Sundial in the Shade (слэш)

Naruto is not the only Academy graduate without clan heritage, but he is the only ninja in years to graduate without any talent. His generation is filled with geniuses and everyone is convinced Naruto does not stand a chance keeping up with them. If he wants to be Hokage, and he does, he will just have to train a dozen times harder than everyone else.
This story got inspired by an observation that, for a story supposedly about born-a-genius Sasuke versus hard-work Naruto, Sasuke sure trains hard and Naruto is born with a lot of advantages. So, here’s a rewrite of canon where Naruto is born with only disadvantages and he becomes the best ninja that has ever lived through stubborn hard work. Most ninja are blessed with ‘talent’ from spirit animals who will eventually become their summons, and greatly decrease the amount of effort it takes for them to learn new skills. Naruto is cursed instead.