, thinking he might be the only one able to go toe to toe with Shukaku's size and still managing to be determined about it, never begrudging Shikako companionship

Hinata - How could anyone not love Hinata, your Hinata in particular has girls nights and kimono's in her life. I'm very happy for her.

Shino - You have his 'statement "why?" expansion' dialogue down pat.

Obviously I'm beginning to run out of steam, but rest assured that all were loved, I was even tempted to talk about you Sakura, Jirarya, Tsunade, Orochimaru, Third Hokage, Sand Sibs, Gai, Team Gai, Iruka, Konohamaru corps,Kotestu ect. This could have gone forever.

Your world is alive too. Not just you characters, although people do make a place. The various, codes, histories, sealing knowledge, bingo books, healthy ninja suspicion, border skirmishes, ally interactions, Shodaime trees, shinobi nail polish, out posts, and all the other wonderful world details.

You've obviously put a heap of thought into this, and it shows. I know I've been doing nothing but praise and you may be tempted to take it with a pinch of salt, but let me assure you that no condiments are needed. I'm just sorry that I don't have the drive to type a whole lot more.

Hm, where to start… well I guess I should start at the beginning. When I first started reading DOS, I was intrigued, but I didn’t know –why– until I got several chapters in. It was very interesting to see someone go through the process of having to relearn everything from simple movement and coordination, to a second language and social interaction. But you didn’t stop there; you also included learning the sense of chakra. With the sensation of chakra explained in the terms you provided, I could actually imagine it. Your explanation was so relatable that I was able to conjure a phantom impression of having chakra in my own body. It felt amazing.

Another thing you deserve kudos for is world-building. I’ve never seen another fanfic author build up Naruto-verse to the extent you have. I’ve seen world-building done in Naruto fics before, but you expanded on every detail and implication and came up with an intricate history and inner working of the village that is simply impressive. And to top it off, you went to the painstaking trouble of making ninja villages feel travelable; like I could actually plan a trip to Konoha and possibly find an apartment there to accommodate a job or something. Not only did you give life to Konoha, you also gave the other villages a realism that simply doesn’t exist in most fics.

And if that wasn’t enough, you’ve given your main character profound naturalness and reliability by not making her all-powerful even though she has such sensitivity to chakra. I’ve almost never seen an author not over-capitalize on an ability that even Jiraiya is impressed at; it was very refreshing. Shikako's knowledge that she is lowly and limited and unable to change everything allows the reader to connect with her on an intimate level. Her confusion & fears & love & caring & introvertedness & social troubles & desire to help the people around her & drive to become someone others can depend on; all of these and more make Shikako feel like a human being, rather than a character. Absolutely everything about her personality screams ‘true’; ‘accurate’; ‘something she would do/say’; ‘Shikako’. I’ve actually been surprised at how many authors, published or otherwise, either cannot keep –their own characters– in character, or fail to provide adequate explanation for that character's actions. You, however, seem to have no trouble whatsoever pulling this off and I am thoroughly impressed with your ability to keep –absolutely everyone– unquestionably in character.

Your realism extends further by allowing the reader to watch and –see– how team 7, and all the teams really, grows and matures and learns the important lessons of life. You even included Shikako’s growth in your writing. In explanation, at the beginning of DOS it felt like an inexperienced fanfic author was writing (in correspondence with Shikako’s timid and awkwardness), but gradually the writing became University-Professor-level as Shikako grew into her personality and role as a ninja.

I'd like to congratulate you. Of all the fics (Naruto or otherwise) I've read on FFN, there are less than a dozen of which I hold in such high standing that I would love to see them animated or converted to manga. Yours is now one of them. Really, animators should pick this story up and release it as ‘Naruto: Rewritten’ or ‘Naruto: The Nara Chronicles’ or something. Unfortunately, if this fic –were– to be animated, it would lose something of itself because all the detail and depth and emotion simply could not be portrayed with complete accuracy. It is perfect just the way it is.

I really, REALLY love this story. It's up there in with what I consider to be the best fanfictions around.

You've really managed to make an incredible OC in Shikako. Such amazing OCs are really difficult to come by, in my opinion. I love reading in her POV, especially considering she really thinks things through, and it's not just the typical SI I come across where the OC simply goes "Okay, so this is how t happened in the show, so it's not like things are gonna be different here, Naruto and Sasuke will protect me like they did with Sakura, blah blah." Shikako has her head firmly on her shoulders, and she knows that nothing in her new world is absolute. I really enjoyed watching her develop from relying so heavily on Shikamaru into someone that others rely on. I definitely hope to get the chance to draw some fanart eventually!

I'd have to say my favorite parts of the story so far would be the Forest of Death, when Shikako killed the three Sound nin, and while I'm on the subject of the Chunin exams, I got super interested when the Nara twins were paired against each other. At first I was a bit disappointed that Shikako forfeited, but I understood why she would. I was interested in knowing if Shikamaru was really scared of her though. Anyway, I'd say my all time favorite part was when Shikako switched herself for Sasuke and took Itachi's attack, and everything in the hospital that came after that. everything was just so intense, and I couldn't stop myself from reading.

Honestly, I was a little surprised about Sasuke not accepting Orochimaru's help, but not in a bad way. I'm interested in seeing where you will go with this, and part of me is still wondering if he will still end up leaving the Leaf. But I do love the interactions between him and Shikako, which I found a bit surprising because I'm not Sasuke's biggest fan. The tiniest bit of me hopes for a potential pairing there, but considering Shikako's really a much older person reborn into a young person's body, that could also be very strange. But it could be entertaining if he sort developed those feelings for her and she was trying to avoid that kind of relationship because of how awkward it would be for her, haha. But that would probably be a bit OOC for Sasuke, considering Itachi's his biggest priority.

I'm also very interested in how you're going to tackle the time skip. Part of me really wants to see at least some events throughout that time, but I'll understand if you want to just go right to Shippuden's events, I'm excited for that too, anyway. And I'm also very interested in what's going on with Ino, with Orochimaru's eyes and everything. It's really a very interesting idea, and I feel bad for the poor girl, especially when she wanted to quit, but I'm glad she's not. Ino's another character I'm really indifferent about in the show and manga, but somehow you've managed to make her, and a lot of the other characters, a lot more likable to me, without messing with their personalities at all.

One thing I always find myself hoping for more of is more insight into the brother/sister relationship of Shikako and Shikamaru. So I'm happy with the little arc you've got going now because of that, haha. I still do hope to see more moments between them though, but I might be biased because I love Shikamaru so much as a character.

I hope you get the chance to update soon, and in the meantime I'm going to go back and read it again, haha. Keep up the amazing work!

I think that what we're finding is that many people are confusing their own personal opinions with a more... un-biased qualitative review.

I don't enjoy dreaming of sunshine, Its not what I want to read. But the quality of writing, the plot hooks and the characterization are very good. You may hate the characters, you may find the plot hooks to not be to your taste, and the writing may stylistically not fit your particular area of comfort (as in my case), but they're well designed and well used.

