Chapter 390 - My CO Stash #90 - With Sprinkles by dogbertcarroll (XanderXMulticross)

-This author's planeswalker Xander is legit pure gold~

Synopsis: Instant death or being granted a wish by a certain demon lord, decisions, decisions, decisions. Xander Harris makes an incautious wish and now has to deal with the consequences. Not exactly the road trip he was planning on taking, but there certainly is a lot of sights to see.

Rated: T

Words: 43K

Posted on: fanfiction.net/s/12446027/15/With-Sprinkles (dogbertcarroll)

PS: If you're not able to copy/paste the link, you have everything in here to find it, by simply searching the author and the story title. It sucks that you can't copy links on mobile (´ー｀)

-I'll be putting the chapter ones of all the fanfics/originals mentioned, to give you guys a sample if you wan't more please do go to the website and support the author! (And maybe even convince them to start uploading chapters in here as well!)

Chapter 1-3 (exceptional)

Xander turned and walked away; he'd prevented the bomb from exploding he didn't need anyone's approval, he had his own.

"How about a little wager?" D'Hoffryn asked, stepping out of the shadows.

Xander froze, stuck between fight or flight having depleted his body's ready supply of adrenaline with everything he'd gone through. "I recognize you," Xander said recalling Cordelia telling the group about her wish, the effect it'd had, and being forced to read a lot of moldy books.

"Indeed," D'Hoffryn said with a toothy grin. "So you know I am more than powerful enough to kill you with a snap of my fingers."

"Yeah, that's about the size of it," Xander agreed, trying to figure out how to escape whatever the demon lord had planned for him.

Unnoticed Cordelia had ran off and gotten the rest of the gang which had rushed out to help.

"I'll make you a deal. You make one wish," D'Hoffryn said, "and I won't snap my fingers at you."

"Monkey's paw variety that I have to figure out how to untangle so you can't screw with it?" Xander guessed.

"Exactly," the Demon Lord agreed.

"Xander, it's a trick," Giles warned, bringing his attention to the battered group.

"I know, but my back's against the wall here," Xander said honestly, mind searching for a way to defuse this wish.

"Xander don't be an idiot!" Buffy yelled, in panic as her slayer senses flared. "Don't make that wish!"

Cordelia smacked Buffy in the back of the head. "You idiot!"

Buffy winced realizing she'd said exactly the wrong thing as Xander's fists had clenched and his nervous smile had faded into a thin line.

"I wish to be a planeswalker," Xander said.

D'Hoffryn stared in surprise and looked shocked as he said, "Wish granted!"

A flare of energy surrounded Xander and seared the ground where he stood, as he screamed in agony, his clothes going up in flames right before he vanished, leaving a three foot circle of boiling stone to mark where he'd stood.

"I wasn't aware I could activate the spark of a planeswalker, much less that he was one," D'Hoffryn said in wonder.

"What did-" Willow began to demand only to have Faith slap her hand over her mouth.

"Lord D'Hoffryn if you would be so kind as to explain what just occurred," Giles requested, knowing the famed Demon Lord would more readily respond to a polite inquiry, especially if it would pain the listeners to hear it.

"Of course Ripper, it'd be a pleasure to explain to a man who understands vengeance as well as yourself," he replied with a toothy grin. "Anyanka, my favorite, granted a wish that lead to her losing her power for a time. Normally I would plan out something horrible for all involved, but on looking at Miss Chase's future I realized I needn't bother, and that Alexander was the cause of events that would prevent my reclaiming Anyanka in the future. Naturally I sought to correct this by offering him a wish or instant death, being the merciful being I am."

"I see," Giles said. "That is remarkably merciful of you, thank you."

"The boy has frustrated so many 'higher beings' I felt he deserved it, however just when he was about to choose a painless death, your Slayer, Miss Summers, convinced him to undergo something extraordinary painful, he wished to be a planeswalker."

"I... wouldn't that have caused widespread destruction?" Giles asked.

"Indeed it would," D'Hoffryn agreed. "However by shielding myself I prevented the destruction of the city, accidentally of course, and... it appears he's drained the Hellmouth of power for his transformation."

"Thank you for your time," Giles said politely giving a slight bow as the Demon vanished.

