Chapter 179 - Choice

"Interesting…" Deidara murmured as he stared at Sasuke, who shared similar thoughts as him towards Uchiha Itachi.

Naruto, Kakashi, and Minato didn't like Sasuke being pumped about killing Itachi again, but they could only watch the scene silently as it unfolded, After all, Deidara had yet to state his reason for coming to their place, and it would only be unveiled after the dinner was over.

Deidara then turned towards Lee,

"And who are you Bowl-cut?"

RRRRrrrr!!!!

Lee's action of getting up sent the chair flying away to the point it startled everyone who sat around him.

"I am Rock Lee, Leaf Village's Blue Beast!"

"I aim to become the no.1 ninja without using ninjutsu or genjutsu!" Lee declared.

("Oh an enthusiastic fella,") Deidara smirked.

"What is it?" Lee asked, seeing Deidara's smirk.

"Do you like art?" Deidara asked.

"Art?" Lee thought back to one of Gai's lessons.

——FlashBack——

"Gai-sensei,"

"hmm?" Gai looked at Lee.

"Why do plank exercises exist?" Lee asked.

"…"

"I mean, all we do is just stay in one pose, so how does it help?" Lee asked.

"Listen up, Lee,"

"The plank exercise is one of the most godliest of all exercises that exists!"

"huh?" Lee was surprised.

"You see, for these exercises, we can do them anywhere, anytime with no equipments,"

"They are intended to strengthen your muscles rather than build them up,"

"And the best part is they strengthen not only the muscles but also the bones as well!" Gai said with a smile.

"I see," Lee nodded.

"Listen up, Lee,"

"Human body is a work of art,"

"And exercises help sculpt this art into true beauty!"

"I see…" Lee nodded once again as he noted down in his notebook attentively.

"Building and strengthening, building and strengthening,"

"Do those two types of exercises accordingly to sculpt the perfect body,"

"To sculpt the perfect body…" Lee continued to jot down.

"Youthful body needs to explode with energy," Gai concluded.

"I see, Art needs to explode with energy," Lee murmured.

"That's right Lee,"

"Art is an explosion!" Gai declared with a loud voice.

—-End of Flashback-—

Lee looked at Deidara.

"I like Art,"

"As my sensei once said,"

"Art is an explosion!" Lee said with a fiery gaze.

"…"

"eh?" Naruto was stunned.

"Hehe…hehe…Haha…HAHAHAHA!!!!"

"DAMN RIGHT YOU ARE MY MAN!!!!"

"ART IS EXPLOSION!!!!!" Deidara was mad with laughter, leaving others on the table stunned.

Deidara then suddenly turned towards Naruto.

"Aniki looks like we have found a kouhai to join us," Deidara said.

"Kouhai?" Lee was confused.

"Ah, Lee was it,"

"You see Naruto, and I here have walked the path of explosions for a long time,"

"Though, my skills are a bit better than him…" Deidara murmured.

"Eh, Naruto-kun, is that true?" Lee asked.

"…" Naruto hadn't recovered yet from the shock.

"Of course Lee, and now that we have discovered you…"

"kukukukuku…."

"We are going to have a lot of fun, haha!" Deidara was having the time of his life.

After all, there were two other people who shared the same views as him on art.

("How about that Sasori my man, hehe")

("These two share the same view on art as me,")

("After all, art is but a simple fleeting moment of beauty that turns into an explosion!") Deidara thought internally.

("What the hell is going on here?") Naruto thought as he stared at Lee and Deidara.

"And you are?" Deidara looked at Karin.

"I am Uzumaki Karin," Karin answered.

"Uzumaki?"

"Are you his sister?" Deidara asked.

"A distant relative," Naruto suddenly spoke.

"Ah, I see…" Deidara nodded, following which he looked at Lee.

"Hey, Kouhai,"

"You, me, and Naruto,"

"We are going to have a discussion on art later," Deidara said.

"I don't understand, but okay," Lee answered.

("Don't tell me he came here just to discuss art,") Naruto panicked; however, he was also curious about the object that Deidara held onto which was wrapped in a cloth.

"hmm…?" Minato suddenly felt a presence by the window.

"What is it, sensei?" Kakashi who stood beside Minato asked.

"I need to check on something," Minato said, following which he excused himself from the room.

Naruto then looked towards Deidara.

"Aniki, How come you dropped by today?" Naruto asked.

"Ah, Right,"

"I'll need to talk about that after dinner," Deidara said as took another bite.

…

Outside the house,

Two figures stood opposite to each other.

"Lord Second?" Minato called out.

"Lord Fourth, Is everything all right inside?" Tobirama asked with concern.

"Yeah,"

"It's as you've guessed, the boy from Akatsuki,"

"He's here," Minato informed.

"So, I was right then…"

"What is the boy here for?" Tobirama asked.

"We haven't got to that yet,"

"For now, they are just having a good dinner inside," Minato said.

"I suppose the food must be really delicious then…" Tobirama commented.

"Ah, It's my wife's recipe,"

"It is bound to be delicious after all," Minato said with a proud expression.

"It must be if you say so, Lord Fourth," Tobirama praised.

"There's one problem though,"

"Hmm?" Tobirama's ears perked up.

"The boy knows that I am the Fourth Hokage," Minato said.

