He had to say that the memorial suited him. Other would say that it should be flamboyant and massive, a true testament to one of Konoha's mightiest shinobi. A proper show to say. But even he knew that that wasn't something he would've wanted. Jiraiya was a simple man behind all the boast and showmanship. Fight him once and you would know. He had fought him enough on his pointless chase to know what the man would order for breakfast any given morning. He couldn't exactly say how he felt about the man though. At a time he could've.
Annoying. Dreamer. Foolish. Determined. Optimist. Stubborn. Unrelenting. Believer. Driven.
Those were a few of the words that came to mind.
But now? Now he wasn't so sure anymore. He hadn't been sure in a long time. Since even before he lost his arms to his teacher.
Jiraiya had always been complex like that.
Not many looked past his legendary status. Some simply focused on his fame, his prowess as a shinobi. Others his infamy, his escapades in hot springs everywhere.
He had once called him his best friend but that was the one thing he was sure they would have never been again no matter how many years might've passed.
They were something else though. Something unique.
After his experiments were revealed to the public they should've been nothing but enemies. Going for each other's throats each and every time they met. Most of the time they seemed more like spars though. Neither of them had ever used senjutsu against the other. Never. Despite them both being proficient in it. Manda and Gamabunta even seemed to have hated and fought each other more than they did sometimes.
They never could've returned to their old friendship though. That was simply impossible. Their roles prevented that for the rest of their lives. Orochimaru was still a traitor and Jiraiya was still a loyal shinobi of Konoha. Naruto and Sasuke were a true anomaly when it came to that parallel in the two friendships. They looked to have easily returned to being their version of best friends after the Uchiha had been brought back to the village. They didn't seem to hold anything against the other even though their last fight had cost each of them an arm. Orochimaru had thought he understood the Uchiha well enough but he seemed to have been completely wrong.
He never even pretended to understand the Uzumaki. The mere thought of someone understanding the boy was completely insane.
"I'd never thought that I'd be able to do this." He said even as he kneeled in front of the grave. He wished he had brought something with him but he wasn't exactly welcomed in any stores and a henge would simply have ANBU, that he had long ago noticed had followed him everywhere, surround him in a moment. Orochimaru was good but he didn't want to take on squad after squad of the village's black ops unit over a simple henge. He didn't want some lucky Chunin, or even an extremely lucky Genin, to be able to finish him off afterwards. "Perhaps that's why I'm so unprepared. I admit it's a first for me."
He couldn't even offer a prayer truly. For a man who wanted to master every technique in the world and knew a great many of them already, he was terribly under learned in other areas. He couldn't even offer the fragments of one halfheartedly. He let out a small laugh at his current problem.
"Would you even want one though?" he asked the grave, knowing he wouldn't get an answer.
He couldn't stop himself from laughing again. The grave wouldn't answer him so he would never know the answer. Something else that would forever elude him. His eyes were drawn back to what Jiraiya's last student had set up in memorial for him. The bouquet of paper flowers were fine even after so much time had passed. They must've been from the girl from Ame. Jiraiya couldn't praise the three students he had stumbled across enough. He had gone on and on about the three of them in all the letters his toads had delivered to his teammates and when he had finally returned to them in person and had rounded them all up for drinks. Dragging both him and Tsunade from whatever they were doing that night.
"Konan is just like you Tsunade. She'll grow up to be one hell of a woman one day. Nagato is quiet just like Orochimaru over there but he's just a big ol' softy on the inside. And Yahiko took to everything like a fish to water. Just like yours truly."
Thinking of the three of them only reminded him of how he had suggested to kill them when they had first come across the three. He briefly entertained the idea that had Jiraiya gone along with it he would still be alive today. The thought fled his mind just as quickly. Looking back on it he called himself foolish for even suggesting it. Tsunade had been numb at that point to anything they had said or suggested but even at his worse, at his absolute lowest point, Jiraiya would've never even entertained the idea of saying yes. Even at his absolute lowest, he always managed to find hope in something. Somehow managed to keep himself going when it seemed that the entire world was against him succeeding. Something else that eluded his understanding.
That revelation was becoming very troubling. The more he stayed at the grave, the more he realized how unlearned he was in some areas. Jiraiya was somehow able to still confuse him even from beyond the grave. That was simply too much like him. The man had annoyed him in life and now simply left him utterly confused in death. That was simply too unique of a skill for anyone other than Jiraiya to have. Orochimaru laughed again at the absurdity of it all. He had thought coming here would bring him some sort of closure but he had been so wrong. He would leave with many more questions than he had arrived with.
His eyes strayed back to the memorial, looking to distract himself from his thoughts momentarily. His eyes landed on the book, the only other item of note left by Naruto. He recognized the title of the book from all the times Jiraiya had been writing it. The only novel of his he had truly considered to read even after his experiments were exposed for the world to see. Jiraiya's future books were met with at best indifference from the Snake Sannin.
"The Tale of The Utterly Gutsy Shinobi." He spoke the title even as he trailed a finger across it. He hesitated in his next actions. Debating simply leaving the memorial now and maybe coming back another day. He could easily put it off for some time again. It seemed like one of the snakes he was so fond of whispered in his ear the ridiculousness of such a thing. He himself knew that he wouldn't be coming back here anytime soon. He looked around himself, only proving that he was still as alone as when he had first entered the forest.
"This entire thing is ridiculous." He spoke as his hand balled into a fist and he pulled it away from the novel. He should've simply stood up and left the memorial far behind, leaving before Jiraiya could leave him even more confused from beyond the grave.
Instead he remained where he was.
His fist fell apart as he grabbed the book.
He opened it to the first page simply to satisfy his curiosity once and for all. This book was probably just like the rest of Jiraiya's works in the end. Reading it now didn't mean anything.
AN: I know Orochimaru seemingly having free reign in the village sounds crazy but please roll with it. I justify it with a partial pardon in my head. He sorta helped to end the war by bringing in the revived Hokage. He's also constantly under ANBU watch and there's people in the village who could fight him (Tsunade, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, maybe Kakashi, etc) if things truly went south. It's kind of weak but the best I could come up with.
Hopefully this was at least a little interesting. I couldn't get the idea of Orochimaru visiting the memorial out of my head. Maybe it was a bit OOC for him but I'm thinking it would be something he would do. His curiosity simply wouldn't let him not go once he knew about it.
He tried to justify his visit somehow in the end though.
I honestly debated putting Tsunade in it but decided against it. She probably visits it whenever she wants.
Just let me know what you thought of it. I'm debating doing some other things with post-series Orochimaru in one-shots, maybe more depending on what it is. They would mostly be reunions. Anko meeting her teacher again comes to mind and the various ways she would try to kill him. Kabuto again would be interesting. Tsunade meeting him off the battlefield as well.
I know he shows up a few times in post-series stuff but I haven't really read or watched anything since the final chapter. Not the movies, not the books, and not any other side stories.
Let me just wrap this up before I ramble on.
Let me know what you think about this and anything else you might want to see. A message or a review is cool.