I used to love to draw Naruto.

It has been years since the Naruto series ended. Nowadays, Naruto is best known as Boruto's dad, which honestly sounds ridiculous. Back then I was 100% crazy for Naruto. I knew most characters by heart and definitely fell in love with each manga arc.

I was so in love with the anime that, back when I was seventeen to eighteen years old, I used to draw characters from Naruto. 

A lot.

Chibi

Chibi is a well-known term to anime fans. In Japan, it is a slang word for "short." Anything drawn in chibi style has gained popularity as being cute and easy to draw.  

The first time I loved the chibi style of drawing was when I first watched a Prince of Tennis chibi episode, aptly named TeniPuri. The term TeniPuri is a shortened (chibi) term for the romanization of "tennis prince." Since then, I couldn't get enough of the cuteness, I had to draw them myself!

Naruto wasn't exempted. Below are a few of my Naruto chibi attempts at digital drawing.

Team 7 - Watermelon

Drawn during my eighteenth summer in the world, I was heavily inspired by the pineapple my mother was eating back then. I didn't like pineapple, but I love watermelons! With salt! Add in Naruto chibi into the equation and I'm all good.

SasuSaku - Chu!

Let's talk about OTP, the "one true pairing." Mine was Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno... and they weren't even canon! Well, at first. Spoiler: they did end up together. I was so drawn to the two of them that I drew their chibi versions at fourteen years old. Years later, I redid the whole drawing in digital.

Team 7 - Certified Ahou

Ahou literally means 'idiot' or 'stupid' in Japanese. It's been used in anime a lot, Naruto included. For comical effect, ahou is usually used as onomatopoeia for ravens ("Ahou! Ahou! Ahou!") in various anime. This drawing was a contest entry in a deviantART group contest, and even earned a place! (Chiyeaaah!)

Canon

I did mention the term canon earlier in this post. Canon is the term usually associated to people, things, or events that really appeared in the original story line of the anime or manga. In Naruto, for example, being ninja is considered canon. The Uchiha clan being wiped out is also considered canon. Chibi may or may not be canon. Usually, though, chibi isn't. 

While I loved drawing alternate universes on my Naruto drawings, I used to draw canon ones, too.

Team 7 - Smile

When Naruto ended, I cried. That was literally my childhood ending! As soon as the final chapter of the Naruto manga was released, I sketched the above drawing in ink, then, weeks later, digitized it to be what you can see above. The piece was entitled 'Smile,' because that seemed to be all Naruto made me do. Smile in frustration when things didn't go as I liked, or when the story was so genius I couldn't help but be awed.

Sasuke Uchiha - Looking Down

From being an innocent prodigy ninja to a dark, vengeful one, Sasuke Uchiha has grabbed my attention and has taken my heart for keeps. This drawing is among my personal favorites out of all my other drawings. It implies Sasuke's reflection of who he has become, and how dark has invaded his world.

Sakura Haruno - Blood is Battlefield

I remember this as an attempt at drawing a cool Sakura Haruno. Sakura was a really cool medical ninja, but I wanted to illustrate her awesomeness myself. However, I couldn't seem to give her enough justice. This drawing will remain unforgotten -- one of the few works that made me vow to learn more and improve better.

Alternate universe

I have mentioned in one of my older posts that I used to love writing fanfictions. My favorite would be on alternate universes, which is simply just a universe very different from the canon universe. In Naruto's case, I could put the characters in the Japanese Meiji era, or in our modern world.

At this point, let me share with you my drawings of Naruto in alternate universes.

Weirdest Sleepover

I bet you won't be able to see all these characters in one scene, thus the inclusion of the word 'weirdest' in the title. In this particular drawing, I was trying out a drawing style very similar to vector drawings. This drawing took up nearly 1000 layers in Photoshop (and multiple laptop crashes).

Uchiha - Gangster

Illustrated above are Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha, in a gangster alternate universe. In my gangster alternate universe imagination, they were the coolest siblings ever. 

SasuSaku - In Sepia

I bet you've grown tired of seeing this drawing, but this is definitely ranking first in my most effort-driven digital drawings. I couldn't remember how long this drawing took me, but I remember how I'd slip from motivated to lazy almost at an alarming rate. In this drawing, I tried playing around with colors and technique.

Today, I remember Naruto.

From time to time, I'd see clips from Naruto showing up on my Facebook feed. Then I'd remember how crazy over the anime I was, and how I'd draw at an almost daily basis.

I would then remember the hilarious Naruto episodes, and the tear-jerking ones. I would never forget my eternal anime crush on Sasuke, and the mind-blowing story twists. Back then, each released manga chapter of Naruto meant in-depth discussions with my best friend and high school classmates. We were that committed.

I missed watching Naruto. I missed reading Naruto. I definitely missed drawing Naruto.

But today, I remember Naruto.