Chapter 4 –The Prophecy

Jiraiya woke with a start. He felt great. It took him a moment to remember that he was in a cell in the basement of a castle. The room was dark. He felt sure it was morning. He peered around in the dim light and found a pile of fresh clothes next to his bed. 'Hiromi is really nice,' He thought with a smile. He grabbed his gear and his writ and headed out the open doorway. Once he made it outside, he asked for directions from one of the guards standing outside, and was told where to find the library. He walked in that direction and found himself in front of a large building with stone facades, statues, and a garden outside the entrance.

Inside, a long gray marble counter stretched around an office area. A thin woman with glasses flipped through a book. Jiraiya assumed she was the person he had to talk to.

"Do you have a map of the area?"

She lowered her glasses, looked at him and asked, "Would that be regional or local?"

"Uh…regional. I need something that shows the whole country."

"I think I have just what you need. Let me go get it." She said, and then left. After a few minutes, she returned with a scroll. "This is the one you requested." Jiraiya handed her the writ. She studied it and said, "I see. Well, you may go ahead and take that map. If you need anything else, just ask."

"Thanks." He replied. He unrolled the map carefully and looked at it. Myouboku Mountain was nowhere on the document. 'So much for my theory about Prince Reiki protecting the toads from my team,' he thought. He rolled it up and put it into his sack. He looked around. The library was huge. There was a staircase on the other end of the courtyard area that followed the circular shape of the room upwards. Some bookshelves were three stories tall. Being a budding writer and an avid reader, he couldn't resist taking a look around.

He spent most of the rest of the week staying in town and returning to the library every day. His exploration of the library turned up very little about his frog friends, but there were some old books on spiritualism. One in particular caught his eye. It was entitled, "Animal Realms of Enlightenment". In its pages there was a description of astral realms where lived ancient beings who held sovereignty over each animal type in the world. It was believed that these beings could grant powers from the realm they ruled over. Jiraiya wondered if the contract he signed was related to the animal realms. He made some notes on a book with blank pages on what he discovered.

He was starting to feel hungry, so he left the library. When he stepped outside, a cloud exploded near him and Pa frog stepped out. He fell down on his rear-end in surprise. He clutched his chest, breathed heavy and said, "You scared me half to death. Can't you poof quieter?"

Pa frowned and said, "No! Now let's return home and finish your training."

"How long will that take?"

"Stop asking stupid questions. Only I will know when you're ready." The old frog waved his arms and with a seal, caused the two of them to vanish.

There were many things Jiraiya grew to understand and respect about the art of jutsu that he hadn't before. There were many things the frogs knew that had been kept secret since time immemorial. Jiraiya was given this sacred gift and proved over the last three years he was ready to use it wisely. Ma babied him like he was a child, fussed over him and made him disgusting meals from the bodies of insects. There were some aspects of the dietary needs of the frogs that took time to get used to.

Jiraiya's side interest in writing also took off. He found that life in the small village didn't fill his appetite for adventure, so he started making up new ones from his imagination. On one particular day, He decided to start writing a novel, so he bought a blank book of paper at one of the local shops in town. It had a leather binding and beautiful designs on the cover. He pried open the crisp pages of the book to the first entry, uncapped his inkwell and dipped his pen in. After thinking about what he wanted to write about, his pen began to glide across the page. Abstract thoughts turned into stories, and by the end of the day, he was exhausted but satisfied.

After several weeks of writing, Jiraiya began to run out of new ideas. He decided to take a walk to clear his head. He took his writing instruments with him in case he had an idea to jot down. As he shuffled slowly and contemplatively down the road, he noticed a few young frogs hopping around a pond. A lady frog was watching over them. She noticed him and said, "Hello Jiraiya-chan."

Jiraiya didn't recognize her, but was used to being addressed with familiarity since he was the only human around. When he first showed up at the village, he had a hard time distinguishing one frog from another, but he learned the distinctions. This one was female by her voice and dress and the fact that she was larger than most male frogs. Jiraiya knew females were larger because they carried large amounts of eggs inside. He waved and said, "Hello. I don't think we've met?"

The frog said, "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Nami."

Jiraiya nodded politely and looked around at the tiny frogs jumping around, "Are these all yours?"

"Oh my, no," Nami replied, "I take care of these tadpoles and froglets until they're ready to leave the pond."

"They're very cute."

"They are," Nami conceded with a smile, "but they can be a little hard to deal with sometimes."

Jiraiya laughed and sat down. A little froglet boy, no taller than his kneecap, hopped over to him and looked at the book he was carrying around. Jiraiya smiled at the little froglet and asked, "Would you like me to read to you?"

The froglet croaked, "Yes please."

Jiraiya picked the froglet up and sat him on his knee then said, "Okay, I'll read to you and your friends here." He began to read his story to the frogs and their little eyes grew big. After reading a chapter, he said, "That's it for now, little frogs."

A few of them said, "Please read more of the story!"

Jiraiya smiled and said, "Alright. I'll come by tomorrow and read some more."

Nami thanked Jiraiya for visiting and resumed watching the froglets and tadpoles.

The noise of a cane tapping on pebbles caught Jiraiya's attention, so he looked up from what he was doing.

Ma and Pa walked up to him, bickering amongst themselves. Pa spoke first, "The Great Sage wishes to share a dream he had about you."

Jiraiya asked, "Right now?"

Ma said, "Yes, dear. You better come with us." She beckoned for him to follow, so he did. He followed them to the ancient toad, which was patiently waiting, as usual, on his stone chair. Jiraiya kept his head bowed reverently, having learned after a long time the importance of the Great Sage.

The wrinkled and parched lips of the toad croaked throatily, "Please approach me, Jiraiya-chan."

"I am here, Great Sage. What is it you want to tell me?"

"I have been having dreams about you. I believe them to be about your future."

"What will happen?"

The old toad said, "I see you becoming a pervert without equal and a Shinobi of incredible talent."

Jiraiya crossed his arms indignantly. He didn't understand why the prediction about perversion was so important. If it weren't for his respect for the Great Sage, he would have said something.

"Someday, you will train a student." The old frog said, pausing for a breath before continuing, "And he will become the harbinger of a great revolution in the world of ninja. I have seen as much in my dreams." The old toad coughed and then continued at its tedious pace, "One or the other will finally bring peace to the world or utterly destroy it."

Jiraiya asked, "What do you mean by one or the other?"

"You will be their master; their teacher, and eventually you will be forced to make a difficult choice..."

Jiraiya noticed that the old toad didn't answer his question with some irritation. Ma and Pa, noticing, shook their heads and whispered to him, "Senility..."

The Sage, oblivious, continued, "You will travel the world…and write a book."

Jiraiya's interest peaked. "A book?" He enjoyed writing. Maybe he'd write a novel?

"I don't understand the reasons myself." the toad replied, nodding. "But you will walk across the globe, and observing all creation, watching as nature takes its course."

Jiraiya wrinkled his brow, showing some doubt, and asked, "Have your predictions ever been wrong?"

"No." The toad answered and then its ancient eyes turned to Jiraiya and a smile crossed its dry lips, "I predicted that a young child would stumble upon Myouboku Mountain, and would receive from me the power of the toads. It was a vision I had about my own future."

"You predicted that?" Jiraiya asked. There was no answer. The Great Sage had fallen asleep. Jiraiya wasn't sure whether to believe the Great Sage or not. He was led back to his home with a lot to think about.

Jiraiya continued his training with Pa, having understood his place in the prophecy of the Great Sage. As he trained, he learned more and more techniques which were progressively more amazing, and the powers that Jiraiya inherited from his contract were beyond belief. Jiraiya laughed when he first summoned a house sized toad out of thin air and rode on its back around the frog village. It was after that on a cool autumn evening that Jiraiya knew he was ready, and he missed a certain someone. 'Princess…' Jiraiya thought. He decided he had to return to Konoha.

