Dreams and Ideas

by Shadow Master

These are a collection of fanfic crossover ideas that my admittingly warped imagination has come up with. For the most part this is to satisfy the plot bunnies but if you see a drabbleshortetc that you think deserves to be made into a full fanfic let me k

26. A Change of Plans

"A Change of Plans" by Shadow Master aka Ryley Breen

"A Change of Plans" by Shadow Master aka Ryley Breen

email: ryleyunderscorebreenathotmaildotcom

(BtVS/Naruto)

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material contained herein. They belong only to their individual creators and associated companies. I am making no money off of this whatsoever. I write this only for my own personal pleasure and for the enjoyment of those that like to read my work.

Note: This idea came about when I considered the horrible anti-Buffy situation that cropped up during the final season of BtVS. Now while some Buffy Bashers would probably say that this was Buffy Summers at her worst, and to a degree it was, I feel that these people failed to take into account all the factors both in Sunnydale and surrounding the production of the show in the first place. While I would not classify myself as a Buffy fanboy or someone who thinks that Buffy Summers can do no wrong I do believe that if one takes all the facts available about the final season into account they can hardly blame her for her choices.

Once I had chosen the time frame in which this drabble/short would occur I began to wonder how I might improve the situation so that Buffy wouldn't have such a hard time. Almost immediately this idea took form and I knew that if this had happened during season 7 not only would Caleb get his ass handed to him but any uppity newbie Slayers (coughKennedycough) as well. Then just for fun I decided to throw Xander into the mix simply because I like the character so much.

So sit back and enjoy the latest bit of insanity that comes from the depths of my warped imagination…

A Change of Plans

Realm of the Powers That Be, One Week Before the Episode "Get It Done"

"So it is agreed then? We shall empower the artifact that the human Robin Wood has in his possession and transport Slayer Summers back to the Shadow Men so she may be empowered further?" Asked a male entity that at best could be described as cold and logical although many would consider such a description an understatement.

"It is the most effective means of countering the First's efforts without directly announcing our presence," spoke another that sounded like she had no opinion of her own and just sided with whichever faction was strongest at the time. "Any direct application of our powers in the mortal realm would only give the Evil One more ammunition to gain concessions from the Almighty. The Balance must be maintained."

"A convenient excuse if I ever heard one," muttered a newer member of the governing body that went by the name 'The Powers That Be'.

"Something displeases thee, comrade?" Spoke a male voice that sounded like it had yet to step out of the fifteenth century, much less into the twenty-first.

"Yes, it does," replied the man with a distinctly Brooklyn accent, "almost as much as your outdated vocabulary does. We're making a mistake and the rest of you are too obsessed with your precious plans to see it."

This brought a veritable rumbling of displeasure and annoyance from the rest of the beings that sat at the table, since it was something that their newest member did whenever the champions of Sunnydale were brought up for discussion. Ever since he had been promoted to replace one of their number that had been exiled after evidence had been discovered if an agenda that conflicted with their own plans. Cast out into a random time and a random dimension, they felt secure in the idea that it would take Jasmine centuries to find her way back to their domain, if she ever managed to do so in the first place. By that time they would have found and destroyed all of the remaining focal points for her questionable plan to bring peace to the Earth through mass mesmerizing. It was a foolish plan and one that would have required almost weekly sacrifices from the human race in order to maintain. Even with the rate of speed at which mankind reproduced, it would only have been a matter of time before the race they had sworn to protect was devoured completely. However the loss of Jasmine had also left a hole in their ranks and it had needed to be filled before they could resume their work managing the forces of light, so they had looked through the list of subordinates with the right qualifications and had decided to choose the 'Brooklyn Pimp', as he was occasionally called. He had been one of their most effective messengers and had nicely solved a few of their earlier problems with Slayer Summers before it was mutually decided by all that he never appear before her again. So, with much pomp and ceremony, he had been promoted and given all of Jasmine's divine power since such strength was required for someone to hold such an august position.

However, after a little over two years in Earth time, they had begun to wonder if they had made a mistake in appointing the former balance demon Whistler to his present position. While he had seemed promising at first, someone that could be shaped into a suitable replacement for Jasmine, he was not increasingly incapable of seeing the big picture. On a number of occasions the newcomer showed more concern for a single champion than he did the overall result of the conflict their chosen warrior was involved in. This flaw only became more pronounced when issues involving the Sunnydale Slayer, Buffy Summers, came up for discussion and it was beginning to wear on all their last metaphorical nerves.

"The plan is sound, Whistler. When Slayer Summers is sent through the portal created by the Shadow Caster talismans, we planted in her 'emergency kit', she will either permit the Shadow Men to infuse her with a greater concentration of the demonic essence that started the Slayer line or she will be motivated to awaken all the Slayers," stated the cold and logical member of the group. "Either way, we will gain what we need to stop the First Evil's efforts to become corporeal in the mortal realm of Earth."

"Yeah, but if she chooses option A you'll have to kill her almost right after she defeats the First or the increase in demonic essence within her will turn her dark. If she chooses option B, she'll have to deal with an entire world of Slayers and nowhere near the funds or the resources to take care of 'em all, guaranteeing that a lot of 'em will turn dark." Whistler said, growing more annoyed with the rest of the group's inability to see the flaw in their plans, "In both cases, we either lost one of the best Slayers the light has had in a long time or we lost as many as a hundred Slayers to the darkness, giving the other side a huge advantage. This is NUTS!"

"While I understand thy concern, my friend, we are thine seniors and know the twists of strategy better than thou dost. However, in an effort to soothe thine worries, this august body promises to do all that we can to save Slayer Summers from the increase in demonic essence should the future to take that path." Spoke the one whose manner of speech was centuries out of date, "Should she take the other path, we will contact our more wealthy champions in other regions of the world and ask them to contribute what they can to the restoration of the Watcher's Council. Does this bargain satisfy thee?"

They watched as Whistler looked at each member of the group known as The Powers That Be as if asking without words if they would truly hold to this deal or not. If for no other reason than to silence the newcomer, each put on their best face and nodded to imply that they would adhere to the deal as it was spoken. This appeared to satisfy him as all signs of defiance and troublemaking fled his face and his aura, making it clear to them all that this would be the last they heard from him at least on this decision. In their own minds, though, they had no intention of following through on their end of the bargain but, rather, would construct a series of feasible excuses why they could not do as promised. The inexperience of Whistler in these matters, as well as in his newfound powers as a member of The Powers That Be, would prompt him to accept their judgment. After all, while they detested the manner the human Watcher Travers handled the Slayer line, they were in agreement with him concerning one thing: Slayers were expendable resources. At any given time there were at least fifty potential Slayers spread out all across the globe and even with the First's efforts to eliminate them all, twenty had been relocated by them to a secure area on their world. They had secured the continuation of the Slayer line and so if Slayer Summers or those young potentials needed to die to stop the advances of the First Evil then so be it.

All that mattered was the War.

All that must be preserved was the Balance.

All else was expendable at their discretion.

&

Ten Minutes Prior to the Activation of the Shadow Caster Talisman

Ream of The Powers That Be

Whistler's P.O.V

Bastards! Think they can pull the wool over my eyes, do they! Whistler thought as he sat in the main chamber of the Powers That Be and watched as his 'comrades' monitored the latest segment of their 'plan'.

It burned him up inside knowing that as bad as he thought his bosses had been when he had just been a subordinate, it turned out that they were actually worse. Before he had been promoted into the position left vacant by the fallen Power named Jasmine, he had always tried to believe that his bosses really were doing the best they could. He wanted to believe that even if their champions, particularly Angel and Summers, did get dealt a raw deal, that it was because there was literally no other way. Since he had first sat down in the chair he was in, though, he found out to his disgust that his bosses were only a hair better than the forces they claimed to despise. This had almost caused him to resign right then and there but he had stopped himself before he had finished writing up his letter of resignation. He had come to realize that while he despised his co-workers, at the moment, he was still in a position of power and that while he had the power, he could make some kind of difference. If he just resigned and went back to his old job, there'd be no guarantee that his replacement would be any better than the shmucks that currently ran things. So, in the end, he had chosen to stay but at present he had to wonder if he really had made a difference in how things were run or if he'd just been spinnin' his wheels. Looking at how things were going down and the knowledge that his 'friends' had no intention of honoring their end of the deal, he knew his time as a Power was truly over.

How did he know they were going to welsh on their end of things?

He received a little office warming gift when he received Jasmine's power in the form of several bits of knowledge, a few spells and the ability to see more than his comrades would want concerning what went on inside their heads. Apparently, the former Power hadn't trusted her fellows anymore than he did at the moment and had taken steps to protect herself from them. Why had this not saved her from being given the boot? He could only presume it had been one of two things: either she had known she was going to get exiled and wanted to be kicked out for some reason or the other Powers had caught onto her somewhat and had countered her moves for the most part. They also probably figured that they were safe now that Jasmine herself was gone and didn't suspect one bit that the surveillance measures had stuck around with the power. That was how he had seen the dishonesty in his co-workers when they had 'agreed' to help minimize the damage their current plan was about to cause. The question now became 'what to do with the knowledge he had'?

He knew that, even though he had the power of a full fledged member of this ruling body, the others would stomp down on him quickly the second he tried anything. The leftovers Jasmine had given him might buy him a few minutes, maybe even an hour, longer than had he now possessed them, but they would still squash them the instant they could. That meant that he would need to do all he could to give Summers and her crew the best chance he could to not only gain a leg up on their 'bosses', but keep it no matter what was thrown at them. Sifting through some of the memories Jasmine had left behind as well as some files that had only revealed themselves in his presence, he considered the different ways he could throw a cosmic wrench into the works of his 'comrades'. One by one he x'ed out a possibility either because it would be too much for Buffy to handle or because it might prompt the Almighty to get involved directly. While the Creator of All normally left the Powers That Be to their own devices, he'd heard more than a few stories of times when He/She had been displeased with a decision that had been made or the outcome of a plan. He had no wish to piss off the Almighty. His fellow 'Powers' yes, God the Almighty, NO!

