RED (fanfic)

RED is a Naruto fanfiction which is a collaboration between authors Sherbet Mayhem and Oil Pastel that crosses over with/is based on/is inspired by Markus Zusak's The Book Thief. Set in an alternate setting to BOTH stories, it features the cast of Naruto and mimics the writing style and follows the the rough plot outline of The Book Thief. Konoha, no longer a village of ninja, replaces Germany, "Leaves" replace the Germans, the titular "Reds" replace the Jews and Orochimaru replaces Adolf Hitler. The story follows Sakura (who loosely takes the place of Liesel Meminger, the protagonist of The Book Thief), as she grows up in Konoha under the looming shadow of war, trying to come to terms with the increasing oppression of the Reds- most especially one Red who takes shelter in her family home, a boy named Uchiha Sasuke.

While the story initially seems like a Cookie Cutter Fic, retelling the plot of The Book Thief with the names of Naruto characters and places plastered over the original story, it takes on a life of its own and deviates wildly from the original source material into unpredictable territory. Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke may have taken the roles of Liesel, Rudy and Max, but they make these roles their own and fill them out with their own personalities. The resulting story is gripping and emotional, not to mention a fascinating read as Sherbert Mayhem replicates the unique writing style of Markus Zusak, with the story narrated by a nihilistic, fourth wall-observing and somewhat Lemony Narrator who occasionally gives a guest spot to Death/Time in the form of a vulture.

Absolutely nothing to do with the comic book of the same name, or the film based on said comic book.

Tropes used in RED (fanfic) include:

• Anyone Can Die: Not that any of the major characters HAVE yet, but the narrator repeatedly assures us that things will not end well and despite Sasuke finding Itachi's hat in the camp, the last time we saw Itachi he was staring down the barrel of the same gun that had just murdered his lover with no apparent possibility of escape. Also, Chapter 18 ended with Yahiko being shot dead by a camp guard.
• Black Market: One of these is being run in Camp 001 by Nagato, Yahiko and Konan; they bring Sasuke in on it too after he saves Nagato from a beating, or possibly even summary execution, from a sadistic guard.
• The Blacksmith: Itachi and Sasuke run their parents' blacksmiths together. In 001, Sasuke is able to use his skills to leverage better working conditions for himself, Nagato and Yahiko.
• Blatant Lies: When Sakura comes in contact with anti-Red propaganda being circulated by the government, describing how Reds are subhuman, immoral, malevolent, ratlike creatures, she can only roll her eyes at how blatantly ridiculous and obviously false it is, "designed to dupe only the stupidest of citizens into believing that Reds really were inferior."
• Children Forced to Kill: When Naruto is bringing Sasuke to hide in Shikamaru's house on Crystal Night, they get caught by a Fang guard. What happens is vague, but it is clear that Naruto stabbed him to protect Sasuke, possibly fatally.
• Continuity Nod: Despite being a completely seperate story from Naruto there are a number of these to these original manga:
  • Where Rudy in the original book was one of a large and poor family, Naruto is an orphaned only child whose father was apparently someone of significance in the previous government (reflecting how in the manga he is the son of the 4th Hokage).
  • The Cut Apart scene in chapter 3 is a direct homage to a similar sequence in chapter 144 of the manga/episode 83 of the anime.
  • The girls all train as nurses in the fanfic, reflecting how Sakura and Ino trained as medic-nin in the manga (although Hinata never did, even though she also trains as a nurse here).
  • The resistance group Naruto, Hinata and Shikamaru join is called FOX.
  • Kakashi has Obito's red left eye under his eyepatch, a memento from when Obito died saving him in the last war.
• Cut Apart: In a possible nod to a similar scene in Naruto, the scene where Naruto is taking Sasuke to safety on Crystal Night and a Red comes to Kakashi's door at the same time seems to be suggesting that Naruto is bringing Sasuke to shelter at Kakashi's house, before revealing he's actually taking Sasuke to shelter at Shikamaru's and the Red at Kakashi's door is Itachi come to ask Kakashi to look after Sasuke for him. The dialogue even matches up to make it seem like a single scene.
• Demoted to Extra: Tsunade takes the place of Ilsa Hermann, one of the most important characters from The Book Thief, but as the focus of the story has shifted her character has been reduced in importance so much that she never even properly appears in the story.
• Foreshadowing The narrator regularly gives blatant warnings about how things are going to turn tragic for several characters (most notably Naruto and Hinata, although the Sword of Damocles has not fallen yet).