'I didn't like it' and 'It wasn't my sort of thing' and such are perfectly legitimate opinions, but they don't mean that an entire genre is bad, just because some people don't like the genre.

I love this fic, I couldn't stop reading it until i got to this point! A thoroughly enjoyable OC falls into fic, which was done very well.

I would love for your OC to get Sage mode soon, as well as a summon of some sort simply because i was secretly hoping for Sage Mode ever since her sensing abilities were made known to the readers early on.

My only annoyance with the series is filler content. I don't exactly HATE filler, but i would have rather had original content, or advancement to actual canon stuff (Like arriving at the time skip as an example)

I appreciate that you had to do this due to giving her missions and more experience in order to get gradually stronger, as well as giving us some plot advancement. I just wish that we could get to the REALLY good stuff soon.

Either way, you are doing awesome. Please update soon!

I like this story, but I really hated that Shikako didn't get promoted. One of the main differences between Genin and Chunin is being able to lead teams, which Shikako has demonstrated and Naruto would be terrible at seeing as his tactics is generally charge in and spam clones.

I really think Shikako should be getting more recognition. She performed well in the Zabuza fight, she came up with the Water Storage Scroll strategy that both Shikamaru AND Sasuke used in their fights during the Exam finals and she lead the team that stopped Gaara. It's stupid that she didnt get Chunin rank.

When it comes to SIs you really need to take what you get. DoS isn't great, but it isn't awful either. It just suffers to a ridiculous degree from bad pacing and a rigid adherence to to filler. Pulling the Strings is mostly just worth the read for the expansion upon Suna politics, which I haven't really seen much about in other fics. It's kind of like the HP SI "In Bad Faith" in that way; come for the SI, stay for the family politics. There's no way to follow the rails of canon if canon hasn't started yet, after all.

But yeah, there are definitely better fics. It's just that perception tends to be a bit skewed when observing small pools of reference, like the sub-sub-subcategory of Naruto SI Fanfiction.

I'm really liking this story. You've managed to make a self-insert that has seamlessly integrated into the Naruto canon in a realistic way (as in, not being crazy overpowered with 10 bloodline limits and so on). Not only that, you explain many of the inconsistencies within the show and make it sound good, as well as pull off some great changes to the show's events.

This is one of the few stories that I can say is "better-than-canon" that could possibly have happened, since you don't leave characters like Sakura or Sasuke (common targets to the bash-hammer) in the dust. I'm looking forward to the next chapter and the next one after that.

I just love this story. I have read and reread it almost 10 time now since around when it had only 15 chapters and each time I just love it. It is a rare story that stands the test of time like that and I think it is yet more proof that this is excellently written. Your ideas are fresh and innovative and I really think that you have made the original story much more interesting. I keep wishing this was the actual canon because you don't bash characters and you elevate your female characters which I just love (their friendships are amazing and I can't gush about them more because they are wonderful) and Naruto is great but he isn't the "chosen one" like how the manga has turned out to be and sasuke isn't the irredeemable irritation he is in the manga either. The only thing I feel sad about is Sakura but even though she isn't in the spotlight you still gave her development and let her grow and change even though it wasn't in the forefront.

I also love all your sidestories and the other semi-SI because it give us a glimpse of the world outside of naruto and it is really cool.

I'm glad you're taking this opportunity to point out the weird nature of their ninja career by mirroring it to Shikamaru. Must be shocking to see his sister like this, but I think it was also important that he sees what her ninja life is liker. Maybe it'll motivate him to step up earlier on.

I don't understand why people complain about "filler", I for one like that it's not always just canon because these "breather episodes" are great for character interaction.

Still, I gotta admit I'm looking forward to the Gaara rescue arc once it arrives. After all, it'll be the next time she meets Itachi, I assume. I just look forward to their interaction because she knows the truth but is also carrying a tiny amount of trauma left from the Tsukuyomi, but it might not be nearly as much as HE expects (I got the impression he actually thought the damage he dealt was fatal, from that side story). I think Itachi might be forced to re-evaluate his opinion of her, again.

I still ship her and Sasuke, because I like the mental image of him getting frustrated that she doesn't seem to notice his interest (because she's still mentally older so she doesn't even consider it) and simultaneously sweating at the thought of navigating Shikamaru. Good times. I clearly love to torture Sasuke. Though, I hope Shikako will give us some inkling at how she plans to deal with the clusterfuck Uchiha situation, I can't imagine her letting things just roll on their "natural course" since she already won the tug-of-war about Sasuke's loyalty she played with Orochimaru.

Speaking of which, I dearly hope Sasuke won't be excerpt from every movie. I like their improved team dynamic and I feel left out by proxy when he's not also there getting into trouble and invoking the C-to-A-rank curse.

I absolutely love this story! Shikako is such a great OC. The depth and emotion of her character is wonderful, as well as your depiction of the canon characters. The alterations to the plot are big enough to be interesting, but not drastic enough to ruin the story, which is a huge accomplishment made even more thrilling through all the juicy details and subplots. Please do continue; I can't wait for the next chapter!

2014

I love the way you write! It shows the Naruto way so differently, almost completely new. It further delves into relationships, allies, and the history.

Could you please stop being so amazing? It's so blinding. :D

Ive read DOS over the past few days and i have to comment on how great Shikako is. She has such great bonding with eveyone that it isnt so OOC which is really hard to do without being a MarySue which she isnt at all! She smart, reasonable, great personality and follows well towards the whole Canon. I really hope you continue further into this great masterpiece!

This story is absolutely amazing, there are occasional errors but they're minor and don't break the flow of the overall story which is freaking brilliant, I ADORE this story and I have to say it's probably one of my favourite fanfictions of all time, the relationship between Shikako and her family and friends is awesome and the moment in this particular chapter where she almost dies had me almost crying, I really would LOVE to see Shikamaru's point of view on what happened. I really hope she doesn't ever get found out as a reincarnation, I feel like that would cause so, so many issues between her and all the people around her and it would be just too much drama and angst to handle. I absolutely love this story and I love the character you've created and can't wait to read more!

I have caught up on the mother of all SI stories! yosh! *victory pose* well, technically I read all of this story, then read most of the chapters again in reverse order because I obviously know how to utilize snow days properly... then came back and realized that you'd updated! yay!

TVtropes directed me to your story, by the way. and it certainly deserves the recommendation. Shikako is an entertaining OC, and her interactions with everyone else are believable to me.

amusingly, this story is also serving as a crash course in non-manga events for me, too, since I've never watched the anime properly, nor any of the movies, such as the one we're in the middle of right now. your version of the details of the Naruto world is also impeccable, as well. I'd never given how exactly seals work that much thought before...

so, thank you for writing an excellent SI-fic! and clearly inspiring so many others into existence... XD

This is one of the most amazing and well-thought fanfictions I've ever read. I've read it from beginning to end three times now and I am still amazed by it. The sheer amount of detail and thoughtfulness is astounding and I really enjoy the fact that as well as the general story arc you delve into the movies as well. So many self-inserts merely follow the plot but you add your own touch to it, explore areas of the Narutoverse that aren't particularly expanded on by Kishimoto. This is a beautiful fanfiction and I look forward to the next chapter!