In the end he found a possibility that would work out quite nicely and just to make an even bigger mess for his colleagues to clean up: he'd arrange for that Harris kid to go along for the ride. After all, he'd always been of the mind that the Slayer and the White Knight would make a cute couple if Summers would just get over her infatuation with corpses. This way the blonde bombshell would get what she needed to defeat the First, Harris would finally get enough power to make a sizeable difference in a fight and it was a solution that would have any nasty side effects for anyone aside from the First. In short, it was perfect and that almost made him suspicious of the whole idea but, in the end, he decided the outcome of his little scheme couldn't possibly be worse then what these jerks had in mind. So, with that done, he looked at the scene playing out before the collective members of the Powers That Be. It showed the core Scooby gang putting the shadow caster talisman together piece by piece as the Slayer's sister narrated the tale of the first Slayer. Just as it was about to get to the point where the Powers would channel some of their power into the device to open the portal into the past, he established a string-thin connection with the transmission point of their efforts.

It's showtime! All or nothing, Whistler! He thought as he began to mess with the plans of his 'fellow employees' BIG TIME.

Almost immediately they detected his tampering but, just as they were about to use their powers to severe his connection and get things going back in the direction they wanted, his hat trick activated. Prior to the assembly of the collective group, he'd placed a few of Jasmine's special gifts under each of their chairs and keyed them to activate the moment those in close proximity tried to use their powers in a certain way. That certain way, of course, being trying to stop him from going through with his plan and he watched with satisfaction as each of the assholes was encased in demonic crystals. It had been quite a surprise to find out that Jasmine had managed to smuggle them into the higher plains without setting off any alarms. Nevertheless, he was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth and was thankful that the crystal spells would keep his former comrades frozen in every conceivable way for at least an hour. That would give him just enough time to send both Summers and Harris to where they needed to go as well as put his secondary plan into place. He knew he was being a tad greedy, but he wanted to make certain that he made such a big splash that all these jackasses could do afterwards was curse his name and nothing else.

As the last of his alterations came into play inside of the transmission point, he quickly slammed down the mystic seal on it so as to force these fools to remove the seal before they could even consider undoing what he had done. This would pretty much seal the deal as far as getting Buffy and Xander where they needed to go but, if he wanted them to have a way home, he had to get going and start phase two.

You owe me BIG for this, Summers! He thought as he teleported to the next destination in his grand plan, And I definitely plan on collecting…assuming I'm not wiped from all existence of course.

&

Summers Home, Just as the Shadow Caster Ceremony Began

"OK. According to this, I think—you put on those puppet guys one by one. They cast shadows and the shadows tell the story," Dawn explained as she read the book in her hands, "First, there is the Earth."

I sure hope this works out or we're going to be up the shit creek without even a fuckin' boat! Buffy thought to herself as she watched her little sister and Xander work the shadow caster thingy.

While the others might not have been willing to confront the truth, she didn't have a choice because, as the elected general of the little army in her house, she didn't have a choice. The reality of the situation was that she wasn't the leader of an army of warriors. She was the leader of five or six people with experience fighting the darkness and a group of terrified teenagers whose entire knowledge base about demons came from horror movies. According to Giles, the potential Slayers of the world were mostly monitored by the Watcher's Council for signs that they had been Called to be the next Slayer. They weren't let on the truth from the beginning, they weren't trained in combat, but rather allowed to remain blissfully ignorant of the truth. Oh, there were a few like Kendra who somehow stood out to the Council as being in the top five of most likely to be the next Slayer, but it was still pretty much a crapshoot as to who would be Called. As such, they were no more ready to fight the good fight then any other American teenager was and so she didn't have a whole lot to work with.

Sure, they were doing their best to train the girls that came to Sunnydale but, realistically, there was no way that they'd be able to turn them into a viable fighting force in time. The Scooby gang had six years or so of experience fighting the demonic element and it showed since her two best friends were definitely better fighters than they had been six years ago. However, there was no way in HELL that they'd be able to squeeze six years of experience and demon killing know how into whatever amount of time they had until the big showdown with the First. It was ridiculous to even think that it might be possible to make an army out of these girls anytime soon. This emergency kit that had been put together by Giles, Willow and herself was her last ace in the hole. It was filled with rare books and talismans that, according to her Watcher, were extremely powerful as well as potentially dangerous, so it was only to be brought out in situations were all other options had failed and the situation was rapidly going down the drain. Considering that she'd barely managed to beat the uber-vamp the First had unleashed and it was now picking them off one by one using head games, the situation definitely fit the scenario. They didn't have a clue how the First had been able to bring such an ancient vampire to Sunnydale and, as such, they had no idea just how many more could be thrown at them.

For all they knew, the First was gathering an army of them and the one she'd faced was just a scout.

She wasn't quite sure what the shadow caster thingy could do for them but anything would definitely be an improvement to their current situation. Watching as Xander put the first plate into the turn wheel, she heard her first sign that there was more to this that just a fancy puppet show. Tribal drums began to beat in the air and they came from no visible source, pretty much guaranteeing that they were magical in nature.

"What's that sound?" Kennedy asked, looking around the darkened room for the source of the spooky sounds.

"Okay, so far, so creepy." Xander quipped in an effort to keep everyone from getting too spooked.

"Hmmm. Okay." Dawn said as she chose to continue with the reading, "Then there came the demons."

Xander placed the plate representing a demon onto the turn wheel and, much like she had expected, sounds of a demon growling filled the air. Looking around covertly, she could tell that the whole thing was putting the potentials on edge but it didn't matter. Desperate times called for desperate measures and if these girls couldn't stand strong against mere sounds, then there was no hope for them actually confronting something physical.

"After the demons, there came men." Dawn said as Xander placed the plate representing a group of men in its place.

The sounds of men chanting began to mix with the demonic growling. She only paid partial attention to this since she wanted more than just a campfire story with sound effects.

"Men found a girl." Dawn said and after Xander placed the appropriate metal plate where it needed to go the sounds of a screaming teenage girl filled the room.

"And the men took the girl to fight the demon—all demons. They—chained her to the Earth." Dawn said beginning to falter as things continued to get spookier, "And then—and I—I can't read this. Something about darkness."

It was then that things really took a turn for the weird as the shadow caster thingy began to spin on its own without any help from anyone in the room. Even wierder was that now the shadows created by the lights and the plates began to move on their own. Piece by piece the story that Dawn had already laid out was being repeated in full motion glory on the walls and ceiling of the living room.

"It says you cannot be shown. You cannot just watch, but you must see. See for yourself, but only if you're willing to make the exchange." Dawn said as she read the book in front of her but sounding slightly unnerved.

"When did you get so good at Sumerian?" Xander asked from his position on the other side of the table where the shadow caster sat.

"It's not in Sumerian anymore." She replied before turning the book in his direction to reveal the Sumerian script completing its shift into English.

Naturally, when some mystic object begins making your job of using it easier, it usually meant big trouble. She could see that all the other Scoobies as well as the majority of the Potentials also thought that the sudden change in tempo could only be a bad thing. Faster and faster the turn wheel spun, repeating the story of the First Slayer over and over again, until, in a flash of light that caused all to turn away for a few seconds, a purplish-bluish window of energy hung in mid air. Looking at it, Buffy knew what it was, a portal, and she also knew what she had to do. Obviously, in order to get what they wanted, someone had to go through and since, she was the Slayer in Chief for the group, it only made sense for her to be that someone. She was the most experienced fighter present. She knew that the others would be completely against her, would try to talk her out of it, but, when you got right down to it, who else was there? They literally had no one else better suited to surviving what could be waiting them on the other side than a Slayer with her degree of experience. While Willow or Giles might have been the brains behind the Scooby gang, they weren't much when it came to physical fighting in terms of hand-to-hand combat. Sure, fledglings and maybe some of the weaker breed of demons they could handle but since they hadn't exactly been eager to face the uber-vamp, she was the brawn of the group. Plus, she knew enough from watching the two of them work magic over the years to know that most of the more potent spells required preparation time.

She somehow doubted that whatever threats were on the other side of the portal would stand still and wait for Willow or Giles to blow them to pieces.

"But what does it mean?" Xander asked, obviously worried that they might be getting into something that they might not be able to get out of later.

She was just about to open her mouth to say 'it means I have to go in there' when all of a sudden the color of the portal changed from it's dark blue color to a more forest green color. That was about all she was allowed to take in before, out of nowhere, a white arm made of energy shot out from the gateway and grabbed her before yanking her into the portal. Unable to get any leverage, she could only watch as she zoomed towards the portal and whatever lay on the other side. However just before her face made contact with the portal, she could have sword she heard a girlish scream coming closer towards her. Not that it had actually come from a girl since she was smart enough to be able to tell the difference, but that only left one of the men.

I swear if I get stuck in some hell dimension with Andrew, I'm gonna KILL HIM!She thought before everything went black.

&

"What happened?! Where'd they go?" Dawn exclaimed as she stared at the spot that the portal had been before closing up following the disappearance of her first crush and sister.

None of them could comprehend what just happened but it was fairly safe to say that nothing that had happened since the employment of the shadow caster had been what they had expected. From the sound effects to the animated shadows to the portal, they had all received one surprise after another resulting in a slight case shock. For most of the Potentials, this just meant that they reflexively turned to the Scoobies for advice on how to handle this turn of events. For the brain trust of the Scoobies, Willow and Giles, though, it was pretty much enough to reduce their IQ level by half making coming up with a way to handle things like getting an old car engine to turn over. Their brains were just stubbornly refusing to go back to work after getting dive bombed not once but multiple times in the space of a few minutes. All that filled their minds were the questions 'what just happened' and 'where are Buffy and Xander' with nothing but static filling the space in between.

Surprisingly enough it was Anya who spoke next.

"What was that about an exchange?" The former Vengeance Demon asked looking back and forth between the humans she felt should have the answer, "What could we possibly be getting in exchange for MY Xander and Buffy?"

The answer though didn't come from any of the usual sources but rather one that had not been heard from in five years.

"Don't worry about your friends. They're in the best of hands." Said Whistler as he walked out of the darkness in his usual pimp clothes, "As for the exchange part…well…there's been a little change in plans. Instead of an exchange, you all get a bonus…kinda."

Before anyone could ask him exactly what he meant, the former balance demon and soon to be former member of the collective body known as The Powers That Be flung his arms out, sending lightning like energy blasts at everyone at once. Even those that had not chosen to watch the last ditch effort of the Scooby gang were hit whether they were located upstairs, downstairs or in the yard. No one could really say what it was that was going on but none of them doubted that they'd be walking away from this experience with something BIG.