It was then Pa told him, "I taught you everything I know, Jiraiya-chan."

Jiraiya said, "I am grateful that you did this for me. Nobody has ever shown me the love and compassion that you and Ma have. That's why this is very hard for me to do."

Ma croaked, "I understand, dear. You have a promise to keep with Konoha."

Pa nodded and added, "A man should always keep his promises. "

"I love you and the rest of the frogs here very much. I will visit as often as I can."

The two frogs hugged Jiraiya, then the young Shinobi performed a reverse summon and was instantly transported to Konoha.

ANBU agents detected Jiraiya's presence and arrived almost instantaneously.

"Jiraiya?" one masked ANBU agent asked. The shade of the sun through the trees cast leaf patterns on the owl shaped mask he wore.

"Hai. You have that right." The young man replied.

"We heard you were captured and imprisoned." Another ANBU agent commented then added, "It's great to see you back again."

"It's great to be back. Could you let the Hokage and Sarutobi-sensei know? I need to see someone."

The elite ANBU members nodded and with a whistle of wind, they disappeared from his sight.

Jiraiya wanted to see Tsunade very badly. He spent years hoping to see her again. It killed him that he couldn't get a message out to her and tell her that he was alive; to do so would reveal the secret of the frog village. After consulting with a few people in town, he learned Tsunade was at the training grounds. He strolled there, thinking of what he would say to her as he went. He found her sitting on a rock near a cliff, staring at the horizon. He walked in front of the sunset which bathed her in its glow and squatted down near her. He said, "Hello, Princess."

Tsunade's heart beat increased and she was filled with joy and thought, 'Jiraiya!' Though she was glad to see him, she was also sad. She pictured him alone in a dank jail cell in Yamaguni. She said softly, "I am surprised to see you." A pregnant pause followed then she added sadly, "You must hate me. I left you in that prison to rot." She shielded her eyes from the sun to see him better. Jiraiya was older and taller. There was something about him that Tsunade found appealing. He seemed more confident. There was an aura of power there, too.

Jiraiya shook his head, "No, I was protecting you. I couldn't let you suffer."

Tsunade blushed, but said, "Me? Why should you suffer? You had nothing to do with it."

Jiraiya gave Tsunade one of his serious looks, "You don't have to worry about me. I didn't suffer, Princess."

"What do you mean?"

"They let me out soon after you all left." Jiraiya laughed, but then realized the seriousness of the situation. Tsunade looked as though she was either going to kill him or worse.

"If you were let out, then where the hell have you been?"

Jiraiya set his pack down and opened a flap. He dug around in the bag and produced a book. He handed it to Tsunade. The cover read, "Animal Realms of Enlightenment". He said, "I've been given a gift from some friends." He went about explaining everything about the frogs, the powers he inherited, and everything. Well, almost everything. He couldn't bring himself to tell her how he felt about her or thought about her all those years. After relating everything, Tsunade's face showed a mixture of interest and skepticism.

"Frogs?" Tsunade laughed with incredulity, "Are you serious?"

"Yes," He replied, nonplussed by her skepticism, "I learned a lot from them."

"I should be mad at you for leading everyone to believe you were dead or in prison." Tsunade sighed, "I'm just glad you're back. Konoha needs you. Things have gotten bad."

"You're right, I should have done something."

"If you ever go missing like that again," Tsunade warned with misty eyes, "I'll hurt you."

Jiraiya kissed Tsunade's cheek and said, "I'm sorry."

"You…!" Tsunade started to say in surprise. She clenched her fists, but felt them relax as her feelings prevented her from wanting to hurt Jiraiya.

Jiraiya laughed, performed a jutsu, and was carried away by a little tornado.

Tsunade touched her cheek and blushed. Pushing her thoughts away, she ran her hand along the binding of the book Jiraiya gave her. She wondered what other miracles like the frog people existed. She flipped open the book and began to study it. There was an illustration with several animal types, including a slug.