"Where is he?!" Buffy asked Giles, feeling even more powerless than she had when the council had stripped her of her powers.

"Everywhere, nowhere," Giles replied solemnly as they returned to the library.

"What do you mean?!" Willow demanded.

"Surely you can't believe he was telling the truth!" Wesley exclaimed.

"He's notorious for being honest, especially if it upsets the listeners," Giles said as he slowly started to clean the library obviously bone weary.

"What's a planeswalker?" Willow demanded.

"That's not something that is easy to describe," Wesley said. "I of course am well versed on what is known, but that is unfortunately very little. There are mortals, extremely rare ones-"

"There may be a total of two potential ones on earth out of the entire population," Giles interrupted.

"Who have the potential to become planeswalkers," Wesley continued. "Of the billions with the spark over the whole of creation it's just as rare to have it ignite."

"And Xander's one and he's ignited?" Buffy asked to be sure.

"Yes," Wesley agreed, "it appears that way. Planeswalkers are hunted by quite a few beings, particularly when they are... young, because they grow in power rapidly."

"But what are they?!" Cordelia demanded.

"Powerful beings who can grow to eclipse the gods themselves and step from one reality to another like we enter a room," Giles said. "Their power and motives vary greatly, as no two are alike."

"And Xander?" Faith asked wondering what wasn't being said.

"Is lost in eternity being hunted by other planeswalkers, beings who make gods tremble," Giles said. "If he survives and finds his way back here, it'll most likely be centuries after we're all dead and gone," he finished sadly.

"And considering he drew on the power of the Hellmouth to ignite himself..." Wesley trailed off. "He's probably in a Hell dimension, if not demonic himself."

Everyone was silent for a moment.

"F.u.c.k you, Wesley," Faith said before turning and stomping out.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"The readings say it's this way," a blue haired girl in a blue and white, short skirted outfit said in Japanese as she looked at her laptop, leading a group of five girls with similar outfits and two cats.

"I can feel the darkness like oil in my fur," a black cat with a gold crescent moon on its head said.

"She's right," a similar though white furred cat agreed. "It's the darkest energy I've ever felt. You all must be careful!"

"How about you hit it with a Moon Healing Escalation the moment we spot it?" a tall brown haired girl in a white and green outfit suggested.

"Can I do that?" a blonde girl with a rainbow trimmed white outfit asked.

"If anyone complains I'll hit them with a Akuryo Taisan," a dark haired girl with the same outfit as the others except with red trim promised.

"Three feet in front of us," the blue haired girl announced, just as a groan and some rustling came from the bushes.

"Moon Healing Escalation!" the blonde with the rainbow trim yelled, throwing a wave of light in front of them.

"Ow!" said a blackened figure as it fell over with a thud.

Chapter 2

The wave of white mana that poured over him soothed his soul and gave him knowledge of a crystal of some kind. It didn't feel very big, but it would take a ridiculous amount of mana to create. Climbing to his feet, he brushed off some of the ash that used to be his clothes before a number of people started yelling in Japanese and he was suddenly hit with a pair of attack spells.

An arrow of flame struck his chest like a pot full of boiling water, raising blisters but doing no serious damage. The lightning bolt that followed stung like he'd stuck a fork in an outlet and caused some involuntary twitches, but also did little actual damage. A wave of fog clouded his vision before he was hit with another wave of light, that healed his wounds once more. "What the f.u.c.k?!" Xander exclaimed, his mind and memory still a bit scrambled as he looked around him blindly.

A beam of golden light stabbed into his side, leaving a burn like a hot poker, before he was hit with fire and lightning again and quickly healed by the wave of light once more. He tried to dodge the next attack, but he was fighting blind, nearly n.a.k.e.d, and unarmed. The next wave of white mana hit and he soaked it for all it was worth, his mind clearing enough for him to use his new instincts and tap into the land around him.

The power of the city poured through him, granting clarity of mind and speeding his thoughts. He was being attacked by simple elemental attacks, followed by an overpowered heal spell. The next wave of attacks and healing hit, but this time he was aware enough to get a feel for them, not that they hurt any less just that he was sure he could have thrown them as well if he'd had the appropriate mana to use.

