Bryon_Konoha_Ninja

Next for the Demon Invasion arc, we have Gouki's little sister, Pema and Gouken's daughter, Botan. Like Gouki, Botan is designed to be more old-fashioned than most characters in Naruto would be. Like her brother and half-brothers though, Botan has Yoki, but hers isn't as strong as her brothers', yet she can still use it to open "Gates", which act as transportation portals to anywhere on Earth or in Makai. It allows her to also act as an envoy because of the fact she can get from point A to point B in a heartbeat if necessary. Plus she idolizes Gouki a lot, driven to be able to help him out as much as she can when it comes to his involvement in the Hidden Leaf.

Touché, Mus1cLov3r. I'll give you that much!

OK, next up, I'm presenting some characters from one of TDW's early arcs, which I call the Demon Invasion arc. The premise of it involves the demon world known as Makai, which is a similar place to the Afterlife/Pure Land, that it exists separately from the physical world, and it also involves one of the princes from that realm, Gouki, escaping to his mother's home in the Human World because he's learned about his half-brothers attempting a coup d'etat against their father, the King of Makai, Gouken.

So first up is Gouki, the protagonist of this arc. He is the half-human son of Gouken, who, along with his sister Botan, was born to a human woman named Pema about, oh, 200 years prior to the events that led to the formation of the Hidden Leaf Village by Hashirama and Madara. He had lived a peaceful life with his mother, often meeting his father at the same time now and again, until the day Pema was killed. Then, Gouki and Botan went to Makai to live with their father, as well as to accept their roles as royalty. Though he is royalty, Gouki is a down-to-earth person, very kind and compassionate as well as being modest, hence why his clothes look like they'd be worn by a blacksmith or something.

In the early events of the Demon Invasion arc, Gouki learns that his elder half-brothers, Gozen and Goshin, are plotting a coup to topple Gouken due to viewing him as "weak" for wanting to establish peace between the Human World and Makai. Gouki thus escapes from Makai to the real world, winding up in the Hidden Leaf Village.

Gouki's overall story is that besides his being a representative of this whole new world, is that he also struggles with his inner nature, particularly his Yoki or demonic energy, because of the fact his being one of the first half-human half-demons, he has an INCREDIBLE amount of Yoki, which makes him dangerous when it comes out, but he lacks control of it, which is why his horns are cut off and shaved down, as a sign to keep his power in check, and a visual nod to Hellboy. He also will remain part of the Hidden Leaf throughout TDW, helping Tsunade, Shizune, and many others as best he can, and even introducing items from Makai to help his new family.

Got something to share of Lady GT's artwork, guys, and seriously, FaceLess, you should realize we need a LOT of hope since our fandom is one that can be considered a dying breed now. So we gotta stand up or else we cave in or lose our way!

Now tell me this wouldn't be an AWESOME way for Lady GT's ending to go. Seriously, Sakura looks DROP DEAD GORGEOUS HERE! Seriously, this could be a good way to see things go.

I don't want to make sense of the ending. I shouldn't have to make sense of it. I shouldn't have to go through turmoil trying to figure out what the hell happened.

 

Seconded, since it just killed EVERYONE involved in one nasty form of character assassination. I feel I don't got to make sense of it just because people say I should. It's just too damn dumb of an ending, too forced, too rushed, to need to make sense. 'Nuff said!

With no-one wearing their real face
It's a whiteout of emotion
And I've only got my brittle bones to break the fall

When the love in letters fade
It's like moving in slow motion
And we're already too late if we arrive at all

And then we're caught up in the arms race
An involuntary addiction
And we're shedding every value our mothers taught

So will you please show me your real face
Draw the line in the horizon
Cos I only need your name to call the reasons why I fought

James, you are a BRILLIANT bastard to show us this! X-D I did even think "War" would work as a NaruSaku song.

Agree. Chi chi keeps goku in line.

You knew chi chi and goku would hook after they first met.

