Naruto was confused.
"You have potential. I had always wondered how he had always managed to get what he wanted done, but I now realize that it was because of this ability that is now manifesting in you. This whole village loved him, a powerful no-named orphan. And now…you. They are starting to love you, too."
The blond boy only scratched his chin as he squinted up at the Mummy Man who had cornered him in a dark alley on his way home from irritating Sasuke at the hospital. Man, that guy was such a wimp. Naruto had gotten out ages ago and Sasuke was still in bed like the princess he claimed he wasn't. And, Sasuke hadn't even beat Gaara!
"I should have taken you under my wing when I had the chance. The things I could have done! The things I could still do!"
Naruto froze at that then took three huge steps back. He held his hands out in front of him in a don't-come-any-closer gesture. "Whoa, whoa, wait a minute! I don't know what you've heard about my Sexy Jutsu, but I've got a look but don't touch policy!"
Mummy Man looked up from his mutterings with a glare and Naruto wondered why the man even bothered with such a look when he'd kept his only visible eye closed for most of the time he'd stood there talking to himself.
"Insolent boy," the man muttered. Then he shook his head and the glare disappeared. He hobbled a little closer to Naruto who leaned away. "What happened in your fight against Gaara of the Sand?"
"You're telling me nobody saw that?" Naruto exclaimed, incredulous. "I was on a giant freaking toad and he turned into a giant freaking monster! We were right next to the village!"
Mummy Man gritted his teeth and nodded in agreement. "Yes, yes," he slowly said. "Most who could observe saw that part. Then we saw the Kyuubi appear in the toad's place. And then there was smoke. After that, not even the genin who were with you can tell us what happened. All they reported was that the transformed Gaara had come out of his monster state and that he'd surrendered to you. How had that happened?"
Naruto shook his head and though he was really tempted to lie, he knew this guy had to be someone important. He'd seen him around a couple times back when he was always in the Hokage's office for one prank or another.
The blond ninja nervously laughed. "Well, since you know about the whole toad and the Kyuubi part, then… well, after the summoning disappeared, there was smoke everywhere. I shouted at Gaara and then I punched him in the face."
"You…shouted at him?" Mummy Man said, sounding shocked and disbelieving and a bit envious. Naruto decided he kind of liked that tone. There was nothing better than proving his strength to people who thought he would never amount to anything. Mummy Man's eyebrow was twitching.
Naruto nodded. "Yeah," he said. "And then I punched him in the face. Don't forget that part. It was a super strong punch, believe it."
"Did you perhaps use chakra in your voice? In your words? In your punch?"
Naruto scratched his chin again and lightly blushed. "Alright, so I don't have a flashy jutsu like everyone else seems to, but no! No chakra! I shouted then I punched him – yeah. Then he became my friend. He's a really good guy once he's not trying to kill you anymore. "
Mummy Man's eyes had opened once again and he was observing Naruto with a very careful, narrowed eye. "And, I recall you did the same thing with the Hyuuga boy…"
Naruto rolled his eyes as he remembered that fight. "Kind of, I guess. But he needed a lot more talking to. But, I'm glad I got him to see how stupid he was being. Fate? Pfft, yeah, right. But now that he's got that pole out of his ass, he's a good guy, too. He's my friend now."
"Yes, yes, your match had been abnormally long and filled with quite a bit of dialogue," Mummy Man said as he, too, recalled the fight that he had been absentmindedly watching from the shadows. Now he wished he had paid the boy's match more attention. "And I surmise that's how you killed Momochi Zabuza?"
Naruto felt sick at the way the man had carelessly phrased it. He grew quiet and less exuberant. "No, I handed him the kunai," he slowly said, feeling guilty.
"I see."
Naruto shook his head as the memories of Wave came back to him, bringing with it the sadness he'd pushed away at hearing of the Third's death. He decided it was time for him to go home, eat some instant ramen and maybe try to get some sleep.
"Right, so… hope you don't have any more questions 'cause I got to go now. Bye."
And with that said, Naruto turned around and joined the main street.
Maybe he'd go look for the Pervy Sage tomorrow and try to get him to teach him a new justu, something awesome so he would have something more impressive to say when people asked 'What happened in the fight with so-and-so?'
A/N: I couldn't resist not updating.
If you couldn't tell, Mummy Man was Danzo. I know he may seem a bit...OOC, but I really don't know how to write him. Oh, well.
And, really, there had been a lot of smoke. In cannon, no non-Hyuuga seems to be able to see through summoning smoke. Maybe because it's full of dispersing chakra? I don't know... (Naruto-science is confusing sometimes...)
Oh, and if you hadn't known, Mummy Man had been talking about Minato in the beginning.
