Disclaimer is in the first chapter.

AN: And Manga Naruto is complete. And I have mixed feelings at the ending; it was kind of like HP Epilogue. Girl stalks a boy…girl gets the boy…boy crushes on the girl his whole life…but then there is no development in him ever even considering possibility of looking at another and then BANG…don't get me started on Sasuke. Gah!

Question: How does Kochō/Buffy look like, in relation to Naruto verse characters?

The answer to that question is: her character design is like, both as a child and then young adult, Sāra from Naruto Shippūden the Movie: The Lost Tower, only her hair color is as Sa Shunki from Saiunkoku Monogatari and her eye color the same as Seshomaru/Inuyasha from InuYasha. In addition her eyes are slightly tilted upwards at the ends, giving her a somewhat catlike appearance.

But unlike Naruto characters, her hairdo and clothes vary in appearance.

And if anyone wants to do a FanArt, they are welcome to it. I'll certainly be very happy if that happens.

Voting polls are officially closed. But I am not giving results just yet.

Chapter 9a

Endless tears that would be the title of the scroll containing the body of TenTen. Or so Maito Gai decided, much to Neji's irritation, but for once the young Hyūga made no reference to fate, as he had actually liked, ahem, respected TenTen. Or rather, he amended, even in his thoughts, her skills.

Luckily for him, all his complaining and musing was internal. If it hadn't been, he would have had a very painful lesson coming his way, because a certain ex-slayer was tottering on the edge of a dark abyss of rage and depression – not a very good place even for an ex-slayer, who despite being reborn had not lost that volatile edge that she had possessed in Sunnydale when her own were threatened.

Or the one named Neji would find out just how different the purple haired girl was from his initial assessment, or rather the slightly amended assessment he had made since seeing her fight, if he voiced a single word on fate in general at that moment...

The urge to get even with the monster that had taken something precious away gripped her, just as it had when Lothos killed Meric, her Watcher from so far way, and so long ago in LA, that had resulted in a fiery inferno on the school dance floor months later, and Lothos disintegrated into dust. That had resulted in a fiery inferno that had broken out on that school dance floor months later and Lothos designated into dust particles with a silent scream of pain and terror, something that Darla was spared off, since her not at the time boyfriend, but very much a man/vampire she wanted to be her boyfriend, then … and in some capacity now. And wasn't that a startling realization? That she was supposed to have more mature outlook, but it was like she was emotionally and mentally stuck at the age she had died in.

Never changing, like Angel was, or any human turned vampire was, frozen in time, not growing, but that fact, while concerning, was a pale speck in her otherwise dark consciousness right now.

TenTen was dead.

Dead and gone from this world.

She was not supposed to be dead.

Sure, Kochō didn't know her personally, and unlike Naruto and the others she was in daily contact with over the twelve years of her life as Shunran Kochō, TenTen and her team were still somewhat seen as Naruto characters, constantly in the background characters, that Buffy Summers somewhat knew but didn't pay much attention to…well, she had paid attention to TenTen's weaponry.

But otherwise they were just there.

Until Neji died in the Fourth Shinobi war.

She couldn't help but think that TenTen's death was her fault somehow.

Maybe if she'd stayed out of the story completely, TenTen would be alive. She was certain that she'd be alive. However for the life of her she had no idea how her being there had altered events so much that Kakuzu became involved.

Or what event she had caused to change paths so that Tsunade was returning this early to Konoha; the Third was still alive; Orochimaru hadn't even made his appearance; or Itachi and that shark guy whose name she'd forgotten.

Things were spiralling away from the script, as she knew life often did, but this was her life now living in a world she only considered fiction before.

She had known that her just being there would alter things eventually. She had just hoped, a foolish and vain and arrogant hope, that the changes would be only for the better.

How naïve.

How naive, how stupid could she get, thinking that? She had been overconfident and TenTen had paid the price.

Never again.

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The Sandaime Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen was smoking and staring into the distance. He had received a reply from Jiraiya, along with complaints about the messenger monkey that he himself had apparently sticked on him. That comment from his former student had made him almost choke on his pipe from laughter. Hiruzen could just imagine how his order to Sarutachi, the messenger monkey, -that she must ensure the message was received and read by Jiraiya entirely.