Exactly, and the fact even if Goku was surprised by seeing Chi Chi again at the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, he still knew in his heart he wanted to marry Chi Chi after their fight, and they loved each other a lot. It's one reason I think NaruSaku would have worked since it also has parallels compared to Goku x Chi Chi

http://sparda3g.tumb...nation-complete

Nice X-D BTW, I'm listening to the last podcast for the NaruSaku FC, and you guys are awesome. Props to you and James and all the guys!

Oh okay. Didn't know. Heh. I don't like Naruto fans now.   I like you guys, but I'm not sure how I feel about this entire fandom anymore. This goes way deeper than ships by the way.

Trust me, Pix, some fans are INSANE. X-D

The next design I am showing is more of a redesign that will be implemented in the story at a point.

The redesign belonging to Sasuke, when he learns to overcome the Curse of Hatred and gains some much needed clarity he has lacked for years. The quotation of "Way to Dawn" is a nod to Riku from Kingdom Hearts since Sasuke is a good parallel to him for how he'll be in TDW. After Sasuke has "awakened", he is seeking to redeem himself, hence why the change of appearance. He also winds up losing his Curse Mark in one of the earlier arcs, which also helps out in helping him overcome the Curse of Hatred. I always had felt sorry for Sasuke after Itachi had beaten him, and as the series progressed, I came to realize Sasuke's desire to kill Itachi wasn't just to avenge the Uchiha clan, but also his jealousy at Itachi's skills and the false recognition that he received from their father.

So the basis to Sasuke's quest for redemption once he breaks the Curse of Hatred in TDW is to gain clarity, to find a reason to fight beyond just wanting to prove himself better than Itachi. He slowly will get to that process, especially when he finds someone he will be willing to protect. He also will develop a Jutsu all his own based around the principles of the Chidori and Lightning Blade, but it is also a means of establishing who he himself is; who the REAL Sasuke Uchiha is, not the one everyone fawned over before he went bat-kitten crazy.

Since I did Hinata, now here is a double-header, guys, to close out what I have scanned and uploaded to my Imgur account so far.

First up is Neji Hyuga, Hinata's cousin and one of the geniuses of the Super Rookies. He also is the only full Jonin of the twelve thus far, since Shikamaru's only a Special Jonin. With Neji's development in TDW, he is still motivated to walk his own path, especially since he has been motivated by his loss to Naruto, and now wishes to walk his own path in life, to live as his father would want him to.

When I was designing Neji, I was gonna go for having his design compliment Hinata's, since he's acting as Hinata's bodyguard as well as her friend and partner when the two work together in battles. Plus I wanted him to be about balance, similar to how the 8 Trigrams jutsu that the Hyuga clan uses are around the Yin-Yang concept. Plus he has excellent movement because his design, which also has some influences from his design in Naruto Shippuden, as well as his original design with the influence, as well as keeping the Chinese aesthetics that Team Guy has.

I didn't feel a need to design Rock Lee since he's gonna look like a Mini-Me version of Guy anyhow, just like in Naruto Shippuden and as he was before as a Genin. :) So to wrap up TDW designs I've scanned and uploaded so far will be Tenten, the last member of Team Guy.

Tenten is still a weapons expert, and that influence of her design is shown, I hope, like the band of summoning scrolls around her wrists, like her design in The Last as well as the coloring being quite similar to that design. I wanted her to make speed and functionality a part of her fighting style besides her skills with the Summoning Jutsu for weapons and her weapon use as is.

A part of Tenten's story in TDW is to be the expert in long range for the Super Rookies aka the Dirty Dozen at first, but she also gets to be developed more so when she and Neji enter into a relationship, even if she gets irked at how taciturn that he acts about it, since he's very unfamiliar with the fairer sex and such. Though that can get to her, Tenten is still driven to reach her dream to be as great a kunoichi as Tsunade, even motivated to fight Sakura and Ino, since both studied under Tsunade.

Alright, here comes the last member of Team Kurenai, the gentle Hinata Hyuga.

