Disclaimer: They ain't mine. Would rather have Kiba, anyway. :sits and pouts at the fact that Kiba isn't hers:
A/N: I wrote this one-shot for my friend Nita because Jiraiya is her favourite character. So, this is to you, Nita. :)
Parallelism.
How did things turn out like this? Jiraiya thought as Uzumaki Naruto lunged at him, Rasengan in his hand. How is it that this boy has to suffer as I have?
Jiraiya evaded the boy, Naruto flying past him and slamming into a tree. He growled as he got back to his feet, his eyes going red.
"Naruto, no Kyuubi!" Jiraiya hollered.
"I know, Ero-sennin." Naruto growled angrily as he closed his eyes and clenched his fists, trying to will the Kyuubi's chakra back into the depths of his mind.
"Let's take a break." Jiraiya insisted as he motioned for Naruto to follow him. The blond did so and the two of them sat down by the edge of a stream.
It had been a year since Jiraiya had left Konoha with Naruto. Similarly, it had been a year since Uchiha Sasuke had run off to join Orochimaru in search of power.
This led the old Sannin back to his previous thoughts as he regarded the blond. It was painful to look at Naruto and be reminded of himself. Naruto had lost his best friend to power, just like Jiraiya had. Whereas the source of Orochimaru's want of power was simple greed and the wish for immortality, at least Sasuke had a purpose.
This didn't change the fact that Naruto had almost been killed by him. At least Jiraiya hadn't had that problem when Orochimaru had first left. The raven-haired Sannin had just left; escaped from the Third. Jiraiya hadn't even been around when it had happened. He'd caught up to his best friend later, only to be dismissed as trash.
Even now, Orochimaru continued to regard Jiraiya as trash. Jiraiya didn't care; he'd been called trash his entire life by Orochimaru. To him, it was almost like their friendship was still there in some strange way.
He knew there was no way to save Orochimaru now. The man was too far gone; too consumed with power. But hope was not lost for Sasuke.
Perhaps the younger generation could still be saved. Perhaps Naruto could succeed where he had failed. He'd thought he'd said all the right words, he'd thought he'd pushed the right buttons—but he'd been wrong. Orochimaru had just laughed at him, said they'd never been friends to begin with.
Jiraiya hated that about him. Orochimaru would never admit they'd been friends, even though it was clear they had been. Just like Naruto and Sasuke.
Friends and rivals.
Never more one than the other. It was always perfectly balanced.
But for history to have repeated itself...
For Naruto to suffer as Jiraiya had—it hurt him.
Naruto and Sasuke had seemed even closer than Jiraiya and Orochimaru. After all, Sasuke had once almost died in order to protect Naruto. Orochimaru had never done that for Jiraiya, but then again, Jiraiya had never needed it. Sure, Orochimaru had saved him a few times, but they'd never been sent on a mission as dangerous as the Wave Country one too early on in their ninja lives, so Orochimaru had never had the chance to risk his life for Jiraiya.
Back when they were younger, Jiraiya supposed his friend would have risked his life for him.
Now...
Well, now was a different story. The fight they'd had a year and a half ago had proved this. Orochimaru had fought against him, Tsunade, Shizune and Naruto. He'd been trying to kill Jiraiya back then, and the Sannin knew it.
It saddened him that Orochimaru saw no worth in people the way he did. He and Sasuke truly were alike.
Sasuke saw no worth in Naruto. He called him dobe, insisted he was weak, that he would never match up to his Uchiha power. In the end, who was it who had mastered Rasengan in one week? (1)That was an advanced technique requiring years of training to master, yet one boy had managed to master it as quickly as if it had been a basic technique—all right, maybe an intermediate technique, but still.
Also, this same boy had mastered Kage Bunshin no Jutsu in one night. That was talent.
No, Naruto wasn't worthless. Naruto was special. He was important.
Sasuke wouldn't see it, just like Orochimaru wouldn't see it in Jiraiya. Because of the way they thought, Orochimaru also saw no worth in Naruto, and Sasuke would probably not see any worth in Jiraiya.
Jiraiya hoped that one day, things would change. Orochimaru would realize that those born great were not better than those who strived to be great. It was easy for Orochimaru to see worth in Sasuke, the boy was a genius. But Naruto was, too, only—in his own way. After all, Naruto had defeated Neji, a Hyuuga.
No, Naruto was not worthless. Just like Jiraiya was not worthless.
The blond boy Jiraiya had been thinking about suddenly stood up from beside him, turning to walk back into the forest.
"Where are you going, Naruto?" Jiraiya inquired.
"To train." The boy replied as he stopped, his back still to his sensei and his fists clenched at his sides. "I need to become stronger. I need to get Sasuke back." He disappeared through the trees and Jiraiya sighed.
"You should feel lucky, Naruto." The old man whispered as he watched ripples form in the water before him from the rain that began to fall. "You still have a chance to get your best friend back."
With a heavy heart, the Sannin stood to follow his student back into the forest, intent on teaching him what he needed to know in order to save his best friend from the clutches of darkness Jiraiya had lost his to years ago.
END.
(1) I said "mastered", not learned. It took him a while to learn the basics, but he'd officially mastered it in one week (aka, going from it not being destructive to it being destructive).