Especially if Jiraiya was ignoring the messenger. But the news had been good; both of his students were on the way back to Konoha. It turned out that Hiruzen hadn't needed to bother with writing a message to Jiraiya via monkey mail to find Tsunade and bring her back home.

Along with causing property damage, Kakashi's team had managed to accumulate another high ranking mission after receiving an SOS from Maito Gai. The energetic jonin had encountered his wayward student, Tsunade, and her companion who were in some sort of trouble.

Knowing Tsunade, it probably had to do with some sort of gambling debt. If not that, then it was definitely other money-related issues.

From there, Jiraiya had stumbled; or rather the returning Team Seven and Tsunade's group had stumbled upon the Toad Sage who had still been wrestling with the monkey, this time because apparently Sarutachi had taken offense at something Jiraiya had said. Knowing his student it could have been anything that usually made a female rain wrath on him, no matter the species of said female, apparently.

As for Team Gai, they had decided to finish their mission and then return to Konoha before giving a full debrief on their status. That was a bit worrying. It wasn't like Guy to be so brief in his status reports. Hiruzen should perhaps inquire further with Kakashi as to what had happened to Gai's team.

In a pleasing twist of events, Tsunade finally decided to return home. Not to mention they picked up a survivor of the Blood Purges in Kiri from the Yuki clan, who had not been raised in Kiri or registered or registered as a Kiri shinobi, therefore there would be no political problems in installing Haku as a Genin from Konoha. Less paperwork for him too, which was another bonus. In addition Yuki Haku joining Konoha as a Genin gave Hiruzen the opportunity to form another heavy assault/capture team under an experienced Jōnin. He just still needed to find a man or woman for the job, preferably before the Chūnin Exam so that the Jōnin could nominate them to participate if he or she so choose.

And all of it had been thanks to Naruto no less. Sarutobi smiled warmly as old memories surfaced of the first meeting/conversation he had with Naruto.

He had been such a small, dirty, thin, little boy dressed in rags, with bright yellow hair which was in desperate need of scissors and a wash bouncing from wall to wall over his new apartment. It wasn't a fancy place, but Naruto had loved it. It warmed Hiruzen's heart to see the child so happy, and saddened him at the same time.

They had met in person the day before, not that Naruto remembered that Hiruzen had seen him when he was a newborn. The ramen vendor Ichiraku Teuchi, a retired ninja he had known many a year, had sent a message that he had someone at his ramen stand that he just had to meet urgently.

As a matter of village security.

When he saw that it was Naruto, whom Hiruzen had been assured was still living at the Orphanage by the matron who ran the facility, he was beyond outraged that a five year old child had been living on the streets for four months, scavenging for food to survive.

The fact that this situation had remained unreported in a ninja village such as Konoha was a cause for concern. But then again, at least Danzō hadn't gotten wind of this, or Naruto would have never been found.

Danzō – now that was another problem he had accumulated in his later years. He had made the same mistake with the man like he had with Orochimaru. Yeah he was getting too old for this job, to let such things slip. And now Orochimaru was accumulating power in Oto, and Danzō's ROOT…well, it had more numbers than his ANBU.

He hadn't expected things to spiral so out of control, like he hadn't expected or known that Naruto would be ignored to the extent which he was by the shinobi of the village. Granted, the civilians didn't have understanding in the way of the shinobi arts, but his ninja should be able to differentiate between a demon and a child.

Perhaps his dealings with his shinobi had gotten too soft in past times. Neither Mito-sama nor Kushina-chan had went through half of what Naruto had been through, and shinobi had been aware of their status.

Granted, neither of the woman used its power in battle, just holding it in, jailed inside their respective seals. Jiraiya, however, told him that apparently Minato enabled Naruto in using Kyuubi chakra with Hakke no Fūin Shiki.

Perhaps he should take a closer look at just what the instructors in the Academy were teaching future generations of shinobi, and get Clan heads and his two students together, as well as jōnin, to get through the Academy with a fine-toothed comb. Tsunade would be glad if she could put mandatory medical classes in the curriculum. That was not a bad idea if every student had to know how to apply first aid.

Team seven was perfect example of that, where three of the four Genin could heal. Needless to say, Sarutobi had been surprised when Naruto had healed a scratch on Kiba after they fought as an apology.

