"Coming Around"

by: Lazuli

G

Spoilers? Yes…I suppose there are spoilers for Kakashi Gaiden and the like. Not much else is really spoiler-ish, if you've kept up on the anime at the least. Naruto doesn't belong to me. This is a request-type fic tomomichi who wanted more Jiraiya and Kakashi interaction, because of the parallels that are present with them. I hope this worked out okay. I've also tried this new writing style that aishuu told me to test out—not sure if it worked exactly the way she meant, but this was my stab at it. I still think it needs some tweaking and whatnot, but for now, this is the finished product.

"Things always come around." Kakashi made a non-committal sound and finished the last page of his book between a sip of his drink. "One day I'm teaching a noisy, too smart for his own good brat, and then I have to deal with another version of him." He paused reflectively and took a drink of sake. "Not as smart, but just as determined."

Kakashi snorted and put his book to the side. It was the latest copy of Jiraiya's newest book—hand delivered to him by the author earlier that day. "He has that, all right." He muttered. "I think his courage makes up for his lack of thinking, though." His mouth quirked up slightly. "Although I don't think people give him enough credit. He has his moments every now and then."

Jiraiya snorted around a sip of his drink. "You don't know half of the incredibly stupid moments his predecessor had." There was a proud smile on his face, though. "But he still managed to pull off incredible stunts. I told him that he was just like the Yondaime only because he had blond hair and the same stubbornness." He snorted around a mouthful of sake. "That wasn't the only thing."

"Hn." Kakashi's gaze was far away for a moment. While he didn't know the Yondaime while he was a kid, while he was Kakashi's teacher he had his own moments during training and off duty that was memorable. As Naruto got older, the resemblance grew strong and it was harder to ignore. He doubted the Jiraiya was able to put things off so easily, having taught Kakashi's teacher from a young age, then dealing with Naruto.

"Were you shocked at first?" Kakashi asked into the sudden silence. "I mean—as I heard it, he basically came out of nowhere." The way Kakashi looked at Jiraiya told how much he didn't really believe that. There was a hint of a grin. "And then chased you all over Konoha."

Jiraiya took another reflective sip as he recalled his favorite student—one of his few students that he took on. "He was such an arrogant brat, even when was a runty eight year old. I think what really threw me was that he told me 'I'm going to surpass every other Hokage.' "

"I am going to surpass every other Hokage." Jiraiya looked down at the kid, blond hair and bright blue eyes looking up at him defiantly. He couldn't be any more than seven or eight—and yet, he was already a gennin and under his command.

"Is that so, brat?" Jiraiya smirked down at him. "You don't look tough enough yet—or that smart, really." He rested his arms behind his head and out of the corner of his eye, watched the kid silently fume. "You have to do a lot to live up to the title of Hokage."

The boy smirked, arms crossed over his chest as he pushed up his hitai-ate. "You'll see." He said determinedly. "Protecting this village and becoming the Hokage is my dream. I'll do everything I can to reach that goal." His gaze turned almost sour as he looked at Jiraiya. "Even with a pervert like you for a teacher."

"I'm one of the Sannin!" Jiraiya said with a smirk. "I'm not just a pervert." He wondered vaguely how the kid knew of his hobbies, and made a mental note to keep a closer eyes on him. Maybe he enough potential and incentive to come along with him. He eyed his new student and didn't let any of those thoughts show. It wouldn't do to make the brat's ego swell up too soon. "You have a long way to go to catch up to me."

"'You have a long way to go to catch up to me.' I told him. Didn't think he'd actually catch on to what I was doing—brighter than I gave him credit for. I think he got confused by the face he put on for people—got too caught up in the act, because he came up behind me and gave me this look and was all 'Not really.'" There was a proud smile on Jiraiya's face as he laughed at the memory.

Kakashi smiled at that. "When we had our initial test—the one that the Sandaime started with your team—Naruto decided that he could win both of the bells at once and without the help of his team. Not that they seemed inclined to offer any, mind you—Sasuke was convinced that he could do everything on his own and his teammates were worthless baggage, and Sakura was so infatuated with Sasuke that it clouded her judgment the entire exercise. Naruto had been stepped on so long his entire life that he felt he needed to prove a point."

"Arashi didn't have as much to prove as Naruto—there obviously weren't the same obstacles to overcome, but he did have who his teachers were looming over his head. Didn't come from a particular clan line and even if someone told he couldn't do something, he denied it at the top of his lungs. He was an obnoxious little runt, shouting the same words all the time. Naruto asked me the same thing when we initially set off to look for Tsunade. 'Since you chose me as your student, I've got great talent within me, right?'"

"Since you chose me as your student, I've got great talent within me, right?" Arashi looked up at Jiraiya, a broad grin on his face. "I mean—some great pervert… I mean…" He paused and started over again with the way Jiraiya's eyebrow twitched. "One of the Sannin takes me on as a student—I have to have great talent, right?"

