Loyalty

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Once upon a time Haruno Sakura was recruited as a spy. What follows is a tale of her struggles under all the difficulties this entails. Most would be crushed- under the pressure, the never-ending questions (do they know, do they suspect?) and the constant prodding, demands for more information. Instead of melting down, Sakura rises to the occasion, heroicly.

"What a horrible night to be lurking around."

Sakura's story follows her repeated attempts to circumvent her Curse-Seal, recover information without arouseing suspicion, and survive both the rigors of ordinary ninja life while simaltaniously evadeing discovery.

Loyalty by A True Radical Dreamer is remarkable for both exceptional pacing and general quality, and a realistic portrayal of espionage- such as it is in a world like Naruto.

This fic comes highly reccomended.

Tropes used in Loyalty include:

• Anyone Can Die
• Becoming the Mask: Sakura notes her own corruption, it worries her at first. Then she gets over it.
• Cloak and Dagger: Fun times!
• Darker and Edgier: And how!
• Deep-Cover Agent: Sakura. Also Kabuto.
• Determinator: Sakura at the climax of the Desert Recue Arc- Holy Shit!
• Dishing Out Dirt: Sakura gets a major power upgrade- and several earth jutsu -due to some serious motivation via Kabuto and knowing Naruto is the Kyuubi container.
• Death by Disfigurement: Poor Hinata
• Driven to Suicide / Dying as Yourself: A major theme spanning the first two arcs. Subverted, played straight, and then double-subverted by Sakura. She attempts both, then fails, as she lacked the willpower to go through with it. Then when she confronts Hinata's murderer it is played very straight and subverted, because Orochimaru still has use for her...
• Guile Hero: Sakura.
• Properly Paranoid: Sakura.
• The Mole: Sakura, unwillingly, for Oto, and specifically Kabuto. From the other side of the fence we have Danzou
• Nightmare Fuel: What happens to Hinata.
• The Spymaster: Kabuto, also Orochimaru, a little higher up the food chain.
• Shoe Phone: Sakura gets her missions via a disguised journal sealed inside an (apparently) blank scroll.
• Tear Jerker
• Teen Superspy: Brutally and mercilessly deconstructed AND played straight.
• Talking Through Technique: An interesting case, musical notation is used as code.
• Wham! Episode: The Desert arc. Full stop.
• You Are Too Late: Sakura though she made it in time...
• You Can Barely Stand: The end of the Desert Arc.