A request from a lovely reader. Reader belongs to a merchant family caravan that gets raided and she's the only survivor, Jiraiya saves her from the raiders. Also she's afraid of amphibians.
How can your world come crashing down so quickly? In the span of a few minutes, it all went to hell. Your little caravan of trade goods was raided. Your friends and family taken down in a matter of seconds. All you remember is a group of ragged looking men and woman surrounding the road. Then one of your dear friends pushing you. They screamed at you to run. You just shut down and did what they said. Your fight or flight instincts took over along with a rush of adrenaline. You choose flight. You were terrified and just did what you were told. You ran for as long as your limbs could carry you. You cut your face, arms, and legs on the forest around you. The leaves so thin and their edges caught you as you flew past them. The twigs and bramble bite your flesh as you trample them. You didn't stop until you felt like puking from the after effects of your traumatic experience.
There was some deadfall all piled together. It looked like all these trees fell and died together. The trunks and branches were angled high enough from the ground to find some sort of shelter in it. Almost like nature made a crappy tent or halfhearted beaver den. It would keep you covered. You can barely move to it. The exhaustion had caught up with you. Your eyes feel heavy. Your body even heavier. You squeezed yourself underneath it and curled up into a tight little ball. A loud clap of thunder tumbled across the sky. Rain followed. It's like the sky is crying with you.
Well shit. Jiraiya looks up at the dark grey sky. Rain drops began to hit his face. This makes things harder. He looks around. The call came in this morning about a traveling group of merchants and nomads who were ambushed along the borders of the Land of Fire. There wasn't much left. Whatever they were selling was stolen. All that was left was broken wagons and death. Blood soaked and mixed with the dirt road. The horses pulling the wagons had several kunai embedded in their necks. The bodies of those caught in the line of fire were disgracefully laying all around the road. Terror and pain still etched in their faces. Their bodies pilfered for any last minute goods by their thieves. It was honestly disgusting. How disrespectful.
"There's one missing."
Jiraiya turned his attention to the one who spoke. It was one of his subordinates assigned to help him investigate. It was an assembled team that specialize in tracking. It was the Inuzuka girl who had spoken. Her fluffy companion was sniffing the ground beside her curiously. Her brow was furrowed with concern as she looked over the list in her hands. Thankfully, to sell in the Land of Fire one needs a set of papers with intentions. There was an official headcount made up by the border patrol and they had the general description of each. It was better than how most investigations kick off. It gave the whole group a bit of hope since there was actual information. But it fell as they matched up bodies to descriptions. May this one missing be the one thing this team needs to move on! It was depressing enough to count bodies. At least one survivor won't make this whole thing a wasted effort of sadness and death.
"Okay. Then we split up. Who is it?" He asked.
"A girl. One of the youngest in the group."
He took the list from her. He memorized the details listed about this person. Name, face, unique features. Okay. A cute girl. He can remember that.
"Shouldn't we go after the group of rogues who did this?" His colleague asked.
"No. I think it's wiser to get the girl."
"Isn't is safe to assume they kidnapped her?"
"You know what they say about assuming." Jiraiya shrugs and turns to the rest of the group. He raised his voice so they all would hear. "We search for the missing girl! If you come across any of the culprits, question them but don't neutralize unless necessary."
The group nodded and went with his plan. They all split up the comb the woods. Jiraiya sighed. It seems he's gotta rely on his summons for this one. Hopefully the rain doesn't put on too many delays. He's not exactly a tracker ninja. But he has the most experience when it comes to this part of the forest. Supposedly, his experience is the only reason he's here. He's sure that he was only deployed because he was free of any assignments. Whatever, he'll do what he can. Jiraiya hopes to finish this before nightfall. The first twelve hours are the most important when it comes to search and rescue. This forest is hard to navigate as is in the day. But it's a whole different beast at night... It must be terrifying for a foreigner.
The cold has long settled into your bones. The rain hadn't let up. The thunder was beginning to sound maddening. It rolled across the sky and deafened the other sounds of the world. Your shelter was starting to fail you. It smelt terrible. It poked into your back like little pitchforks. Some of the logs keep shifting because it's so old and fragile. The water and mud are making it slide about. If it falls and kills you, you don't really care at this point. There's nothing left. No family. No friends. Nothing to scrape up and rebuild a life out of. Why did you even run? It would have been simpler to have died with your companions.
"Crep-it!"
Huh?...