&

Thirty-Two Years Before The Nine Tailed Demon Fox Attacks

Hidden Village of Konoha

In was a sunny day in the ninja village of Konoha and, despite the ongoing war with the Hidden Rain village, the people were genuinely enjoying the day. Kids were playing and couples were enjoying the time they were spending together and one little girl was happy not being stuck indoors listening to boring teachers. She's never been enthusiastic about doing schoolwork and had always done everything she could to avoid it whether by employing the 'innocent girl' routine or the tricks she learned from her Granduncle. Most of the time she managed to get free but, every once in a while, her parents would get the better of her and used her own tricks against her. Then she'd have to do some work or the bad feeling in her chest wouldn't let her have any fun for the rest of the day. Today though she was lucky in that neither her teacher nor her parents were looking to seal her to a chair for her lessons. Today something big was going on and everyone important was needed. She didn't really understand it all but she wasn't about to question a chance to have fun. So, with a smile on her face and ideas of how to prank some her friends, Tsunade of Konoha ran down the streets of the village Hidden in the leaves without a care in the world.

Naturally that's when Murphy felt he should step in and do something about it.

As though a glass container in her mind had shattered, an endless stream of thoughts, images, memories, feelings and personality traits exploded outwards to the four corners of her mind. She could make no sense of them for she was far too young to have heard of anything like this, seeing as how she was only just beginning her lessons in the way of the ninja. However, unlike how one might expect, the mind of Tsunade was not replaced or destroyed at all but simply rearranged to compliment as well as aid the new one moving into her head. It was not necessarily a fusion of the two minds but, rather, the new mind was in the drivers seat while the other one became the roadmap, the tourist brochure and the backseat driver all rolled into one neat little package. Her disorientation seemed to last for an hour from her perspective but, to those that might have passed by her either on the road or on the rooftops, it just looked like she had lost her footing for a moment. No one but her though knew the full scope of the changes that had just been done to her both mind and body.

"What the…" was the question that came from her mouth as the part of the little girl that was Buffy Summers took in the world around her for the first time.

However, what shocked her just as much as her new surroundings, was the fact that almost immediately after she finished forming the question in her mind the answers came. Looking about, she knew exactly where she was both in terms of the village of Konoha and the street she was standing in. Places popped into her mind as possible destinations because she'd had fun there or knew someone she considered a friend there. This caused her brain to stall because, as Buffy Summers, she had never been here before in her life but the parts of Tsunade that had been incorporated into her mind had. Buffy's first impulse was to try and keep the unfamiliar variables in her head separate from what she considered to be her life. However, every time she looked at something or heard something, information from the part of her that was Tsunade intruded as though her defenses didn't even exist. It threatened to drive her crazy both because she was doing her best to resist what she considered foreign information and because all that had been the seven year old Tsunade had become as much a part of her as anything else. So, essentially, she was fighting against herself and unless something happened to put a stop to the inner conflict she was going to have a mental breakdown.

When that something did happen, it definitely wouldn't have been her first choice.

"Hey Summers! I bet you're wonderin' what the hell you've gotten yerself into now, right?" Said the balance demon she knew as Whistler, who appeared to be standing right in front of her, "Well, the short version is your in a place where you can get what you need to fight the First and your about to live a life that'll give you the command experience ya didn't have before."

"WHISTLER!! What the HELL have you done this time!?" She exclaimed in anger, sounding like she'd like nothing better than to make good on the promise she made to the balance demon the first time they met.

"Now before you get it into your head to pummel me into a greasy stain, I just want to tell you I'm not really here. This is just a mental recording I downloaded into yer soul just before you went through the portal." Whistler said, completely heedless of the blonde girl's fuming, "First I want you to know that you're in another world, another reality if you will, that's similar to the one your from but different enough to keep things interesting…if ya know what I mean!"

While she'd like nothing better than to curse up a storm, she was smart enough to know that the way her luck went, no one else in this world could see or hear this holo-Whistler. So, rather than draw attention to herself by yelling at her 'pretend friend', she merely stood still and glared at where her mind was telling her Whistler was standing. She also made a promise to herself that if she ever saw the real Whistler again, she was going rip off both his arms, shove one up his ass, the other down his throat and let him shake hands with himself in his stomach!

"You'll be living out the entire life of the young lady you're in, but don't worry 'cause you'll be in control for the most part. Now, you're probably askin' 'what do you mean 'for the most part?'' and the answer is that you'll be carryin' some extra luggage in yer head from here on out." Whistler's little hologram said in an incredibly lifelike manner, "As of right now, you're no longer just Buffy Summers but also one Tsunade Yoshida, with all that that entails. You're the one pretty much in control but all of the habits, tendencies and interests that little Tsunade had up until today have now been added to yours. They will influence how you develop from here on out and make sure that none of the locals will be able to tell that there's something up with their little princess."

Great! Now I'm gonna have to life with a voice in my head telling me what it wants for a snack! She thought since she somehow doubted that Whistler was telling her everything.

"Now don't think that the news is all bad, Slayer. I figured ya might get a little lonely here so I made sure to bring one of your friends along for the ride as well. If I'm right, he's getting the same speech you are right about now so you might want to go look for him once I'm done." Whistler said with a smile on his face that implied he thought he'd done her a big favor, "I figure with him around, you'll at least have someone to unload on when things get too rough. He was the one who lent out his shoulder for you to cry on before, so I figure he wouldn't mind pullin' the same assignment twice. He'll also be here, though, to give you a swift kick in th' ass when you need it to since he has a knack for SEEING things better than you sometimes."

Hearing this, she tried to figure out who Whistler meant, who he'd sent on this mystery flight to another dimension as well as another life, and while it took her a few seconds she in the end could only come to one conclusion.

Xander.

Throughout the past six years she'd been in Sunnydale, he was the only guy she could honestly say she went to more often than not when her calling got too heavy for her. It was the real reason she kept him at the 'just my Xander-shaped friend' level even though in her heart, he really did have a shot at being more than that. Even in that first year, she could tell that he could be her rock, the solid base she could lean on when her own strength wasn't enough, and that was why she transferred any feelings she had for him to Angel. She believed that if she had allowed herself to fall for him, that he would lose the ability to be her rock and just become someone that could mess her up even more emotionally. Contrary to what the others might have thought, it was actually Angel that she never really saw as more than a friend. All the sweet moments, all the love she seemed to show him, was her just putting an 'Angel' label over the 'Xander' label on her heart. Most of the really 'angsty' parts were pretty much acting on her part and, just like her elementary school play director told her once, she was a natural at it.

The only parts that weren't all acting was the trouble I had actually staking Angelus when he popped up. She thought to herself not even noticing that the holo-Whistler was silently watching her, It wasn't so much that he was the love of my life thing that kept me from doing it. It was me asking myself 'what kind of Slayer are you that you cannot save one of your friends?' that kept me from finishing the soulless bastard off.

It was something that happened to every 'hero' she could think of at one point or another in their career. They look at the crisis in front of them, look back at the time someone they were close to got killed on their watch, and wondered if the same thing was about to repeat itself. Merrick's death had hit her hard and, to that day, she wondered if she could have saved him if only she had tried harder or not given up so soon. She had seen the gun in his hands and knew that something bad was about to happen right in front of her. Either Merrick would try to shoot Lothos, only to fail since bullets didn't have all that much effect on vampires, or Lothos would get to her first Watcher before the man could fire his weapon. In the end, the man who introduced her to the darkness did something neither she nor Lothos had anticipated and shot himself in the head with his own gun. She still tried to understand why he did that, why he killed himself, but she'd liked to believe it was for all the right reasons. Perhaps he killed himself to deprive Lothos of the satisfaction. Maybe he killed himself to remove himself as a potential hostage that the old vampire could have used against her. She honestly didn't know and, as a result, thus lack of knowledge coupled with her constant 'what could I have done' questions had resulted in her refusing to give up on Angel until she absolutely had to.

Needless to say, she now knew that there was a difference between 'never giving up' and 'not knowing when to quit' when it came to saving friends.

In the years that followed, most misconstrued her overprotective tendencies towards Xander as being the result of thinking him helpless because he was just human. The truth of the matter was that she could see how the big bads were getting tougher every year and this caused her to fear him dying more and more. While not helpless or useless, Xander had far less to fall back on to keep himself safe since he was neither versed in magic nor had a mystical healing factor. Sure, he had his soldier memories from Halloween but after the whole mess with the Initiative, it was pretty clear that even the cream of the crop soldiers geared up with all the latest equipment had limits. Thus, while his soldier memories put him a level or two above what he had been combat-wise in the beginning, she had still been worried about how that would stack up against the new big bads. Needless to say, his numerous bouts of simply charging in to help his friends even though the situations were obviously way out of his league nearly gave her heart attacks. While she was touched by how much he cared about them all and could hardly hold his heroic tendencies in check (she was not going to be the pot calling the kettle black), it had still been difficult to let him fight alongside the rest of them.

Now he had apparently been drawn into this weird world along with her and, judging by how Whistler had emphasized the word 'Seeing', she assumed that that was a clue as to whose life her friend had gotten squeezed into. Consulting the Tsunade luggage that the balance demon had been so kind in meshing with her own life, she knew that there were two ninja clans with unique abilities centered around the eyes. So either Xander was now in the body of a member of the Uchiha clan or a member of the Hyuuga clan, since both possessed a bloodline limit that enhanced their ability to see. There were no other clans in Konoha whose special abilities centered on their eyes too, unless Whistler wasn't trying to slip her some hint, in which case she'd be looking for one person among hundreds.

Needle in a haystack didn't quite cover it.

Looking back to him she was surprised to see that this message seemed to take that as a cue that she was willing to resume listening. For a moment she wondered if this wasn't a hologram at all but actually the balance demon in the flesh and he was just pretending to be a hologram to keep her from kicking the shit out of him. However considering she was in a seven year old body that she wasn't familiar with and probably didn't have Slayer powers built in she decided that testing that possibility just wasn't worth it. Even if he was here the most she could probably do was literally try to bite the ankles off of him since her muscles lacked the strength to kick ass.

"Now while I know yer not exactly crazy about the idea of stayin' here and essentially livin' someone else's life, but I promise that when this life comes to an end, you and your buddy will get sent home with a nice severance package." Whistler said before looking down at the watch on his holographic wrist, "Now I have to get movin' because I'm on something of a tight schedule. So enjoy life in a ninja village and, if yer feelin' especially grateful when you get back, please don't hit me. See ya!"

