Title: Trial by Ninja
Author: jacobk
Rating: T
Genre: Adventure
Status: COMPLETE - 12 chapters - 100k words - sequel posted
Fandom: Naruto
Summary: To become great, one must overcome great opponents. A moment of inspiration during the chuunin exam puts Sakura on the path to greatness, whether she likes it or not.
Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8235774/1/Trial_by_Ninja
Sequel: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9221236/1/Appeal-of-Authority

This is a pretty interesting and intelligent point of divergence story with Sakura as the main character.

Here is more information about the setup from the author:

It starts when Sakura manages to beat Ino in the Chuunin exams and features a competent Ebisu as her trainer for the final part of the exam.
There's currently maybe a bit too much training stuff compared to the rest of the story, but seeing as some larger stories have pure training for the first 100k words, I don't mind it much.
A big plus is that there's no character bashing and maybe even the opposite of making at least some characters more competent.

It also features a further interesting divergence in the last chapter that I haven't seen before.

Rating: I'm still torn between 4/5 or 5/5 - it depends hugely on where the story will go from here on out. If the following chapters stay interesting and don't become a sort of filler-arc, I will give the max rating.

Updated 27/11/15 - Palindrome

 

I would like to see a well done Sakura-centric story. Seeing her perspective as the teammate to two of the strongest ninja in history would be interesting.

 

I usually stay away from non-Naruto centric stories, but I am impressed with this. Definitely worth reading, and deserves a 4/5 for now. Will probably go up once the big stuff happens.

 

Eh. Not my cup of tea.

I want to give it a 2/5, because I did not like it. However, the writing is decent enough for a 3/5. I find Sakura a particularly uninteresting character, personally.

 

I'm liking this one. 3.5, round up to 4/5. It has good character development, new situations, and with the most recent chapter, the glimmer of things to come.

 

Naruto and Sasuke are still >Sakura, so no worries.
I like this story a lot. Its a nice twist on things, and the 'jutsu retrieval team' is pretty original and interesting. I like Sakura's character too, with her genius not being out-of-character. She's showing that she is a badass, in her own way compared to naruto and Sasuke.

I love the chakra scalpels Sakura gets, but they're a tad overpowered, imo. Kabuto has them because he's a boss and is Kaubto...but Sakura is a genin and its a little unrealistic to have that kind of firepower this early. She touches you in the stomach or heart or head area and you're dead because your organs are fucked up. PRetty awesome.
Still, its still weaker than Chidori, Rasengan, type stuff.

 

Spoiler

I don't think it's strange; it probably would have happened in the manga if they'd brought him back (with Naruto trying to tell an obvious lie so that Sasuke doesn't puninshed, I'd expect). A punishment for him would have been not ever being able to have a promotion or something.

Using spoiler tags when I've not even read the story yet.

 

Spoiler

I interpreted it the way that nothing much had actually happened yet. He was still in the village and had only had a small 'spat' with his teammate. So given that they know he's a bit fucked up after the massacre of his clan and had been influenced and pressured by enemy ninja who shouldn't have been able to reach him in the village, they let him go with a slap on the wrist.
It probably would have been different if they had to go after him far outside the village and gotten casualties and an actively resisting Sasuke, etc.

The way they play up the Chuunin rank, he should probably have lost it, but on the other hand it seems like most ninja have a rank according to their strength and not to their personality.

 

I recently reread this story. It holds up very well in my opinion.

It has been completed at 13 chapters and 100k words. A sequel has been started, Appeal of Authority which stands at 5 chapters with 38k words. (Though it hasn't been updated in half a year.)

The question we talked about in spoilers here was actually explained in the story.

Overall I though it was a nice arc that didn't plod on for too long. There was actually quite a bit of foreshadowing done for different abilities that got important later on.
Sakura's chakra 'scalpels' that seemed so powerful at first, aren't actually that good against some of the stronger opponents they face later on.

I also quite liked that a lot of the fights weren't terribly long and drawn out. A few exchanges and then one side won. Seems more plausible for most ninja fights.

I also appreciate that the characters are still very recognizably themselves. They're a bit different, since events develop differently, but they're not just immediately changed like in many AUs.

Rating the complete first story (and what we see of the sequel), I'd say 5/5.