"Stop attacking me!" he yelled, only to get a double dose of attacks before the wave of white mana hit him again. Unable to see, lacking a way to defend himself or fight back, he ripped a hole into the blind eternities and jumped in.

The blind eternities was not what he expected it to be. It was... everything, all at once, at full volume. Reality, multiple realities, pounded at his brain. In a panic he got ready to leap anywhere to escape it, when he saw a crack and dove through it.

The office he landed in looked vaguely Asian. He reached out and tapped into the city around him, the flow of multicolor mana helping to clear his head once more as knowledge of the land seeped into his skull.

"That is not a toad," the third Hokage noted, gesturing to ANBU to be wary.

"Sorry to barge in like this," Xander apologized in the local version of Japanese, "but someone opened a hole in front of me."

"Where were you?" Jiraiya asked, curiously.

"The space in-between," Xander replied. "Know of any place I can get some clothes, cheap?" He paused and sighed. "Better make that free, I don't think you use the same currency I do."

"And how did you get there?" Jiraiya asked.

"Natural ability," Xander replied, "but it's overwhelming and I haven't figured out how to reliably go from one place to another yet. I'd really like to get some clothes and maybe a meal or two before trying it again."

"Got any profitable skills?" Jiraiya asked.

"Maybe," Xander said thoughtfully, "not real sure yet."

"I'll spot you some pants and a meal on the off chance we can find something," Jiraiya said. "Let's leave the old man to his paperwork and get a drink."

"Remember to finish up those reports you owe me," Sarutobi said, seeing that the toad sage was going to use a light approach to find out who and what this new being was, which was understandable as he felt quite powerful.

"Will do," Jiraiya said, waving for Xander to follow him.

An hour later...

"So what would be your most valuable skill?" Jiraiya asked, once he'd gotten Xander fitted out with some local clothes and set up with a bowl of ramen.

"Skill I have now that I could apply locally?" Xander asked thoughtfully as he considered it. "I'm not sure if my knowledge of science is valuable or not, since I'm just a student and you guys are at least as advanced as my home in some ways, but with a strange mix in where you apply it, from what I see. My knowledge of magic is just starting out, but is probably our best bet for profitable skills." Xander felt his connections to the city around him and the one he just left. The leaf village was a tri colored land containing red, blue, and green, while the Tokyo he'd been in was white and colorless, but you had to accept both mana at once. Reality seemed a bit thin in that Tokyo with additional mana seeping in from somewhere outside it.

"Healing," Xander decided. "I'd need to be taken to two separate sections of plains so I could use their mana, but after that I'll have the use of one massively overpowered heal spell."

"You draw mana from the land to use your magic?" Jiraiya asked.

"Exactly," Xander agreed before taking a sip of tea. He wished he had a soda, but they didn't have those locally. He made a mental note to stock up on them when he got a chance. "Different lands produce different types of mana with different characteristics."

"And forests aren't useful for healing?" Jiraiya asked.

"Forests are the best for healing, but the only heal spell I know uses mana from the plains. It takes twice as much mana for me to use, but it affects an area rather than a single person."

"Does it require a lot of concentration to heal a group of diverse people with various injuries?" Jiraiya asked, thinking about the mystic palm technique.

"Nah," Xander shook his head, "all the details are handled by magic, you just have to cast the spell and it takes care of the rest."

"We'd have to test it to see how it works, but that does sound valuable," Jiraiya said cheerfully. "How large an area is each... land?"

"Varies really," Xander said thoughtfully. "Plains and swamps are about seven and a half square miles on average, while mountains and islands are counted individually, regardless of size. Forests depend on density, with some producing two to three times as much mana as you'd expect."

"Any defensive spells?" Jiraiya asked between slurps of his ramen.

"Just one. Using a single blue mana I can create a fog that muffles the senses, but it doesn't stop attacks," Xander explained before copying Jiraiya's manners as he noticed most of the customers were slurping their ramen as well.

"Poor defense, but better than nothing," Jiraiya said, signaling for another two bowls since Xander still looked hungry. "You any good on offense?"

"Three very basic elemental attack spells," Xander replied as he considered it.

"Don't knock it kid, most people have to make do with only using two elements, unless they train really hard," Jiraiya said.

"I only learned them because someone shot me with them," Xander said. "Come to think of it, that's how I've learned everything so far."

