Team 8: Difference between revisions

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[[File:Team_8_Commission_Art_by_bibliophile20_4393.jpg|frame|[http://fav.me/drn7rv The new team].<ref>A scene from Chapter 5, 'Difficult Preparations'.</ref>]]

 

''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2731239/1/Team_8 Team 8]'' is a ''[[Naruto]]'' fanfic written by ace author S'TarKan (known in some places as Viridian or Evil Author Lord) which has risen to near-legendary status in the Naruto fanfiction community, especially among Naruto/Hinata shippers.

The story is noted for being an exceptionally organic take on the source material, with all major characters being fleshed out and well developed. With Naruto and Hinata now being on the same team, naturally the story is a Naruto/Hinata pairing, but Shino and Kurenai also receive their fair share of attention, with Kurenai in particular receiving a fleshed-out background that has so far only been hinted at in places.

 

 

Of related interest is ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3079936/1/Snapped Snapped]'', a Team 8 AU also written by S'TarKan, which is a one-shot scenario detailing what it would take for Hinata to... well, [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|snap]].

* [[An Aesop]]: Kurenai likes to turn various mishaps into inpromptu lessons for her genin, asking them what they can take away from the experience.

** [[Family-Unfriendly Aesop]]: Some of her lessons are quite harsh, such as teaching Naruto that some people will simply ''never'' accept him, regardless of what he does.

* [[All of the Other Reindeer]]: The effects of this on Naruto's everyday life are explored in more detail. Vendors who don't outright refuse him service instead overcharge him. He isn't allowed to open a bank account, and it's heavily implied he gained a reputation as a thief as well as a vandal from unscrupulous businessmen exploiting and exaggerating his prankster antics to dip into a fund set up by the Sandaime to pay for any damages done by him. Then there's the academy therapist that intentionally gave him ''horrible'' advice, and the med-nins who don't want to treat him...

* [[Alpha Bitch]]: Sakura initially shows some traits of this, which are actually in line with her canon personality at the beginning of the original series. Some of her actions in the initial chapters are so mean, that Naruto ends up [[Love Hurts|heartbroken]] and decides to stop pursuing his crush with her. {{spoiler|Later, during the Chunnin exams, she overhears a conversation between Naruto and Lee, where the former dissuades the latter of trying to win her affections, telling him she only has eyes for Sasuke and is not a very nice person to begin with. Sakura reflects on this and realizes that [[Heel Realization|he is right]]. From then on she tries to become more amiable towards other people. She also starts criticizing some of Sasuke's more [[What the Hell, Hero?|unsavory actions]] and even begins to question her crush on him.}}

* [[Alternate History]]: Kurenai is known to have a different history than in canon, Team 8 results from this.

* [[Amazingly Embarrassing Parents|Amazingly Embarrassing Parent]]: Amusingly, Shino's mom invokes this trope when Naruto and Hinata visit the Aburame household for the first time. It's even [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]].

{{quote|'''Shino:''' *Embarrassed sighs*

** Naruto does this on behalf of {{spoiler|Hinata to Neji.}}

** Kurenai does this on separate occassions to both the Third and Jiraiya regarding Naruto's poor upbringing and unfair treatment in the village. Unlike the other examples presented here, both [[Daddy Had a Good Reason For Abandoning You|had decent reasons and good intentions,]] [[It Seemed Like a Good Idea At the Time|eventually realized they made serious mistakes there]], [[It's All My Fault|and feel incredibly ashamed of how things turned out]].

* [[Chekhov's Classroom]]: Subverted. Kurenai teaches the squad a jutsu to charge one's fist with electricity, and informs them of how useful it is against an enemy wearing steel. In the following chapter when {{spoiler|the group is fighting 3 ninjas and one of them turn his skin into steel, you'd think Naruto would use this jutsu. Instead he uses the Kyuubi's power to punch a hole in the guy's chest.}}

** Earlier, a psychiatrist speaks individually to each of the new genin, saying [[It Gets Easier|the first time they kill someone while on a mission is the most difficult]]. Except for Naruto, who he coldly dismisses as a monster who will probably enjoy killing. This comes back to bite him in the ass ''hard'' when {{spoiler|ANBU Black Ops show up and take him away for interrogation}}.