(Also I can't actually update the OP. Can a mod update the status and put a link to the sequel there? Thanks.)

 

I've been sick, giving me the perfect opportunity to nothing but binge read and find gems like this to distract from the unending torment.

This was really good, with a rather fun conclusion. There's something about a story that actually knows how to end that really makes it stand out against the rest.

My absolute favourite thing about this story was getting to watch Sakura develop to accommodate for what she's best at - chakra control. It's not something I've seen done before, but in this story she turns chakra control and misdirection into her greatest weapons, and the result is a really interesting style that's fun both to see used in battle and to just read about her developing.

The writing isn't stylish in any particular way, (which is often the difference between a 4/5 and a 5/5) but rather functional and direct - I was a little surprised at how much was covered in 100k, so props to the writer there. The whole thing kept me engaged and entertained all the way through reading. I really do like the Sakura that's been built up, and after running out of chapters in the sequel I still really want to see more of her.

I can't think of any flaws to note. Overall, this is really just a lighthearted fun story that does what it sets out to do really well. Don't overlook it because it's not Naruto-centric - I think this will leave you wanting to read more badass Sakura, if anything.

I really can't decide on a rating here. If it wasn't finished, I'd say 4/5. But I must be a sucker for endings, so fuck it:

5/5

 

Has been some time since I've read this but hadn't realized it was in the library.

Mostly concur with Palindrome. It's a good story, manages to accomplish what it sets out to do. I liked the writing, the characters and what happened in general.

The one thing that knocks this down for me is that the story lacks particularly memorable or excellent scenes, that stick in your memory, because while I remember really liking this story and the general strokes, I don't really recall any particular scenes or lines.

For example, the same author also writes the fic where Hermione was sorted in Slytherin and I remember several scenes from that story that I will play in my mind again and again and revisit from time to time. Stuff like the Boggart scene from that, that just smacks you in the face with excellence, beauty and sheer awesomeness is kinda missing.

It's good, definitely fun while reading it and will you make want for more but after a while, you won't really remember much from it.

Still, 4/5

 

No kidding. I literally don't remember reading this any more. o__o

 

I like to go back to threads of stories I've read to see how they hold up after a few months, to see how how memorable they were. At times, even if I really liked the story, they don't really stick there.

 

It wasn't terrible but it wasn't great. If nothing else, it's the best Sakura-centric that I can remember reading and I can appreciate the effort considering she, frankly, sucks for the vast majority of the series and isn't that interesting anyway...

It's good enough and achieves what it sets out to do by making a competent ninja out of Sakura in its own way. I'd say there's a bit too much focus on the training itself in the earlier parts of the story but it does get better.

Having Kabuto around long-term made a nice change as well. I've actually long wanted to see Kabuto strike up a (fake) friendship with Sakura with their shared interest in medicine...and then screw her over with his betrayal. Which doesn't quite happen here on the level I was thinking but close enough.

I wasn't a fan of how Sasuke's defection was depicted here which felt... I don't know. Forced? The final arc made up for that at least.

Spoiler

Though that ending with Kakashi and Orochimaru was pure bullshit.

My main disappointments were that this somehow makes the exact same mistake as Kishimoto by forgetting about Sakura's foreshadowed potential in genjutsu. You never have the opportunity to explore genjutsu in a Naruto-centric story whereas a Sakura-centric one should be perfect for it so I was disappointed by the distinct lack of that.

Similarly, I thought it would explore Sakura's perfect control with chakra enhancement further like when she boosted her speed against Ino. But I'll give it a point for being literally the only story that not only mentions chakra naturally spinning clockwise/anti-clockwise but then actually makes it both relevant and useful.

It did explore medical ninjutsu more than most but that really should have included at least a mention of Yin/Yang Release on the subject. Considering the story was done during the manga's Fourth Shinobi World War, we know about as much on the topic now as we would have back. And Sakura's 'not quite a chakra scalpel' would have been more believable as a one-hit knockout jutsu - which is actually an effect of the Mystical Palm Jutsu - as opposed to a one-hit kill.

So...it's alright but I wouldn't read it again.

3/5

 

Very solid story, and a good and enjoyable read. 4/5 and worth anyone's time.