Granted, Naruto was no medic nin, but he could heal minor kunai wounds and bruises. Later it turned out that the one who had taught him how to close flesh wounds was Kochō-chan, because Naruto had freaked out when he had accidentally harmed her while sparring. The boys of Team Seven definitely had mile-wide protective tendencies. Not that Kochō-chan was a slouch in that department. He had a suspicion that the girl had staged that first confrontation, or at least used it to gain an audience with him via lurking ANBU, when she proclaimed at the top of her voice how stupid it was of the adults to think that Naruto was the Kyuubi.

Not to mention saying that Minato was Naruto's father. He had made the little girl promise not to share that, to which she replied with her high-pitched voice, that she wouldn't promise because Naruto needed to know that he was not abandoned as Mizuki sensei had said.

To pacify the girl he had promised to tell Naruto who his mother was when he graduated from the Academy, and that his father was Namikaze Minato when he made Chūnin. She had agreed to that, but it appeared that he would have to break that promise and tell Naruto before the Chūnin Exams since his progress report showed that he was able to protect himself. Also, he was becoming more similar to his father as the years passed. There was only a matter of time before the resemblance was commented upon. And Naruto, while still naïve or hopelessly clueless in certain things, was not an idiot. He was bound to notice sooner or later.

But enough of this, Hiruzen thought. He took the Team Seven and Ten files from his drawer, and opening those two, he took out Shunran Kochō from the Team Seven dossier and Kurama Yakumo from Team Ten.

Now, depending on how the Yuki boy's interview should go with the I&T department, he'd join them, if not then Morino Idate who wished to take the Chūnin Exam again. Along with some other Genins he could pick from.

But personally, Hiruzen hoped that Haku would prove himself since the boy was familiar with Kochō-chan, according to reports from Kakashi when they took the mission to guard the bridge -chan was comfortable with Kochō-chan the most as in the reports on the boy's gentle character, Hiruzen was sure that Haku-kun would get along with Yakumo as well.

Now the only thing left was to find the Genin team's Jōnin sensei. There were those who had failed their Genin teams and sent them back to Academy. There were four Jōnin instructors, Mimura Hamaki, Mokume Kunugi, Shiranui Genma and Ebisu. There was also a possibility of Mitarashi Anko, Gekkō Hayate, Shirakumo Hayama or Kanden Tekuno.

That was it in terms of available jōnin instructors that could potentially take over as Jōnin Sensei to a team of Genin he had in mind, but Anko had expressed a desire to take on Haruno Sakura as an apprentice, whom she had began joint training with Inuzuka Tsume at Kakashi's request. And Anko was excited at the prospect of taking a student, the first time she'd expressed such interest to pass on her skills, and so Hiruzen was loath to take that away from her. So after the proctoring of the second stage of Chūnin exams was over, Mitarashi Anko would take Haruno Sakura as her full time apprentice.

Ebisu was out of the running as well since he was teaching Konahamaru now, and it was likely that he would take over as Konohamaru's teammates' Jōnin Sensei once they had all graduated.

Genma had decided to join back the goei shōtai after he flunked his team, and the Hokage had a sneaking suspicion that Genma had done that on purpose, at least partly. So he wouldn't suggest for him to take them on, even if he was almost positive that Genma would accept. After all, he did get on reasonably well with Kochō-chan and he'd trained Naruto, still did from time to time, and had a great fondness for the boy.

Genma had been fond of Naruto even before he found out that the blond boy was the son of Minato, or at least he found Naruto's pranks incredibly fun. It went so far that he sometimes watched Naruto set them up and made no attempt to either stop him or later catch him. Not that Sarutobi himself was any better.

Hiruzen leaned back on his chair, contemplating. Perhaps he should look at which of the remaining Jōnin were in Konoha at the moment, and which was most compatible with the aforementioned Genin.

Even if Yuki Haku joined or not, the Jōnin most characteristically compatible with that team would be Yamashiro Aoba, who was unavailable, Shirakumo Hayama or Kanden Tekuno.