Well, this certainly have been a ride, I'm so glad I found this fic when I suddenly got a craving for Naruto fanfics, I'll admit I had some healthy amount of scepticism when I first started to read, though it quickly went down the drain as I just kept reading. I absolutely love Shikako, and I love reading her thoughts and opinions, and her interactions with the different characters. While I sometimes finds the "filler-missions" to be a bit slow, it still makes me happy to just be see more interaction between Shikako and whomever she's stuck with/meet.

I LOVE that Sasuke didn't follow the original path, while he still got the awesome curse-powers (wonder how they're going to bite him in the ass at a later point?), and the whole fight felt so hopeless (worst game of Steal the Bacon ever) and I sat on the edge of my seat the whole time. Though it makes me happy, I'm still a little bit sad because of the way the story will change now, like how Sasuke won't go on on the roadtrip with Karin, Jugo and Suigetsu (though one is already dead, didn't notice that one until I read the TVtropes-page ahahaha), and now Shikeko and Naruto won't have to team up with Sai and Yamoto [sic] in order to go after Kakashi (though I have no idea where you're going, so I hope you'll still introduce them and that they'll still get an important role?)

Now, a few questions, you write that this is an "OC Self-insert", and I'm curious about how that works? Is it "you" who have been reborn (with your memories and appearance) and you're thinking "how would I react" or have Shikako become more of an OC? Did it start out as "you" and get changed along the way (like in "Only a Moron"), or were she already from the start an entirely OC? Sorry if what I'm asking is confusing, words aren't one of my strength.

And another, just how much does Shikako know? Since you use "filler-mission" then this world might be a bit more alike the anime? I know this story is going a different direction than both the anime and manga, but where does Shikako base her knowledge off? And in that case, how far did she get to read before dying?

Hmm, thought I had more questions, but can't remember any more right now. SO to finish off, love the fanfiction, I'm super excited to see you're still active and I'm excited to read the next update :D

I have to say, OC-centered Naruto fic isn't really what I expected to spend my time reading, but I'll be damned if I haven't fallen into a black hole of it. And I have to say, honestly, this is by far my favorite of them - possibly my favorite Naruto fic in general.

My main problem with fanfiction where an OC replaces Sakura in Team 7 is that it just feels like the author is retelling the story exactly as it happened in canon, except the name 'Sakura' is changed. But I was incredibly pleased that never happened here - I never had that weird character bleed where I was confused if I was reading about Sakura or an OC, you know? Shikako has a really great voice - I like how you take some liberties with canon and play around with things, how she interacts with characters that people don't often interact with in fic (Chouji, Ino, Jiraiya, etc.)

I also really like her relationship with Shikamaru. They clearly care a great deal for each other, but it's never sappy or out of character on Shikamaru's part.

Also, "We were stars." I maybe teared up a little bit.

No pressure - but I look forward to whenever you update this again :)

I just want to say this story is amazing. It's definitely the best OC fanfiction story I read. I was wary about reading a story where the main character is a twin to Shikamaru, but wow, you handled it brillantly. Shikako has awesome character development, and that's difficult to do for an OC. She struggles a lot, but she is able to manage somehow in the end. I find her to be a really realistic character. The caring sibling relationship between her Shikamara is really touching and I'm satisfied with her interactions with other characters, such as her father, Naruto, Sasuke, etc. I'm definitely curious on what will happen later in the story.

Uh and well... The only part that I'm not particularly fond of was the filler chapters. I don't really watch Naruto movies or the filler episodes in the anime, so it's just a personal peeve of mine. It's nothing to worry about. Your story is still awesome. Hope to see another update soon!

[...]

The actual fic is fantastic, and it's actually quite fun to watch your writing get better and better (and better) as it goes on, not to mention that Shikako's character development has stayed consistently interesting and coherent and solid over /three years/ of you writing this, which is frankly just impressive. And everyone is in character and, well, it's just been a nice refresher to the Narutoverse since I haven't watched the show in years. It was my introduction to anime, and this fic reminded me why I loved it so much when I was eleven. (I distinctly remember binging the /entire first series,/ even most of the filler episodes, even though fight scenes have always bored me to death. What was I doing watching Naruto, then? I'm... not exactly sure, but I think the theme of PUNCH YOUR PROBLEMS IN THE FACE WITH FRIENDSHIP was too relevant to that part of my life for me to pass up.)

Plus, you may or may not have any idea how lovely it is to read a 300k fic and get horribly attached to the characters, their relationships, and the overall story, see that it was started three years ago - oh man, when was the last time it updated, 2012? Oh, more like last week.

Best feeling ever.

And observation I made: A lot of Shikako's life struggles seem to involve having her mind screwed up or her essence changed. Maybe it was intentional, maybe not, but I think it's thematically appropriate considering that a lot of her character development is based around having the mind of two essentially very different people in her head. It's a pull between different forces, a fight for her basic nature, and that's something that pops up in all of her external struggles too. It just gives this whole longfic a nice coherency.

[...]

I found A Cage of Blood and Circumstance a few months ago, and had my eyes opened to the possibilities of well-written self-insert fics. A quick search on TV Tropes led me here.

I can't tell you how glad I am to find your story. I was pulled in as soon as you started writing about Shikako's experiences as a baby, the torment of being in such a useless body with an adult mind. It's wonderful seeing the world through her eyes. My only excuse for not reviewing sooner is that I could barely pause between chapters, eager to get more.

I love how well you're playing with canon and the fact that certain things have been altered by Shikako's existence/influence. I keep trying to predict how things will change but you fool me every time.

[...]

Well, the whole story hasn't been derailed by the protagonist suddenly switching to a new power set, but I'm sure the stone will be useful at some point...and I am really impressed by your ability to use absurd filler stuff in the service of the serious plot. And still with the good characterization.

I have to say, normally I hate self-inserts as a general rule of thumb. But man, you managed to make me love this one! You slipped her pretty seamlessly into the story. When authors do stories like this they tend to make the character amazingly-important and the total focus of the story, giving them special abilities or attention. You, I think, found a perfect balance. Your character just seems so...normal, but still important. They are not magically the center of the story, but the are a part of it. You made her seem so much more realistic, especially with the desire to be special - because honestly, if anyone ever found themselves in a situation like this they would probably want the same thing. Then you showed character development and flaws, you didn't drastically change the story line and I liked how you handled Sasuke's situation. I commend you on a wonderful story that left me disappointed when there weren't more chapters out. You self-insert character felt realistic and human, with a good balancing affect on the story as a whole.

That was an enjoyable read. I honestly hadn't expected to enjoy the story, given that there is generally a very strong stigmata against Self-Insert fanfiction for a very good reason. Given that the recommendation for your story came from a relatively reliable source, I gave your story a shot anyway.

