from Academy to Anbu by theriku260

chapter 19

One hour after the cabbage man…er, super bridge builder Tazuna witnessed his life's work go sky high…

"And then the explosion showed the entire land of Waves my art, un!" Deidara recounted his masterpiece for the fifth time to a dozing Hikaru and mentally chanting Naruto.

'Must not kill Deidara. Must not kill Deidara!'

'I actually like the gaki. Much too loud like your old self, but enjoys destruction.'

'Of course you'd say that.' The ride on Deidara's bird had long since lost its magic one it became apparent the older blonde had no filter.

"Mouse, hey MOUSE! Un, pay attention! My art demands an audience and Roach-teme is too dense to enjoy art."

"Snort. I enjoy art just fine. But I would rather spend the last hours of my life before Dragon-same skewers us for your mistake sleeping. Not listening to your insane rehashing's!" Hikaru shot back. Both got in each other's faces and Naruto face palmed.

"Do I even want to know why you call him 'Roach-teme'?"

"He has a colony of roaches living under his bed, un. The bastard even named them" Deidara pointed an accusing finger at Hikaru who pointed a finger back at him.

"Shut it, Pyro-kohai! You're living in MY apartment, FOR FREE! My house, my rules."

"Actually the land lord owns the place and she'll be ticked that you let the roaches back in, Sempai." Naruto commented dryly while petting Angel. The cat purred on his lap, enjoying the attention.

"Only if you tell her, my sweet little kohai. You wouldn't sell out your favorite sempai, would you?"

"Of course I would." Naruto replied bluntly. Deidara cackled as Hikaru deflated.

"My own kohai would sell me out to the devil. Comradery my ass." He paused for effect. "Though if I was kicked out of my apartment I'd have to bunk with you, my sweet little kohai. And as Deidara here is attached to me for his probation, you'd have two new roommates!"

"…Your secret is safe with me, sempai. So, Deidara" Naruto turns towards the teenager he helped capture, "Why did you join Konoha?"
"No expectations, un. I'm considered a 'prodigy' in Iwa, and you two know how that is, both in ANBU so young." Hikaru and Naruto looked at eachother then back to the older blonde.

"Nope."

"Not a clue." Naruto shrugged. "I graduated just a few months ago and went straight into ANBU. The village actually doesn't really know I graduated and the lower level ninja believe I'm a paper pusher of a ninja."

"And I'm a Hyuga"

"Barely" Naruto coughed jokingly. Hikaru huffed but continued.

"and Hyuga don't use ninjutsu, only chakra enhanced taijutsu. I'm an expert at both and my medical ninjutsu is becoming noteworthy among the ANBU ranks. Even though I graduated early, I'm considered a failure by the clan for breaking tradition." Deidara whipped off his mask and stared at the duo in shock.

"What kind of village is Konoha, un?! Plus, all I hear about is the 'Uchiha prodigy', 'Hatake genius' and that cousin of yours!"

"Eh, the village pays attention to very few 'prodigies' but that's how Konoha stays on top. A fair amount of shinobi graduate early and enter ANBU relatively young, but we only promote a few at the chunin exams. The rest of us just quietly advance in field promotions and serve our village. It works out for everyone, as this way Konoha is stronger than it appears and the attention hogs get their glory amongst the nobles. I know I'd hate all the attention, right, chibi-kohai?"