In another life, Orochimaru never leaves Konoha, opting to remain within the village that equally reveres and reviles him. Fighting a bitter battle against forces within the village that are more influential and well-positioned, he finds himself gifted with one last shining opportunity: three children, a team of genin, handed to him because Konoha has no better choice. Orochimaru agrees to become a jounin-sensei for the first and the last time, taking on the next generation's Team Seven: Uchiha Sasuke, Nara Shikamaru, and Uzumaki Naruto.

[ A gradual exploration of the author's very liberal Naruto headcanon, with a good!Orochimaru (well, sorta good) who eventually becomes the Godaime Hokage. Lots of chakra theory, cool jutsu, in-depth backstories, character development, political intrigue, and den mother Orochimaru feels! Also featuring: BAMF baby Team 7! Be prepared to suspend your disbelief; this will be another one of my long-running intense worldbuilding AUs. Let's go have fun! ]

My thoughts:

This is one of the very first Naruto fics I read. Perhaps even The First. And I've yet to read one that's better.

First, it must be said that this fic combines three things that are basically Mortaki catnip. One, masterful worldbuilding. Two, Shikamaru. And three, Orochimaru not being a traitor.

The depth of the world in this story is... undefinable. It is a world that has history; it is a culture that has weight. Naruto's worldbuilding is already a great starting point in that it's truly quite unique and has an interesting combination of features and conventions that you don't see together a lot. This fic expands and builds on that foundation tenfold. It's a well-researched, well-executed example of what you can do with a world and I find it amazing.

SHIKAMARU MENTION. I love that kid so much. He has always been my favorite. Putting him on team 7 was a genius move that probably would have fixed all of canon actually. And I'm not saying that just because I like him. Konoha is a miltary dictatorship. The genin teams are meant to be cohesive units meant for the various specialties that are essential to such a system. The canon team 7 never struck me as something that made sense in light of that. It felt like no thought was put into the roles the kids would play inside their team nor how their dynamics would play out. Yes, politics were involved with both Kakashi and Sasuke for the sharingan. Politics were involved with putting Naruto on the team with the only people that could control the Kyuubi. But frankly, what purpose did Sakura serve? I don't mean that in a "Sakura is useless" kind of way either. I mean she had very little practical skills and her attitude towards both Naruto and Sasuke would inevitably cause tensions. Surely, this was obvious to anyone looking, right? Shikamaru, on the other hand, is inherently a peacekeeper (I can absolutely see him subtly getting rid of drama before it begins simply bc he doesn't want to deal with it lol) and someone that could pick up on the complicated politics already happening on team 7. Not to mention, he makes a decent fill for both support and leadership positions (which suits Sasuke and Naruto's more combat-focused roles. also neither of them are team players really. they need that guidance lol). It just MAKES SENSE. And it makes team 7 a much more interesting dynamic to explore.

Now. Orochimaru. I'm gonna be honest, it had been so long since I watched Naruto when I read this that I didn't actually know who Orochimaru was at first. By the time I had the "omg is he the creep from the woods?" realization, I was already invested. But since, I've come to appreciate his character a lot more. I like morally ambiguous characters. I like plotters, schemers, and those willing to do a little more than absolutely necessary. Thus, Orochimaru is an interesting character to me in his own right. And I think putting him in position of teaching children is fascinating, simply because his priorities for what count as essential education is going to be so radically different than typical. He is not the kind of person that is satisfied with his students--his legacy--being mediocre. I have no doubt that if his team proved unexceptional, he would have dropped them in a heartbeat. That's actuallly probably why they kept Sakura away from him lol. The way a character like him approaches teaching is less like an educator and more like a sculptor and it is something I so rarely get to enjoy. That's part of what makes this story so precious to me.

TL;DR: If you like good worldbuilding, read it. If you like intelligent characters written intelligently, read it. If you like intricate stories about politics, read it. Frankly, you have no excuse. Read it.