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Description
There was a short silence. Then Superman walked over to Naruto and held out his hand. Naruto, after a moment’s uncertainty, shook it.

The simple act touched off a host of others. Wonder Woman faced Sakura and placed her left hand over her heart in an Amazonian salute. Lee hugged Batman, Robin, Flash, and Green Lantern in five seconds before returning to his station to burst into tears. Neji gave Green Arrow a curt nod of appreciation and bowed to Static, who gave him a little wave in return. J’onn and Ino only locked glances, but what they actually said was impossible to tell. Kiba and Beast Boy locked arms and did a quick secret handshake.

Hinata did nothing, but her eyes sought out a reporter on the far side of the room. Slowly, she offered the tiniest smile.

The reporter grinned back and then, after a few seconds study of her, jerked her head at Naruto in question.

Hinata’s face flamed momentarily and her head nodded, ever so slightly.

Lois’ face split into one huge smile and she gave the girl a thumbs-up, accompanied by a wink.

All this time Naruto and Superman stood, shaking hands. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Naruto Uzumaki,” said the Kryptonian.

“You too,” answered Naruto, with a quick swallow. “Great. Really… really great. Thanks for everything you taught me about… heroing. And stuff. I hope…” He swallowed again. “I hope I have a chance to use it.”

Superman smiled. “I’m sure you will.”

Then he let go and stepped back, the ninjas formed up in one large group, and Kakashi, facing the mirror that filled the entirety of the opposite wall, lifted his headband from his eye.

“I think this is going to hurt.” He muttered, and then, “Kamui!”

A flash, a sudden strange warping of space like a great whirlpool, and the ninjas of Konoha were gone.
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Picture and excerpt for "Conclusion," [link] this weeks chapter of the Naruto/JLU crossover Connecting the Dots. Yes, we're coming to the end. Two more chapters to wrap things up, and then we're done.

Honestly I'm relieved. This has been a fun series, and has taught me a lot about anatomy and digital painting, to say nothing of the precise appearances of most of the Konoha 11, but I'm glad to be done with it. In fact, I'm so excited about getting back to old-fashioned sketching with colored pencils that I've already got a few new pictures in that vein lined up.

Before that, though, I have to say... I like this picture. A lot. I debated about doing it, simply due to the sheer number of characters involved, but I decided the ending of the series needed a fitting picture, so I went for it. I... may also have been trying to see how many groups I could get this last picture into, hence why Lee is hugging Green Lantern and not Flash in the foreground. There's a score of tiny things I'm not happy with--there always is--but by and large I like this picture. I feel like I got the expressions down pat and the proportions mostly right, and I experimented with a new kind of shading that looks a little funky but also much more interesting, and on the whole I just find it really nice. I do wish you could see Sakura giving the salute back to Wonder Woman, and a part of me wanted Sai to be in this picture, but there's only so much you can do.

I'll have the chapter up sometime tomorrow when I have a spare moment. IF I have a spare moment.

Description
There was a short silence. Then Superman walked over to Naruto and held out his hand. Naruto, after a moment’s uncertainty, shook it.

The simple act touched off a host of others. Wonder Woman faced Sakura and placed her left hand over her heart in an Amazonian salute. Lee hugged Batman, Robin, Flash, and Green Lantern in five seconds before returning to his station to burst into tears. Neji gave Green Arrow a curt nod of appreciation and bowed to Static, who gave him a little wave in return. J’onn and Ino only locked glances, but what they actually said was impossible to tell. Kiba and Beast Boy locked arms and did a quick secret handshake.

Hinata did nothing, but her eyes sought out a reporter on the far side of the room. Slowly, she offered the tiniest smile.

The reporter grinned back and then, after a few seconds study of her, jerked her head at Naruto in question.

Hinata’s face flamed momentarily and her head nodded, ever so slightly.

Lois’ face split into one huge smile and she gave the girl a thumbs-up, accompanied by a wink.

All this time Naruto and Superman stood, shaking hands. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Naruto Uzumaki,” said the Kryptonian.

“You too,” answered Naruto, with a quick swallow. “Great. Really… really great. Thanks for everything you taught me about… heroing. And stuff. I hope…” He swallowed again. “I hope I have a chance to use it.”

Superman smiled. “I’m sure you will.”

Then he let go and stepped back, the ninjas formed up in one large group, and Kakashi, facing the mirror that filled the entirety of the opposite wall, lifted his headband from his eye.

“I think this is going to hurt.” He muttered, and then, “Kamui!”

A flash, a sudden strange warping of space like a great whirlpool, and the ninjas of Konoha were gone.
----------------------
Picture and excerpt for "Conclusion," [link] this weeks chapter of the Naruto/JLU crossover Connecting the Dots. Yes, we're coming to the end. Two more chapters to wrap things up, and then we're done.

Honestly I'm relieved. This has been a fun series, and has taught me a lot about anatomy and digital painting, to say nothing of the precise appearances of most of the Konoha 11, but I'm glad to be done with it. In fact, I'm so excited about getting back to old-fashioned sketching with colored pencils that I've already got a few new pictures in that vein lined up.

Before that, though, I have to say... I like this picture. A lot. I debated about doing it, simply due to the sheer number of characters involved, but I decided the ending of the series needed a fitting picture, so I went for it. I... may also have been trying to see how many groups I could get this last picture into, hence why Lee is hugging Green Lantern and not Flash in the foreground. There's a score of tiny things I'm not happy with--there always is--but by and large I like this picture. I feel like I got the expressions down pat and the proportions mostly right, and I experimented with a new kind of shading that looks a little funky but also much more interesting, and on the whole I just find it really nice. I do wish you could see Sakura giving the salute back to Wonder Woman, and a part of me wanted Sai to be in this picture, but there's only so much you can do.

I'll have the chapter up sometime tomorrow when I have a spare moment. IF I have a spare moment.