** Back in Chapter 4, Kurenai's explanation of how to realize you're in a Genjutsu involves searching out discrepencies. This is how {{spoiler|she managed to break Itachi's Tsukuyomi.}}

* [[Chekhov's Gunman]]: {{spoiler|Haku.}} In chapter 9, Team 7 (which includes Kiba in place of Naruto) explains the result of their mission {{spoiler|in Wave Country. It's mentioned that Haku survived the fight with Zabuza and was brought back to Konoha with them.}} In chapter 12, Sakura is surprised to see {{spoiler|Naruto escorted by a Chuunin proctor to the bathroom.}} Finally, in chapter 18, {{spoiler|that same proctor is revealed to be Haku, who helps the Sandaime in the battle against Orochimaru, heavily affecting the outcome of the fight.}}

** A condensation jutsu used to gather little amounts of water from the surrounding atmosphere [[Mundane Utility|in order to accomplish menial tasks]] (like refilling a canteen). {{spoiler|By supercharging it, Naruto creates a [[Making a Splash|giant torrent of water]] that he uses to decimate Gaara's sand shield during their fight in chapter 17.}}

** A brief chakra pulse used to cancel genjutsu; generally a short-range tactic, it's limited by the amount of chakra put into it. {{spoiler|By supercharging it, Naruto creates the equivalent of a chakra [[Electro Magnetic Pulse|EMP]] capable of covering the entire village and disrupting all kind of techniques beside genjutsu. In chapter 17, Naruto uses it to cancel the genjutsu that Kabuto puts on the stadium during the invasion to the village, but the pulse is so big it ends messing up other jutsu in the area, particularly ''those neccesary for Orochimaru's plans.''}}

** [[Jack of All Stats]]: Shino. He has no trouble at all keeping up with the rest of his team but lacks Naruto's stamina. He's physically stronger than Hinata, has a longer reach than both of them and recovers faster but he doesn't react as fast as she or Naruto do. Kurenai combines this and her [[Squishy Wizard|genjutsu moveset]] as the team's [[Kung Fu Wizard]].

** [[Lightning Bruiser]]: Thanks to the supplemental training in taijutsu he is taking with Gai and Rock Lee, Naruto has gradually turned into an example. This is especially evident during his fight with Gaara in the Chunin Exams. {{spoiler|He not only manages to outrun the other jinchuuriki's sand defenses, but hits him so hard that Gaara ends up with a concussion}}. And that's not taking into account the [[Super-Powered Evil Side|Kyuubi chakra]], which not only increases his speed even more, but also gives him enough strength [[Oh Crap|to punch through metal]].

* [[Crazy Prepared]]: Naruto strangely enough. During the Forest of Death chunnin exam the characters kept mentioning how they had no idea why Naruto brought X item but it sure came in handy: e.g. he brought multiple collapsible tents by himself and other things.

** This is Hinata's influence. One way her poor self-esteem manifests is that she always makes sure she has any item that she might foreseeably need, within reason. (In canon, Sasuke is too self-confident to carry just-in-case items and Sakura's priorities are too warped for her to prepare for every-day or life-and-death situations.) Naruto notices this tendency in chapter nine (after Naruto throws up during a training session, Hinata offers him a clean cloth and cup of tea from her thermos) and decides he should emulate it. Being Naruto, of course, he doesn't worry about the 'within reason' part.

** [[Know When to Fold'Em]]: Kurenai actually brings this up earlier when the team is just formed: don't keep fighting a losing battle that is, in the grand scheme of things, unimportant, especially if the only reason you're still fighting at all is [[Nobody Calls Me Chicken|pride]].

* [[Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?]]: Naruto, did you just break {{spoiler|Orochimaru}}'s nose?

* [[Drowning My Sorrows]]: How Kakashi coped with his own sensei dying.

* [[Dying Moment of Awesome]]: {{spoiler|Kurenai forces [[Mind Rape|Tsukuyomi]] to its logical conclusion, ''[[Badass|breaks it,]]'' and gets head-shotted for her trouble. [[Tear Jerker|We'll miss you, Kurenai.]] [[Manly Tears|*Sniff*]]}}

** Part of the fun of this fanfic comes from seeing all the divergences in the plotlines from canon that have resulted from this event. For example, {{spoiler|it's mentioned that the events of the Wave arc happened with a team 7 including Kiba in place of Naruto. As a direct result of that, Tazuna died but Haku survived. And as a direct result of ''that'' Sarutobi survived his fight with Orochimaru because Haku was there to back him up}}

* [[Four-Temperament Ensemble]]: Naruto is sanguine, Kurenai is choleric, Hinata is melancholic and Shino is phlegmatic.

* [[Fridge Logic]]: ''Invoked'' by Kurenai during her [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]]. {{spoiler|Itachi traps Kurenai in Tsukuyomi and tortures her with her worst nightmare, an image of she and her team being torn apart by an angry mob. Kurenai defeats the illusion ''by making it more realistic'' and imagining [[Unstoppable Rage|what Naruto]] [[Super-Powered Evil Side|would do]] [[One-Winged Angel|if Konoha]] [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds|killed his teammates]]}}.