Jiraiya rubbed his chin and pretended to look thoughtful over the whole matter. Arashi tended to remind Jiraiya of himself, including the way the little runt got tied to the log during the initial test. The only sad thing was that he didn't seem so inclined to forgive Jiraiya for his 'research'. He only got made fun of, had his spying ruined and was lecture by someone that barely came up to his chest.

But the kid had a lot of potential, there was no mistaking that. There was already talk of him moving up through the ranks again—he hadn't set the record for graduating early or getting chuunin status, but he was already heads above his original classmates.

Jiraiya ran a hand through his hair and struck a confident pose, sandals clacking on the wooden bridge as he did so. "Well, with me as your teacher, I know you'll turn out great. A great teacher can only turn out a great apprentice."

"A great teacher can only turn out a great apprentice." Jiraiya said reflectively. "And look at how far he's come with our training. You started it out and I taught him the rest." He puffed up, looking more like the frogs he summoned at the moment than anything else—albeit a bushy-haired frog.

Kakashi took a long sip of his drink and sighed. "Well, I had a good teacher as well, so maybe your philosophy isn't too far off the mark." His shoulders shook slightly. "Although it's a little hard to imagine Naruto as a teacher and keeping the bells away from his students. I can see them all ambushing him all at the same time."

Jiraiya smiled faintly. "That's the whole point of the exercise, isn't it?" He asked, one eyebrow raising. "Teamwork?" He smiled faintly. "Your teacher was my student and I made sure I hammered that lesson into all their heads. Glad to see I didn't waste my breath."

Kakashi nodded with a faint smile, feeling drowsy from all the alcohol. Leaning back in the booth, eyes half shut, he continued. "Yeah…" He said softly. "He made sure we knew what was the highest priority, even if some of us didn't quite grasp it at the time." Jiraiya's snort let Kakashi know who he thought was the slow one, but Kakashi ignored the silent jibe and continued. "Teamwork is what makes the mission successful."

"Teamwork is what makes the mission successful." Kakashi's expression didn't change as he looked up at his teacher—soon to be commander. His father spoke highly of teamwork as well. "Even if you feel that your teammates do not contribute to the task at hand, simply by being there they are helping out." His eyes went first to Rin, then Obito and finally landed on Kakashi. "Age does not matter—you are part of a team now and that is the important thing to recall."

"

Kakashi snorted, eyes focused on Arashi-sensei. "We all have our talents." He said flatly. "But I'm not going to let anyone get in the way of a mission. The mission is what is most important."

Obito's eyes narrowed behind his goggles. "The mission isn't the only thing that's important!" He protested. "Your teammates are the most important. You heard Arashi-sensei. Teamwork is what makes the mission successful."

Kakashi simply gave him a bored stare in return, and Rin looked nervously up at their teacher. "Many shinobi go on solo missions." His voice conveyed no emotion. "There is no confusion between the mission and the team then. A shinobi can get the job down without worrying about other distractions…"

Their teacher just watched them, letting them hash it out while Rin stood halfway behind him, eyes wide with worry. They weren't exactly proving Arashi-sensei's point, and she hoped that they wouldn't kill each other. Arashi-sensei just smiled. "They'll work it out for themselves eventually." He winced at what happened next, though and wondered at his own words.

Obito tackled Kakashi to the ground, eyes angry. "Distractions?" He shouted. "Is that all we are to you? You little punk—you're about half the age of me and you talk like you know so much. Well, you don't." He bit out. "You don't know a thing at all, you selfish little bastard. Those that don't take care of their teammates are trash."

"Those who don't take care of their teammates are trash." Kakashi said flatly, eyes dark at some memory that Jiraiya didn't want to look into. "Arashi-sensei was right all those years ago." With a final swallow of his sake, he stood up. "At least Naruto learned that lesson—although he almost lost a teammate to get it through his head."

They couldn't say much more on that subject—that person wasn't around anymore, he was off with Jiraiya's old teammate, his mind as clouded by a quest for knowledge and power as Orochimaru's was.

"Eh, I have faith in the kid." Jiraiya finally said, putting money of the table for the shared drinks. "We'll be heading out tomorrow – we'll search for that little punk while I train Naruto. Expect us to return in the next couple of years. That kid needs to see more of the world outside of Konoha—and with less distractions."

"Take care of him." Was all that Kakashi said. "He's…he's not a replacement and he's not a reminder—but he's one of the few things my teacher—and your student—left us to and entrusted us to take care of. I won't fail at that mission."

Jiraiya nodded solemnly. Each student was a legacy of his teacher—each parent or guardian passed down things that they wanted their respective offspring to pick up. Jiraiya felt it was his duty to pick up where his student left off—and he would make sure that Naruto achieved his dream.

"Becoming the Hokage is my dream." Two voices echoed with the one statement and as Kakashi left him at the corner of where Naruto's apartment lay, Jiraiya could see the same smiling face looking back at him.

"Things always come around."