With that the holo-Whistler vanished, leaving her to wonder what she should do first. Should she scope out the Uchiha district and try to find someone acting like her Xander shaped friend? Or should it be the Hyuuga compound? Reaching into the pocket of her outfit, she found the perfect decision maker: a coin. Flipping it in the air, she decided that if it landed with the side she'd labeled 'heads' facing the sky, she'd go take a stroll through Uchiha territory but, if the other side looked at the sky, it'd be the Hyuuga's. Watching as the coin twirled in the air, she stepped back and let it fall to the ground before she leaned over a bit to see which direction random chance would send her.

Uchiha compound it is then. She thought before consulting her memories of Tsunade's life for the past seven years to figure out the quickest path from where she was to where she wanted to go.

&

Hyuuga Complex, Konoha, Same Time

Well this is certainly stranger than my life usually gets. He thought as he tried to pay attention to the lessons of the teacher in front of him.

At least Fate had decided to cut him some slack and wait until he was alone for more than five minutes to 'wake him up' and dump Whistler's message on him. He liked to think that he'd handled it pretty well, all things considered, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to split the balance demon's head open like a watermelon the next time they met face to face. After all, it's wasn't every day you wind up eight years old again, in another reality and set to the live the life of member of the head family of a prestigious ninja clan. For one thing, there was the fact that apparently the order in which you were born determined where you stand in the clan rankings. According to the memories of Hyuuga Hiroki, the eight year old boy he'd been shoved into, it's the first born child of the current Lord of the clan that becomes the heir and any child that comes afterwards goes straight to becoming a member of the branch family. However this didn't jive with the fact that Hiroki was born the son of the brother of the current Lord of the Hyuuga clan and yet was still considered a member of the head family. The kid he was in had asked about this about a year ago, thankfully, and the answer he'd received was that it had been the dying request of Hiroki's father that his son be made a member of the head family in all respects. It hadn't been elaborated on but apparently the current Lord of the clan and his brother had been quite close and, despite protest from his advisors, the wish had been granted. Of course it wasn't said in that particular way but, looking at the memories of the explanation from the point of view of twenty-three year old Xander Harris, it was easy to read between the lines. Taking in the careful manner in which the answer had been delivered, plus the looks Hiroki got occasionally from the advisors when they passed in the hall, it was all spelled out for him.

So, while he wasn't considered to be in the running for head of the clan, he was still receiving the same level of education, both in the way of the ninja as well as a noble, as if he were the next in line for the Big Chair. He knew that down the line there'd be exceptions and things that were the sole property of the Lord and firstborn but, for the most part, he'd probably get everything else thrown on his plate. Maybe if the worst happened and Lord Hyuuga was about to kick the bucket without siring an heir, he'd get promoted but odds were it was just wishful thinking on his part. There was also the fact that there was probably a lot more to being a lord than little Hiroki's thought there was and, in the end, he figured it'd probably be best if he didn't become the head honcho of the family. Still, to have to do all the work without the big payoff at the finish line definitely made being a good 'young master' difficult for him. Sure, he had the kid's memories to fall back on as well as the mannerisms, skills and some personality traits, but he was struggling with everything he was being taught. The only good thing he could say about this lesson was that it was over in about five minutes, since the class had to be cut short due to some high class meeting that was taking place soon.

"All right, young master. I think we'll call it a day for now." Hyuuga Kenta said before wiping what he'd written off the blackboard on the wall of the room, "You're free for the rest of the day but please be sure to stay near to Michiko-san, okay?"

"Hai, Kenta-sensei!" he replied before giving the older man a formal bow while kneeling.

With that he stood up and headed to the entrance/exit to the room, slid the door open and looked up to see the female ninja who had been assigned as his minder/bodyguard. Normally the only people who'd rate a bodyguard would be those in positions of power or influence, like the lord of the clan and those immediately below him in rank. However, because Lord Hyuuga had been close to his brother and, thus, had a potent connection to his nephew, it was believed that the possibility existed that the enemy forces might target him. So because he was a potential weakness to not only the Hyuuga clan but also Konoha as a whole, he'd been assigned a protector. He was also insulted further because his bodyguard was a woman, or at least that was what he figured the old farts who hated him thought. Normally a high ranking member of the head family would be assigned a bodyguard of the highest quality and skill but he'd been given someone only ten years older than himself. Michiko-san was a Chuunin with less than four years experience to her name and, while not a slouch as a ninja, she often complained that she should have made Jounin by now, according to Hiroki's memories. Those same memories, though, showed the young woman to be a pretty okay person and not at all stuffy like the rest of the Hyuuga head family seemed to be. He'd liken her to Ms. Calender in that she knew when to be professional, knew when to loosen up and definitely knew when to have fun when necessary.

"So, Hiroki-sama, what would you like to do?" Michiko-san asked in the kind way that most adults did when addressing someone not even thirteen years old.

"Get outside and get some fresh air." He replied, trying to keep the aloof rich tyke tone present somewhat but not in a dominant way.

"Sounds good. Let's take a walk through the market district and see if there's anything new for sale." Michiko-san said and, with that, the two of them walked out of the Hyuuga compound headed for the market district.

As they walked along, he couldn't help but wonder what sort of life Buffy got slapped into by Whistler. Was she part of one of the more prestigious clans or did she get her heart's desire and become part of a perfectly normal family with zero chances of having to fight? It was what she always wanted back home, ever since the day she was Called as a Slayer, and in a way he thought it'd be nice if his blonde buddy finally got her wish granted. Still, a more realistic part of him warned him that life rarely worked out fairly for anyone and, given the things he knew from Hiroki, Konoha wasn't exactly living in peace times. They were at war with the hidden village of rain and, like most wars, the side with the most soldiers usually determined who'd win and who would lose. Would the Hokage begin conscripting soldiers from the people to keep the military's numbers up? He hoped not but he couldn't ignore the fact that it might become necessary. From what little the boy he was in knew, the rain ninjas were the aggressors in this conflict and it was doubtful that they would simply stop fighting if Konoha surrendered. No, in all likelihood they'd keep on coming until they had everything under their control, whether it be through subjugation or decimation.

I guess even in this world we probably won't be able to avoid fighting. He thought looking at all the different goods being sold in the marketplace.

For the next hour straight they looked about all the various things being sold or bartered at the various stalls or stores. Most of the stuff he could identify thanks to the memories of the kid he'd been fused with, however there was one thing that was missing and no matter how hard he looked it was nowhere to be seen. It was maddening to him that, amidst all these goodies, there wasn't a place for his favorite snack amongst the whole bunch. It was then that a horrible thought came to him and motivated him to look even harder for his desired treat. Unfortunately this attracted the attention of his minder/bodyguard Michiko-san and eventually he must have pushed her too far with his determined search.

"Is something the matter, Hiroki-sama?" She asked, sounding both curious and concerned at the same time.

"It's not here. I looked at every treat stand and it's not here." He said, deciding that playing the little kid routine would be his best bet.

"What isn't here?" She asked with a smile promising that she'd help him find it once he told her what it was.

"It's a cake I head of once from someone I met at the playground." He replied, using one of the few times when Michiko wasn't around Hiroki as his foundation, "He gave me a snack cake and it tasted real good. He called them Twinkies."

"Hmmmm… can't say I've ever heard of Twinkies." Michiko said with genuine cluelessness in her voice about the item in question, "I can ask around some more Hiroki-sama, but I don't think we'll find any of those snack cakes in Konoha."

"I'll help you look, too!" Came a little girl's voice from behind them.

Turning around, they both found the girl who had spoken and it turned out to be a blonde girl about a year younger than him. Blonde hair done up in a ponytail with two bangs framing her face, she was wearing a green kimono and shorts along with the sandals that seemed to be the trend in this town. However the instant he took in her hands-on-her-hips pose, he knew he had just found his bud and personal hero Buffy Anne Summers. Many could imitate it but no one could completely duplicate it as far as he was concerned. He had to admit though that seeing her 'go ahead, make my day' pose being done by a girl that hadn't even entered the double digits age-wise was funny. In fact, he couldn't keep himself from giggling a bit at the sight and that drew the attention of both females to him. For Michiko it was a look that spoke of her not knowing what was so amusing about little Tsunade-hime standing like a brave female ninja before them. However, judging by the look on Tsunade/Buffy's face, he was in for a bruising if he didn't clam up and fast.

Still, it looks like Whistler was right! He thought as he continued to giggle inside his head even though he had turned expressionless on the outside, Things are going to be interesting around here!

&

Four Years Later, Konoha Park, Afternoon

Heheheheheh! Konoha is truly a wonderful place to live! Xander thought to himself as he used his Byakugan to take in the true treasures of the village, Who knew that Kimoko-san was that well endowed!

Some would say that this sort of activity and those sort of thoughts were unbecoming of a member of the head house of the Hyuuga clan. In truth, though, it was those sorts of people that allowed him to get away with this sort of thing in the first place. Those people and his super ultra poker face that kept what he was seeing and feeling a complete mystery to all who might spot him at the moment. It had been about two years before when he'd been attending classes at the academy that he'd run into someone who was so much like his friend Jesse it almost made him believe in cross dimensional reincarnation. Over the weeks that followed, the two of them became friends and then the white haired terror of the village introduced him to his favorite past time: peeking! At first he had been against the idea since, thanks to his White Knight nature, it was wrong to act like a peeping tom. However, month by month, Jiraya managed to come up with one persuasive argument after another as to why it was perfectly alright. According to the insanity of the village, all the women knew that each time they visited the bath houses, the locker rooms and places like that, that they were exposing themselves to those with special skills and abilities. Sharingan, Byakugan and numerous other factors made privacy a relative thing in a ninja village with no sure fire way to know whether anyone was watching or not. There were numerous Hyuuga men in the village and many other ninja whose skills and abilities that would allow them to peek completely undetected.

Therefore, since there isn't a member of ANBU or the local authorities monitoring every one of these people or a stiff penalty for peeping, then the majority of the villagers either didn't mind or didn't care. He thought to himself as he panned his vision to the left to view the rest of the bath house, Oh sure, if the peeper is caught, the women are livid but I don't plan on getting caught and, thanks to the fact that I'm a Hyuuga, I won't be. After all, who'd suspect a member of the illustrious clan of peeping and, as long as I didn't show any tells that let people know what I'm doing, then I won't get caught.

