In the Ceaseless Snow

🌸Epilogue🌸

Sasuke Uchiha twirled his pencil in the air, leaning into his chair as he nodded at the storyboard he recently completed.

A smiling green-eyed girl with pastel pink hair made a peace sign, beaming at him as her story unfolded through words and pictures. Spinning in the swirly chair he bought from Tenten just a few months ago, he stared out into the scenery outside his window, admiring the soft cherry blossom petals that fell into the spring lit blue sky, adorned with clouds, birds and the shining sun. He purposely had planted the sweet-smelling trees outside of his first-floor office at Studio Leaf, the place he decided to apply and get a job at months after his college graduation.

College, hmm?

It's been two years since I ended my education.

And two years since...

Shaking his head, he smiled to himself as he gazed at his graduation photo, taken with Naruto, Hinata, Karin, his parents and Itachi in a wheelchair. Next to the memorable photo was a plaque, with his degree in computer programming and art, polished to the brim.

He never got over his meticulous cleaning habits.

Turning back to his desk, he rested his cheek into his palm as he stared at his character, the girl he created over three years ago, not knowing what to name her until his second year of drafting her out.

Meeting the right person at the right time helped shaped his energetic, lively and cheerful protagonist, whom he named Sakura Haruno, whose adventures followed the everyday life of a college student, desperately trying to finish her work on time, being with her friends, impressing her crush and living life to its fullest.

After launching the first panel of Sakura, what ironically was also the title of the story, as a webcomic, it gained popularity to the point it became classified as one of the top slices of life stories of the year, which then awarded Sasuke the "Rookie of the Year", and when the comic series soon caught the attention of Studio Leaf and head production company Kono Media, it became an instant hit, raising viewer ratings to the point it skyrocketed off charts.

( I would like to point out that this is a tribute to Masashi Kishimoto, who also was awarded Rookie of the Year when he debuted Naruto, and which also became 10 % of the income of VizMedia, as Naruto became one of the top shows they produced. We all know that Studio Pierrot messed up, as well as Viz, but honestly, kudos to them. They literally animated, voiced and backsonged one of the most famous and fastest growing fandoms in one episode per week! That's some serious dedication and hard work!)

Thanks to Itachi, his career jumped with the wise advice that the older man gave, he had successfully entered the animation industry, named for one of the most innovative and creative studio tellers. Sadly, after the release date and airing station for the first episode of Sakura, Itachi Uchiha passed away from a seven-year-long battle of secondary brain cancer.

It was quite ironic the day the episode aired.

It was Sakura's birthday.

It took a very long time for Sasuke to push himself to move forward. In his story of Sakura, he included characters that resemble the people he loved in real life, such as his family, Naruto, Hinata and portrayed himself as the main male lead. In a slump, he barely worked, and rather stayed in bed thinking, blaming himself that he couldn't do more. Bottles of alcohol appeared after he quit in his room, and his room was a mess.

With the help of his best friend, cousin, and coworkers, he was pulled out of his darkness. He quit alcohol with their encouragement and was proud to say he was one year free. He resumed his obsessive cleaning routines and threw himself back into his daily routine of doing what he loved the most: drawing.