Now, looking closely at the files on the two Jōnin:

Shirakumo Hayama hadn't had a Genin team before, but he had performed admirably leading Chūnin teams, along with occasionally leading Gennin Troops along with Maruboshi Kosuke, the Eternal Genin of Konoha. Points in his favor were also his great sense of duty to the village and to his subordinates, whom he'd rather protect than ever think of sacrificing. Unlike many others, Danzō in particular, he had his priorities straight.

Nurturing and protecting the young of the village was key to Konoha's strength. And not what Donzō wa preaching about. It was also the reason, Hiruzen thought, why Tobirama-sensei hadn't appointed his old teammate as Sandaime Hokage. It wasn't lack of strength or skill on Danzō's part, but rather his heart that wasn't in the right place.

Shaking his head, the Hokage went back to the file. The most practical skill set of that particular Jōnin was that he was adept at Kenjutsu, which would benefit Kochō, since she used two Butterfly blades. Shirakumo-kun also used wind-nature transformation, and that would benefit Haku, since his Hyōton required the use of Fūton. And being a Jōnin his other skills were well-rounded, so he'd be able to teach Yakumo-chan and Idate-kun as well.

Putting Shirakumo Hayama's file aside, the Hokage picked up the file of Jōnin Kanden Tekuno. Unlike his quiet, calm and collected friend Hayama, Tekuno-kun was a very jovial, laidback and charismatic person, but similar to Hayama, Tekuno had a great sense of duty to both protect those lower in rank than him as well as the village, something Haku would need, as well as Yakumo.

As for skill set, it primarily revolved around the use of heavy explosive artillery and trapping. He was also a nin-gen type with Fire and lightning nature chakra. According to his mission information, he used wires with great proficiency, and often incorporated those into his traps, laying them all over the battlefield covered with Genjutsu, and then manipulated them in such a way that he could trap multiple enemies at once. And he was skilled in kenjutsu as well.

A difficult choice…

"Neko!" At the Hokage's call, a female ANBU guard appeared with a quick shunshin, and knelt before the desk.

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

The Hokage put Tekuno's file on top of Hayama's , then he refilled his pipe and lit it.

"Neko, summon Jōnin Kanden Tekuno and Jōnin Shirakumo Hayama to report the Tower immediately."

"Hai, Hokage sama," And as fast as Neko had appeared, she disappeared to fulfill the order given to her by the leader of Konoha.

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Team 10, also known as Team Asuma, were on their very first C Rank mission. It was only ranked C because they were out of Konoha and escorting a 1000-head herd of cows.

Shikamaru loved the non-excitement of it, since cows walked ever so slowly while lazily grazing grass as they went. It was a perfectly set pace that meant Nara could enjoy cloud-watching as he walked in that agonizingly slow, slouchy way of his. Ino was complaining loudly at the pace as well, but Shikamaru was glad that her voice didn't climb to the shrill pitch Ino was so known for in the Academy, along with the banshee club that followed the Uchiha around, much to that boy's irritation. She was currently complaining of the dust that got in to her hair. If she found dust so troublesome, she should have such long hair cut shorter. But Shikamaru wouldn't voice that advice to his teammate. After all, that would take too much effort, and she'd just be troublesome about something else.

Choji was munching at his ever-present bag of chips, alternately offering a handful to Shikamaru and Yakumo. Somewhere in the past days, Asuka aka Yakumo, had told them to call her by her real name and was faintly surprised when none of them made a big deal out of it. They just switched names like that.

It made the girl smile.

Yakumo herself certainly had grown as a kunoichi and as genjutsu user. Well, she could now cast them without her panting, though they were weaker. Granted, if Asuma-sensei would be more of a genjutsu type like Kurenai Yūhi, she would be more proficient, but under Asuma-sensei's tutelage she had grown in other skills as a ninja despite her physical shortcomings. Apparently her weaker frame could be somewhat remedied by exercise, though she had tired more quickly than the others. But not significantly, as she observed that Ino herself didn't have great physical strength or endurance either. So Yakumo was content with her progress.

Ino was keeping her steady chatter to fill the silence that sometimes spread over the group. Normally she wouldn't be that much of chatter box, but Yakumo started to tense up when it was too quiet, animal noises not counting. So to keep the girl on the same wavelength, she chattered. That was something she was good at, reading people and helping them come out of their shells. It was why she teased Kochō about Sasuke so much, despite knowing that she had no such crush on the guy. Granted, the Uchiha was hot, and perhaps she should join in the fun of chasing the said gloomy boy around. At least then he showed some sort of expression, and it would bring Sakura even more out of her shell. Who knew, perhaps she should do the same about Naruto, start a Naruto fan club. Now, while Whiskers was not as hot as Sasuke, he did have some sort of charm buried under all that orange, especially after he stopped eating only ramen. He certainly wasn't a runt anymore like he had been at the start of the Academy; he was certainly catching on to the height department.

She wondered what reaction she'd get from him if she first glomped Sasuke and then made a jump on Naruto, declaring how she missed that rugged look of his…hmm, it might be funny seeing her teammates' reactions, and Kochō and Sakura's facial expressions.

Sarutobi Asuma was walking by the cows, smoking his ever-present cigarette and entertaining the thought of nominating his team for the Chūnin Exams. Well, his original Genin team. He'd have to talk with Kakashi about putting Kurama Yakumo with one of the Genin from Hatake's team.

But then he would have to find another Genin to complete the three-man cell. He was almost sure of his hunch that Kakashi would nominate his team, at least from the hints that been dropped from the silver-haired jōnin.

Perhaps that Genin, younger brother to Morino Ibiki, whom Jiraiya had rescued out of the mess that Rokushō Aoi pulled when he stole Raijin no Ken. He was about the same age, perhaps a little older.

Morino Idate was currently without a team, but he was in the shinobi force, more commonly known as Genin no Ryodan, though Asuma didn't know which number, as they numbered from Troops 0 to 13.

Then the kids would need a jōnin, but knowing his old man he probably had someone in mind already. Then they would have a month's time to work on their teamwork before the jōnin in charge of them would decide if they would participate in this year's Chūnin Exams.

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Kurenai was returning home with her Genin Team 8 from their C rank mission, to catch a thieving gang that had stolen a golden statue from the Daimyō's sister. They now had to return the artefact, which was a golden statue of a bear holding a fish.

They were dispatched to this mission after they returned from a week-long training trip Kurenai had insisted on, because she didn't intend to give them a pass/fail test. The reason being, you didn't put a track-capture team together just to fail them.

Hinata she'd known from before. Her father had approached Kurenai, asked that she train Hinata...and train her she did, even if she had been apprehensive at first. Her first time mentoring a Clan heiress hadn't bore fruit, and the child had had to have her memories and powers sealed. She did not know if Hyūga Hiashi was aware of this.

She remembered the words she had spoken to the Hyūga Ichizoku head like it was yesterday. "I will be watching over Hinata from now on… but are you sure it's all right? Hinata is a member of the Hyūga main family… working as a genin may cause her to be surrounded by death."

Unfortunately, Hiashi had taken this as acknowledgment of his elder daughter's weakness. Kurenai merely wanted to point out that Hinata would benefit more if Hiashi himself would spend more time training, and encouraging, his daughter.

Thank goodness that Anko had invited her prior to this to train Shunaran Kochō. The Shunran Ichizoku clan was not overly large, or even well known outside Konoha, but they were of the same standing as Yūhi Ichizoku, albeit they were stronger in numbers. And while members of the Yūhi clan could be identified by their very unique eyes that were red in color, with an additional ring in them, there were no special abilities attached to this characteristic, at least no more than the Shunran's Clan amber eyes and white hair. Kochō-chan, however, had inherited her hair color from her mother side of the family.

Uzuki were not a clan native to Konoha or Hi no Kuni, they were a family of three, from Hoshigakure no Sato, neighboring to Oni no Kuni, the village that according to Yūgao's great-grandmother had moved to Konoha, which was founded a week before Hoshigakure. There had been some sort of fall out and the family had moved since she was not a notable shinobi, and so it was easy for them to relocate Uzuki Fuyuhi and her husband, who was a civilian, Rairakku, brother of current Miko from Oni no Kuni, with their infant son. Not that Kurenai knew details; she knew however that Fuyuhi-sama and Kigiku-sama didn't like to talk about either Hoshigakure or Oni no Kuni.

Kurenai's trip down memory lane was suddenly interrupted by the yapping of Akamaru and a loud grumbling coming from his partner.