So it came to pass that while his bud Jiraya had to rely on cloaking his presence and using a telescope for his peeping, the Xan-man had it made it the peeking business. As far as everyone else knew, he was simply working to master his kekkei genkai and was occasionally praised for his diligence. In fact there was only one person who suspected the truth and, no matter whether or not she could prove it, she always did her best to put a stop to it if she thought she was catching him in the act. Fortunately she was currently out on a mission with her new team and wasn't expected back for a full two days, so he had plenty of time to enjoy the view.

At least that had been his plan but then, out of nowhere, he sensed serious hostile intent and, just as he located the source, he spotted a kunai headed his way. This was not good because he was essentially a sitting duck on the branch he was sitting on and he had been so focused on his peeking that he was not in a position to gracefully dodge. So, more like a baka, he could only scramble out of the path of the oncoming weapon and that led to him literally crawling off of the branch to land awkwardly on the ground. It was not a pleasant experience and as he sat himself right side up, he rubbed his head knowing that in an hour there'd be one helluva lump for him to explain to anyone who noticed. Turning angrily, he prepared to use some of the non-lethal but nonetheless painful techniques of Juken but, when he saw the culprit, all he wanted was to get to his feet and RUN.

"I thought you would've learned your lesson by now Hiroki-san." Tsunade/Buffy said, standing before him with her 'you are in big trouble' look at full force, "Using Byakugan to be a peeping tom! What would Willow say?"

She'd probably give me the resolve look and make me promise never to do it again! He thought barely managing to suppress a grimace of guilt from manifesting on his face, But she isn't here and Buffy doesn't have any proof I've done anything wrong and until she does I'm not admitting to anything!

"I don't know what you're talking about, Tsunade-chan. I was just perfecting my control over my Byakugan when you fired that kunai at me," he replied, sounding perfectly innocent and convincing. "So, what're you doing back so soon? I thought you weren't going to be back for another two days."

"Orochimaru managed to spot a weak point in the enemy ninjas' defenses and we finished the mission a little early." Buffy/Tsuande replied, looking like she'd be willing to let him off the hook this time, "So how's your team doing? Yuriko and Shizuka still acting like a pair of love sick puppies around you?"

"Yeah! Both of them tried to impress me last mission and wound up getting banged up even though Shizuka said she just jumped in to back Yuriko u,." he replied, annoyed that both his teammates spent more time trying to look good in front of him than accomplishing the mission. "Though it's tough to tell with the bug clan with how they all act, you could tell what she was really trying to do if you look hard enough."

Koharu-sensei had been pissed on the way back to Konoha and, aside from regularly telling off the ladies from the Inuzuka and Aburame clans, she also gave him all the less pleasant chores to do. It had taken three days for them to get back running at a decent clip that left them desiring nothing but the comfort of their sleeping bags. So when the witch told him that the only way he'd be getting into his sleeping bag was after all the chores he'd been assigned were done, he supposed that she thought that since he was the cause of their reckless moves, the Jounin felt that he should be dealt at least some punishment. Whether or not she wanted him to just pick one of them as a girlfriend or just tell the girls to look elsewhere for a future husband, he didn't know. Knowing the harsh lady she was, it was neither of those two possibilities and she just wanted to spread around the punishment in some weird move of shared punishment. 'The team that screws up together gets punished together' he supposed was the reason behind her move.

"Yeah. The others might not see it, but I can see the signs of a crush when I see it." Buffy/Tsunade said with a smile of amusement at her friend's predicament.

"Yeah, well, I doubt that you're team is all peace and prosperity with Jiraya and Snake Face butting heads all the time." He said, pointing out that his team wasn't the only one having teamwork issues that needed to be worked out.

"Yeah, well, we still got the mission done and none of us needed to be patched up any." Buffy/Tsunade said in a huff, looking away from him as a defense against his statement.

"True. So, you want to go get a bowl of ramen and compare notes?" He asked, figuring that the time for taking potshots at one another was over.

"Sure." Buffy/Tsuande replied before a triumphant smirk, "But you're buying!"

Remembering how much Buffy/Tsunade could pack away despite her small, flat-chested body, he knew that his weekly allowance was about to be completely spent.

&

Six Years Later, Konoha Entrance

"Jiraya? What's wrong?" Xander asked as he walked up to his friend, who apparently had been waiting for him.

The look on the face of his friend for the past nine years was one he was beginning to dread seeing upon returning to the village. It was the look of loss, the look of grief and the look of someone whose heart is in pain that only true loss could induce. Like many wars, he had been forced to lose many friends, people he'd fought alongside, and it hurt him to know that he was not there to save them. It was the one thing he always tried to do for those he called friend, to be there when they needed him, and each failure to hold true to this promise added a scar to his heart. That was why he pushed himself to give everything he had on missions and asked for the most important missions in an effort to bring the war to an end as soon as possible. With his teammates at his side, they managed to come home again and again victorious but there were others who weren't so lucky. Judging from how Jiraya was behaving, someone they both knew, both cared about, had met his or her death on the battlefield. But who could it…

NO!

NOT HER!

"Jiraya! Tsuande-chan isn't--!" he exclaimed, fear gripping his heart at the thought of losing one of his dearest friends.

"Tsunade's fine but…her little brother Nawaki…he's dead Hiroki." Jiraya said with every word making it clear he was having a hard time holding his emotions in check.

His mind was a mix of emotions, partially relieved but at the same time sad at the pain Buffy/Tsunade must have been feeling at the moment, but in the end he knew that he had to go see her. They had been friends back in their own world, friends from the day they hooked up in this world, and he'd be damned if he'd let her go through this alone. Not even bothering to say another word to Jiraya, he took off at a speed only enemies he really wanted to take down usually saw. Leaping to the rooftops, he began his search for Buffy/Tsunade, making a list in his head of all the places she usually went to when something like this happened, and heading for the closest one.

One after another, he looked with no success and anyone who happened to be there when he arrived said they hadn't seen Tsunade there in days. It was as he reached the last two possibilities on his list that he realized precisely where she was and headed for the area that sat atop the cliff that had the faces of the previous Hokage's carved into it. It was a place she went to with Nawaki often because it gave the best view of the entire village and it was the brother of Tsunade/Buffy's dream to eventually become Hokage himself. The kid was dear to the Slayer, as dear as he would imagine the kid would have been had Buffy never come to this world, and his death would have hit her as hard as Dawn's death would. If there was any place she'd flee to when feeling the pain of loss, it'd be there.

It took him about five minutes but he made it there and, just as he thought, Buffy/Tsunade was there kneeling down near the railing, sobbing. It sent pain coursing through his veins seeing her like this and, right then, he knew that he'd do anything for her if it eased her pain even a little. Even though he knew she just saw him as a friend, no matter what world they were in or what body housed their soul, but a part of his heart would always love her. It didn't mean that he hadn't felt anything towards Cordelia or Anya, but Buffy was his first love and those are the kind you never truly give up on or stop loving. Moving slowly towards her so as not to startle her, he soon reached her side and, with the gentleness of someone interacting with a child, he knelt down beside her and wrapped comforting arms around her. He just held her, no words were spoken between them, because he knew that just the presence of someone that she had a strong bond with would be enough to soothe her spirit.

For an hour they knelt like that and, while one or two people entered the area, once they saw what was going on and who was there, they had sense enough to leave. Eventually, though, the sobbing stopped and it looked like she was done venting her grief for the time being but he had no doubt that it'd be weeks before she completely recovered.

"Why did he have to die, Xander?" She asked in a voice only a little above a whisper, "He was so happy to finally graduate from the academy! He said he was going to become Hokage one day!"

"It's a sad fact about wars like this that they destroy so many lives, regardless of who wins in the end. What makes it harder is that so much of the resources for each village are centered on offensive power and defensive power that there's barely anything left for medical help." He replied, trying to put his response in order so there could be no mistakes, "Sure, there are hospitals for people to go to but, with how serious things can get in the field on a mission, many people simply can't hang on until they get back here."

"Then why don't they put medical ninjas on the teams?!" Buffy/Tsunade asked, sounding like she was getting angry that such an obvious oversight had been made.

"I don't know, maybe because with how things are there isn't enough time to train people effectively?" He replied, honestly not knowing if things would work out given the direction he predicted she'd go, "With people coming and going all the time and everyone needed on the front lines, the resources and people for such a thing just aren't easily available."

It wasn't that he disagreed with her, he thought it was wrong to not have someone with moderate medical training on a team, but he also knew that Hokage-sama and the other members of the village council would be reluctant to divert resources from the front.

"It doesn't matter!" Tsunade/Buffy yelled in anger, "For something as precious as human lives, for Konoha ninja, they should make the effort to train and place medical ninja's on teams!"

With those words, she got to her feet like a woman with a mission and, given the look on her face, he pitied the person who tried to prevent her from accomplishing that mission. However, unless he wanted her to lose her temper and go on a rampage, he needed to make sure she approached this rationally rather than irrationally.

"If your going to raise a stink about this, at least take the time to write up some kind of proposal or something to bring up at the next big meeting," he said, trying to sound like he'd argue with her for the rest of the day if he had to. "You're not going to win them over by yelling at them or demolishing the meeting hall. Attack them with sound logic and a workable plan for getting a medical-nin on every team. It's the only way you'll stand a chance of convincing them."

"Of course I'm going to go at them with reason." Buffy/Tsunade said with an affronted look on her face, "What sort of person do you think I am?"

"The kind of person who loses her temper easily and tends to resort to violence more often than not," he replied with his trademarked lopsided grin. "Put together a proposal that stands a chance of succeeding and I'll back you all the way when you bring it before the village council. Hell! I'll go talk with some of the higher ranking Hyuuga in the head family and see if they'll sign on. Alright?"

Looking at her, he couldn't help but marvel at the transformation that took place. Moments ago she was so besieged with grief she could scarcely move and now she looked like she could take on the entire hidden village of Rain all by herself.

"Alright!" Buffy/Tsunade replied with a grin on her face and the fires of determination in her eyes.

&

Five Years Later, Tsunade's Room, Konoha

I just can't stand being here anymore! Buffy/Tsunade thought as she looked over her now-barren room one more time with suitcase in hand.