When I was designing Hinata, the idea came from part of her story in TDW itself. Hinata in it has started to make herself more confident, since in the 3 year gap, there was a small period she and Naruto had dated, but she called it off because she lacked confidence in the relationship, as well as seeing even if Naruto was trying to forget it because of his promise of a lifetime that he still very much was in love with Sakura. So, thanks to her aunt Sango (an original character whom I'll share once I get her drawn up), she has started to gain confidence, especially to try to not need Naruto around to be stronger.

The idea was to show Hinata being more comfortable in her own skin, like how Sakura started to once she lopped her hair off fighting Kin, Dosu, and Zaku. She also has gotten more skilled at battling and using her Byakugan as well as the Gentle Fist, and wants to be able to help everyone close to her. Her newfound confidence allows her to face any foe regardless, even with her gentle nature.

   

 

Like everyone said, I am so proud to be a part of this community too. 

 

It's crazy, a week or two ago, I took everything for granted. I thought NS would be revealed and we'd see an influx of old members celebrating and new trolls bashing after the big moment. I thought the site would be like a few of the ATLA sites after the end — like a slowly closing party. And I thought that finishing my fanfics might be a little anti-climactic after the big NS moments in the manga. 

 

But it's become a whiplash change. Old members did ring in, but to express their disbelief. Trolls came to gloat. And this site became a necessity. I KNEW I could come here and share and grieve and dissect the scenes and share in my disbelief. In one moment, everything changed. 

 

It's heartening to know that everyone feels the same, and that our community is worth preserving and protecting!  *hugs*

 

edit: Oh yeah, as for finishing my fanfics, it's now an act of defiance. I need to finish telling my story of what I think could happen in the Narutoverse not because it's a flight of fancy, but because it's my way of taking back NS and giving it an ending that I can be happy with and move on from. Kishi didn't do right by his characters. But I will do right by mine.

All of this is good, especially since I know the feeling; this idea of an alternate path to events is why I want to work on my own Naruto story, The Demon Within, and not because of petty spite, but more to tell a DIFFERENT way the story could have potentially gone and to have some fun :)

Thanks to everyone checking this out, even if it isn't much right now.  Moving along, I now got Shino Aburame, the next member of Team Kurenai;

I like to joke Shino looks like he stepped from the world of The Matrix rather than Naruto. But seriously, I was going for something more stealth and a little more mysterious, given how many of the Aburame clan tend to be like that, so decking Shino out in all black was fitting. He also has quite long sleeves, to hide his hands until he unleashes his Parasitic Insects. The collars have 2 red-like shells on them, almost like butterflies, inspired by Shino's appearance in the epilogue. And the goggles replacing his sunglasses are something from his dad, Shibi/Gen.

Since we are already starting to see posts telling other members to 'get over it,' let's get one thing clear about Heaven & Earth, from this point forward.

 

No one on this site will be criticized for the length or outpouring of their grief.

 

Got it? If you badger or harangue or insist for people to 'get over it' or 'just calm down,' no matter how well intentioned your tone, YOU WILL BE TREATED AS A TROLL AND BANNED. 

 

This is a haven for NS shippers and will continue to be. If you cannot be supportive during this time, then you can choose not to respond. This site is not your personal forum to criticize others and how they handle their grief.

 

The NS ship didn't die. There are plenty more NS comments and theories, fan arts and fictons to come. H&E will be here to support all of it.

 

 

And unfortunately, though the manga ended the Naruto story isn't over yet. It's still going, just in other forms. H&E will be here as we wade through the rest of the anime and the movie and the New Era Project, whatever that may be. 

 

Going forward, let's all pledge to keep this site as a haven for NS shippers, and work together to limit criticizing, non-supportive posts. This is not a sunken ship. It is battered, but it still floats. A botched ending after 698 chapters of develpoment doesn't erase all the NS moments, parallels and foreshadowing that came before. 

 

Now more than ever, it's make this site haven, a safe place in the storm for NS shippers. Let's all work together to make sure it stays that way. Please sound out if you feel the same!

Tricksie, you are so like my hero right now!!

I'll say 8/10.

Tenouttaten!! That is so cute with Naruto, Kushina, and Mito all hugging Kurama like that