The high pitched chirp caught your attention. You lift your head and shriek. You jumped right out of your skin from surprise. There's a toad on your leg! You squeal and smack it off of you.
"Gah! Don't touch me!" You yipe. "Ew! Gross!"
It chirped again and stared at you. It's very... human like. It's focus was not that of a normal toad. It's eyes were so honed and aware. Intelligent beyond that of it's form. It was almost owlish as well as uncanny. Cool! Great! How fabulous. Just a demon toad to add to yours problems. You aren't very fond of amphibious creatures to begin with. You don't like a creepy demonic one staring at you. It's so colourful that you are sure it's not natural. Purple with yellow speckles. Now you've been around the lands and ain't nothing in nature makes colours like that. Unless... Was it deadly with toxins?
"Why are you here?" You whined at it. You sniffle and stare at it like you expect an answer. "Are you going to hurt me too? Eat me? Poison me?..." You hug yourself for what little comfort it offered. "What does it matter anymore!"
You flop over and cry. The despair of it all had taken what little strength you had rebuilt. Maybe the hypothermia will finally do you in. You feel like a god damn sponge. Saturated and cold. It someone poked you, a puddle of water and tears would probably seep out.
Your possibly demonic companion didn't eat you or poison you. It simply made another noise before scurrying away. Good. You don't want the little weirdo to near you anymore. You squeeze your eyes shut. You are half tempted to smack your head on the decaying wood until you fall into a numb oblivion. You get a few headbutts in before deciding it's time to just clench your eyes and focus on conserving energy. But for what, you don't know.
Where is there to go from here?...
You don't know how many hours have gone by. You're a little dazed from accidentally falling asleep. It was more like a dreamless black out. You are still exhausted. The nap didn't help much. You are considering just trying to get a few more hours in. That or the lovely sweet embrace of death will take you while you rest, whichever comes first. However when you hear noises you crack an eye open. The first signs is dusk are there. It's harder to see. It's dimmer. With the dark clouds of the still going storm. It was becoming eerie. A set of feet are in your field of vision. You hold your breath. You freeze up in fear.
"Someone is here." They whispered.
"Is it one of those pesky ninja? We've been running from them all day." A different voice said. Their feet waltzed into your view as well.
"I... don't think so. Their network isn't trained. Their presence is very faint to pickup."
"I bet it's that girl that got away! If we catch her, we can use her as a hostage."
"Yes yes! Search the clearing."
You suck in a fearful breath. You don't want to be a hostage. You move your limbs. They feel heavy and half frozen. You scoot as deeply as possible into your shelter. Every crack that was in it felt like mile wide crevices that exposed you. Every step they took swelled you with anxiety. You look around the best you could with you limited view. You check above your as one set of feet traveled that way. You look down and jump at the sight before you.
A stranger's face is at the opening. They were smiling darkly at you. It was cruel and had this tone of superiority. It's a man with unwashed ratted black hair. His teeth are yellow and decaying. His skin tanned from spending hours in the sun and all scraggly from lack of upkeep.
"Hello there!" He wheezed a laugh.
Something grabbed your ankle. You turn to look to see the second person. They were a woman with similar features to the man. Her hand had a good anchor on your leg. You wail and struggle. Clawing at the ground as she pulls you out.
"No! No!" You squeal as you struggle. "Let me go!"
You are dragged out of your little den into the open. Mud and leaves are staining your whole frontside from being dragged against it like a dirty mop. She pins you down and laughs at you.
"It's like a drowning cat! All they do is flail!" She laughs.
She grabbed the back of your neck like you had scruff. She squished your face against the earth. She's clearly a little crazy and sadistic. You are terrified of what's going to happen. The man began to cackle and approach. These people! These cruel disgusting people! He steps on your hand and grinds it down. It hurt and stung. You thought you felt hopeless before. But now it all just feels bleak.
"Please let me go!" You beg them. You don't want to die! Not like this! You don't want to be stuck in a hostage situation. You don't want to be at the mercy of these crazy people. "I won't say anything!"
"Sorry little girl!" The man sneered at you. "We need to survive. You must understand that, don't you?"
You shake your head. You squeal and cry as you are picked up. You don't want to go with them! You are flipped over onto your butt. There's a knife to your neck and you just feel nothing but mind numbing horror. You kick your legs. You claw at her hand. You cry out and beg.
"Crep-it!" A high pitched chirp sounded but a few feet away.