Jiraiya laughed. "While handy, I'm pretty sure there are better ways to learn things."

"You got that right," Xander said. "Still, it's a fast way to learn, if painful."

"The students in the Academy would probably prefer your method," Jiraiya said, smirking internally as Xander took the bait and started asking about the village. Xander was so open and honest that it almost made him feel guilty to manipulate him, but Jiraiya had done far worse for the sake of his village before and no doubt would again.

That evening

"Report," Sarutobi ordered as he glanced up from his paperwork.

"Not sure the kid is human, probably a demigod of some sort," Jiraiya replied. "He's probably the most honest and open being in the entire village. It's painfully obvious that he's not from around 'here'. His attacks are low jounin and he can't fire very many at present which will change the second he gets a little travel under his belt as everything he does is powered by sage chakra that he draws from the land itself regardless of distance."

"So he's safe enough for the moment," Sarutobi said, lighting his pipe.

"There's more," Jiraiya said. "His strength and durability is easily on par with Maito Gai, though that appears to be a recent thing, as he was as surprised as we were."

"And?" Sarutobi asked, hearing something in his former student's tone.

"While I doubt he'll even be on this world for longer than it takes to get back on his feet, I do believe he'll make this a regular stop in his travels if we make him feel welcome, and I believe that is something we should encourage for a couple of reasons," Jiraiya said, unusually serious for once.

"I'm listening," the old man said.

"He's very protective of the people and places he's fond of and he'll only grow in power, in addition to this is the wealth of knowledge and techniques he has the potential to find and share with us, but most importantly at the moment, I believe the 'massively overpowered healing spell' he mentioned will allow us to return nin who are currently beyond our capability to heal, back to the field," Jiraiya explained.

"That would be an incredible boon to the leaf," Sarutobi agreed.

"To ensure he thinks of the village fondly, I have Anko keeping him company," Jiraiya said smugly.

"I trust you let her know she had the choice to refuse a seduction mission," Sarutobi replied.

It was not a question.

"I assigned her to watch him because she'd already started seducing him," the toad sage replied with a grin. "She showed up when we were demonstrating techniques. They are almost complete opposites with only one thing in common, a disturbing love of explosions. Despite all that, they hit it off immediately and enthusiastically."

"ANBU keeping an eye on things?"

"As always," he assured him. "I'll be taking him out to… acquire some more land in the morning... after he recovers."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Setsuna wasn't often surprised, so it took her a minute to understand what she was seeing; where she'd expected to see the usual ebb and flow of the timeline, she was seeing the colorful scrawl of an infinite future. Crystal Tokyo was no longer guaranteed, but then neither was the death of seven billion people that lead to it. She much preferred fighting for a brighter future rather than a guttering candle anyway.

Unaware of the determined look on her face or the rare smile that touched her lips, she locked the gates and prepared to teleport home to call a meeting of the scouts. They were going to have to work much harder than they had been, but a future of infinite possibilities now awaited them.

Several hours later...

"Why is she smiling like that?" Minako whispered to Makoto. "It's creepy!"

"Maybe she's drunk?" Makoto whispered back.

"What could be bad that Setsuna would start drinking?!" Usagi m.o.a.ned.

"I'm not drunk, nor have I been drinking," Setsuna said, revealing she could hear their whispers. "I'm smiling because I have good news."

"Tell us what it is already," Haruka said. "You've teased us enough, we're all here, so spit it out."

Michiru gave Haruka a look, but she just shrugged in response.

"Alright," Setsuna agreed with a smile. "The great freeze is no longer guaranteed to happen, meaning we are no longer destined to watch six billion people die of cold or starvation."

"That is good news!" Usagi exclaimed.

"What about Crystal Tokyo?" Haruka asked.

"Not possible or desirable," Setsuna said flatly. "Crystal Tokyo required the death of the majority of the human race. My advice is to restart the Moon Kingdom."

"What's the difference?" Ami asked.

"Crystal Tokyo was an Earth based kingdom where we used magic to keep our little section of the world warm and fertile. The Moon Kingdom on the other hand would require us to use our magics to return life to the other planets in our solar systems and draw in settlers to populate them once more. Much like the Moon Kingdom of old, I expect Earth is not going to desire an empress," Setsuna explained.

