What do you think?
Rate this book
Time Braid
Sakura thought she was a capable kunoichi until she died in the Chuunin Exam. Now she's stuck in a loop, dying again and again while she struggles to understand her strange predicament. How hard can it be to pass one stupid test? Sakura/Naruto/Hinata
ebook
First published July 5, 2009
3 people are currently reading
126 people want to read
About the author
E. William Brown
8 books1,528 followersHey, folks. I'm just a middle-aged American guy, writing fanfics for fun after a long day at the bit mine.
Likes: Heroes who actually go out and solve their problems instead of sitting around whining about them. Especially if they have to use their brains and do some badass level grinding along the way.
Dislikes: Clueless idiot heroes who survive on pure luck and the bad guy's mistakes. Gritty urban fantasy heroines who cause most of their own problems, and then constantly bitch at the male love interest who has to save them. Whiny little beta-boy 'heroes' who let the girls beat them up, and then wonder why the princess doesn't appreciate their awesome sensitive wonderfulness.
Likes: Heroes who actually go out and solve their problems instead of sitting around whining about them. Especially if they have to use their brains and do some badass level grinding along the way.
Dislikes: Clueless idiot heroes who survive on pure luck and the bad guy's mistakes. Gritty urban fantasy heroines who cause most of their own problems, and then constantly bitch at the male love interest who has to save them. Whiny little beta-boy 'heroes' who let the girls beat them up, and then wonder why the princess doesn't appreciate their awesome sensitive wonderfulness.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 30, 2017
Very cool time travel, even if not the most switched on protagonist in some ways.
Deals well with some sensitive topics.
Deals well with some sensitive topics.
July 5, 2021
So this is my second read through of Time Braid. That's right, I reread fanfiction of an animé I've never even seen or read. I love the idea that was explored, a "Groundhog Day" trope with ninjas and magic.
The female protagonist, Sakura, explores the limits of her power, and solves problems by thinking and reasoning about them. I'm unfamiliar with the Naruto-verse, so I'm not sure how much of what is in this novel is novel, and how much is borrowed, but I feel it is written fairly well, and drags you along with such speed that you don't care about the grammatical errors, the spelling mistakes, or the sometimes cringe-worthy way relationships unfold.
The story is not without its flaws. Gratuitous sex could be one of them depending on your point of view. Gratuitous sex between women who at the same time talk about how they can both please Naruto (a man) could be another, again it depends on your point of view. Gratuitous sex between a woman and a man who has transformed into a woman, well, you get the idea.
Interestingly, the author has also published original work, which I see is available on Amazon. I will have to check that out.
The female protagonist, Sakura, explores the limits of her power, and solves problems by thinking and reasoning about them. I'm unfamiliar with the Naruto-verse, so I'm not sure how much of what is in this novel is novel, and how much is borrowed, but I feel it is written fairly well, and drags you along with such speed that you don't care about the grammatical errors, the spelling mistakes, or the sometimes cringe-worthy way relationships unfold.
The story is not without its flaws. Gratuitous sex could be one of them depending on your point of view. Gratuitous sex between women who at the same time talk about how they can both please Naruto (a man) could be another, again it depends on your point of view. Gratuitous sex between a woman and a man who has transformed into a woman, well, you get the idea.
Interestingly, the author has also published original work, which I see is available on Amazon. I will have to check that out.
February 14, 2017
This and The Waves Arisen are amazing, even as someone who never saw Naruto. Groundhog day style fiction is especially good at inducing a feeling of agency.
July 3, 2017
Okay, I hate to be the overly negative guy, but everyone seems to praise this story into the sky and I feel the need to challenge that. The first start of the story is badly written. I don’t mean that it isn’t my cup of tea, just that it’s bad. See the first time Sakura meets with the new Sasuke:
Sasuke: Hi. I’m evil now and I’m going to torture you because you’re annoying.
Sakura: Say whaaat? I know I used to a bitch to you and stuff, but that seems like, way harsh?
This should be a major chararcter-defining moment that sets the entire stage for the rest of the story, but the way it is written falls completely flat. It also suffers from all of the usual problems with fandom to an extreme degree: Not only are we told that all of the characters the author dislikes are terrible, but he goes so far as to describe how Sasuke has a small penis and is bad at sex. Thanks, guy. Also, Hinata tortures half of the village for half an eternity, but that’s okay because they were mean to Naruto so she’s still a good guy. Uh-huh. For this reason alone it does not deserve to be called a rational story, IMHO.
In fact, the entire first part is so badly written that it took me several honest-to-goodness attempts to get through it, and I strongly suspect that the only reason it got so popular is because of the gratuitous lesbian sex. It’s not that I’m strictly against that sort of thing, but really, it’s just not a valid replacement for good writing.
After that it does get more interesting as the first rational elements start to show up: Sakura stops screwing around (literally) and starts munchkining the world. Here the author shows some real creativity in how she goes about gathering power. It then falls prey to the usual problems of loop fics however, as the story drags on forever with no real plot tension to give it any force. At some point I think she meets the gods as well as a demon who wants to torture everyone the author doesn’t like (of course). I can only assume she also ends up sleeping with her, because I skipped a few chapters at this point, not gonna lie.
Still, I have to admit that the finale is AMAZING. The author’s writing skills greatly improve, and the final fight scenes go a great length to redeeming this story as being both epic and somewhat rational. The resolution to the climax is a bit of a let-down, but at that point I’m sufficiently giddy that I don’t really care anymore. I have to hand it to the author, this part really does deserve all the praise it gets.
