Scribosaurus Recs! - Naruto (Sannin fic)
Spirals by nescione
From the Sannin to the present - a look at how history repeats itself, and how it doesn’t.
Rec!view: It's been ages since I touched the Naruto fandom (most of just exhausts me with its unending awfulness, Mary-Sues and shipping wars) but on request I’ve been scouting high and low for Sannin-centric fic, and though there are some minor nitpicky issues with spelling and grammar this one fits the bill. It's a bit strange to read Jiraiya, Tsunade and Orochimaru when I’m usually more of a current-generation reader, but Nescione writes exquisite characters (so much anger and hurt mixed in with genuine love and themes of friendship prevalent from canon) without having to hammer anything into the reader's head with a big mallet the way some authors do. The understatement cuts their lives into jagged pieces that reflect and slot together in new ways for the reader to examine. It's a stunningly written piece with an ending that’s heartbreaking and magnificent and completely fits with the cyclical nature of the various interweaving character arcs and the plot in canon.
Excerpt:
The third Hokage is sending his best Jounin after the man who had once been his student; all but two do not return. Tsunade holds Jiraiya, only maybe they hold each other; they're both still bleeding and it's hard to tell. It's not enough that they were sent to kill him but failed- they couldn't even bring him back.