"Lots of hard work but a brighter future," Usagi said, much to everyone but Setsuna's surprise.

"Exactly," Setsuna said, smiling even more as she saw the matching smile appearing on Usagi's face.

"What changed?" Michiru asked, causing everyone to turn towards Setsuna. "Something had to have happened to make all this possible. What was it?"

"I have no idea," Setsuna replied. "The gates show infinite possibilities, so it's impossible for me to tell, but whatever happened, happened recently."

"How recently?" Minako asked nervously as she recalled what had happened the night before.

"The last twenty-four hours," Setsuna promptly replied. "What do you know?"

"That Dark General that ran away last night," Usagi said. "Ami, did you record it?"

"You guys faced a Dark General and didn't think to mention it?" Haruka demanded.

"All he did was stand there, cuss, and run away," Makoto said. "Not exactly a lot to say."

"We were going to bring it up at today's meeting," Ami assured them as she brought up the recording on the Mercury computer and hit play.

Setsuna paled as the video played, pulling a bottle of whiskey out of nowhere and taking a slug as the video ended.

"OK, that's bad," Minako noted, just in case no one else understood.

"How big a threat is he?" Haruka demanded. Haruka had to wrestle the bottle away from Setsuna to get her to stop drinking and give them an answer.

"All the power the Senshi have is based on what he is," the time guardian explained.

"He's a Senshi?" Rei asked doubtfully.

"Senshi tap into the land of their home planets for power," Setsuna explained. "A single unit of power to transform and one to three to power their attacks. Connecting the Senshi took centuries of research and a decade for each unit of power or mana they could access at once."

"So we access four mana at max?" Hotaru asked.

"You can access five," Setsuna said. "One mana unit for your transformation and four for your ultimate attack, the rest of us only use four total."

"And this guy?" Haruka asked.

"He's a planeswalker, though a new one from the readings," Setsuna explained. "He's tapped into somewhere between two to four mana units from these readings."

"So we have to take him before he gains any more," Makoto said with a firm nod. "With a decade between mana units, we have time."

Setsuna sighed. "It took a decade per mana unit to connect the Senshi based on what they understood and observed a planeswalker doing."

"And how long does it take a planeswalker to tap into an additional mana unit?" Ami asked.

"About three seconds," Setsuna replied.

"Stop that!" Michiru said, snatching the bottle away from Haruka.

Chapter 3

"Here," Xander said, causing Anko to stop and set him down.

"Here?" Anko asked curiously. "I thought we had to travel a lot farther, I mean, this is scrubland."

"Which counts as white and red," Xander explained as he felt the nature of the ground around him and found something interesting. "Do you guys have a hidden base out here?"

"If there is one, it isn't ours," Anko said, signaling for their hidden escort to be on alert.

"It's old and empty," Xander said. "I'm not sensing any traps either." He approached a sandy hill and slowly circled it. "It's in there."

Anko flashed through a number of hand seals and dove into the ground like it was water.

"That still looks cool as hell," Xander said.

A stone door opened out from the hillside, pushing aside nearly a foot of sand and dirt, revealing Anko with a grin on her face. "Come on in," Anko told him. "I think you'll get a kick out of this."

"What is it?" Xander asked as he entered the stone doorway, noting the glowing seals on the ceiling providing light.

"You tell me," Anko replied, gesturing to the end of the hall where it opened up into a circular room with another exit.

Xander examined the room noting the large circular bed and peeking his head out the other exit and finding a perpetually running shower and toilet. "It's… a love nest!" he said in surprise.

"Probably started out as a campsite," Anko said with a grin, "but after stopping here while on patrol so many times, someone built an underground room for safety and comfort and it kinda evolved from there. This place hasn't been used in decades, but the last couple who used it shed enough chakra that everything is still powered."

"Shed?" Xander asked curiously.

"There are a number of activities that help increase your chakra flow, which also tend to release excess chakra into your surroundings," Anko explained. "Would you like me to show you one?"

"Sure," Xander replied.

Anko gestured and the stone door closed. "I was hoping you'd say that." Her clothes quickly dropped to the floor and she pushed Xander onto the bed.

"Oh," Xander said as he realized what she meant.

Half an hour later…

"And now the place is saturated with our chakra," Anko said smugly.