So overall, I can understand why people love this story if they started reading it 8 years ago when there wasn’t much competition, and they only remember the originality and the amazing ending. But reading it again after seeing such gems as The Waves Arisen, I have to say, this story did not age well.
Sasuke: Hi. I’m evil now and I’m going to torture you because you’re annoying.
Sakura: Say whaaat? I know I used to a bitch to you and stuff, but that seems like, way harsh?
This should be a major chararcter-defining moment that sets the entire stage for the rest of the story, but the way it is written falls completely flat. It also suffers from all of the usual problems with fandom to an extreme degree: Not only are we told that all of the characters the author dislikes are terrible, but he goes so far as to describe how Sasuke has a small penis and is bad at sex. Thanks, guy. Also, Hinata tortures half of the village for half an eternity, but that’s okay because they were mean to Naruto so she’s still a good guy. Uh-huh. For this reason alone it does not deserve to be called a rational story, IMHO.
In fact, the entire first part is so badly written that it took me several honest-to-goodness attempts to get through it, and I strongly suspect that the only reason it got so popular is because of the gratuitous lesbian sex. It’s not that I’m strictly against that sort of thing, but really, it’s just not a valid replacement for good writing.
After that it does get more interesting as the first rational elements start to show up: Sakura stops screwing around (literally) and starts munchkining the world. Here the author shows some real creativity in how she goes about gathering power. It then falls prey to the usual problems of loop fics however, as the story drags on forever with no real plot tension to give it any force. At some point I think she meets the gods as well as a demon who wants to torture everyone the author doesn’t like (of course). I can only assume she also ends up sleeping with her, because I skipped a few chapters at this point, not gonna lie.
Still, I have to admit that the finale is AMAZING. The author’s writing skills greatly improve, and the final fight scenes go a great length to redeeming this story as being both epic and somewhat rational. The resolution to the climax is a bit of a let-down, but at that point I’m sufficiently giddy that I don’t really care anymore. I have to hand it to the author, this part really does deserve all the praise it gets.
So overall, I can understand why people love this story if they started reading it 8 years ago when there wasn’t much competition, and they only remember the originality and the amazing ending. But reading it again after seeing such gems as The Waves Arisen, I have to say, this story did not age well.
December 20, 2017
This was a very different story than what I was expecting. I really liked the world-building, and although I can imagine someone becoming exasperated with the pace of the main characters' arcs, I appreciated how gradually they figured things out.
Whether it's realistic fiction, high fantasy, or fantasy, I love it when an author constructs an coherent universe with lots of moving parts. I especially liked the contrast between a celestial bureaucracy and a cthonic IT department!
The action was exciting, but the really memorable aspect of the story was how Sakura developed increasingly elaborate introspective abilities. I've never read a story that explores the concept of a "mindscape" so thoroughly.
The erotic stuff was unexpected (the kind of fiction I tend to read isn't what you'd describe as bodice-ripping), but I found it to be well-written, entertaining, and understandable in the context of the characters' situation.
Whether it's realistic fiction, high fantasy, or fantasy, I love it when an author constructs an coherent universe with lots of moving parts. I especially liked the contrast between a celestial bureaucracy and a cthonic IT department!
The action was exciting, but the really memorable aspect of the story was how Sakura developed increasingly elaborate introspective abilities. I've never read a story that explores the concept of a "mindscape" so thoroughly.
The erotic stuff was unexpected (the kind of fiction I tend to read isn't what you'd describe as bodice-ripping), but I found it to be well-written, entertaining, and understandable in the context of the characters' situation.
January 1, 2018
This was one of the better fanfictions I've read. It has an interesting, yet not very novel premise. But the author used it very well to make an interesting plot and interesting characters. Sakura was greatly improved in this fanfiction, but that alone isn't a compliment since she was a useless character in canon. But she was interesting enough.
May 20, 2019
Excessive amounts of fanboy/girl wish fulfillment without any plot relevance. Further research showed it devolves further into unnecessary (and uncomfortable) sex fantasy elements. Also, the plot (despite being an interesting concept) wasn’t good.
The biggest issue is that this is suppose to be rational fiction. Using a time loop to rape teenagers in your favorite manga, with a subplot of barely trying to stop a catastrophe sometimes isn’t rational fiction.
- Dropped Ch 3/31
The biggest issue is that this is suppose to be rational fiction. Using a time loop to rape teenagers in your favorite manga, with a subplot of barely trying to stop a catastrophe sometimes isn’t rational fiction.
- Dropped Ch 3/31
May 9, 2025
Rating: [B-]
I'm a sucker for time loop stories and definitely had my nostalgia goggles firmly on while reading this. It was fun to be immersed in the Naruto universe again but the story quality was a real mixed bag and the less said about the questionable sex stuff the better.
I'm a sucker for time loop stories and definitely had my nostalgia goggles firmly on while reading this. It was fun to be immersed in the Naruto universe again but the story quality was a real mixed bag and the less said about the questionable sex stuff the better.
November 18, 2018
Contains some seriously problematic content which severely threatened my ability to enjoy the story. Read only if you're prepared for that.
August 12, 2020
Meh ...
June 13, 2018
5/5 for a fanfiction of an anime/manga I've never seen or read? Yep.
EWB's signature inventiveness shines through in Sakura's growth as a character.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews