Prophecy's Ruin: Prologue
"Fukasaku-sama…Oogama Sennin is calling for you…"
The ancient Gama elder frowned as he peeked out of his toadstool and saw the towering bulk of a messenger toad seated outside his home. Upon the wandering slopes of Mount Myoboku where the Gama Clan made it's home, it was rare that anyone received formal summons, especially from the Oogama Sennin himself, and Fukasaku was worried that this might be a prank of some kind. It was not beyond that young rapscallion Gamabunta to make him hop all the way up the mountain side to the central temple just to be hit in the face with some disgusting concoction. He was very sad to say, that something along those lines happened not a few times in the past, as evidenced by his rather severe aversions to orange paint and dung beetle pie.
Sighing heavily, he slowly got to his feet, a few pops and creeks finding their way out of his old joints, and shuffled over to the open window so he could confirm that it was indeed a true summons.
"Eh?" the old toad sage said, squinting in the light of the hot morning sun, "Todoma...is that you?"
The large yellow toad messenger, relatively young by the long lived standards of the Gamma clan, shifted uncomfortably under the gaze of the miniscule sage, his bulk causing the earth around the large toadstool to shake and tremble. Fukasaku hoped he wouldn't upset the foundations of his toadstool, otherwise he would never hear the end of it from Shima.
"Er...Yes, Fukasaku-sama," the giant toad stammered out, the young messenger toad clearly ill at ease with the job of bothering the ancient sage, "Forgive me for calling upon you so early, but it was an emergency. This morning Oogama Sennin woke from his meditation and called for both his advisers to attend him. He seemed peculiarly serious when he called this morning."
That last admission, piqued Fukasaku's attention.
"Oogama Sennin...serious?" he asked with obvious disbelief.
Todoma, shrugged, looking as lost as Fukasaku was at the moment, "Yes, Fukasaku-sama. Oogama Sennin looked most serious when he woke. Had I not been his messenger for all these years, I would have though him...angry."
Angry...? He thought to himself in utter disbelief. He thought of the large dotty old sage that taught generations of young Gama soldiers the sage arts and never in his eight hundred years living on Mount Myoboku or his time spent as Oogama Sennin's aide did he ever even hear of him being angry at anything.
"Are you sure Todoma-kun?" Fukasaku asked, still in disbelief, "was Oogama Sennin actually angry?"
Once again, the mammoth messenger toad shrugged, his expression a mix between looking lost and in utter disbelief, "At least that's the impression that I had."
Fukasaku blew out a breath, overwhelmed by the supposition. Toddling back into the house, he quickly grabbed his bag and shrugged on a traveling robe before poking his head out of the room once again, "Did you inform Shima of Oogama Sennin's orders, Todoma-kun?"
Todoma nodded, "Of course Fukasaku-sama. Shima-baa was informed a while ago by another messenger. She should be at Oogama Sennin's side already."
The old sage rolled his eyes as a reflex. If Shima, his cranky old bag of a wife, was already at the temple, he would get an earful for not being "prompt" with his summons and his "lack of respect" for the senile old sage. The woman was a terror even when they were young tadpoles growing in the old lands on the far side of Myoboku. Even as a young woman, she tormented him daily during their sage training, not to mention all the times she forced him into embarrassing situations, many of them planned by the wily old bat herself. Despite all the headache and irritation the woman caused, Shima eventually grew on him and, despite being nearly three hundred at the time and Myoboku's foremost bachelor, Fukasaku eventually settled down with Shima. He honestly didn't mind at that point, both Fukasaku and Shima had been through a lot during the various inter clan wars that wracked Myoboku, not to mention the first Shinobi wars after the time of the Sage of the Six Paths forged bonds between the human world and the world of the summon beasts. He was tired of the constant fighting and wanted to enjoy the peace. Shima had been his constant companion during those wars and was practically the only woman who understood why such a celebrated warrior such as Fukasaku would want to retire in peace, as such they made a perfect match, not counting the occasional spats and the frequent headaches the old windbag induced.
"Alright..." Fukasaku said, grumbling under his breath as he quickly exited the home, his heavy cloak around his shoulders flapping in the light breeze and his walking cane tucked under his arm, "let's get going Todoma...we might as well get on with it since Ma's already going to kill me for being so late..."
The big messenger toad chuckled uncomfortably as Fukasaku continued to grumble, even as he clamored up the his back. Settling slightly above the nape of Todoma's neck, Fukasaku secured himself to the thick bumpy dry skin and clicked his cane on one of the large protuberances atop Todoma's head, indicating his readiness. With a mighty leap the two of them were off, covering leagues with each chakra powered bound.
Scenery flashed by as Todoma made his way up the winding path of Myoboku's central mountain, pools of glistening blue water swishing in their wide pools in the wake of Todoma's bulk, giant toadstools, the homes of other Gama clansmen, quaked as the weight of the jumps pressed the earth and shook their foundations, and animals of all sorts, those large insects that fed the Gama clan and the non-sentient animals that the Toads shared their mountain with, scattered as Todoma traveled.
Myoboku truly was a paradise, Fukasaku thought to himself, the large bracing jumps bothering the old sage not one bit.