Xander chuckled. "Glad this place has its own shower."

"Considering who I suspect used this place, I'm surprised it doesn't have a hot tub," Anko said running a finger down Xander's chest.

"I'd ask who it was, but the answers would be meaningless to me," Xander said. "Wanna shower with me?"

"Love to," Anko said, "but we really should spend at least some of our time doing what we're supposed to."

"If they complain, tell them it helps me adjust to the new mana flow," Xander suggested.

"Doubt they'll buy it," Anko said, allowing him to lead her to the shower.

"It's actually true," Xander told her. "I need a little time to get used to each new connection and this seems to speed that up."

"In that case I best get back to work," Anko said with a smirk.

"Nose to the grindstone, that's us!" Xander agreed.

Six hours later…

"Report," Sarutobi ordered, taking a puff from his pipe.

"Xander needed a little time at each stop to adjust to the new mana connection," Anko replied, "but a little physical activity helped speed up the process, so we managed to add five more mana to his pool. He said he can cast the healing spell twice today without a problem."

"When he's finished with lunch, Jiraiya has a handful of volunteers at the hospital," Sarutobi told Anko. "Depending on the results of the first test, we'll gather a group for a second casting."

"Yes, Sir," Anko said cheerfully.

"How would you evaluate him?" Sarutobi asked curiously.

"Powerful, kind, and probably too good to be true," Anko admitted with a sigh. "I mean, how many people do you run into that are exactly what they seem with no hidden agendas or dark secrets?"

"And yet you still chose to start a relationship with him," Sarutobi noted, leaning back in his chair.

"Relationship is a strong word," Anko replied with a wince. "I prefer to think of it as spending time with someone until they reveal they're an asshole. It's just human nature."

Sarutobi nodded. "Humans can be disappointing at times," he agreed, amus.e.m.e.nt in his eyes. "Dismissed."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Kurenai saw the stranger Anko had been showing around the village and decided to introduce herself. It was rare to find Anko interested enough in someone to be seen in public with them, so it was probably a good idea to make sure he wasn't a creep.

Two minutes later…

Anko smiled as she saw Xander sitting at the counter talking to a friend of hers but the smile faded as she saw her friend becoming upset and a memory of something she'd done last night arose…

"Hell viewing technique!" Kurenai called out, hands flashing through signs as she cast her genjutsu.

"Kurenai, No!" Anko yelled, as she shunshined into the ramen stand.

"Kurenai, Yes!" Kurenai shot back. "You have no idea what he just suggested!"

"Interesting," Xander said completely unruffled, "but that's not remotely what hell looks like."

"Kai!" Anko called out, breaking the genjutsu. "She wasn't with us last night, that was me using a henge on a clone."

"I know that," Xander replied.

"Then why did you hit on me?!" Kurenai demanded.

"I thought Anko cast it right this time," Xander said.

"I cast it right last night," Anko said with an offended huff. "Henge!" Anko turned into a duplicate of Kurenai.

"I can still see it's you," Xander said. "A transparent layer of color doesn't fool anyone."

"Henge," Kurenai said, turning into a duplicate of Anko.

"I can see through both of them," Xander said.

"Oh," said Kurenai, dropping her henge, with Anko doing the same. "So you hit on me thinking I was her," Kurenai said awkwardly.

Xander shrugged. "I figured if Anko wanted to do a little roleplay, I'm up for it."

"And on that note, the Hokage says everything is ready for you at the hospital," Anko said, embarrassed that Xander hadn't even noticed some of the things she'd used to spice things up the night before.

At the hospital

Jiraiya rechecked his monitoring seals. Even if he couldn't detect everything Xander did when casting a spell, he could detect everything the spell did to a person.

There were thirty people in the room, encompassing a full range of people of different ages, both s.e.xes, and multiple causes of injuries. Despite Jiraiya's belief that Xander was being honest about his technique and its effects, none of the patients were valuable personnel. If it worked on this group, then Sarutobi would allow Jiraiya to bring in medically retired Jounin and Special Jounin.

"Just in here," the nurse said, leading Xander and Anko into the room.

"Jiraiya!" Xander called out cheerfully, as he took in the wide variety of patients.

"Hey, kid," the Toad Sage replied. "I got a room full of patients for you."