It just hurt too much to dwell in a building, an area or a village where there were so many reminders of all that she had lost in the past six years. It had been five years since her younger brother died and only months since…since he died, despite her best efforts to save him. She couldn't understand it! She had succeeded three years ago in getting the ruling village council to begin serious efforts to putting a medical ninja in every four man team and creating a medical establishment in Konoha. She herself had overseen much of it and, just like Xander had promised, he'd managed to get some of the members of the Hyuuga head family to make sizeable contributions to the efforts. In fact it had only been a year ago that she had become satisfied with the results of her labor when she'd looked at the list of deaths in the field to find them less than half of what they'd been before. So why was it, with such a grand achievement, that she hadn't been able to save the one person who had managed to claim her heart?

Over and over again she replayed the mission in her head, looking for some reason why she had failed, something she had overlooked, but it didn't matter in the end. With what she'd known up until each decision had been made, she couldn't think of a single reason why she would have chosen to do things differently. Every choice had been looked at five different ways and those that had to be made in the blink of an eye had been made with the intention of saving lives. In the end, she could come to no other conclusion than the fact that ninja were simply destined to die at some point or another and that it was useless to try and stand against destiny.

Destiny.

She hated that word more than ever before, more than she had when she had simply been the Slayer, Buffy Summers, and now she had had enough. She'd already tossed in her resignation from the Konoha military, despite many protests, and had come to the decision to leave the village for good. Where would she go? She didn't know. What would she do? She didn't know. The only thing even approaching a goal was that she'd be taking care of Dan's niece, Shizune, and teaching her all there was to know about medical jutsus and healing people. It hadn't been her plan, not when she'd first decided to leave, but the determined young girl had hounded her about it for an entire month until she'd given in. In the end, Buffy chose to do it more in memory of the man she'd loved and because teaching the kid would keep her mind off more…unpleasant topics.

Sighing, she walked out the door and headed towards the front gates of the village where she'd told Shizune to wait for her earlier on. It was fairly early in the morning and she had chosen this time because most of the village was still asleep, so there'd be less of a chance that someone else would try to talk her out of leaving. That had pretty much been the theme of her days after tendering her resignation and, so far, just about everyone as well as their cousin twice removed had taken a swing at it. The only ones to mind their own business had been Hyuuga Hiroki, aka Xander Harris, and old man Third himself. She was both thankful and a little hurt that they apparently did not think her worth enough to try and convince her to stay. On the other hand, they knew her well enough to know that she would not be swayed on her chosen path and didn't want to add to her troubles of getting out of the village. She fully expected for there to be at least ten people trying to stop her from leaving but she wouldn't even bother talking to them. Instead she'd just keep on walking and if any of them bothered to get in her way, she'd give them the 'I WILL punch you through ten buildings if you do not move' look and that usually worked on most people.

For those it didn't…well…it kept the medical-nins occupied with something to do.

Walking towards the main gate of the village, she tried not to look around, to see nothing but the road in front of her or the staircase or whatever might have been on her path to her destination. However, despite her best efforts, she couldn't help but identify the buildings she passed and that brought up all the memories associated with them. Some of those memories were safe and good ones, but far too many of them reminded her of either Nawaki or Dan. Each memory of them caused her to flinch and her heart to spasm with pain as the knowledge that they were dead hit her again and again. It caused her to quicken her pace towards the village gate so that she could finally leave these painful memories behind.

As the entrance/exit came into sight she had to scowl since, aside from Shizune, both Hiroki/Xander and the Third were waiting by the check in station. As their faces became easier to see, she could not discern any signs that they were preparing to argue with her over her decision to leave the village. However that didn't mean much since Xander/Hiroki had become quite good at concealing what was going on inside his head thanks to the bad habits he picked up from Jiraya. As for Sarutobi-sensei, she had never been able to figure out the old coot, even after all the time they spent together on the same team. The man known as the Professor to many of the Konoha ninja was an enigma wrapped up in a question and placed inside a riddle when it came to his thoughts. So, with the two of them standing there, she couldn't discount the possibility that she'd have to yell at them for awhile before they'd see the futility of trying to talk her out of going. As she got within range of the trio at the gate, she saw Xander/Hiroki open his mouth and she chose to pre-empt any arguments he might have.

"You can stop right there, Hiroki. Nothing you can say to me is going to change my mind about this." She said firmly but keeping her more intimidating glares in reserve, "I just can't stay here anymore."

For a moment nothing was said between the two of them and instead they stared into one another's eyes as though they could communicate with looks alone.

"I wasn't going to try and stop you, Tsunade. The kind of pain you have to be going through is something I can't imagine or even think I'd be able to endure myself." Xander/Hiroki said in a soft compassionate voice, "I just wanted to see you off and get you to promise to come back some day. Not anytime soon, I know, but eventually. Promise?"

She was touched by Xander/Hiroki's words and happy that he wasn't going to try to block her path out of the village. As for his request…well, she could probably just say the words without actually meaning them but Xander/Hiroki had a special ability to see past lies, so in the end there was only one thing she could say.

"I can't make that promise, Xander…I don't know if the pain I'm feeling is ever going to fade enough that I can stand to come back here," she replied, her voice softly floating above whisper level and not far enough to reach beyond his ears. "But if Fate brings me back this way, then I'll be sure to look you up, okay?"

She was grateful that he seemed to accept this reply because she really wasn't looking for this to devolve into verbal sparring match or something. Looking towards her former team captain and mentor, she hoped he would be equally accommodating in terms of how he chose to say goodbye to her. Her debt to this man was great and he was the chosen successor of her grandfather and grand uncle, so his words carried a great deal of weight with her. Perhaps enough that if he phrased things just right, she might cave and decide to stay in Konoha. Seeing him walk towards her clad in his Hokage robes, she braced herself for the words that might come from his mouth. Instead she was surprised that all he did was gather her up in his arms and hug her like a grandparent should. This lasted for a few seconds but that was long enough for her to know she had his blessing on her chosen course.

"Go and heal your wounds, Tsunade, but know that you will always have a place here in Konoha." Sarutobi-sensei said gently and with a small smile that warmed her heart somewhat.

"Thank you, sensei." She said with gratitude before she walked over to Shizune, who had stayed silent throughout the entire affair, "Let's go, Shizune."

"Hai, Tsunade-hime!" Said the little girl who looked up at her with complete devotion and loyalty.

With that, she walked out of the village of Konoha, perhaps never to see it again.

Only time would tell.

&

Over the years that followed, the lives of the two dimensionally displaced teens became wrought with many experiences, both good and bad. Tsunade/Buffy traveled throughout the region, teaching young Shizune all that there was to know about medicine and medically oriented jutsu. Xander/Hiroki, though, continued to live the life of a Hyuuga ninja and, while there were still a few hold outs amongst the hardliners of the clan, he gradually gained the respect and acceptance of his seniors. Years passed and the war with the hidden village of Rain came to an end with peace drifting through the nation of Fire before a spark set off yet another conflict with the nation of Earth. Whether it was by himself or leading a trio of students, the former Zeppo of the Scooby gang did himself and his clan proud. There were prices that had to be paid for each victory, prices that often needed to be paid in pain and one that cost him the life of a favored subordinate, but never did his dedication to his village or his family waver. Tsunade, on the other hand, did her best to stay clear of such conflicts and instead focused on either her duties as Shizune's teacher or indulging herself in life's simple pleasures.

Thirty years later, though, Fate decided to once again interfere in her life by dropping not only her snake-faced former teammate in her lap with dark promises but also the perverted hermit teammate as well. Naturally her first impulse had been to get them to leave her alone but both 'old friends' had strong hands to use against her. Orochimaru tempted her with the possibility of seeing Dan and Nawaki again, alive with the glow of life running throughout their entire body, while Jiraya and his newest rude student, Naruto, came to her asking her to return to Konoha as the Fifth Hokage. So with two weights on either side of the scale and both of them threatening to take hold of her, she did what she normally did in situations like that.

She let her heart be her guide.

Her heart told her not to trust Orochimaru and the memories of her lost loved ones told her that even if she got them back, they would never forgive her for playing a part in the destruction of the village they dedicated their lives to protecting. So began the fight between her former teammate and his subordinate, causing the landscape to change as well as providing some serious work for the local construction workers. However, like always, Orochimaru, as well as those that served with him, were not afraid to use dirty tricks in order to tilt the odds in their favor. If not for the timely arrival of Jiraya, Naruto, Shizune and Tonton, she would have been helpless before her enemies. In all likelihood, they would have succeeded in forcing her to restore the snake's arms and she would once again be under siege from her guilty heart. The fight was fierce and, through the actions of the boy that reminded her so much of her loved ones, she found the strength, the fire, inside of herself again. The old Tsunade was BACK! With this done, the fight quickly went in favor of her and Jiraya, since Orochimaru was weakened by Sarutobi-sensei's curse and Kabuto was not strong enough to handle two legendary ninja on his own. With this victory and the hope she'd found in Naruto's dream, she returned to Konoha and, with only a little reluctance, accepted the position of Hokage.

Many old friends were there to welcome her, including Hiroki/Xander, who shocked her by revealing that he'd actually gotten married to Inuzuka Yuriko. They had twin daughters, who she learned through various conversations with others, were taking after their parents both in the way of the ninja as well as mischief.

The lives the two of them led continued to be interesting from that point onward but, like most things, it eventually had to come to an end. So it came to pass that, a few years after they successfully became grandparents, old age claimed them releasing their souls from their fleshy shells.

However this was not the end of things.

No, the only thing that had come to an end was their time in this dimension and in the bodies of Tsunade and Hiroki.

Now the time had come for Buffy Summers and Xander Harris to return to their own world to resume their lives there.

With the promised severance packages coming along for the ride, of course.

&

The Summers Family Home, BtVS Dimension,

Precisely Five Minutes After Xander and Buffy Vanished Into The Portal

"Well, that should be about enough time for the pot to boil." Whistler said casually, even though for the last five minutes he's been evading attacks from the various humans in the room.