"That is so lame!" Kiba grumbled, while kicking at the slightly bigger stones on the gravelled path, faint creases between his brows that somehow made the young Inuzuka even more feral looking.

"Kiba-kun…I…I'm sure…" came a quiet voice from behind him, trying to sooth the boy's agitation like Hinata was know to do when she was feeling nervous.

"It's a freaking teddy bear eating a fish!" Kiba gestured wildly at the case Hinata was holding, in which the aforementioned golden statue safely rested. They had left the gang of thieves bound behind there for border patrols to pick and throw in jail, where they would wait for trial.

"Kiba, you shouldn't make such a fuss," came from behind the high collar, along with the faint buzzing sound of Shino's kikaichū, like the insects were in complete agreement with their host. "Why? Because it was our mission to retrieve the object, not criticize its appearance."

Kiba rolled his eyes, completely ruining his feral look in the process. "Here you go, Shino, nitpicking again."

Hinata fidgeted slightly. She didn't like when her teammates were like that. "K…Kiba-kun, …Shino-kun doesn't…"

"No need to be nervous, Hinata." Hinata started at the soft voice of her mentor and Team 8's Jōnin Sensei, Yūhi Kurenai.

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Haku was pensive as they were walking on the road to Konoha, his new home. And while Kakashi-san ensured him that Konoha didn't persecute those with kekkei genkai, he was nervous at the prospect at living within a village. He didn't want to disappoint his precious people, his friends, all that he had left after Zabuza-sama passed away.

It was ironic in a way, he whom had no family after his father killed his mother and then tried to kill him as well, because they held Hyōton Kekkei genkai.

He had been happy with his parents until his powers manifested. His mother had seen it and stopped him, and she had been so afraid that somebody would see, would know what ice out of nowhere meant. But somebody had seen – his own father. And that man killed his mother, she ceased to be a woman, a wife and a mother to him.

She'd become a thing. A monster. An abomination.

Something to destroy.

And so he had killed her, and in fear, when a man who was once a loving person, a loving father, turned his face to Haku, his mother's blood still freshly splattered on his clothes and his face, glowing like rubies, Haku had killed him.

And then he ran.

Two years later, the path of the orphaned, starved and sick boy crossed with newly minted nukenin Momochi Zabuza, who was just leaving the town after he had failed to kill the Yondaime Mizukage Yagura.

It had just started snowing on that day – that was what he remembered the most. It had been snowing lightly, the green grass slowly touched with white crystals. The air was chilly and he was outside, alone in the world, nothing but snow, cold and hunger as company.

Haku had been living on the streets at the time, trying to survive his second winter, wearing nothing more than a ragged shirt, all too-short thin pants and no shoes. He had lost all feeling in his toes at that point; it was wonder thinking back that he didn't lose them to the bitter cold.

He had not eaten for quite a while, a week perhaps; he had eaten something that looked edible. So he was weak, he could barely open his eyes at that point. Haku knew that he was slowly dying, not that anybody cared. People were hurrying about, never sparing a glance at the huddled shapes that hid in the corners of the buildings, looking for shelter. Kiri had a lot of homeless kids and a lot didn't make it through the winters.

Then out of the mist a shinobi in a standard Kiri flak jacket had appeared. Their eyes had met, and Haku thought just as he slipped into unconsciousness, 'they had the same eyes'.

When Haku woke up, he wasn't dead, but found that the shinobi had used his chakra flow to keep him alive and warm. They exchanged some words and he had introduced himself as Momochi Zabuza, then Zabuza-sama had asked Haku to become his weapon, so Haku gained a purpose and a precious person, and devoted his life to become the ultimate tool for Zabuza-sama use.

But the memory of a boy, with snow white hair and sad green eyes they passed when they left Kiri and Mizu no Kuni still haunted him. Haku wondered what had happened to that boy, even now.

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Jiraiya was walking by his Godson, not that the orange clad boy was aware of that connection between them, or his parentage. He'd have to remedy that as soon as possible, but he'd have to talk with Sarutobi-sensei first. The thought of Naruto finding out filled him with equal amounts of dread and joy.

Just how would the boy react when he found out that Jiraiya was his Godfather? And that he had left Konoha knowing that Uzumaki Naruto was an orphan? He fought Sarutobi-sensei like a maniac; he wanted to take the newborn Naruto to find Tsunade and force her to raise her relative through Uzumaki Mito with him.

