"They say the only thing to fear is fear itself. That, and a motivated Nara." Shikamaru is born with his father's intelligence and his mother's work ethic. The world is turned sideways.

It was their last, desperate gambit. Their last hope. They pinned everything on a prayer that he could save them...and now...he's not even sure if he can make it count anymore.

Life as a ninja. It starts with confusion and terror and doesn't get any better from there. OC Self-insert. No pairings.

What if something made Naruto the dead-last that everyone sees him as? What if he really wasn't as weak as he seemed? The true Naruto, unleashed upon the shinobi world! AU Story starts at Invasion of Konoha arc and continues onwards.

Naruto, fed up with all of Jiraiya’s research, tries to figure out what the big deal is by writing his own book. And Sakura slowly falls in love after reading it.