Xander nodded. "I also see the monitoring seals, which is good because it'll help me find the limits of the spell and maybe suggest some improvements I can make."

"Let me get out of the way, and you can fire away," Jiraiya said excitedly.

Xander took a deep breath and raised his right hand above his head, white light beginning to gather in his palm, causing it to glow like the sun. He swung his glowing hand in a large circle, leaning down to almost touch the ground, his right leg coming up to counter balance his sharp movement, all while calling out, "Moon healing Escalation!"

A wall of healing magic filled the room in front of him, blinding everyone.

"Holy f.u.c.k, that's powerful!" Anko exclaimed. "Also girly as hell."

"You should see the girl who cast it," Xander said, shaking his head. "As a matter of fact…Henge!" With a burst of smoke, Xander turned into an exact duplicate of Sailor Moon.

Anko lost it, falling down laughing while Jiraiya just snorted and went to check his seals. "I didn't know you'd mastered henge," Anko said as she wiped tears of laughter from her eyes.

"Simple spells… or jutsu, I can get," Xander replied, feeling the hair on her head, "though I probably don't do them exactly the same way you guys do them."

Anko reached out and felt Xander's chest. "Yeah, this is a bit more solid than how we do it."

Xander dropped the henge. "I've got the ones you teach pre-teens and some basic elemental attacks down, but I'll have to really study the more complicated jutsu before I can use them."

The patients were examining themselves and each other with broad smiles, everyone glowing with health and even limbs that had been missing were back.

Jiraiya returned with a stack of tags. "This looks great, but there seems to be a mental component as well."

"White mana is also known as Soldier's Mana," Xander explained, "it enhances the qualities you'd expect to see in a soldier. Have one of your mindwalkers take a look and they should be able to confirm it."

"And healing is usually done with green mana," Jiraiya said thoughtfully. "What effect does green have on the mind?"

"It is also known as Nature's Mana," Xander explained, "it enhances natural instincts, so unless you're in the middle of battle it mainly enhances the libido."

"Now that sounds useful," Jiraiya said, looking interested.

"People aren't just interested in s.e.x, they also want kids," Xander said, "so you could have a couple who planned on waiting, changing their mind until it wore off."

"How long does the effect last?" Jiraiya asked, thinking of several possible uses for that side effect as well.

"Depends on the person," Xander said thoughtfully, as he considered his own instinctive knowledge of the subject outside of the confines of the game. "If they really didn't want kids, they would be back to normal in a day or two, but if they found the idea attractive, it could last weeks."

"If we take you out to a forest to connect you to a little green mana, you aren't going to suddenly go kid crazy are you?" Anko asked carefully.

Xander laughed. "While I'm not immune, I can throw off the effect at will."

"Good," Anko said, looking relieved.

"How long would it take you to revise the spell to use green mana?" Jiraiya asked.

"No clue," Xander admitted. "I'm pretty sure I need a lot more experience with healing magics before I can even try."

"Something for the future then," Jiraiya said cheerfully, as he examined various readings with a great deal of satisfaction. "I should have all the tests done by tomorrow, then we can start turning a profit! In the meantime, go out and have some fun."

Xander caught the small bag of money that Jiraiya tossed to him. "I'll be sure to do that."

"Wanna pick up some green mana?" Anko asked.

"I could use some," Xander agreed.

"Good, I'll show you one of my favorite training grounds," Anko said, "and can you use green mana to deliberately set off the baby craze?"

"I think so," Xander agreed. "Why?"

"A couple of pranks and payback for Kurenai," Anko said with a smirk.

"This has bad idea written all over it," Xander said with a melodramatic groan.

"Yes, but in between that it reads 'good time'!" Anko promised, pressing herself against him.

"Can't argue with that," Xander agreed as he let Anko lead him off.

Jiraiya chuckled and signaled for one of the hidden ANBU to stay behind. "You were caught by his jutsu, you gotta be checked as well."

Taking off his mask, Hayate nodded. Taking a deep breath and not feeling the slightest urge to cough, he said unrepentantly, "I've seen enough of the kid to think it worth the risk."

"I figured you might," Jiraiya said with a smirk, taking Hayate's ANBU mask and removing a hidden monitoring seal.