But Hiruzen had been adamant that Naruto was not to leave Konoha, that it wasn't safe, that the ANBU who had guarded Kushina when she was giving birth were killed by kunai. Likewise with Sensei's wife and the midwife assisting Naruto's birth.

Still, Jiraiya had many regrets; most of them centered on his renegade rival of teammate Orochimaru, his student when he had taken his first and only Genin team Uchiha Naori, Senju Tsunade, his apprentice Minato, Mito-senpai's niece Kushina, and lastly his Godson Naruto.

He regretted that he hadn't dragged Orochimaru back to Konoha, even if he'd had to beat him to a bloody pulp. He should have, because then he could have knocked some sense in Hebi-teme thick head.

Jiraiya regretted not being there when Naori-himechi had needed him the most, when her husband had died, when she'd had to bring her friend Uchiha Naka from her clan Nikushimi no Noroi, the curse that neither her or Naori's own son Shisui, or her grandfather Kagami had fallen to. He didn't even know how she'd died; only that she had. Her body was never found.

He regretted not taking what Sango had offered, back then leader of Nadeshiko no Sato, since Tsunade hadn't even acknowledged him as a love interest. Besides, she had been involved with Katō Dan at the time.

He regretted that he'd gotten so drunk with Gamabunta that he wasn't around to help much by the end of the Third Great War.

He regretted not being any help when Nawaki, Tsunade's little brother was killed, or when Dan had died. He came on both scènes far too late. With a hangover.

He regretted not beening able to keep Tsunade in Konoha, or telling her that he loved her.

He didn't have the courage to tell Minato that he was the son he never had.

He didn't tell Kushina how much she reminded him of Mito-senpai and how much he respected her as both a shinobi and a person.

He didn't tell Naori how she reminded him of Tsunade and how he wished that he could hold her as a daughter.

He let himself be convinced by those three old farts in the Chōrōhyōgikai that he should leave Konoha days before the Kyūbi was ripped from Kushina's seal.

He was never there for Naruto. And perhaps that was his biggest, most glaring regret.

He was not there to raise Naruto as a Godfather should.

His own godson.

A grandchild.

Jiraiya, like many others, had failed Minato and Kushina's child. Looking now at his godson walking by his side, his emotions were in turmoil, swirling hand in hand with self loathing and gut-wrenching guilt.

A bitter smile pulled on Gama Senin lips when he remembered Naruto enthusiastic questions, when Jiraiya explained that the Yondaime Hokage had invented the Rasengan, and about Minato and the technique he had created. He didn't deserve a look of admiration and words of praise from Naruto, he deserved a punch in the gut and a chance to travel back in time.

He was a coward, one that ran away from his duty as a Godfather.

But no more.

He is going to make amends. At least to Naruto.

Starting by teaching him the Rasengan and giving him the Summoning contract with the Toads.

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Tsunade was chatting with the Uchiha boy, but she hadn't missed how her idiot of a teammate Jiraiya was trying to corrupt Naruto, like he did to Hatake's brat. It wasn't working, much to her amusement. Naruto apparently had some aversion to perverts.

Good for him.

She smirked when she remembered Jiraiya's old Genin team; he'd tried to corrupt them too. It had flown over Namikaze Minato's dense blonde head, like father like son, as the saying went, or he had pretended that it did. She could never tell what path Minato's mind would take. He might have been a goofball child, but he was also a genius who put even Orochimaru and her uncle Tobirama to shame.

The Uchiha girl, Naori, she liked her, even if she displayed the typical Uchiha calm aloofness and cold façade. When she was around her teammates, Tsunade herself or Jiraiya, Naori become a completely different person. A girl that was so like herself in personality when she had been her age.

The last of the team, Mitokado Taika, son of Elder Mitokado Homura, was a quiet intelligent individual who like many, many others died in the Third Shinobi Great War, leaving behind a young son orphaned, save his grandfather, aka the old fart Homura. She had thought that she'd read from correspondence she occasionally received from Hiruzen-sensei that said old fart now had a great grandson.

Then her thoughts turned back to the Genin she'd met a couple of days ago.

