For the next few days, Jiraiya and Tsunade spoke less, but they moved with an ease that hadn't been there before. A cup placed within reach before the other asked. When orders were discussed, they didn't argue the way they used to. They simply understood what the other meant to do and adjusted around it. This relation that they are having is something they never had... it felt weird... in a good way.
It wasn't romance in the way stories liked to depict it. But for Jiraiya, the stillness left too much room for reminiscing his memories.
One night, Jiraiya stared at the ceiling and remembered the moment his body had failed him against Onoki. Not the moment of death but what happened after he got reverse summoned to Mount Myōboku
--
Cold stone pressed against Jiraiya's cheek as he was slammed into the ground from Onoki's attack, the world spinning violently. His lungs burned. His chakra network was in a great deal of pain. Sage Mode was collapsing inside him, nature energy slipping free of his control like water through broken fingers.
His skin had begun to roughen, pores widening unnaturally. His fingers twitched, threatening to transform into something which no longer seemed human like a frog.
Before panic could take hold. The battlefield vanished. The jinton release was nowhere to be seen.
Jiraiya crashed into moss-covered stone, the air thick with moisture and the smell of ancient earth.
"Pa—!" he gasped, recognition cutting through the haze.
Ma's shrill voice rang out instantly. "Jiraiya-boy! What did you do this time?!"
Pa was already moving, small hands steady as he hopped onto Jiraiya's shoulder. "Ma, stop yelling and help me. Nature energy's overflowing... if we don't regulate it, he'll croak into a frog for real."
Ma clicked her tongue but leapt up beside Pa, planting herself firmly on Jiraiya's other shoulder. Together, they pressed their palms against his shoulders, their presence acting as a living valve controlling the surge of the nature energy.
The wild surge slowed. Jiraiya convulsed once, then collapsed onto his back, chest heaving. The frog-like roughness receded from his skin, his features pulling back into human shape inch by inch.
He lay there for a long moment, staring up at the glowing cavern ceiling.
"…Heh," he breathed weakly. "Guess… I overdid it."
Ma folded her arms. "Overdid it? You nearly turned into a decorative statue. How many times have we told you not to force Sage Mode, you have no control over it?"
Pa nodded. "You still haven't mastered the basics. You can't regulate nature energy on your own yet."
Jiraiya closed his eyes, exhaustion weighing heavier than the injuries. "Didn't have a choice. That old man Ōnoki cornered us. If I didn't use it… he would have killed Orochimaru."
Ma's expression softened despite herself. "You're too reckless for your own good."
A heavy presence shifted deeper in the cavern.
The ancient being's massive eyes cracked open, pupils clouded with wisdom and something far deeper than sight. He blinked slowly, as if waking from a dream that had lasted centuries.
"…Who are you?" the Great Toad Sage asked, voice hoarse and slow.
Jiraiya stiffened, then winced as his injuries protested. "Ah... uh... I'm Jiraiya. Toad Sage-in-training. You reverse summoned me, didn't you?"
Pa frowned. "Chief, you called him here. Said it was urgent. Something about your latest vision on Child of Prophecy."
The Great Toad Sage stared at Jiraiya for a long moment. Then his eyes closed, his breathing deepened.
Ma's eye twitched. "Chief? Don't you fall asleep now."
"I'm not sleeping," the Great Toad Sage rumbled. "I am… thinking." as he rubbed the drool from the corner of his mouth.
"The flow of fate has changed," the Great Toad Sage said at last. "The path I once saw… it has diverged."
Jiraiya pushed himself upright despite Pa's warning croak. "Changed how?"
"For a long time, I could see," the Great Toad Sage continued, "the Child of Prophecy will be someone who you would guide. Someone who would reshape the world and unite the world."
Jiraiya swallowed. He had spent years searching training Minato, Nagato who he believed would be the one to change the ninja world.
"…And now?" he asked quietly.
The Great Toad Sage's mouth curved, something like amusement flickering through his expression.
"Now," he said, "the Child of Prophecy will not only be your student."
Silence stretched.
"And?" Ma prompted sharply.
"And?" Pa also continued eager to know.
The Great Toad Sage again closed his eyes and asked a question as if he forgot what he had just said, "And?"
Jiraiya argued, "You are the one who should saying that. Not ask us the question."
The Toad sage, "Right, Right?" as he remembered what he wanted to say, "But also your child."
Jiraiya froze. "My… child?" he echoed.
For half a second, the world seemed unreal. Then his brain caught up in the worst possible way. As he counted how many children he had already spread. Which are none.
"Heh," he chuckled weakly and blushed. "So you're saying… I'll have a kid? Me? Hah. Guess the world really is ending."
Ma smacked the back of his head. "This isn't something to joke about, you fool."
But Jiraiya couldn't stop smiling. He had a leering grin people expected from him.
"So I don't have to find them," he murmured. "I don't have to gamble on finding them or searching villages. I not only have the time to train myself but also my kid."
The Great Toad Sage's eyes closed again. "Prophecy does not remove hardship. It only reveals where effort must be placed."
And with that, he went truly still, deep into sleep.
Pa sighed. "There he goes."
Ma shook her head. "Leaving us to clean up the mess as usual."
Jiraiya leaned back, staring at the cavern ceiling again... but this time, his chest felt lighter.
A child. His child.
The thought terrified him. Would he look like me. Or his Mother? Who will be his mother or my wife? Hehe Hehe. He laughed like an idiot again at that thought.
"So," Pa said after a moment, hopping down and tugging at Jiraiya's sleeve, "if you plan on sticking around long enough to see that prophecy through, you'd better stop nearly killing yourself."
Ma nodded sharply. "Which means proper Sage Mode training. With us. We will not accept any refusal like the last time, when you insisted on doing it yourself. See what has happened. If only you had summoned us, you could have lasted longer. It was by a pure coincidence that we were able to summon at the right time. Otherwise, you would have been dead by now."
Jiraiya laughed, a genuine sound this time. "Guess I don't have an excuse anymore."
They climbed back onto his shoulders, familiar weight settling in place. Jiraiya closed his eyes and focused. Nature energy gathered faster than when he did it alone. Still imperfect... but stable.
Pa grinned. "See? Already better."
Ma hummed. "You've got a long way to go."
Jiraiya opened his eyes, the red pigmentation of Sage Mode blooming gently around them and the frog traits still appeared but they were a lot less.
--
Back in the present, Jiraiya exhaled slowly.
The prophecy no longer felt distant or abstract, it was personal. Jiraiya doesn't have to chase across battlefields anymore. He was waiting for it. And preparing to be worthy of it when it arrived.
Never did he imagine the child of prophecy's mother would be tsunade.
--
A/N: Upto 20 Advance chapters available @ patreon.com/aizenDuchiha0
The Child of Prophecy is decided. He/She will be an OC. I have yet to decide the gender. The fate has decided since kushina and minato are not together it chose the next option Tsunade and jiraiya. New villain introduced (not born yet).
Chapter 55; aizenDuchiha0 said:
Apparently, he had been reverse-summoned to Mount Myoboku just before Onoki's attack... the toads had saved him. But he wasn't the same. His jokes stopped. His grin looked carved out of something brittle. He didn't meet her eyes much anymore. He said he was thinking about something about Child of Prophecy and that it had changed because of some interference.