The Kazekage Stands Tall

is episode 5 of the Naruto: Shippūden anime.

Synopsis
Deidara realizes the seriousness of the situation he is in as he is caught by Gaara's sand. Just when Kankurō and Gaara think it's over, Deidara is able to break free with some of his explosive clay. The village's ninja are shocked that this has happened but are confident in Gaara nonetheless. As Deidara freefalls over the city Gaara's sand catches his leg.

As Deidara is about to be thrown back into his sand prison he summons another bird to ride of from his clay and distracts the sand with another small bird as he escapes its grasp. As they continue their game of cat and mouse in the sky, Sakura and Naruto can't help but get a few jags in at Kakashi for losing the bell test. Naruto also reveals that he never even read the whole book and they knew Kakashi would fall for it if they just said the name of the book. Suddenly Tsunade appears from her hiding place where she watched the entire thing and announces that after seeing Naruto's and Sakura's improvement they are now team Kakashi. Kakashi goes on to explain that they are no longer teacher and student but equal Konoha shinobi. Naruto is pumped and Jiraiya who has been watching from afar can only smile.

Back at Suna Gaara is still trying to catch Deidara and more Suna shinobi show up. He manages to catch Deidara's arm in his sand and crushes it with his Sand Binding Coffin. However Deidara is not fazed and simply pulls his arm off. As they look on the Suna shinobi are surprised that this person was able to escape Gaara's sand twice. Deidara also notices that the sand that Gaara used to crush his arm is faster and more powerful than regular sand. He realizes that the sand Gaara carries in his gourd is special and has more chakra mixed into it than he would use with regular sand. This is further backed up as he notices that Gaara's ultimate defense has a hole in it which is about the amount of sand that is currently chasing him. Deidara also is running low on clay and realizes that he wasn't prepared enough and Sasori was right when he said he'd underestimated Gaara, nevertheless he is confident he'll win. He pulls his best move out of the bag, literally. It is a big mold of clay that looks like a bird with a mournful face and no feet. He says he'll destroy the village with it.

Deidara is identified as a member of Akatsuki and the village prepares for all situations including if Shukaku comes out of Gaara. However Kankurō assures them that that will not happen as he remembers his conversation with Gaara some time ago where Gaara states his will to protect the village and that he will let no harm come to it as long as he is Kazekage. Back in Konoha Naruto and company are still thinking about the bell test as they walk down the streets of Konoha. Kakashi is about to reveal the name of a new technique he developed but is interrupted by Naruto's stomach growling. Naruto remembers he hasn't been to his favorite ramen shop yet and Sakura agrees to go. As he is more or less ditched by his former students in the middle of his sentence, in a rather comical moment the screen fades black and a spotlight shines on Kakashi and he states that "Back in the day they used to react to everything I said. They were so cute." Of course, he manages to retain his persona on the outside. At that moment Jiraiya appears and reminds Kakashi that the Akatsuki is on the move and he is going to gather information. He also reminds Kakashi that he is leaving Naruto back in his care as he disappears.

Naruto calls Kakashi but he states he has some work to do and leaves Naruto and Sakura alone. Naruto states that since it is just the two of them that it's a date and Sakura replies, "That's fine, but you're paying" and walks off leaving Naruto to check his wallet. As the battle in Suna rages on the Suna shinobi prepare to aid Gaara and protect the civilians at the same time. Deidara is concerned with the prospect of interruption from below and drops his "special clay" on the city which grows to enormous proportions and drops on the city as Deidara explains how his clay works. He eats it with the mouths in his hands and then infuses it with chakra. The one he just dropped has the most chakra of any of his clay molds and is called C3. As the shinobi below retreat, Deidara states that it's too late and makes it explode right over the city causing a huge explosion.

Trivia

 * The moon is seen in many different sizes during this episode. The cloud cover also changes frequently, at one point going behind the moon.