185 Captain

"Hi Everyone," A loud voice interrupted, following which a human-like figure jumped off of the Bird's back.

"Naruto-kun," Lee, Sakura and Karin called out at the same time.

"Hehe," Naruto snickered as he glided down, smoothly landing onto the surface of the rooftop.

"Quit Showing off," Kiba complained.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata called out his name softly.

"Sorry, I am late," Naruto bowed his head lightly as he faced Hiruzen and the others.

"You're just on time for the meeting," Hiruzen said with a smile, following which he looked up.

"Why don't you call your friend down here," Hiruzen asked.

("Look's like he wants to have an open discussion then…") Naruto thought, following which he looked up.

"Deidara Aniki," Naruto called out.

"Eh?" Lee was surprised. He had wanted to introduce Guy-sensei to Deidara yesterday itself, but Guy-sensei was not there.

"Deidara Senpai!" Lee also called out at the same time.

"Hmm," Deidara lowered his gaze to see the people on the rooftop of the Hokage Building from on top of his giant bird.

"Join us for the meeting," Naruto shouted from the ground.

"Hm," Deidara nodded, following which he controlled his bird to immediately descend.

…

On the ground, Neji stared at the giant bird which was descending following which he looked at Lee.

"You know him?" Neji asked, seeing that Lee had called him senpai.

"Yeah," Lee nodded, following which he put his hand on Neji's shoulder.

"He's my senpai in Art," Lee said with a gaze burning with passion.

"Eh…?" Tenten and Neji were stunned, however, a few meters away, there was one more person who was as shocked as they were.

"M-My cute Lee, h-has a senpai?"

"How did he acknowledge him?" Guy murmured in shock.

Kakashi also felt a bit baffled over the matter that was currently happening and his negligence in sharing what had happened the previous night with Guy.

…

*POOF!*

The Giant Bird reverted back into its miniature clay form following which Deidara packed it into his bag and walked towards the group.

"Stop,"

Deidara frowned a bit upon hearing the voice, however, his expressions did not reflect that change ultimately.

His gaze shifted over to the source of the voice. Deidara saw a tall man in a green suit and the Hidden Leaf Flak Jacket walking over.

"Hmm?" Deidara was puzzled to see a man very similar to his Kouhai.

"Who are you?" Deidara asked.

"The Noble Green Beast of the Hidden Leaf, and a teacher of your so-called kouhai,"

"The name's might guy," Guy concluded his introduction with a smile that shined brightly to the point it reflected light.

"Ah, you must be the bowl-cut kid's sensei,"

"Pleased to meet you,"

"My name is Deidara," Deidara introduced himself with a smile.

("Hmm…")

("This guy doesn't seem so bad…")

("But, I must not let this man stray Lee from his path as a ninja,") Guy thought internally.

However, at this moment, a figure landed between the two.

"Ah sensei, I wanted to introduce him to you,"

"Deidara senpai loves Art," Lee said to Guy, following which Lee turned towards Deidara.

"Senpai, this is my sensei,"

"He's the one who taught me everything about Art," Lee said.

"Art?" Guy-sensei was confused.

"I see,"

"Guy-sensei, You like explosions too?" Deidara asked.

"Eh?" Naruto, Kakashi, and the others were confused. However, the one who was confused the most was Guy sensei himself.

"Art is an explosion?" Guy asked, connecting the dots.

"That's right, Art is an…" Deidara immediately took out a small bird from his bag and sent in flying away from the roof.

"Hmph!" Deidara executed his usual Technique.

KABOOM!

"EPLOSION!" Deidara concluded his sentence.

"…" Guy-sensei was confused.

"…" Naruto was utterly clueless on how to deal with this situation.

"Art is an Explosion!"

"What a great comparison to how the human muscles explode with energy,"

"Indeed, Art is an EXPLOSION!" Lee shouted with enthusiasm.

("Are they all idiots?") Sasuke, Neji, and Shikamaru thought at the same time.

"Nice follow-up Lee," Naruto praised in a low voice.

Deidara looked at Guy.

"Since you are Lee's sensei, and also like explosions, I would like to compare notes with you," Deidara said suddenly.

"Compare notes…?" Guy stared at Deidara.

"I…uh…" Guy's gaze shifted, suddenly seeing Lee with a look of admiration.

("How can I not live up to Lee's expectations?")

("No, As his sensei, I must live up to it, and do more!") Guy burned with passion.

"Ah, Deidara-kun,"

"We shall compare notes after this meeting," Guy said with a smile following which he gave a thumbs up.

("Ah… Super Bushy Brows-sensei has put himself into big trouble this time…") Naruto stared at Guy-sensei with a poker face.

Kakashi, on the other hand, was glad he didn't have to put up with Deidara for now. But, of course, He could bullshit his way through if the situation demanded it. After all, Kakashi was known for his skill of sweet-talking and persuading people.

"Ahem," Hiruzen coughed a bit to gain everyone's attention, following which he turned towards Deidara.

"Deidara is it,"

"Welcome to the Hidden Leaf,"

"As a friend of Naruto's, I've heard that you had volunteered to provide transportation for Naruto and his friends?" Hiruzen asked.

"Nice to meet you old man,"

"I've indeed volunteered to do so," Deidara answered.

"Great to Hear,"

"I would like to know if you can take all these genins there with your ability," Hiruzen asked as he pointed to the genins that had gathered in front of him.

Deidara scanned across the faces staring at him, making a rough count of how much clay he needed for the task.

"I should be able to cover if it's only them," Deidara answered.

"Glad to hear,"

"The jōnins and the rest, including I will depart in a few hours to the Hidden Sand," Hiruzen informed.

"Mm," Deidara nodded.

"It will take me an entire day of flying to get to the Hidden Sand," Deidara answered.

"An entire day of flying,"

"That's awesome," Kiba, Shikamaru, Sasuke, and the others were surprised.

"How convenient," Tsunade commented.

Hiruzen took a step out and looked towards the genins gathered in front of him.

"Take your time to prepare today,"

"You'll set off to the Hidden Sand with this man tomorrow," Hiruzen informed.

All the genins nodded together at the same time.

Hiruzen's gaze shifted over to a particular part of the crowd.

"Jūgo, Uzumaki Karin," Hiruzen called out.

"Uzumaki?" Kiba, Shino, and a few others were confused.

("Is she somehow related to Naruto?") Was the question running in their minds.

"Your identities have been registered with the Academy and have already obtained the rank of genins,"

Hiruzen's gaze then shifted to another part of the crowd.

"Sai," Hiruzen called out.

"…" Sai silently raised his head to look at Hiruzen.

"You'll join Uzumaki Karin and Jūgo to form a three-man cell," Hiruzen announced, following which there were surprised gazes everywhere, especially from Sakura, Ino, Hinata and Sasuke.

"Your jōnin leader will be…" Hiruzen paused, following which he raised his hand.

(Whoosh!)

A figure landed in front of the crowd.

("Captain Yamato…") Naruto murmured, seeing the familiar figure again.