I like to do artwork about love. Mostly it shows up in a cute or silly way and sometimes in the lusty variety (which seems to be really popular...). This time though, I wanted to do the poignant type of love, the type that sort of eats at you until you put it down on paper or pixels.

So much of Naruto is about loss, particularly Naruto himself. Isolated and barely tolerated for most of his life, I liked the idea of him having the tender touch of family if only for a brief moment. So, before he seals Kyuubi inside his son and dies in exchange, Yondaime sings Naruto a quiet lullaby.

While I think Yondaime would have given his life for his village without a second thought, I think he died for love, for the love for his son and the hope that Naruto despite how hard his life will be, will live on.