* [[Friendship Moment]]: Hinata calming Naruto down after his first kill, Shino verbally tearing into his family for their treatment of Naruto, Naruto visiting Hinata in the hospital and {{spoiler|Hinata and Shino comforting Naruto when he goes to pieces at Kurenai's funeral.}}

* [[Happily Married]]: Appears to be the case for Shino's parents, despite or perhaps due to being [[Different As Night and Day]].

* [[Happiness in Slavery]]: {{spoiler|Hinata is more than willing to be Tsunade's personal assistant for six months if it means Tsunade will return to the village to help Naruto and so that Hinata won't have to go back to her [[Big Screwed-Up Family]].}}

* [[Heroic BSOD]]: Naruto starts to have one of these after he makes his first kill, but Hinata helps him snap out of it before he gets too angsty.

** After hearing from Itachi and Kisame that {{spoiler|Kurenai was [[Boom! Headshot!|killed]]}} Naruto [[Heroic BSOD|BSOD's]] so hard that {{spoiler|Kyuubi temporarily takes over ''completely''.}}

** Eventually, both {{spoiler|Neji and Sakura}} realize that they could stand to [[Took a Level In Kindness|be better and nicer people]].

* [[I Hit You, You Hit the Ground]]: Chuunin Exam preliminary battles. {{spoiler|Naruto hits Sasuke out of the Chuunin Exam. Sasuke hits the ground with a broken jaw.}}

* [[I'm Standing Right Here]]: A dramatic example; Hiashi Hyuuga very plainly speaks of Hinata's weakness and uselessness to Kurenai when he entrusts her to train her as a ninja. Hinata is standing a few feet away when he does.

* [[In Spite of a Nail]]: While several of the Chuunin Exam matches are different, some match-ups are the same as in [[Canon]]. {{spoiler|Tenten vs. Temari}}, {{spoiler|Hinata vs. Neji}}, {{spoiler|Sakura vs. Ino}}, {{spoiler|Lee vs. Gaara}}, {{spoiler|Naruto vs. Neji}} and {{spoiler|Temari vs. Shikamaru}}. The ''actions'' in many of this match-ups change due to the altered circumstances, however...

* [[Iron Lady]]: As a jounin and team leader, Kurenai carries herself as one. She ''has'' to, given the chauvinistic mentality of some of the people around her (like a weapon shopkeeper in one of the first chapters).

* [[It Never Gets Any Easier]]: On the eve of {{spoiler|Kurenai's funeral}}, Naruto asks Jiraiya if losing people close to you eventually becomes easier. His response: ''"No, and if it ever does, I don’t want to know you"''. [[Justified Trope|Justified]] as he states that, while some people propose that the perfect ninja is the one that kills his emotions, doing so in the long term becomes detrimental and the ones that subscribe to that philosophy end [[Empty Shell|with no personality of their own]], or worse, [[Ax Crazy|eventually snap]] {{spoiler|like Itachi did}}.

* [[Jerkass]]: As mentioned before, most members of the Hyuuga clan fall into this, including Neji, Hanabi and ''especially'' Hiashi. The members of Team 7 are initially portrayed as this as well. {{spoiler|Turns out Kiba is more of a [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]], who genuinely cares for his teammates but is too brash, while Sakura [[Character Development|eventually realizes the bad elements of her personality]] [[Took a Level In Kindness|and vows to change]]. Recently, like in canon, Neji seems to start changing his ways after Naruto defeated him. It's still in the air whether Sasuke will turn like his canon counterpart or not, but so far his rather [[Curb Stomp Battle|humiliating defeat]] at Naruto's hands seems to be pointing him into a more positive direction.}}

* [[Moral Myopia]]: During their battle at the Chuunin Exam, Kiba and Akamaru use Gatsuuga on {{spoiler|Shino}}... and when Kiba sees his partner was wounded?

{{quote|'''Kiba:''' [[You Bastard]]! You hurt Akamaru!}}

* [[Mundane Utility]]: Shadow clones. Good for supply gathering, gardening, and making take-out runs. Of course, this was sort of a given, as Naruto's first solution to any problem seems to be [[Zerg Rush|'throw a bunch of clones at it']].

* [[My Significance Sense Is Tingling]]: Spoofed in chapter 14. Naruto and Kurenai have a very serious talk {{spoiler|regarding the Kyuubi.}} Given the seriousness of the matter involved, [[Hot-Blooded|Naruto]] decides for once in his life to be silent. Cut to a scene of Iruka suddenly getting shivers, reacting as if a major violation of the Universe laws was happening.

* [[Never Mess with Granny]]: Hi, Tsunade!

* [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown]]: Despite Hinata's increased training and confidence, Neji still beats her within an inch of her life in the Chuunin Exam preliminaries.

