#oroji

I am so sorry it took so long to get to this one, I just have so many thoughts about them 👀

Canon-verse

Me and a few mutuals headcanon that because they were both orphaned young, instead of meeting at the academy, they actually met when they lived in the same children's group home. They were both a bit out of place among the other kids so they latched on to each other.

Orochimaru developed on Jiraiya when they were Genin and it lasted into their teen years, but with Jiraiya liking Tsunade and seeing Orochimaru as competition, they never said anything. Eventually they decided to "put the feelings away" so to speak.

Jiraiya started to find Orochimaru attractive when they were teens, but at the time he was a very closeted bisexual. He got more comfortable with that fact over time but by then Orochimaru had joined Root and had started to give Jiraiya a cold shoulder.

Jiraiya would call Orochimaru weird or "gloomy" but if anyone outside the Sannin ever said similar things he (and Tsunade) would tell them off and quite possibly throw in some threats while they're at it

While they never said it out loud, Orochimaru is one of the few people who always saw Jiraiya's potential.

Jiraiya spent years tracking Orochimaru but never directly confronted them, and when the Sound village attacked Konoha he showed up extremely late to the fight and didn't even attempt to face Oro. I think these were deliberate choices on his part because despite everything he really doesn't want to fight them.

All three of the sannin can sort of sense each other. Usually they don't pay attention to it, but if something serious happens they'll feel it. Tsunade and Jiraiya both felt it when Orochimaru was absorbed. And even though Orochimaru was just a little sliver inside of Anko at the time, they were still able to feel it when Jiraiya died.

In the Boruto era, Orochimaru found and collected the remains of Jiraiya's body and used her cloning tech to rebuild him. His body is in a sort of morgue and life support keeps it alive but his soul isn't actually in it. She's seriously considered trying to bring him back but knows he likely wouldn't be happy about it, so she's just keeping him for now. She's never been the best about fully letting things go.

AU-verse where things are less tragic and they're actually a couple

Orochimaru fell first, Jiraiya fell harder. For him it sort of crept up on him until one day someone pointed out that the love interest in his recent books is reminiscent of Orochimaru...and he has a lot of sudden realizations.

Jiraiya said "I love you" first

He also says it more often. Orochimaru loves him too of course, but after saying it once she doesn't understand the point of repeating it. This is actually a bit of a problem for them at first because Jiraiya has some self worth issues so not hearing it out loud makes him have doubts/worries. They find a compromise though: Orochimaru will squeeze Jiraiya's hand when they feel affectionate towards him. Now they "say" it quite frequently and Jiraiya couldnt be happier.

Jiraiya does most of the household chores, but Orochimaru does the laundry (after they come back from a long mission there's usually a lot of it).

If they eat at home Jiraiya's the one who cooks, and more often than not they either go out or order in.

Probably goes without saying, but they fuck like rabbits lol

They take turns being the big/little spoon

They like caring for each other's hair

They get a house for themselves on the edge of Konoha (maybe even outside the village). It's a traditional style of house with shogi walls and doors so they can slide open the panels and lie in the son, or keep things nice and dark. They also have a large cellar where Orochimaru keeps a little lab.

Tsunade and Dan have their own room in Jiraoro's house for when they stay over, but oftentimes (especially after drinking) Tsunade will crawl in bed and snuggle with her teammates. Dan used to find it odd but comes to learn that this is just how the three are and will either toss a blanket over them or join himself.

The two of them aren't the best parental/mentor figures on their own but when they're together they both improve. Anko and Minato crash at their place a lot (maybe the Ame trio too, depending on the plot).

No nuance or see results option, I want answers!

on the poly ships it doesn't necessarily have to be that they're all dating each other at once. example: poly sannin + Dan could be that the Sannin are all together, and Tsunade is also with Dan.