I had relatively low expectations to start with. When I think of a self-insert, I think of three things occurring: 1) The new character finds themselves as capable or much more than any of the established Protagonists. 2) The new character is quickly attached to their lover of choice. 3) The new character neatly tidies up any plot friction of the established canon.

I am supremely pleased that none of these things have happened. If they had, I would have probably not finished the story as a whole. You have done an amazing job of replacing a main-side character (Not sure how Sakura actually fit into the over all canon as far as importance) with someone else, without co-opting the established status quo.

I think I see very vague hints of Sasuke connecting with Shikako, which is just fine. Hints are okay. They aren't even faintly in any sort of close relationship, and Shikako herself has made absolutely no hints as to her interest in the male characters (or female characters, for that matter). The concept of a self-insert that isn't a device for the writer to "hook up" with their beau of choice should not be a foreign concept, but it is, as stereotypes and tropes exist for a reason. You haven't quite subverted the absolute paradigm of fanfiction serving the purpose of "shipping", as seen with the subtle nudges of Naruto and Hinata, but you also haven't broken any rules of the show or made any of the characters less than they are. I had a humorous personal tangent wondering how Gaara and Shikako would work together. They have had about as much chemistry as any of her other potential matches. That said, I am personally grateful that you haven't written any romance of the sort into the story. Makes it much easier to read a fanfiction that doesn't have romance shoved into the plot.

I think it is actually very interesting that you have inserted Shikako into the Naruto-verse, but yet have written the story with only minor changes to Canon (According to Shikako, at least. A majority of my understanding of Naruto canon comes from your story itself, Team 8 by S'TarKan, and the first three or so episodes of the first show.). The idea of a character that has foreknowledge of events to come, but yet has little ability to actually affect the outcome is extremely likable. An absolute subversion of the Butterfly Effect, which can be easily overdone. I personally like to imagine that the universe is actually pushing against Shikako's foreign influence, almost actively trying to subvert the effect she has on the story. Many times it works, such as her relatively little influence on the events of the Invasion. By contrast, she did happen to change Sasuke's defection (Once again, according to Shikako herself, I don't know much about the canon beyond Shikako's comments on the matter), a small but important victory. It is interesting that the only major canon disruption occurred to someone close to her. Just reinforces my personal view that the Naruto-verse is actively trying to quell or diminish her influence on the world.

I think, however, Shikako is most interesting as a case study in self-inserts in that she is not placed on a pedestal. She is not the best at anything in particular, except, arguably, sealing and killing. She cannot take on Sasuke or Naruto or most of the villains in a one-on-one fight without extreme trickery and rarely that works. She commonly gets wounded and tends to be in the hospital more often any anyone else. Sasuke might have more time locked away, but that is for precaution, not wounds. And every time she ends up in the hospital, she suffers for it, getting behind on training or other events. Even her brother, who has been put into far fewer life-threatening engagements, overshadows her (pun intended, I suppose). The only reason she can keep up is because she just happens to be far more brutal than the other Rookie Nine. She's got a kill count above a couple dozen by now, while the only other person I can think of that has killed someone is Kiba (One sound-nin in the stands, and Kidomaru, whom I cannot remember the name of). Even the kill of Kimimaro was split between Naruto, Sasuke and Gaara, with distributed guilt. Her brother was actively disturbed when Shikako ripped out the Galel of Fugai, which was a good moment. This distinction between her clear lacking in raw ability and her willingness to slay her foes makes for an interesting contrast to the others. I wonder what her first Bingo Book entry will look like. "Versatile, with keen senses, and specialty in explosives. Of the Nara clan and proficient in Shadow-jutsu. Brutal and not above killing, with no confirmed kills but has over a dozen unconfirmed kills, some are suspected of being missing-nin at B-rank or higher."

That said, there are a few times I was figuratively screaming at the plot to throw some sort of wrench into her plans to remain incognito as a person with foreknowledge of events. One of the most interesting side plots I'd love see develop is that someone suspects that she is more in-the-know than she appears to be. There are a few times, such as coming up with the name "Golem" or her triple encryption being temporarily revealed to the Toad Sage or a couple other instances, where I want people to pause and suddenly go, "Uh huh, and how did you come up with that information? How could you even make the connection between Itsuki and the Red Dawn?" or something. The sudden tension in the air as Shikako tries to desperately explain how she knew about molecular bonds because of a non-existent book in the Nara library, rather than her half-remembered chemistry classes. Something. Its just a moment I want to see happen, just because it would be fun. I suppose if Kakashi, the Toad Sage, and Tsunade got together and compared notes in some sort of Konoha secret dossier for Shikako, they might come up with a conclusion from "Shikako is scary intuitive about the inner workings of everything" to "There is no way she could know X, Y, and Z, what is going on?" but that would be a hard jump to make. I just want that sudden moment where she realizes she made reference to something she couldn't know, but does, and someone calls her out.

I am okay with her decision to not reveal her knowledge because she thinks no one would believe her, though I have doubts about that if she told Kakashi or even the Hokage "Hey, you won't believe me, but I know for a fact that the bridge builder is being hunted by four missing-nin, hired by Gatou, a local business manager who runs a monopoly of shipping companies. I will tell you more that I know, but first, please, let's see how this all turns out. If I am wrong, I can be called crazy. If I am right... promise to listen to my next crazy story?"

I don't think I really got drawn into the story because of the nature of Shikako's "reincarnation". Its a conscious breaking of the fourth wall, and it can get a little jarring even as a central plot point for the story. It, in some way, detracts from both the danger she faces and the success she heralds. Even when she is experiencing plots to stories she doesn't have foreknowledge about (Like the latest Galel arc), its all rendered less... gripping, because we know and she knows that down the line who and what is the most dangerous foes in the story, and these side stories are relatively inconsequential to, say, Naruto or Sasuke's growth. The side stories are only for Shikako's benefit in terms of growth. Naruto might gain or lose some small portion as a result of the influence of Shikako on the side stories, but it only matters in terms of the cumulative effect during those upcoming Known Dangers which are far and few in between. Not sure if there is a way to really mitigate the effect, as it is built into the concept of the story.

I think the first time that Shikako runs into an event that she remembers and everything goes completely different and badly will be really telling, as the audience will finally know that things aren't going to stick to canon.

The story was good, well written and I enjoyed it. Not the most amazing story ever, but well worth the time to read it. Thank you for creating the story, and have a great day!

Your writing is excellent, and although I do not usually favour self-inserts, your characters are believable and likable. All in all, this is a great fic. However, I decided not to follow your story, primarily because your pace is slow enough that the plot barely advanced over the past ten chapters. It wasn't fast-paced to begin with, but it seems to slow down over time. At one point it seemed as if the SI and the originality of the fic would mean changes would stack up until your fic spiralled out from canon into something really new, but it feels as if you reined it back in. By using the anime, and in particular fillers, as your guide it ends up as a road to nowhere fast. Why would I want to read about a cat castle, Snow country, or gem golems when I could be reading about Team 7 taking the world by storm (gently guided by Shikako)? This fic is now at 340k words but nowhere near its climax - are you planning to write a million words?