** In payback for the above, although it's not a complete [[Curb Stomp Battle]], Naruto ''brutalises'' Neji when they meet in the finals, {{spoiler|finishing up by ''ripping Neji's face open'' when he's already virtually unconscious.}}

{{quote|'''Sakura:''' I never thought Naruto could be so... brutal.}}

* [[Not So Different]]: Shino invokes this in a positive way during his confrontation with his clan's elders:

{{quote|'''Elder''': "He's still a damn demon!"

** [[Played for Laughs]] when Kiba and Naruto get into a tussle right after {{spoiler|fighting the Sound Genin}} in the Forest of Death.

{{quote|'''Shino and Sakura:''' Can't you control him?

'''Sasuke:''' Idiots... }}

** Naruto has a moment like this at the end of his fight with {{spoiler|Gaara}}, but not only in relation to the similarity between him and his opponent, but also in the similarity between {{spoiler|Gaara and Hinata}}. Basically, Naruto realizes {{spoiler|both Gaara and Hinata were raised to believe their existence was worthless and meaningless.}} This revelation upsets him so much that he vows to fix it.

* [[Plot Armor]]: {{spoiler|Oh, ''so'' averted.}}

* [[Poor Communication Kills]]: Kurenai works very hard to [[Averted Trope|avert]] this with her team. For instance, she tries to steer Naruto towards opening up more to his teammates, and works hard to get Shino to understand she's not favoring Naruto over the others by having him train with Gai's team.

* [[Pragmatic Villainy]]: {{spoiler|Orochimaru}} refuses to attack the team in chapter 21 as fighting them {{spoiler|and two sannin with only one arm}} would be too difficult. He still laments being unable to {{spoiler|[[Deal with the Devil|corrupt Tsunade]]}} though.

* [[Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner]]:

** Also a significant one to [[The Terminator]] during Naruto's fight with Neji:

{{quote|"There is no fate but what we make."}}

{{quote|"Your choice of pronoun speaks volumes, esteemed elder."}}

* [[Silk Hiding Steel]]: Hinata has [[Shrinking Violet|too many self-esteem issues]] to truly qualify, but she is slowly getting there. Besides her many moments of combat prowess, the best example might be when she is interrogated by Hiashi {{spoiler|about Naruto using the Kyuubi’s chakra during the border patrol mission}}. Despite being utterly terrified of her father, Hinata deduces he wants that information for nefarious purposes, so she decides (much to her own surprise) to not reveal anything, claiming she didn’t saw or knows what happened. The deception works and a frustrated Hiashi [[Go to Your Room|dismisses her]].

** [[Fridge Brilliance|As she should]], since her hobby ''IS'' studying human psychology.

* [[These Hands Have Killed]]: [[Heroic BSOD|Naruto]] after his first kill. Hinata and Kurenai snap him out of it.

** Hinata when she attacks and hits Orochimaru in the back with a full on Juuken strike in the Forest of Death, and when she goes after Temari to protect Naruto during the Invasion.

** No mention of Shino? Between his bugs and the new kamas he recieves from his mother, the guy has been gaining levels left and right.

* [[Took a Level In Kindness]]: {{spoiler|Sakura and Neji}}, brought on by being told (in so many words) two things: 1) [[Heel Realization|You aren't as great as you seem to think you are.]] 2) [[Hypocrite|Even if you were, you don't act like it.]]

** Later, in full effect when Naruto trains with them 3 times a day while Hinata is in hospital after the Preliminaries. {{spoiler|Especially when Gai himself spars with Naruto.}}

** Eventually, Team 7 demands this from Kakashi in light of Team 8's successes.

* [[You Are Better Than You Think You Are]]: Most of the interactions that Kurenai has with Hinata are aimed at Hinata realizing that, regardless of what [[Abusive Parents|her father]] or [[Big Screwed-Up Family|her family]] thinks of her, she does have worth.

* [[You Are Not Alone]]: Naruto has this revelation during {{spoiler|Kurenai's funeral}}. After bottling up his emotions for most of the day, he finally breaks down and starts crying. It doesn't pass much time before [[Nakama|Hinata and Shino]] appear at his side to comfort him.

* [[Zerg Rush]]: In the final stretch in the Forest of Death, the team realizes that there are probably several traps and opponents between them and the castle and stealth may not get them far. But then Naruto realizes, "We don't have to conceal that we were here, we just have to make it impossible for anyone to pick us out before we reach the finish line." Cue [[When All You Have Is a Hammer|Kage Bunshin]].

** In the Sound and Sand invasion, Naruto spends 30 Kage Bunshin to disable {{spoiler|a Sound jonin}}.

 

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[[Category:Fanfic]]