It had only taken him a minute to do what he had come there to do, to channel the extra energy into the numerous containers, but once the light show had ended, it had been everyone against Whistler. Fortunately for him, though, the extra energy he had given them was still not anywhere near enough to put them in the 'they can kill me' category. The wicca had come the closest with a few of her spells but, since he was still an empowered member of the Powers That Be, they were easy to handle. All during the time he had been keeping the mortals distracted and away from any ideas concerning the shadow caster he'd been keeping an eye on the metaphorical airport to this dimension. He hadn't been entirely sure what the time difference was between this reality and the one he'd sent his two chosen ones off to, but he knew he had to be ready to reopen the portal. It was as he swatted a volley of crossbow bolts that his PTB senses detected Harris and Summers approaching the inter-dimensional airport and he knew it was time to open the door for them. With a shockwave of energy, he knocked all his assailants on their collective asses, rendering them a disoriented mess allowing him to do what was needed. Shooting outwards with hands, he channeled energy into the shadow caster, activating the enchantments on it and causing it to spin at an ever-increasing rate until the portal opened up mid-air in the living room once again.

Seeing as how two humanoid shapes came tumbling through it precisely when it finished stabilizing, he'd opened the portal just in the nick of time. His mind really didn't want to imagine how things might have turned out had he messed up and failed to catch them in time. They might have sailed right past this dimension or been stuck orbiting this reality until their life essences complete disappeared. However they were here now and that was all that mattered to him, since it meant that his plan had succeeded in its entirety. Summers and Harris now had abilities and skills that would throw the First for a loop in the coming battle. Add to that his little present to the rest of the bunch here and he had seriously put the screws to any plan his former comrades might have planned for this group. However, that all rested on whether or not Harris or Summers could teach them what they needed to know in time for it to make a difference. He knew that after his little unexpected arrival and the waves the portal sent out, the First would pull back a little in order to get a better handle on whatever new changes there might be. He also knew it'd take about nine weeks for the First's whipping boy to arrive from Hicksville and, until then, the puff of smoke's moves would pretty much be head games. Oh, there might be a few more Turok hans and the occasional Bringer assault, but nothing that this bunch wouldn't have been able to handle before his plan had changed things. However, when The First's enforcer arrived, things would go into hyper-drive and the kids here would have to be up the task if any of them were to survive.

Seeing that the two shapes on the floor were pretty much over the disorientation that usually came with dimensional travel, he decided to take stock of his new cornerstones. Looking first beneath the surface, he was happy to see that the chakra they had in them was consistent with someone from that world training or fighting their entire lives. Fortunately, though, their bodies weren't that old but rather only a few years older than the two of them had been when they'd first gone through the portal. Both were at the peak of physical fitness and, unless he was very much mistaken, they'd gotten a hotness upgrade as well. Not entirely unexpected but it had been a long shot he hadn't been sure would work out in the end. However, sensing the rising shock and surprise in the room, he knew that the time for evaluations was over. Someone was going to pop the questions and he knew he'd wind up giving everyone most of the answers.

"Buffy? I-is that you?" Dawn asked, sounding mostly certain but with enough doubt present that proof would be needed in order to wipe it out.

The blonde woman that had come through the portal turned to look at the Key-made-flesh and, the instant their eyes met, the differences in the eldest Slayer became evident. For one thing, though it is somewhat difficult to tell, it seemed as though Buffy has gained an inch in terms of height but it is what rested below her shoulders that attracted the most attention. Where Buffy might once have possessed a moderate B cup before, she had now been blessed with something more in the mid-D range, unless he was very much mistaken. This was a distinct possibility, given the gray kimono-like top she was wearing but, combined with the black pants, Lego shoes and green jacket, he thought she made it work for her.

"Dawn?" Summers asked as though not believing what she was seeing.

This lead to an oh-so-touching approach before both ladies looked the other over in beyond thorough detail before smiles blossomed on their faces as their minds came up with a positive identification in both cases. However, before Summers could grab up her little sister in a hug, Harris zipped in between them so fast that everyone else gasped at this display of speed.

"Buffy! Easy! Remember you're a lot stronger now, even without using chakra." Xander said, reminding the Slayer that she needed to keep in mind the changes that had been done.

While this move did bring the now-natural blonde Slayer to her senses, it also redirected everyone's attention to Harris and, like Buffy, he'd undergone some changes as well. For one thing, his hair was a great deal longer, making him look sort of like a brunette Fabio, except that Xander's hair might actually have been longer by an inch or two. He was also wearing something that kinda looked like a martial arts outfit, both pants and shirt, given the billowy sleeves and plainness of the pants. Like Summers, though, Harris also had a new trait that caught everyone's attention but, unlike the Slayer, it had nothing to do with his chest. Instead the change was in his eyes, which had once been chocolate brown but now were a bone white-ish color that prevented them from blending completely with the rest of the eyes. Unlike normal eyes, though, this one didn't seem to have a pupil of any kind but, rather, simply a solid pale iris located at the center of the eye. This little addition, however, had been something he'd planned on and would definitely take Xander's nickname as 'the one who sees' to a whole new level.

All in all he was quite happy with how things turned out.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS GOING ON HERE!?" Bellowed the Watcher Giles, who obviously had received one too many shocks to his system.

Time to make with the answers, I guess. He thought to himself with some reluctance before he uttered a fake cough in order to get everyone's attention.

"Short version of it, Ripper, is that Harris and Summers here now have the tools and the talent to give you a fighting chance against the First."

"Whistler!" Buffy growled before coming at him like she was going deck him.

Considering the kind of power she now had, he wasn't entirely certain she wouldn't succeed in knocking him clear out of the house.

"Easy there, Slayer! I know it wasn't exactly paradise over there but believe me when I say that compared to what my former co-workers had planned, it was definitely the better deal." Whistler said with his hands up in the universal posture for 'do not hit me'.

"What do you mean your former co-workers?" Giles asked snarkily, clearly only half successful in reigning in his anger.

"Well, ya see, a couple a years ago, I sorta got a promotion, a BIG one, and since then I've been helpin' to call the shots for the light." He said, knowing that it wouldn't take them long to connect the dots.

"Y-y-you mean t-the Powers That Be!?" Giles asked half as a question and half as an outburst of surprise.

"Got it in one, Watcher! Ya see, they planted the shadow caster in yer emergency stash here and were all set to send Summers back to see the Shadow Men." He replied, keeping an eye on the people most capable of knocking him around, "Before you ask, the Shadow Men are the sorcerers that created the first Slayer hundreds of years ago. If things had gone the way my former colleagues had wanted it, Blondie here would either have been made more demon than human or been scared into doing something seriously stupid."

"How stupid?" Xander asked, now entering the conversation with a more or less neutral tone of voice.

"Stupid as in activating every potential Slayer on the face of the planet at once," Whistler replied honestly, deciding that beating around the bush wouldn't be a good idea.

"How's that a bad idea? If there were more Slayers then none of them would have to be alone anymore." Willow said, proving with that statement that even geniuses could occasionally ask stupid questions.

"Simple Rosenberg. How many Potentials do you think come from decent families? How many of them do you think are livin' on the streets?" He asked rhetorically casting his gaze over everyone present, "With the Watchers Council pretty much crippled and the majority of its field agents dead, how long do ya think it'd take for you to find them all? A year? Ten years?"

He could see the point he had been trying to make sinking into their heads as they realized the danger with activating that many potentials at once without a system for dealing with them. With the Council gone, there'd be no way to get to all the Potentials in the world to tell them why they could now toss furniture or bend crow bars. That'd lead a lot of them down the right path or make them vulnerable to demons who'd consider even an untrained Slayer to be a trophy kill.

"So what do you want us to do now?" Summers asked in a tone that, while not openly hostile, didn't exactly speak of much trust in him or his motives.

"I want you to do what you've always done up 'til now. Fight the good fight on your terms an' no one else's." He replied, knowing that she probably expected him to start dishin' out orders.

"While the upgrades and the ninja know how we picked up will help a lot, it still leaves us pretty much where we started before me and Xander went dimension tripping." Summers said with a face that spoke of her dislike of the current situation, "We still have nothing to work with but a bunch of amateurs and a core group of people who haven't fought a battle like this ever."

"Hey!" Kennedy exclaimed in anger at being called an amateur.

"No, she's right, Kennedy. In terms of skill and experience, every Potential in this house is an amateur." Xander said with complete honesty and certainty.

"Xander, that's not fair! Everyone here's doing their best to help out and get ready." Willow said with some shock in her voice at how her bestest friend was now siding with Buffy.

"I never said they weren't, Willow, but that doesn't change the fact that these girls aren't much better than we were six and a half years ago. You remember how much trouble we had just taking on a fledgling vampire?" Harris asked rhetorically before continuing with his statement, "The First has Bringers, regular vamps and the uber vamps and those are only the things we know about so far. For all we know, it could be calling dozens of different demons to Sunnydale as we speak and all of them just as deadly, if not more so, than a super vamp. Do you honestly think we're ready for that?"

"No, but with a little work, ya can be." Whistler said smiling at how his two top picks were shaking things up and taking charge, "You can train these girls in the way of the ninja like back in Konoha. It'll take some doin', but it should be worth it in the end."

"What are you talking about, Whistler? Even if Xander and I start training these girls now, it'll take years just to get them up to genin level." Summers inquired, obviously not sensing the changes he'd made after she and Harris had left.

"Actually, chakra-wise, they're almost ready for the chuunin exam right now, thanks to yours truly." He said before taking a dramatic bow towards a definitely not clapping audience, "After the two of you left for that other dimension, I popped in and juiced up their chakra levels quite a bit so they'd be ready when you got back. You won't have to worry about nasty side-effects either, 'cause I made sure that their bodies could sustain the increase as well so it'd be like they'd earned the right way. All you two gotta do now is show them how to use it."

This shocked both ninja but he could tell that they weren't exactly convinced that what they'd been through had been worth it.

"Even with that much chakra, it's going to take a while to get them up to speed, a couple of months at least, and I doubt the First is going to miss a dozen teenage girls hopping rooftops." Xander said, looking a little more hopeful but wanted to make sure all the bases/possibilities were covered.

He was about to tell them about his last gift when he felt the first signs of the prison he'd placed his former co-workers in beginning to fail. He knew that the second that lot was free, they'd rain holy fury on his ass and probably try an' undo what he'd accomplished. That meant he had to leave in the next minute or two and get to the Big Cheese if he wanted to keep from getting wiped out of existence.

"Then look in yer basement and I think you'll like what you see." He said before beginning to turn away, "I gotta go now. A lot of people upstairs aren't exactly happy right now but I got one last card to play. See ya 'round, Slayer!"