Either way, it was a joy to read (despite not being fond of chapters that add little to plot or progression), and you do write excellently. Thanks for writing!

Excelent story, and the first SI in my favorites I think.

I admit that I didn't have much faith in the genre before, but after seeing your work in a lot of people's favorites list I decided to give it a try on the strength of popular acclaim. Boy, am I glad I did.

The flow in the story has been great so far, and I've grown to like and empathize with Shikako a lot; great character building there! The way everyone has grown and changed has felt very organic; a natural progression that matches the events the characters have gone through. The only potential problem I see, and that I hope you're aware of, is that you're following canon pretty clearly, even if events are slowly rippling beyond the disgusting clusterfuck the manga currently is. This implies that the risk of trivializing characters that you've spent a lot of time building (much better than the original author did, might I add) is pretty real in the face of the power the villains that are coming will wield.

[...]

I gotta say, I'm really looking forward to the next chapter. I'm really liking where this story is going. It's 74 chapters and almost 350,000 words long, it hasn't reached the halfway point yet (at least not the canon halfway point), and it hasn't even started to get stale. Despite its length it's still interesting and engaging and I still end each chapter wanting desperately to know what will happen next.

This chapter especially had some great stuff. I love how you portray Ino in this fic. Many writers just write her off as a weak fangirl, but you've shown that she is a strong person who cares about other people, which can be a very hard thing to do. I like how she and Shikako bond over similar experiences and I can empathize with Shikako; it's nice to have someone who understands what you're going through and supports you in hard times.

I also like that you're introducing some strife between the Nara twins, and I look forward to seeing where you go with it. Hopefully they sort it out and come to an understanding, but I know from first-hand experience that things don't always turn out so nicely.

And I really liked Tsunade in this chapter. As much as I enjoy the instances where Shikako acts like the adult she really is (if she's been to college, then she has to be over 30, mentally) it's refreshing to sometimes see her have no idea what's going on. Tsunade has completely surprised her, and she has no idea what's gonna happen next.

It seems like we're wrapping up the pre-timeskip part of the story, and Naruto will be leaving soon. I'm a little disappointed you skipped over the Trap Master arc (I think that was the first time they are ever referred to as the Konoha 11 in the show), but I'll get over it. I'm guessing we have at least the Ultimate Weapon arc left before Naruto leaves. At least, you seem to have hinted at that with Naruto's mention of helping people in the Land of River. I hope we get to see some of Shikako's training before you skip ahead. I was always disappointed that the manga never really showed any of Naruto's training. With his luck, he must have gotten caught up in at least a few adventures. He probably saved three different princesses and prevented a war, and we'll never learn about it thanks to Kishimoto.

Alright, it's getting late, and my head is going weird places, so I'm going to end this here. Keep up the good work; I look forward to the next chapter.

You know, somehow Sasuke and Shikako interacting gives me feels. I never liked Sasuke as a character, but your Sasuke kinda makes me like him and how they complement each other. They have their faults, yeah but they help each other out, provide for the other and come out stronger together. GAH. Idek I only hope Shikako develops a love life after all these troubles hahahah

Hello, this is the first time I'm commenting on your story Dreaming of Sunshine. I would like to state first and foremost that I've not read/watched any Naruto prior to the Pein invasion arc so you'd have a little context as to where my thoughts on the story come from. Most of my knowledge is garnered from reading other Naruto fanfics in which I've obtained interest in after reading a crossover between Naruto and another anime/manga.

I don't normally read Naruto fanfics with an OC as the main character but the contrast between the title and summary really caught my eye (sunshine, confusion terror). Or just the summary. The summary was a really nice eye-catching sort of summary. And then your introduction of the story caught my attention. All of the OC insert stories I've read involved sending someone in to some part of the Naruto universe as a teenager and with the intent of matching them up with one of the existing Narutoverse characters, so it was a big welcome that this story hasn't and hopefully will never be focused on romance.

One of my favorite parts of this story is the fact that Shikako's a Nara. I like reading in my bed using my cellphone when all the lights are out, so the fact that the main character used shadows appealed to me greatly. Another part I liked was the fluidity of your writing. Other than a few minor grammar errors here and there, the story is relatively easy to read after the jargon is deciphered. Compliments also to the writer and editor(s) if any for your chosen writing style and form. It stayed mostly consistent throughout the 75 chapters I've read through. I've also really enjoyed your use of the first person narrative as it allows the reader to feel the emotions and pain felt by Shikako moreso than it probably would've had it been third person. A tiny congratulations as well for creating a scene that was able to make me cry. I don't remember which scene exactly since, well, 75 chapters and a reason I'll state later, but you were able to make me cry, something I've probably only done once or twice in all of the fanfiction stories I have read.

The reason I stated I would state later is that since I've not actually read most of Naruto, my knowledge is actually very limited on the Narutoverse. The current chapters between the Sasuke retrieval arc and the three year time skip is beyond my scope of knowledge as most fanfictions do not cover them. As a result, I've not really had an idea of how most of the characters looked like, acted like, or whether they all actually exist in the Narutoverse. Leaving most of the past few chapters to my imagination, I've not really developed as much of an interest as I had in the earlier chapters. On that train of thought, that doesn't mean they aren't interesting to me, but just that they're more confusing.

One of the parts I disliked the most about the story was her inconsistency in Shikako's knowledge of the universe and her memory. I found the part about her forgetting Kabuto or even the scene where she wasn't sure whether the Grass nin that handed Anko back her kunai to be very unbelievable. If I'd been sent into the Narutoverse, I'd probably remember all the villains that played a major role in shaping it, like Orochimaru and Kabuto and not necessarily some more minor characters like Zabuza and Haku, who she seemed to remember clearly.

A second dislike I had for the story was when Shikako started branching out into too many subjects of interest (shadows, sealing, Tsunade's strength, resistance seals/any other self improvement training method, etc.). From what I know of the Narutoverse, there's very little time in between the start of the show and the three year time skip and it just feels like you're cramming too many skills into her, and at her current rate, it feels as if she won't excel in any of them even after a three year time skip (if you're even planning one that is). She feels pathetically weak while being able to survive the most unbelievable situations at times. I'm not saying that's bad since that was how Sakura was, but she seems to have more contact with Death's door than Sakura did (again, from what I know of the Narutoverse).

Nevertheless, I found this story extremely exciting to read and hope to see another update soon.

I hope you dont cover EVERY filler arc. By definition there is no character development and the plot doesnt move forward in filler. Then again some things are cool with how you did it, like the bit about Konoha finding out about Hanzo not leading Rain anymore.

I hope you somehow let her keep the Lightsaber, though realistically they would never let her lolz...