"So what do you think this is about Fukasaku-sama?" Todoma asked during one of his bigger jumps.
The old sage frowned, his silence answering the young messenger toad.
What did Oogama Sennin want with him, Fukasaku thought to himself, the cool air of Myoboku clearing his head and allowing him to think clearer. These days, it wasn't often that Oogama Sennin woke from his mediations. The last time he woke was a year before the disaster in Konoha where young Minato was killed and Bunta was forced to assist the fool boy in creating a Jinchuriki. Before that was nearly three decades after his previous awakening, when young Jiraiya was given his prophecy. No one knew how old Oogama Sennin was, he was ancient when Fukasaku was born, but what all of Myoboku did know, was that when Oogama Sennin did wake, there were no good tidings to be had.
Could it be the boy, he thought to himself as they neared the giant steps leading up the last stretch of the mountain. It would be nice to hear something of the poor child his clan was forced into helping seal, Naruto, he remembered the boy's name was, he thought it was something like that. Young Jiraiya was always talking about this or that on the few visits he paid the Gama clan on return to Myoboku, but for the life of him, he couldn't remember a single time the boy mentioned young Naruto. It may have seemed a little suspicious, but Fukasaku knew Jiraiya, the boy would not run from his duty as the little Jinchuriki's Godfather, nor was he one to harbor a irrational hatred of things he knew were not the boy's fault.
The thought comforted him somewhat. Jinchuriki suffered greatly for something that wasn't their fault, in fact, they suffered for doing a great service for their respective countries, keeping a demon at bay or providing a powerful weapon for their respective leaders to wield. Despite this, Jinchuriki were persecuted with irrational hatred, mostly for the common man not understanding the mechanics behind the seal. At least the boy would have someone who understood and protected him in Jiraiya, it was why they accepted the boy and trained him in the first place.
It was that odd prophecy that brought Jiraiya to Myoboku and won him his training as a sage, the first human sage since the dark times before the Sage of the Six Paths used his power to forge bonds between the Shinobi worlds and the summons'. It was an odd prophecy that the dotty old sage decided to spring on them: who the hell foresees someone becoming a pervert? Despite the dubious nature of Oogama Sennin's prophecy, there were some points that, if true, would shake the foundations of both the Shinobi world and the world of the summon animals.
He shook his head and let the dread wash out of him as the colder air of the higher altitudes brushed over him. The prophecy, while not directly influencing his world, would have ramifications if it were not completed in an optimal fashion. destruction of the Shinobi world or their salvation. the later would bring peace, but the former world bring war. War between the shinobi clans would draw the summons back into direct conflict with each other, which would begin those ancient wars all over again. he was too old to fight and hundreds of years of peace on Myoboku would see the end of their people should war touch them once again. It had to be stopped one way or another.
But he had faith in Jiraiya. Despite the boy's buffoonish nature and his rather inconvenient personal habits, he a good and powerful shinobi, a man who would be an ideal leader if he would stop blaming himself for the tragedies of others.
Lost in thought, Fukasaku hardly realized that their journey was completed and that Todoma, his bulk rising up and down as he fought with his exertion, was waiting for him to get off.
"Oh?" Fukasaku said, scratching his chin and looking around, "are we hear already?"
Todoma rolled his eyes, "Yes Fukasaku-sama, I've been waiting for the better part of five minutes for you to realize that..."
Fukasaku chuckled as he hopped off Todoma's back, "Alright young Gama... that's enough of that," he said, berating the younger toad for his backtalk.
Todoma, shuffling uncomfortably under the gaze of the old toad, gave him a watery smile before waving goodbye and jumping off to another one of his duties.
"Youth these days," Fukasaku grumbled as he made his way up the wide stair and into the temple that housed Oogama Sennin's quarters.
As he walked, Fukasaku could hear the wet gurgle of water streams flowing from the ancient spring under the temple, his feet slapped noisily against the smooth river stone floor as he made his way through the empty halls and high columned ceilings of the ancient temple. The temple of the sages was the most holy place on Myoboku. It was even situated higher than the clan homes and the capital building where the council of Gama elders made policy on Myoboku. Like Oogama Sennin, no one knew how old the building was, it having been here since the toads could remember, and since Oogama Sennin was so absent minded, no one could get a straight answer from the dotty old sage.
Finally leaving the great outer expanses of the temple, he found himself in the large chamber that made up Oogama Sennin's private mediation rooms. Here, large basins of spring water lay on either side of the huge dais where the great bulk of Oogama Sennin lay.
"Oya Oya!" came the thin strangled familiar voice of the old sage, "Young Fukasaku eh? What brings you here?"
Fukasaku sighed as he looked up into the wrinkled face of his master. Oogama Sennin had not aged well, he thought to himself. Swaths of wrinkled toad skin were layered over a massive bulk. The old dotty sage had to be the largest toad in existence at that point, greater than even the current leader Gamabunta himself. That in itself was one of the oddities that made up the mystery of Oogama Sennin. Usually, members of the Gama clan grew to enormous sizes, nine or ten stories tall in many cases, then, once they hit their peak at two hundred years or so, they began to shrink down to the usual diminutive size that he currently occupied. It was odd according to the natural world, but it had to do with the expansion and compression of their chakra and the use of natural energy as they aged. For the life of himself, Fukasaku could not explain it, and, he thought with an unkind scoff, neither could their scholars, despite the techno babble they loved to spout out whenever asked on the matter. But as it was, Oogama continued to grow, despite being the most powerful of the Gama sages.