You look up. On top of your deadfall shelter was a familiar little toad. It's wide lips were pulled into a pleased smile. It looked just as gross and weirdly human as before, but you couldn't be happier to see the little bugger. It looks so confident you just feel some sort of hope. Like it brought help. Did it? While you imagine an army of toads, which just happened to be like a growing nightmare in your psyche, it had gotten quiet around the woods. The breeze and rain is swaying the trees are the only noises. It's like everything else has fled at the rising threat of danger. You look around wearily. You have no training aside from life experience. You've spent most of your life outside due to your lifestyle. You know from your travels that if nature is quiet, something was wrong. Your captors raise their guard. They don't like how this feels either.
A crack of thunder stealthily hid the first move of the attack. It's right overhead and it literally makes you deaf and disoriented for a moment it's so intense. The hand of the woman holding you was yanked away, freeing your neck from the blade. Your eye caught white and red first as this big man ripped your captor away from you and literally threw her into the trees. It was a hard enough hit to knock her out. She went flying and landed with a hollow sounding thunk against a tree trunk. It's a little bewildering. What strength!
All of a sudden there's a very large man dressed like a ronin standing protectively in front of you. His guard his raised. His long white hair was unnaturally standing on end. It looked sharp. Which is like... weird? How can hair resemble needles?
"Get out of here." The white haired man warned. "I don't have time to fight you."
The scraggly man actually turned tail and fled. The poor dude looked terrified. Not so tough when alone apparently. That and the intense energy from the thunder made it look like your rescuer had summoned it himself. He did sighed and lowered his arms. He turned to the toad perched on the decaying trees.
"Kumi, let the group know that I've got the girl and to head back to the village." He ordered.
"Aye aye boss!" The little thing saluted the man in a relaxed manner.
You are taken aback that the toad can talk. And that it has a name. This... this is weird. It looked at you with a sly grin before making an unnaturally high jump into the branches. You watch it fade away in the canopies. When your gaze lowers, the man is already squatted in front of you. He's looking you over with a critical eye. With a small frown and analytical gaze. When his eyes meet yours, he finally cracks a friendly smile.
"You've had one hell of a day." He said in a joking way.
Your body turns stiff on instinct when his hand reaches out. Oh... It's a gentle touch. It's a nice touch. His palm is warm as it rests on your cheek. You find yourself staring. He's not bad to look at. He's quite nice looking.
"You're cold." His expression falls a little. He's worried about you.
"Why did you let that man go?" You ask quietly. You aren't really sure what else to ask at this point. Your brain feels slow and overwhelmed with all that has happened.
"My job was to find any survivors of the raided caravan. I don't see the point in starting a fight when I don't need to."
"Are there... anymore?"
His smile turns to sympathetic and sad. He shakes his head. "I'm sorry. It's only you."
You sniffle. You nod your head and cover your eyes as a new wave of tears come. It's quiet for several seconds. Eventually, you feel your rescuer gently pet your head a few times before retracting his hand. Something warm is soon placed over your shoulders. You peek through your fingers to see the sage green kosode and scarlet haori the man was wearing draped over your body. You look back up at him. He's given you the clothes off his back to keep you warm. The only thing keeping his chest covered was the netted armour shirt you've seen most ninja wear. Not that you are complaining or anything. He's nice to look at with his shirt off.
"I'm Jiraiya by the way." He introduced himself.
You swallow the lump in your throat. You look him up and down shyly. You say your name quietly. Jiraiya smiles gentle and encouraging. It seems he quite likes you.
"Your name is pretty." At this point Jiraiya is just trying to keep you calm and coherent. He doesn't mind complimenting you as well. He's only telling the truth and wanting to make you feel even a fraction better. He finds you attractive, but this is not the circumstances to use to flirt. He stops admiring and gets his head back in the game. "Can you move? How are your injuries?"
"I'm tired." You answer with a sigh. "And everything hurts."
"Alright..." he paused thoughtfully before nodding. "No problem. Do you think you can get on my back?"
You nod. You pop your arms through the sleeves of his clothing before crawling towards him. He is much bigger than you and his clothes are practically falling off of you. It's to your knees and it's so wide it's sliding off of your shoulders. But it's warm and smells rather nice. Like the woods, but also a little warm like cinnamon and a sweet citrus like oranges. You crawl onto Jiraiya's back and he hooked his arms around your legs. He suppressed a small shiver when your front met his back. The mud and rain had made you an ice cube to hold. But you are alive. Even if it's just you. He counts it as a win. One life is better than none.