She hadn't had much thought on Gai's team – he had a clone of himself, a branch Hyūga with a grudge towards everything and anything, and a girl that specialized in weapons and who was apparently Tsunade's fan girl.

Kakashi's brat pack, however, was a strange constellation of personalities.

An Uchiha who wanted to be an Iryō-nin that used fire, typical of Uchiha who were a bunch of pyromaniacs, but who cared greatly for at least two of his teammates, but considering that his third teammate was a banshee of a fan girl most of the time, Tsunade could somewhat understand the brat's irritation.

Haruno Sakura, the pink haired girl, was unfortunately a fan girl, but when she did get her act together, she showed impeccable chakra control and prodigious taijutsu skills. She had managed to shatter an earth wall that Kakuzu put up with single punch. Tsunade was reluctantly impressed by that.

Shunaran Kochō, now that family name brought memories to Tsunade. After all she had had both Uzuki Koyuki and Shunran Masaru on her Genin team.

She was also very familiar with the background of the Uzuki Clan, to the point that she wondered, when Kochō created that barrier and Tsunade noticed that it wasn't made entirely out of chakra, if it was closely related to Seishin no geijutsu that Miko of Oni no Kuni employed. She wondered if the little girl had been able to use the fabled and almost gone from the world – Seishinryoku. Perhaps she should write to Miroku. Come to think of it, Shion, Miroku's daughter was about the same age as the brats. Perhaps it would be good if Kochō was to be sent to the Land of Demons, otherwise Seishinryoku would end up controlling her. In many ways that ability was as dangerous as Senjutsu.

Uchiha…Sasuke, if she was to be his teacher she might as well use the gaki's name; and she was sure Harashima-jiji was laughing up a storm at the thought of an Uchiha medic. Madara, however, was rolling in his grave.

Anyway, the girl Kochō was reacting badly to that other girl's death. She recognized misplaced guilt in the golden eyes that stared at the bloodied form. She would have to knock that guilt away if Naruto didn't first. By the looks of it there was a storm brewing behind those cobalt eyes.

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Kochō was walking automatically behind everyone. Not seeing, not hearing anything that was happening around her, so she hadn't seen or sensed Kakashi-sensei circling casually behind her so that she wouldn't fall behind.

She also was blind to Sasuke, who was otherwise talking to Shizune and Tsunade, who had gotten over her surprise at the concept of an Uchiha medic, and Naruto, who was walking by Jiraiya with a water balloon in his hand, casting occasional worried glances in her direction.

And Sakura's alternating between concerned to jealous looks she'd thrown her way.

But she was on pins and needles, and her thoughts swirled in vicious circles. Unfortunately she remembered the dream she had, which immediately added to her guilt; she had been so focused on the roots and the faraway hawk and the large black dragon's part of the dreams, trying to interpret them, completely ignoring the little panda cub lying bloody on the rocky terrain, just like TenTen did.

She had inkling that the leaves probably meant Konoha, black roots trying to overrun the greenery aka ROOT, Danzō's war hawk pet project. She knew that Danzō wanted to become Hokage, the seat symbolizing as a moving red shadow flame in her dream and that he would never succeed, if the fire burning the hawk's feathers away was any sign.

She hadn't had the foggiest what that menacing black dragon meant and she had completely disregarded the panda cub.

"Kochō-san?"

She blinked at the noise and focused on a pair of black eyes on a fair face under a fringe of black hair…

"Hai, Shizune-san." She patted her tights, attached to the leg which sported an open bone break. "Tsunade-sama healed the break perfectly."

"No pain?" Shizune insisted.

"No." And at the medic-nin's persistent look, Kochō heaved a sigh. "Just a twinge when I accidently kick at some pebbles."

Shizune nodded. "When we return to Konoha, you should go to the hospital, just in case. The bone might be healed, but the blood vessels are still stained and the muscle tissue still a bit tender. You should also take a week off active duty."

Yeah, no … to the hospital, Kochō thought. However, a week of rest sounded great.

"Hai, Shizune-san, I'll rest."

"Good, I…Tsunade-sama!" Whatever Shizune wanted to say was cut off with an exasperated shout, when she saw that Tsunade had changed direction by the side road sign that read Casino, and made a beeline in the direction it pointed.

To be continued…

What is what will be under Chapter 9b