With that he teleported out of the Summers home and did his best to make it to his one chance for sanctuary from his now no doubt irate former co-workers.

&

Nine Weeks Later, Inside The Vineyard, Night

Here they come! All those dirty girls thinkin' there so righteous. Caleb thought as he watched the enemies of his Master gradually enter the kill zone, It will truly be a sight to behold when I show them the strength of the Master that flows through me.

He waited until all of the heathens were too far away from the stairs for a quick retreat to be possible before he cued the minions and watched them attack. Seeing how the little whores moved, he knew his Master was truly all seeing for, just as the First had told him, these bitches were amateurs at best. There was no strategy in their moves, no fluidity, it was little better than watching a street gang go at it in the middle of L.A. Still, they were doing better than he'd thought against the Bringers, not getting more than scratches on their sinful bodies. He let this go on for awhile before he decided it was time to make his grand entrance and then his grand impact in order to show these tarts just who truly had the power. With a single gesture to the minion at his side, the attack was called off and those Bringers that had been fighting withdrew into the shadows. Taking this as his cue, he strolled into the light as casual as can be like he didn't have a thing to fear from these heathens.

"Well, now, you girls are just burning with righteousness, aren't you? Problem is, you think you're blazing like suns, when really you're burning like matchsticks in the face of the darkness. You having fun?" He asked with great insincerity and confidence, "Now, I hope my boys haven't worn you out too much—I need you fit for when I purify you."

"Save the sermon, padre." Snapped the short blonde the First had often shown him, "I heard you have something of mine."

Oh, how foolish and stupid this one is! He thought as he walked closer to her, It confounds me how she has managed to survive as long as she has.

"Well, I do now. You liked my little message, did you? You know, I ruined a perfectly good knife on that girl. Got her soiled blood all over the place. I may have to get a new truck." He said, making it clear he was more concerned about his truck and his knife than the fact that he pretty much gutted the girl, "So, you're the slayer. The slayer. The strongest, the fastest, the most aflame with that most precious invention of all mankind—the notion of goodness. The slayer must indeed be powerful."

With the speed and strength bestowed unto him by his Master, he lashed out and punched the whore on the jaw, sending her flying across the room and into a wall.

"So, what else you got?" He asked smugly as he waited for the rest of the bitches to start panicking and recklessly attacking him.

However much to his surprise and bafflement, none of those among the enemy group looked worried in the slightest, nor were making any move to attack. This did not make sense to him as he had just swatted aside their strongest warrior as though she were naught but a child. They should be terrified of him, their insecurities should be robbing them of their ability to think straight, but instead they were merely looking at him with determination in their eyes. It wasn't until he heard the sounds of someone getting back to their feet from the direction he'd sent the strongest Slayer in that he got his first hint as to the cause of this irregularity. There, getting up like she'd just slipped on a patch of ice, was the blonde Slayer, looking like nothing had happen despite the power he'd placed in his blow.

"Lookin' for some more punishment, whore?" He asked with a sneer, unwilling to give up his position of dominance.

"Won't be much of a punishment if that's the best you got." The Slayer said after rubbing her jaw a little, "As for what else we've got, you're about to get your answer. Girls! It's showtime!"

With those words, all the little trollops began to remove the coats they'd been wearing and discarded the cumbersome weapons they'd been using up until he'd strolled onto the stage. Wrapped around their sinful bodies were jackets with various pouches and compartments built into them. Strapped to their hips were more pouches that clearly contained the weapons they had chosen to hold in reserve. This virtually destroyed what little concern had been trying to appear within him because there was no way that something small enough to fit in those things could hurt him. However it was when each and every one of the girls put on an odd headband that he wondered what had inspired them to do all this. The headbands were blue and had a solid curved metal plate incorporated into it with a symbol carved into the metal. It was a carving of a sun with a cross to the right of it and a sword on the other side. He supposed it was their version of the armbands the Nazis wore back in World War Two or the red crosses that had been worn by the Templars. In the end, it didn't matter to him because a change of weapons and some silly little club headbands wouldn't be enough to stop him and his Master.

"Well, I hope this show's got a lot of screaming and dying." He said with a playful voice, "An' if it don't, then I guess I'll just have to."

"The only one screaming and dying here will be you and the Bringers." The Slayer said as she strode right back up to him, lookin' like she was about to kick his ass.

He was about to laugh at the absurdity of it all when, faster than anything he had seen in his entire life, she brought back a fist and slammed it into his chest. PAIN! A pain that soared, then faded and then soared again was what he knew the second the punch hit and for the first time since the battle began fear whispered into his ear. However he had no time to catch more than a word before perceiving an incoming attack and rolled to the side just in time to avoid an axe kick that could well have killed him. Scrambling to get back to his feet, he was now convinced that he could no longer afford to play around with these whores. Looking about the cellar, he could see every last one of them whores tearing into his Bringers like they were a bunch of village idiots.

THIS WASN'T HOW IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE!

&

Same Place, Same Time, Xander's Perspective

"Rona! Crouch and arch!" Xander said as he used his Byakugan to full effect to dance around the Bringers while delivering damage with Juken to their internal organs.

Just like they'd practiced in the gym Whistler had turned the Summers family basement into, Rona immediately went to her knees, arched backwards and stabbed a Bringer than had been sneaking up on her from behind. Using his kekkei genkai to take stock of the situation rather than focus it only on those people immediately around him, Xander was proud to see that the Potentials were doing so well. When they had initially begun to train them, he had been doubtful that they could get them all up to snuff so soon even with all the mystical bells and doo-dads Whistler had given them. In Konoha, the average kid signed up for the academy around eight or nine and didn't graduate until they were twelve years old. Even then there was the possibility of them being sent back to the academy if they didn't pass the test set out by their Jounin teacher. That was about three to four years of solid teaching at the academy before the students were even considered low class ninja. Thanks to Whistler's transformation of the basement, though, they were able to squeeze nearly twice that amount of time into the past nine weeks, putting each of the girls on a level that would make them fine candidates for the chuunin exam.

Looks like we might actually owe the guy a thank you, if we ever see him again. He thought as he evaded a slash from a Bringer and delivered a double Juken palm thrust to the former human's chest.

"Xander! He's heading your way!" Came Buffy's cry and immediately he reoriented himself on her position and saw Caleb running in not only his direction, but also the direction of the stairs.

With his Byakugan eyes, he could easily see that Buffy's Tsunade attacks had done some serious damage to the enforcer of the First. Numerous bones were broken and there were internal injuries, but whatever the First Evil had done to juice this guy up was quickly repairing the damage. It would probably take about twelve hours for a complete restoration, but it would happen and, if he was allowed to escape, then the next fight could go considerably different then this one was. Taking up an aggressive Juken stance, he waited until the preacher entered the area of maximum effectiveness for his gentle fist style of fighting.

"Outta my way, boy!" Raged the Preacher as he brought his right arm back for a punch.

Zipping in, he delivered a three hit combo of Juken strikes targeting the enforcer's primary chakra nexus points, since they would mostly likely be fatal. With speed and precision found only in the Hyuuga clan, he not only managed to evade the Preacher's attack but also hit all three points as though the killer were standing still. However this time the surprise was on him because instead of collapsing to the ground dead, the monster minister merely staggered backwards with a bit of black blood dripping out of his mouth. Looking more closely with his all-seeing white eye, he now saw that the demonic energy coursing through the Preacher was not only flowing through the body but also reinforcing it, thus making damaging internal organs quite difficult. Fortunately for him, his time as a member of the head house of the Hyuuga clan had afforded him some extra skills only taught to members.

"Outta muh way, asshole!" Blurbed out the evil Minister, who still looked ready to kill despite how bloodied up he was.

"Not a chance. It's over. You are within the range of my Divination." He said as though the battle were truly over for his opponent, "Hakke Rokujūyon Shō!!"

With that he assumed the stance for a technique that, under normal circumstances, was known only to the top members of the Hyuuga head family. Fortunately for him, the Lord Hyuuga who had chosen to fulfill his dying brother's last wish had meant every word when he'd declared that Hiroki Hyuuga would be treated as a member of the head family. That included teaching him/Hiroki techniques kept secret except to those who ruled over the entire Hyuuga clan. So, with great speed, he rushed in and began the first part of his plan to bring down the Preacher.

"Two Strikes!" He declared before jabbing in two spots on the Minister's body at the right hip and the top of the rib cage.

With the tempo set, he proceeded to rain down blows on the tenketsus on the Preacher's body. Four strikes, then eight strikes, then sixteen strikes, then thirty-two strikes before, finally, he completed the technique with sixty-four confirmed strikes. Seeing the man fall backwards to the ground, Xander knew that his efforts to disrupt, if not outright stop, the flow of demonic energy throughout the enforcers body had worked. Without being able to circulate through the Preacher's body, it would only be able to heal those areas in close proximity to itself. Even then there would be a limit to the amount of healing that could be done with the demonic energy in the immediate area. In short, the maniacal minister was now only slightly more resilient than a normal human male. Exhaling to calm himself down after such an intense series of strikes, Xander smiled when his Byakugan picked up someone approaching at high speed.

His smile only grew when he watched Buffy leap as high as the cellar ceiling would allow her before executing the Painful Sky Leg jutsu right onto the menacing minister's head. The resulting splatter and damage to the floor of the cellar grabbed just about everyone's attention, whether they be Potential, Bringer or souled vampire. For a moment it looked like the Bringers would fight on, but that only lasted until Kennedy showed off her skills with projectile weapons, hitting twenty Bringers in fatal areas in ten seconds. After that the Bringers knew they were beat and without the presence of their Master's enforcer, there was nothing keeping the more intelligent among them there to face the unforeseeably strong enemy. From there it was pretty much a mop up operation and, much to the happiness of all, their side only incurred minimal injuries that could be fixed up with a basic first aide kit rather than a trip to the hospital.

"Well Buffy, I think this pretty much settles it." He said with a smile that was all Harris rather than Hyuuga, "We are the MOST kick ass warriors on the Hellmouth!"

Buffy however was ignoring him in favor of looking down at the foot she'd used to kill the enforcer of the First.

"Eeewwww! I got Preacher all over my foot!" she declared before trying to shake off the blood, grey matter and bone bits off her foot.

My hero! He thought with a roll of his eyes after deactivating his Byakugan.