Crossing the border was like stepping into a waterfall. The relentlessly pouring rain soaked them within seconds and their cloaks were barely enough to keep the rain out. The clattering of the rain surrounding them was almost enough to drown out the even more relentless questioning Shizuka had undergone since leaving the village with Jiraya. Almost, but not quite.

"So, how did you manage to travel back in time?" That had been the question Jiraya had been dancing around ever since they left Konoha, and he had finally mustered the courage to just plainly ask Shizuka. Yes, even Jiraya had some sense of reservation towards this man. In the first few hours of their trip, Jiraya had asked questions that hit nerves like piano strings and Shizuka had found himself unable to keep the torment and anguish off his face while facing his godfather. After that, Jiraya had been more careful with his questions, and Shizuka had been more guarded in answering. The initial awkwardness did seep away. The remnants of Naruto's relationship with Jiraya and Jiraya's brashness broke that as time went on.

But this question wasn't a question Shizuka was willing to answer in personal detail. Not even Sarutobi knew any details about his last moments, but Shizuka was well aware Jiraya was not one to accept a vague answer.

So Shizuka stopped, standing still in the pouring rain and waiting for Jiraya to notice his sudden halt. Once Jiraya did, Shizuka turned and headed into the woods to find a large enough tree to stop the rain from immediately washing away everything and started drawing the intricate seal.

Jiraya was never far away, intrigued by every stroke Shizuka made on his makeshift canvas. He kept quiet for the time Shizuka was drawing, knowing seal drawing took a lot of focus. But Shizuka drew it effortlessly. Well practised and the style was unique, to say the least. He looked at Shizuka and couldn't help the image of Naruto surfacing in his mind. Jiraya took his eyes off the seal and just studied his godson for a while. Seeing this man, an adult in every sense of the word, jet so obviously still very young to Jiraya, and realising he should have been responsible for this boy's early childhood. And he hadn't been. He failed Minato, he failed Kushina, he failed Naruto. But Shizuka did not seem to blame him for anything. Or maybe Naruto had never been aware of how his life could have been if Jiraya hadn't shunned his responsibility.

With a sigh, he turned back to the intricate drawing in the mud. It wasn't finished, but Shizuka also didn't seem like he was going to fill in the final elements. Jiraya studied what was there, trying to memorize it all before the rain erased it from existence. "So, what? You never finished this? What does it have to do with your time-travel?"

'This seal was the way. I'll never draw it complete again. That secret will die with me.' Shizuka was adamant not to reveal the rest, which of course wasn't good enough for Jiraya.

"Then why show this to me at all? You could have just gestured 'seal'." Jiraya asked.

Shizuka smirked. Jiraya, fuinjutsu master praised throughout all the nations, had missed the beauty hidden in his seal. 'Three elements are missing. Fill those gaps with anything. What do you get?' With that, Shizuka turned and resumed their route towards Amegakure. The smirk grew into a grin when he noticed Jiraya was still stumped.

It took more than a few moments for Jiraya to finally catch up. "It's a reinforcement." He started factually.

Shizuka nodded. Yes, the seal amplified the elements very strongly. 'And?'

"And a conduit." Jiraya added after some thought.

Again Shizuka nodded. The seal was made to guide whatever force was put into it into a certain pattern. A pattern that would suit most elements added to the seal. 'And?'

"What do you mean 'and'? There's no way you could fit more functionality into what you drew. Even just those two are very impressive since they'd work on any element added to it. I mean, if you add three storage elements to it, you could seal a mountain and not even break a sweat for the effort."

Shizuka smirked and shrugged, continuing his path and having Jiraya follow, lost in thought once again. And finally quiet.

It was until after they rented a room and settled for the night when Jiraya seemed to give up his pondering and turned to Shizuka with a sigh. "Alright, fine! Please tell me, because I am getting a headache from this."

Shizuka smirked, sat down and pulled a scroll and pen from one of his seals. Meticulously, he drew just one part of the seal and pushed it towards Jiraya. "Yeah, I noticed this, and it's weird, has nothing to do with the other elements and it's dormant. What does it do?"

'Escalation. After the seal is activated, it'll gain the ability to draw Nature Chakra.' Time-travel didn't stop needing new energy after the subject left its original time. It required new energy for every moment, literally. And Nature Chakra was theoretically always available.

"But that makes is uncontrollable!" Jiraya almost looked scared of the consequences as he slid the paper back. Shizuka understood. He hadn't known anyone to use a seal that could draw its own energy. If it wasn't done right, if there was no adequate restriction, theoretically the seal would keep drawing until it overloaded or there was nothing left to draw in... And Naruto had ensured the seal couldn't be overloaded...

They kept to the room until dusk. Shizuka had answered questions about their current target and Jiraya had taken it better than Shizuka expected. The fact that one of his former students had died, and that his two other students were currently trying to save the world in their own way was a lot to take in, and Shizuka was well aware of this. Shizuka answered as best he could, but details were vague for him.

But as expected Jiraya's conclusion was equal to the conclusion he had reached the first time; recognition and responsibility for what Jiraya left behind, and the urge to better his past mistakes. Jiraya felt like this was similar to what he had done with Naruto. In both cases, he shunned his responsibilities, and in both cases, he felt like he should have done better. For Nagato and Konan it might be too late, but Jiraya was adamant to take on a stronger role in Naruto's life as soon as they got back. Well, stronger, try any role, but even so, it was time for him to face his responsibilities. Besides, it's been a long time since he spent time in Konoha bathhouses. He could research there for quite some time. His network could find him anywhere, so Konoha shouldn't pose a problem in that as well.

He might just be on time to help Naruto with his final exams as well.