Man, I haven't reviewed for a while even though this work of yours deserves every little thank you for how well you've been writing each chapter and the evident determination you have to keep going with this monumental task. I've been reading for a while in the reviews section of people feeling antsy about your decision to keep going with the filler arcs and while they have good points about foregoing that section of the Naruto-verse, I'm continually impressed about all the little details you have on Shikako's growth for these recent chapters. They will no doubt be a huge game-changer when you come around to the main storyline; it's kind of like collecting puzzle pieces from each chapter before finally laying them all out to make a bigger image (and then proceeding to have my mind blown).

So yeah, this is rather slow-going, but I'm still ecstatic whenever I see your updates appear in my inbox. I wholly enjoy this track you're going on, how you're making the filler arc have actual repercussions for later, and just how important it is to write about Shikako's memories of each moment because, as you already know, this is her life and you don't really skip that. I also can't wait how Shikako's relationship with Shikamaru will develop. It was such a heartbreaking moment when Shikako realized she couldn't quite rely on her twin anymore and I really want to know if that will ever be repaired. (I am also guilty of wondering when the heck the romance is going to come in for Shikako at whatever age because I'm a cliché sap that way, haha.)

Gosh, your notes for this story must be enormous. Anyway, keep writing and keep having fun with this!

Whoops, we just sent the children to a place where they might blow themselves up!

And, wow Sasuke such angst, you're hitting me with the feels!

I love that you're including the filler arcs and the movies because it's rare to see people actually do and so many people don't like the filler arcs that a lot of people don't want to in the first place. This story is just fantastic and words can not describe how much I love it. I'm loving seeing how things would have went if Sasuke had stayed in Konoha, and Shikako just makes it all even better.

This story is great and I can't wait for your next update!

I really enjoy the way you've been melding filler and canon into a single beastly story in a way that really just works. I'd have to say that my favorite bit of it has been having Fu appear after the Hero's Water mission because of how it revealed an interaction that couldve/shouldve happened during that filler if canon had revealed that piece of information earlier .

Still enjoying this "filler" part of the story, liking the fact that your handling it more seriously than the episode did. You certainly captured the gravitas of the situation.

he really good thing about the filler arc is that it made a bunch of characters who never spoke to each other in canon interact. That's pretty much how I feel about Shikako sharing scenes with all the Konoha 12, except you write it better. And what's the chance you'll have Shikako on a mission with Sasuke and Neji? Because she's in no shape to play peacekeeper right now and Sasuke got the chance to have an opinion about Neji in canon, so I'm quite fascinated by what you're doing there. Actually, the way Shikako has changed as a person so far is amazing in its own right.

So for starters, I just wanna apologize for barely reviewing even though I've been around for the last three updates. I've been swamped with college :(.

Anywho, this story is seriously brilliant. I love how you incorporated the stories to intertwine along with Shikako's personal life with so much detail, such as the clan, her interactions with the Konoha 12, her relationship with her twin. Speaking of, we really need Daddy dearest to show up and set things straight with his little shadows. I can only imagine it ending in tears, because holy hell does Shikako deal with some heavy shit, only to have her brother actively trying to make her stay in Konoha. That would eat at my confidence if I were her. When I was rereading, I noticed the whole thing at the Waterfall Village when whatshisface gets like, beheaded I think, and Sasuke was like, 'that was anticlimactic'. Then later, Shikamaru not reacting well to seeing his sister tear through someone's throat and seeing Naruto's blase reaction to it. The Sevens really don't have normal missions and damn if the rest of their friends aren't going to notice soon. Their experience is bound to make more than just Shika uncomfortable.

I know everybody is still young, but I know people have been asking for romance already, particularly Sasuke. During the timeskip though, I can totally see Kiba and Shikako briefly dating. Call it witty banter all ya like, when puberty hits Ino and I will call out flirting when we see it ;). But hey, your story, your romances. I'll probably love whatever it is you do. Geez, Shikamaru is such a looker post-timeskip so we know Shikako will be just stunning :).

One more thing. Shikako calls herself the Nara without a plan. However, I disagree. Understandably, she isn't as brilliant as Shika, but I always figured she reads situations with people better. Like, he plans for the immediate future, while she plans for the long term, what with the war looming. She's even getting her team, as well as the kunoichi, stronger by always reinforcing their better habits and freely giving tips, instinctively knowing what is best for them. I think Tsunade and Jiraiya noticed this? The whole, unexpected questioning of her (nature chakra, Kurama girl...) has been getting me thinking about how far they believe her intelligence really lies. She can piece things together well and I'm just hoping for someone to acknowledge it :).

I lied, I lied, One more thing this time, I swear! I reeeaaallly love how you managed to show how much Ino trusts Shikako, like in the Rescue Sasuke arc, the look she gave her, that she would break direct orders without hesitation if Shikako decided it was best, similar to how Chouji treats Shika. How Ino only told Shikako that she might quit being a ninja- I just really love that they're practically best friends. Shikamaru as well, to an extent. Her 'gut feelings' that he that he has never questioned, just always accepted as a part of her (that is pretty accurate, he's bound to have noticed).

I hope for an update soon! It's been awhile, but don't let anybody pressure you into writing if you get busy with life! And with that, I promise to review every chapter from here on out. Have a good one

I am amused that Shikako isn't feeling the heart-warming from this one. To her, Genno is the jerk that made her afraid the lives of a bunch of children and forced her to run around in fear all day. Also liked the way her paranoia about Danzo and ROOT continues to ramp.

Other than that, well, I'm not sure what to say. This arc read like what it was originally, a Naruto-focused story that demonstrated his shonen-style faith in others will be rewarded. Which is important to him, but we're getting everything from the perspective of Shikako as one of the bit players to whom the whole thing was just a frightening pain in the rear. She didn't learn anything very important or have any values affirmed or any of that from this arc. Which I get maybe that's the point you were trying to make, but I can't help but think that a story whose moral is "and no lessons were learned" could just as easily have been skipped.

Nice to see Shikako being competent in a pressure situation, I guess? Anyway, looking forward to the next chapter where it looks like we'll get more original material with Yakumo (and Sasuke?) while Naruto is enjoying his land of the sea arc.

I admit, I am getting a bit sick of all the misfortune that befalls Shikako. Getting passed over chunin and all, despite being largely responsible for all the successes that were failures or phyrric victories in the manga. Then she adds to Konoha with her creative mind with regards to techniques and seals and gets constantly crap for it.

I guess it is more realistic in that there should be some control over things as to prevent people from blowing up parts of Konoha with seals but I guess it would be appreciated if she weren't drowning in anxiety, stress and shit from people above and around her.

She should have been made chunin a long time ago and really needs some recognition and respect. I am sure she has the latter even though we don't see it as much as she is a bit of a flawed narrator and doesn't seem to notice all that often but it would be great if she got official recognition via rank or position or something and not just flak.

I finally reached the end. Oh my god, that took a flat week and a half. So, so worth it.

Okay, so, general fic review- this hits every fanfiction sweet spot, and even more SI OC spots to boot. I love that you poured such a massive amount of thought into the world and how seals work, I love how you put so much effort into building up Shikako's relationships with the other characters, I love how you assume a weak memory because I haven't watched the anime and I recognize NONE of these filler arcs, at all. The careful explanations are appreciated.

