Jiraiya spent a long time standing outside Naruto's hospital room door thinking about what he could say. Inside he could see Naruto staring out the window. Anyone else covered in that many bandages would probably be in a coma but Naruto appeared almost fidgety as he sat in the hospital bed. In the end he leaves. He cannot think of the right way to convey what he wants to say. And what he needs to say is important.
When he does speak to Naruto he tries with all his might to convince him to give up on Sasuke. He loves Naruto and he wants to protect him. And Jiraiya knew better than anyone else what it was like to lose a teammate, to see them abandon the village in search of something more.
But Naruto denied him. He smiled a smile that held only pain and said he could never give up. It wasn't his way. And Sasuke was his friend. And Jiraiya's carefully planned speech fell to pieces.
He called Naruto a fool. It was a last resort. He knew Naruto hated being called stupid. But Naruto said he would rather be a fool and help a friend than be considered wise and be seen giving up.
Jiraiya turns away with a faint smile.
He wants to protect Naruto. He wants to spare him the pain that he himself suffered. But if Naruto had listened to him, if Naruto had left Sasuke to Orochimaru, than Jiraiya admits to a small, private part of himself that he would probably have given up on Naruto. He wouldn't have trained him and brought Naruto with him on his travels.
Because if Naruto had given up on Sasuke, if he had listened to Jiraiya and trained and decided that Sasuke wasn't worth saving, than he wouldn't have been the man Jiraiya had thought he was.
As Jiraiya leaves he is smiling.
Naruto didn't make the smart choice but he made the right one.
His life would be harder. The decision Naruto made today would change his future. It would carve a different, more difficult path than if he had listened to Jiraiya's advice. But he would be better because of it. Even if he suffered the same pain that Jiraiya did, a pain that Jiraiya would spare him if he could, he would be a better person because of it.
Naruto would not compromise his ideals.
And that meant the world to Jiraiya.
As Jiraiya stared at the blue, blue sky overhead he grinned a broad grin. He wished that Minato was here today. He wished he could see the person that Naruto had become.
Because Naruto was exactly the type of man his father had hoped for.