"Oogama Sennin-sama," Fukasaku said, bowing low, "It was you who summoned me here."
"Hmmm?" The old sage blinked in confusion, his mammoth chinless jaw scrunched in thought and his wide brow peaked as he thought. "I did?"
"Ha!" came a thin screeching voice from behind Oogama Sennin, "I knew you would be late old man!"
Fukasaku sighed as he tried hard not to roll his eyes at another diminutive form hopping out from the bulk of their master.
"Shima..." Fukasaku said, trying hard to keep the annoyance out of his voice, "I came as soon as I was called..."
Shima scoffed, her purple hair standing out vibrantly from the dull green sheen of her face, "Even late you show such a lack of respect to our master!"
"Oya Oya," Oogama Sennin rumbled, water splashing over the side of his basin as he shifted to sit on his haunches, "Married couples shouldn't fight like this young Shima..." he said, scratching his bottom and stretching slightly, "come apologize to young Fukasaku."
The old Gama crone blew a raspberry, "Ojiji-sama, I think you're going senile in your old age."
"Fah!" Fukasaku said, hopping up onto his dais, "You say I'm disrespectful of the old man, yet here you are calling him senile!"
"I have a right!" Shima said, turning up her nose at Fukasaku, "anyway, why have you called us here Oogama Sennin?" she said, redirecting the conversation back to the matter at hand.
Fukasaku rolled his eyes, "Yes discounting the fact that Shima is completely out of her mind," he chuckled to himself as Shima squawked at him from the other side of their master, "Oogama Sennin, why have you called us here?"
The dotty old sage, frowned, his wide brows drawing close together and his eyes clearing slightly as he lost that old senile look, replaced by a look one could only describe as anger.
Both Fukasaku and Shima shared a look, never in their lives had they seen Oogama Sennin look so serious. Not during the war when the Gama clan killed it's brethren, not during the dark days of the shinobi wars where the clan was forced into battle against the human enemies of their summoners. this was the first time they could think of, when Oogama Sennin was this serious and it scared the hell out of both of them.
"What is it Master," Fukasaku asked, an edge of terror entering his voice. Anything that got Oogama Sennin this worked up had to be bad.
Finally, after a several seconds of terror filled anticipation, the old sage looked up and spoke.
"I think..."
"Yes Master?" Shima asked, she too was waiting in anticipation, a quiver of fear in his voice.
The Oogama Sennin's eyes narrowed, "I believe..."
"Master?" Fukasaku said, anticipating.
"Yes...I am..." the old sage stated with certainty, "yes it's true..."
"What's true master?" Fukasaku goaded again, his anticipation growing to unbearable heights.
Oogama Sennin nodded and turned to Fukasaku, his eyes wide and serious.
"I'm Constipated..." the old sage said and shifted his bulk.
BRRRRRTTT!
"Ah...much better," he said, satisfied, the dotty look returning, "I was holding that in for such a long time, thank you!"
Both Fukasaku and Shima were shocked...for a total of five seconds, then Shima began to screech.
"YOU DIRTY OLD FART!" she shouted, "HOW DARE YOU CALL US UP HERE AFTER BEING ASLEEP FOR OVER A DECADE, THEN PROCEED TO SCARE THE CRAP OUT OF US...ONLY TO TELL US YOU WERE CONSTIPATED BEFORE FARTING IN FRONT OF US!? HOW DARE-"
"It's failed..." Oogama's tired voice cut through Shima's rant like a hot knife through butter.
Surprised, Shima stopped mid rant, her mouth hanging open as she contemplated what her master just told them.
"What failed Master?" Fukasaku asked. He was more used to his Master's odd behavior than Shima was, seeing as he was present for the previous two awakenings while Shima was away, yet this was something new. what could have failed, he asked himself as he waited for Oogama Sennin to elaborate.
Oogama Sennin, still with that same senile look on his face, picked at one of the warts on his leg, seeming to forget when he just said a moment ago.
"Master?" Shima asked, trying to get their master to finish up what he was trying to tell them.
Fukasaku frowned, he knew Oogama Sennin would say no more. It would be up to them to find out what it meant. to decipher the mystery of Oogama Sennin's awakening. Hopping down from his dais, Fukasaku began to waddle out.
"Where are you going Old Man?" Shima called to him, still completely confused.
Fukasaku ignored her as he walked out still contemplating Oogama Sennin's revelation.
Oogama Sennin smiled to himself, his old white filmed eyes sad as he sighed heavily.
"It's failed..."
AN: One of the many stories I've written in my spare time, basically scrapped Demon of the Strong Fist and rewrote it. I'll give ANs to clarify weak points in my story, but generally what you see is what you get. Thanks for reading.