I also massively appreciate how every single decision has some level of gravity to it, and people get injured and emotionally battered and flat-out die. I thought it was pretty good during the Land of Waves arc, but it accelerated with such massive violence that I don't think I'll ever find anything this fantastic for an OC fic again. The attention to detail and conflict is so succulent, so perfect, everything fits into the rhythm and I honestly feel like I'm living through Shikako's life in this world. It just feels REAL.

And you know what else feels real? The relationships! They change, and react strongly to the events of the story, from Sakura's individual interest to Lee's discomfort gradually dissipating to Ino's tender mental state after the failed possession to the tense relationship with Shikamaru, just, auaughh, they aren't characters anymore. They're solid people. I'm so emotional, basically all the time.

And the fact that Shikako is such an absolutely emotional, unreliable narrator. Pretty sure I went 'DOHOHOHO' out loud when Jiraiya learned about her notebook and she assumed he thought poorly of her. I feel so submerged in her mentality while also being conscious of how things actually are and it's amazing how much skill is required to maintain that cognitive balance.

AANND the way Shikako slowly amasses powers; her sharp chakra sense and sharper mind makes her far more talented than her companions...and then Sasuke and Naruto snap right up to her level, and they work on new abilities together. They're basically equals, in one easy transition. Also, Shikako learns about seals, but she doesn't make anything big. Even so, you can FEEL how huge her knowledge pool is. I was like, "YO", when she did that massive deconstruction of Sasuke's curse seal, y'know? It felt huge. It genuinely felt like a RESULT, because I spent the fic up to that point reading about her working her ass off to get that sort of information. The story tells you in exact detail exactly how smart she is, again and again, and how she got that smart, and I love her so much she's brilliant and I'm so excited whenever she thinks of anything ever. Shikako is so good.

Also, just the entire Gelel arc. Full stop. I watched the movie on a whim before starting up on it because I was having trouble visualizing, and I'm glad I did, because DAMN. Holy god. Holy god that was the best thing I've ever read in my entire life. Holy god I don't even know what to do with myself that was just. Holy god

What else. Is there anything else? Right, the way canon is altering. WAY out of left field, and it excites me how far out of the box you're going, here. The stuff with Hidden Cloud and Sai are completely unexpected, and thus extremely exciting to see pop up like this. I'm excited. I'm nervous and tense and I need to know what happens, because I've sworn myself in to this fic, my life was truly never complete without it.

Bless your soul and all that. I'm going to go mop my forehead and lay down a bit, I worked myself up a bit there. Wow. WOW. I'm not sure even half of that made sense but it's really late for me and I should be in bed but WOWOWOW

I've avoided your story for years because of the self insert tag. I finally made myself read to first chapter on Thursday evening, and I lost my entire weekend binge reading it. Thanks for the good time.

That said, I can't help but feel your dragging out the filler/movie arc for too long. I'll admit, you've managed to work them into the narrative much better than the actual show, but I'm really looking forward to getting back to the main plot.

It's funny how puzzled they are whenever a mission goes like it should. Poor Naruto and Sasuke haven't really gotten used to it like Shikako has. Then again, she's just better at adapting than they are sometimes.

This is an interesting take on things. I don't like the idea of replacing Sakura, but I can't say the boys have been worse off because of it. If anything, they're better. I can't lay all the blame on Sakura though, she was a fangirl and doesn't have the foreknowledge that Shikako does.

Anyway, I'm disappointed by how little she remembers. I wasn't expecting crystal clear details but passing familiarity with the movies and some triggers would have been nice. I guess it's because I'm one of those people with a rather clear memory of the shows/manga I'm interested in.

Still, she's done an amazing job. I just wish things would pick up a little so she could pin Akatsuki to Hidden Rain. Although why Sai has shown up so early, I wish I knew. Is Danzo really so stubborn as to pursue a "weapon" that's been made unusable? Actually... forget I asked that.

There's a lot more I want to say but so little time on my end. I do have to say that I love the Team 7 dynamics. Kakashi is more invested this time around.

Yeah, Naruto ending... to be honest, it's hard to believe it actually ended after running for so long. I'm just glad that DOS isn't over yet, I've gotten so attached to Shikako that I would gladly accept this as an alternate cannon. Once again, the chapter was very well written and continues to be a compelling and addictive story. I'm excited to see what you have in store for us next! Also, I'm really happy that you updated when you did! It's my birthday today, and this is kind of like a super epic birthday surprise. Thanks for all the hard work you put into this story, and I hope you have a great day too!

I love how Shikako has kinda been creating her own spy network, like Jiraiya. It'd be great to see this expanding more into Shippuden. Next thing you know, Naruto comes back and is flabbergasted by all the connects Shikako as made while he was gone, all helping aid them in their mission. ;)

Also, as a side note (one I'm sure you're sick of hearing), I'm sorry to say that I've gotten really bored with all these filler episodes. I mean, I love how you have little things here and there popping up that fit into the greater plot, but other than that I just really want something big to happen again. Is there anything you can let us readers know about what you have in store time-wise? Again, sorry to be a pain...

Anyway, absolutely love your story and can't wait for the next chapter regardless! :)

I hadn't read Naruto since around 2008 before I started reading this, though I have been kept filled in on the plot developments via my cousin and reading Narutopedia lol. Reading Shikako's story made me really feel the nostalgia and reminded me about how awesome the Naruto world actually was, so I have to thank you for that! Also, you're actually making the fillers interesting (plus I love their tie-ins to deeper plot elements like the twins' relationship, events happening in the background like the prison break and the invasion which required Kakashi's attention during one of the missions explaining the lack of jounin and the mishmash of the regular teams, etc.)

Anyway, will be avidly reading and reviewing when you next update :)

I just saw your calendar for the story. I'm really glad you made it, it really puts things into perspective. God, the twins birthday is coming up, followed by Ino right? That is gonna be so awkward if they're on bad term still, poor thing.

Shikako, baby, quit leaving evidence around. Better yet, stop doing things I feel are gonna get you in trouble. Chances are, if you feel guilty keeping it, don't keep it. I don't think that the Hiraishin or whatever is necessarily bad to have around but if she's keeping it hidden people are gonna wonder why she did it. Other reviewers have really cool ideas (extending shadows and stuff?)

Interrogation skills ante up. Growing up with (I'm assuming) Inoichi as a pseudo-uncle you pick up a thing or two.

HP reference for the win. Like, not only does she have inspiration for sealing from her past life, but from the literature and cinema from it as well. Geez, she really is the Hermione of the Naruto world, huh. Oh Sai. Sai, Sai, Sai. Glad to see you understand how things are run around here.

Time for ghosts! God, Shikako is gonna freak the hell out. As if she hasn't had to change her worldview already. Eagerly awaiting the next update!

This is a very well written and nicely paced story. You do a good job moving from world building and characterization to action and back.