"What?" Tobirama was stunned.

"And…"

"What did he do?" Tobirama asked.

"He says he had admired my existence in the past," Minato sighed.

"He did desert the Hidden Stone after all," Tobirama nodded.

"mm…." Minato also agreed.

"Anyways, Just know that I'll be watching from here,"

"If anything happens, I'll be the first to rush in," Tobirama informed.

"Thanks, Lord Second, but I think we can handle this," Minato refused Tobirama's help.

"All right then, after all, Lord Seventh did handle the boy very well during the Rescue Mission after all," Tobirama praised,

"Mm," Minato nodded in agreement.

Just as Tobirama turned around...

"Lord Second," Minato called out.

"What is it?" Tobirama asked.

"I just wanted to know what happened to that boy, Sai?" Minato asked.

"oh, him?"

"I've asked the third about taking him into the ANBU, but the third says that since we are not at war, he wants the boy to grow up like a normal ninja," Tobirama said.

"I see..." Minato murmured.

"He plans to have those two other brats, Karin and that boy Sasuke brought in to become a team along with Sai," Tobirama said.

"I think that's a great idea," Minato nodded in agreement.

"All right then, I think you should head back now Lord Fourth," Tobirama suggested.

With that, their meeting came to an end.

…

Minato and Kakashi finally sat down to eat after everyone had their fill, leaving the young ones to talk with each other.

Jūgo and Sasuke were at the table with Kakashi and Minato. Karin stood in one corner watching the interaction between the other three; Naruto, Lee, and Deidara.

"So,"

"Kouhai, I would like to hear your views on art," Deidara requested.

"on art eh,"

("Oy, oy, are we really having this discussion?") Naruto stared at the two with a poker face.

"See, my sensei said that the human body is a work of art," Lee started.

"oh?" Deidara was interested in seeing a different variation for explosion art.

"Go on," Deidara encouraged.

"Ahem,"

"My sensei said that it is our bones and muscles that give shape to the body,"

"With the body as the sculpture and the exercises, we do as a tool,"

"We can sculpt our body by exercising the right amount, by controlling the growth of our muscles and controlling the strength of our muscles," Lee explained.

"I see…" Deidara nodded.

"It's these muscles that contain the energy of our body, they are art that are waiting to explode," Lee explained.

"Wonderful, to think explosion can be explained in such ways,"

"Truly, your master is a genius," Deidara praised.

"Your words are too kind," Lee responded with modesty.

"Yes, but even if he is right, I still believe art is but a fleeting moment of beauty," Deidara explained.

"I see…" Lee nodded.

"What about you, Naruto?" Deidara looked at Naruto.

"huh?"

"What drives you and that Rasengan of yours?" Deidara asked.

"oh, that?"

"For me, Rasengan is the ultimate form of art that goes kaboom!" Naruto explained.

"Nice," Deidara and Lee nodded in approval.

…

A few moments later, Minato and Kakashi suggested that everyone should leave for the night since it was already late.

Naruto looked at Sasuke.

"Sasuke, I entrust Karin to you," Naruto said indicating that Sasuke had to walk her home safely.

"Mm," Sasuke nodded.

Karin stared at Naruto for a second or two following which she finally left along with the others.

Before leaving Lee looked at Naruto,

"Thanks for the meal Naruto-kun,"

"Next time Dinner is on me," Lee said.

"All right Bushy brows," Naruto nodded.

"See ya next time Kouhai, We'll try a few explosions on our next meeting," Deidara said.

"Yes, Deidara-senpai!" Lee saluted.

("Ah, he's taken it seriously…") Naruto stared with a poker face.

"Bye," Naruto waved at the others,

Kakashi looked at Minato,

"I'll see you tomorrow, sensei," Kakashi said.

"Mm," Minato nodded.

"Bye, Kakashi my man,"

"Bye Kakashi-sensei," Naruto and Deidara said at the same time.

"…" Kakashi left silently, leaving Minato, Naruto, and Deidara behind.

The trio then closed the door, and they entered the house.

Naruto looked at Deidara.

"What is it you wanted to talk to me about?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, just give me a sec," Deidara said as he started to unwrap the cloth.

"…" Minato also stared with interest at the object in Deidara's hand.

Soon the object came into view was a crystal ball.

"This is…" Naruto was confused from having long forgotten on his short adventure with Sakura in the park.

"It is a Crystal ball or so-called by my boss," Deidara explained.

"Your boss?" Naruto asked.

"Indeed,"

"He was angry at me letting Orochimaru escape, so he decided to give me an extra task of testing this ball," Deidara said.

"So why bring it here?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, its because he wants some data or something, He told me that since I became friends with you instead of doing the mission, He suggested that you help me out," Deidara said.

"EH?" Naruto backed away.

"It's safe I promise you,"

"There will be no harm, it is only for gathering some data for some plan of his," Deidara said.

("Plan?")

("That's definitely related to the Infinite Tsukuyomi,") Naruto thought, following which there was a sudden flash of memories from the time he and Sakura entered the genjutsu world by accident after a late evening in the park due to Sakura escaping from her parents.

"So, what do you say Naruto?"

"Can you help me out?" Deidara asked.

"…" Naruto stared at the crystal ball in front of him.