They don't care. Their hearts are pure, and their heavy souls vindicated by their desires. They will run into the abyss, together, if only to bring down the fence, the Fang, and the Fourth.
The vulture is laughing at them. You can hear him guffawing from where you sit.
He will not stop.

• Happily Adopted: Although most of Liesel's story about being adopted by the Hubermanns has been stripped out, it still mentions that Sakura was fostered (and apparently the 4th Hokage was responsible for her losing her "first Mother"). She loves both her parents unconditionally despite that.
• Happily Married: Kakashi and Anko, despite what it may look like.
• Healing Factor: In the story's only real nod to non-metaphorical fantasy, Red's have special "superior" blood- it's compatible with any other blood type and has vaguely-defined regenerative properties- apparently it "heals well" and clots more consistantly than other blood groups. Although this attribute hasn't been displayed in the series yet Sasuke may be about to put it to the test after being shot and badly wounded in chapter 18.
• The Heart: Hinata is described as this to the FOX resistance movement- and to Naruto.
• In Medias Res: The Prologue chapter describes events from the end of Chapter 7 before cutting back to start the story months earlier in Chapter 1.
• Jerkass: Hidan.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Anko (who takes the place of Rosa Hubermann) is just as abrasive and foul-mouthed as her predecessor, regularly addressing Sakura as "Forehead" or "Pig", but is still a loving mother and a magnificently compassionate and caring individual when someone is in need of help.
• Karmic Death: Hidan bullies Kakashi into giving him his seat in the front of their truck and Kakashi just can't be bothered fighting him over it so he lets him have it. When the truck has an accident and rolls over, Hidan is the only casualty because of where he was sitting.
• Killed Off for Real: Yahiko, possibly intentionally mirroring his fate in Naruto canon.
• La Résistance: Naruto joins a movement dedicated to helping the Reds and brings Hinata into it too. She eventually brings in Neji.
• The Messiah: Hinata; chapter 10 revolves around her and is called 'The Dark-Haired Angel'.

Naruto knew that Hinata, with a soul so desperate to give, would forgive him every iniquity if she was given the chance to save a single person.

• Mismatched Eyes: In one of the more obvious nods to Naruto canon, Kakashi has the red left eye he received from Obito. Unlike in the manga, though, it doesn't have any special powers.
• Never Got to Say Goodbye: Tragically played with; when Sasuke is caught by Fang, he plays the role of an intruder who intended to rape and murder Sakura so her family won't be punished for sheltering him; Sakura manages to save his life by taking the deception one step further and insisting that he be sent to suffer in camp 001 rather than being executed. They can't even share a final look for fear of giving the truth away.

Sasuke is gone before she can look at him again. There is no desperate, romantic meeting of the eyes, no whispered last words or bitter smiles. She fails, even, to catch his scent, bloody or not, as he is deleted from her days.
He is simply gone.

• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Averted, the Reds are identified by their red eyes, but are just normal people in all other regards. However, this is what the Konoha leadership would have people believe of them.
• The Reveal: Followers of Naruto may wonder why the Fourth Hokage is ordering such evil things, until chapter 6 when his name is first used by Sakura: "Lord Orochimaru".
• Shout-Out: In the chapter 4, 'Howl', the book Sakura finds herself reading and eventually has no choice but to burn at the book burning is Jewish poet Allen Ginsberg's famous work 'Howl'.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: Sakura and Sasuke.
• Unlucky Childhood Friend: Naruto towards Sakura, although he ends up falling in love with Hinata instead anyway.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Naruto and Sasuke.
• Wham! Episode: Chapter 15, 'The Things We Love'. Sasuke is discovered and dragged away to the concentration camp.
  • Chapter 18, 'Battle Scars'. Naruto and Hinata finally reunite with Sasuke, only for them to be discovered by guards. Sasuke is shot, Yahiko is killed.