The only criticism I really have is that this doesn't really seem like a self-insert and the entire fore-knowledge angle seems so under-utilized as to be unnecessary. You could write Shikako simply as Shikamaru's twin without any of the reincarnation stuff and it wouldn't alter the story much at all. All we get about the "Before" life are vague generalizations, and all we get about the foreknowledge are reasons why Shikako shouldn't act on it.

I understand you are trying to explain why she doesn't try to alter things, but you seem to take it too far. The parts where you had your character point out Orochimaru at the preliminaries and the subtle comments to Ibiki were good, I think the story should either have more of that or cut out the whole foreknowledge angle altogether.

Re-reading this and thoroughly appreciating all the details I missed and/or dismissed before. I will admit I've also noticed typos/misspells/redundancies more than I did last time, but they're so completely outweighed by how much fun I have reading this. It's just so darn logical, and honest. There's no exaggerated bashing, just pragmatic appraisals (e.g. Naruto's character). Shikako even turns this insight on herself, acknowledging her own flaws and biases. And dude, the freaking details; I didn't even notice the earring commonality, and didn't even think about the complexity of chakra strings. You even touch on the patriarchal nature of the Narutoverse (no thanks to Kishimoto's sexism) and relate her new life to her old knowledge without being too in-yo-face about it (e.g. the University comparison). I do wish there were more (fluffy) family scenes, but it' snot that big of a deal. I'm super happy to have a fic to read that actually makes sense. Brings a happy tear to my eye. :')

I recently stumbled upon your fic and I am so, so glad. Been re-reading. Love Shikako, love the characterization of her and the other canon characters. It's been a couple years since I've watched Naruto (and stopped watching Shippuden early on), so like Shikako, my memory of canon events are kinda hazy, so it's been fun watching her go through these events while trying to remember how things actually went in canon.

One of my favorite things about this story, is Shikako's relationship with the other characters. Love her relationship with Ino, Sasuke, Naruto and wow Shikamaru's. I will freely admit that I was weeping buckets along with the characters during the Gelel thing. It's a bit sad to see how the aftermath has affected their relationship, but it's totally understandable. It's going to take a bit of adjustment on both their parts. Looking forward to if and how they repair things.

I really like how you've developed all the characters. Ino has definitely become a favorite of mine. She's more fleshed out, becoming more than the silly fangirl, I remember in canon. Really like what you did with her, and how it was Shikako and Ino's conversations after their respective injuries that seemed to get them on the road to healing. I can ship it in a few years. ;)

I like how she's working with Sakura on the strength enhancement. Won't Tsunade be surprised-because I have no doubt that at least Sakura can master it, and that Shikako will have a workaround even if her chakra control isn't 100 percent. Although I feel like it should be, she's been toying with it since babyhood. Also, any cameos of Shizune, soon? Maybe as her mentor, if Sakura doesn't become Tsunade's apprentice?.

Her banter with Kiba. Getting Yakumo socialized (that spar and splitting herself, pretty cool). Her bond with Sasuke and all their conversations (especially the one about Konoha making strong ninjas). Her helping Naruto (shadow kunai totally rocks) and how both of them work in tandem, tag teaming people they're trying to befriend or scold -Temujin, Fuu, Gaara and of course the subverting of Sai. Hers is just slightly more calculated (and logical) than Naruto's of course, but even with all her calculations, there's a strong element of kindness and concern that runs through her manipulations.

On a side note, so cool about the stone of Gelel shadow transformation, especially if it can store her chakra. (She can't "hear" her stone, but can others sense its otherness?). If she masters it, really it's like the ultimate offensive and defensive jutsu. What can injure shadow? She'll be able to fight in the dark, escape being tied up, no eyes-so can the Mangyeko even work on her now?

Anyway, very much enjoyed reading and definitely anticipating the next chapter.

Well, seeing as I've read this story several times, I suppose it's time for me to stop being rude and leave a review. This has to be one of the most influential fics out there, taking the internet by storm, and the praise it has received it well-earned. You've clearly worked hard at crafting your OC and adding layers to the Naruto world; ones I doubt even Kishimoto-sensei even thought of. You're clearly very committed to developing the story and characters, as not many authors would even bother going through the filler arcs. Although, I suppose some of the less tolerable ones can be skipped (CoughTheBeetleOneCough) since Sasuke is still here and they were devoted to bringing him back. Which leads me into another point. You've managed to humanize Sasuke, adding to the potential depth he had in cannon and fleshing it out nicely here. The influence your OC has had on the plot hasn't been too large, but I feel like the changes she's wrought are enough and make sense. I mean, the whole plot doesn't revolve around her, and one girl (or technically woman) isn't going to be able to fix everything. Although, her loss of memory of her previous life could be fleshed out a little more, and I'd be curious to see what she does and does not remember. Also, I adore the brother/sister relationship between Shikako and Shikamaru, and you've written him as the caring/protective brother I imagine he would be. All in all, you are a very talented writer, and I hope to see this fic continued. There's clearly a lot of effort behind this story, and I appreciate a writer who takes the time to craft her stories for her readers. Now I must put an end to this overly long review, and bid you good luck in all you do.

Honestly, I skipped most of the fillers, so I have no idea about what the source material 80% of these chapters are. I will say, though, that you do a great job capturing the characters' personalities. Speech patterns especially. Most Shinos I see don't even bother with the "Statement. Why? Explanation" format.

Great to see an update from you. Keep up the good work :) Cheers,

Eiruiel

I think you've done an awesome job exploring the changes that your self-insert has wrought with her presence. I normally don't enjoy reading self-insert fanfic, but this one was highly recommended. When I found out it was in first person, I kind of did an eye roll and thought "Here we go...". Some [82+Prologue] chapters later and I have thoroughly enjoyed how you've managed everything. Your self-insert made mistakes and struggled with imperfection. She didn't have all the answers, despite being forewarned. There's definitely a high level of tension that kept me clicking onto the next chapter because I HAVE TO SEE HOW THIS ENDS that was alleviated with some of the more lighthearted chapters, such as the mission to obtain the pawprint, so that a reader doesn't get fatigued with all the stress. The first person perspective makes everything so immediate and brings us right into the self-insert's struggle to make things better. It's also very easy for readers to watch her make decisions and take a second to think "How would I fare in this situation? Would I do better? Do things differently?"

There was definitely some distracting lack of apostrophes in previous chapters throughout, but I forgive you because I actually enjoyed your self-insert fanfiction and I never enjoy self-insert fanfiction. You also did an excellent job of making the canon characters develop in believable ways. That's a very tricky thing for authors sometimes, since some changes come across as out of character and becomes a turn off. Sasuke, for example, and the decisions he makes when the Sound Four come for him, was fantastic. I hate Sasuke so much, he's always come across as so selfish and that was an arc that really clinched my attitude towards him for me. You made me like him and have a little respect for his strength of character in this AU. It's easy to go to the person who claims the ability to grant you ultimate power, especially if you believe that you can negate any influence they might be able to exert over you. It's hard to see that easy path and reject it so that you can find power on your own terms, especially when you can't see whether that will be the right decision.