You rest your arms over his shoulders and around his neck. He's a cozy heater. You bury your face against Jiraiya's hair. It's soft now. It holds the same comforting scent that his clothes do. You feel safe with him. Your heavy eyes close and for the first time today, you rest easy. You have a feeling that it's all going to be okay.
"And that, kids, is how I met your mother!" Jiraiya finished telling the story.
You roll your eyes at the dramatic retelling. Sheesh Jiraiya embellished some details. Your two children were mesmerized by the story. Your eight year old son, Kumiko, was listening intently. He wanted to know how his parents met. Your daughter Mozumi, was munching on her food and staring at Jiraiya. She was only two and will probably not remember this, but she likes hearing her father talk and was content to sit there. This was a normal end to the night. Jiraiya often told stories while you worked on dinner. It kept the kids out of the kitchen. Although tonight the story went on rather long. All throughout dinner the kiddies asked plenty of questions and the story got derailed a few times. You aren't so impressed with some of his details. You sit beside him at the table with a raised brow and arms crossed in front of you.
"I don't remember screaming that much." You criticize his dramatized elements he added.
After that day Jiraiya took you in. He asked you out on a date once you had healed from most of the emotional pain. You were very close to him because he was the only person you knew in Konoha. He was so nice to you. He was sweet and understanding to your pains of loss. He managed to get a memorial sign put up on the road where your caravan and family was lost. It was a sweet gesture that meant a great deal to you. It meant your family had a grave, a mark on the world that meant they won't be forgotten. You visit it often while he held your hand as a silent support. He always held you on the hard days and kissed you on the better ones. He asked you to marry him after about a year of being together. Children came soon after. It worked out well. You just get along with him famously. He actually inspired you to become a shinobi and he trained you. You wanted to give back to the village that took you in. You wanted to give back to the man that took you in. Being a ninja just felt right. Especially under the watch and guidance of your beloved. Needless to say you aren't so screamy any more. You're a decent fighter and you have long steadied your nerve. And you really don't think you squealed as much as he said!
"You are joking aren't you?" Jiraiya asked with a bemused smirk. "Kumi is practically deaf in one ear you shrieked so loud! And he's still terrified of you."
"He is not!" You scoff. You crossed your arms. "Give me a break, I was scared! I don't like toads and I didn't like having some random gross slimy looking one on my leg!"
"How am I married to you? I'm a Toad Sage."
"Well you aren't slimy or gross."
"Aw thanks, babe."
Jiraiya leans towards you and you to him. You share a quick kiss. You smile as he rubs his nose against yours in an affectionate gesture before pulling away.
"Wait!" Kumiko gasped with a sudden realization. He looked at you with wide eyes. "I'm named after a toad?"
You began to laugh. You more or less shrugged and admitted it. Your boy whined and pouted for not being told sooner. Jiraiya ruffles his hair and coos at him with a wide smile.
"Don't puff your cheeks out, kiddo! Don't you like you name?" He laughed at his son, but the question was that of genuine curiosity. He picked out the name after all, he's bound to be curious if his kid actually likes it.
Kumiko huffed and nodded. You fawn over him and fix the hairs Jiraiya ruffled up. He's his father's little mini me in looks. Mozumi began to laugh and hop in her high chair. She's a very bubbly little girl that giggled at everything. She's named for no one but herself and it suited her bold personality. Of course Jiraiya had to give her some affection as well. She was a total daddy's girl and he adored her. He put a kiss on her forehead and pet her head of soft loose white curls. Finally, Jiraiya stood up and approached you. He grabbed your chair and scooted it out to move in nice and close. He knelt down, held your face, and put a passionate kiss on your lips.
"It's about time we work on a third, don't ya think?" He purred the question. He likes having kids around. He likes the process of making them too! You simply smirk and that was enough of an answer. "Kids!" He turned to them. "It's late! Quiet time then bed!"
You laugh at his eagerness. Even as a father, Jiraiya was still true to his roots. He had just grown into an even sneakier pervert than he already was. For real, his children didn't know his more... risqué pass time hobbies. They only know him as their fun loving papa. He was a wholesome role model by day, your headboard breaking lover by night. You help him put the kids to bed. The moment they are down, Jiraiya tackles you by the waist and picks you up. You hold onto him and kissing him breathless as he takes you away to the bedroom.