Ooh, Orochimaru.

This is an intriguing variation on the canon universe. I'm interested in seeing what new complications you come up with.

I liked ch6 alot, this chapter feels a bit to much of a prelude.

I always enjoy the interaction between the 3rd hokage and danzo. I do appreciated the emphases you placed on the Uchiha clan being a wide spread clan and how difficult it should have been to get them all in 1 go.

I like the characterization of the 3rd hokage, though less sinister than I expected from his graduation speech. A powerful leader who has to make hard decisions.

It's refreshing to actually see Jiraiya working as a spymaster. Most authors seems to forget that part of his character.

I bet the changes in how Itachi spoke to Izanami from canon Sasuke certainly had an impact on the future also. I like the bit about the bijuu, and nice descriptive writing; you got the emotions across quite well.

Amaya? Have you read Black Cloaks, Red Clouds? :P

Well, Orochimaru's being creepy. I liked the way Jiraiya found out the face swap by examing the hands of the group. Have to wonder what the snake Sannin's planning...

I liked this chapter. Was a nice twist, mentioning Uchiha on missions, and the mind read means people know of the sharingan message from Itachi and can get the girl counselling and a way to adjust. Explains her personality from previous chapters.
The mention of Naruto as a weapon and him having training were also interesting. How would he willingly trigger the kyuubi states?

Wow, an author who actually sticks to their schedule. Those are few and far between.

I don't really have too much to say on the story, other than praise, though I have a quibble with the naming for these two chapters. It just seems like, since the second part is present day, it should Interlude 2.

Like what you've done so far, just take care not to go grimderp with your realism (especially since I'm getting the impression that you're going to kill off Naruto and have his Uchia friend possibly snap). I know I probably don't have to warn you about this, but I felt like I should say it just in case.

Anyway, looking forward to more.

Little Sakura is growing up, she has no time for things anymore. That was a very nice bit with the dad.

The creepiness is quite creepy, good job.

The from-above mission given to C-naive genins is a little odd, though presumably there's a good reason. It's a shame Kakashi didn't let them prepare with other C-ranks ahead of time. It seems odd to me that the Wave mission was uneventful, was it just Doylistic butterflies or was the canon eventfulness Watsonianly tied to Team 7? (Does that sentence make sense?)

Promising! Sakura is feeling out of her depth somewhat, but seems competent. She's observant and a sympathetic character, I think I'll like her. Team dynamics are much different, what with two having a pre-existing friendship; she might have a hard time fitting in.

I assume she'll realize Kakashi's lying about the boot fairly quickly; historical precedent of 3-person teams was just brought up, and more recent precedent for lying about the boot occurred not five minutes ago.

Just like to say, you've done a very good, very subtle job making Sakura interested in women. It takes some impressive writing to pull off such a subtle set up.

So that was the best rendition of the bell test I've ever read. It was fantastic in every way. Good gods.

Brought here by Mr. Yudkowsky, really looking forward to more. I highly appreciate professionalism and potential of the pre- and post- excerpts.

This is a very interesting start. The takes on team seven are different variations than usual, and it leads to questions as to how many and deep those changes are: Is Izanami a straight gender swapped Sasuke, how mellow is this more mature Naruto, and how will Sakura survive being a main character? Loving it so far, and I am on to chapter two!