"Ugh...my he..ad..."

A lone onyx eye blinked open and stared up at an unfamiliar ceiling. The brunet shot up quickly, grunting in pain when his head and arm throbbed. He glanced down at his arm and sighed when he saw the metal gleaming there--his fake arm was present as usual.

Vindice-Tsuna studied the IV that was injected into his flesh arm with bemusement, remembering the void that he was in when he was talking to his alternate self. He then raised a hand up to his head, feeling bandages wrapped firmly over his useless eye.

"...The bandages are new..." He muttered to himself. "...Did my plan work...?"

"What plan?"

V whipped his head around to his left and--

"HIIIIIEEEEE!?"

V fell off of the infirmary bed he was on, yelping in pain when his back met solidly with the ground below.

"Wow," A familiar yet unfamiliar voice drawled. "I haven't heard that screech in a long while."

V popped his head over the bed, black flames dancing along his body, ready to teleport as he looked at a certain hitman who was sitting on a stool, one leg over the other and an eyebrow raised with amusement, arms crossed over his chest.

"You must be an alternate version of my idiotic student."

V swallowed, sweat dripping down his cheek as he quickly pieced things together.

'Oh God. It's the other Reborn! Is he as sadistic as the other one? Oh no, oh no, oh no--!'

"You can calm the f**k down." Reborn cut through his thoughts. "Just get back on the bed and let's sort your thoughts out."

V stuttered an apology and quickly scrambled up to sit with his legs crossed on the bed. He kept his gaze lowered, obsidian eye staring at his hands in his lap as if they were the most interesting things in the world.

"Oi, look at me if we're going to talk to each other, Dame-Tsuna."

The brunet straightened his back and looked up quickly, his one obsidian eye wide with panic.

"P-Please don't shoot me, Reborn-san!" V quickly rushed out through scarred lips. "I-I'm sorry...it's just...it's...u-unusual. Th-this is the first time I've ever gone to alternate universes."

Reborn grunted, looking unimpressed before he turned his head to the side. Just then, the door to the infirmary creaked open. A silveret with equally silver eyes popped his head in, one tan hand on the doorknob while the other was holding a clipboard. He looked up from the papers on his clipboard and blinked at the wide-awake brunet on bed; the silveret grinned widely.

"You're EXTREMELY awake!"

V jolted at the loud voice, but he recognized it from a certain boxing teen he knew in his world...

"...S-Sasagawa-kun?" V stared in wonder at the adult-version of Takehito's friend. "I-Is that really you...?"

Ryoehi tilted his head curiously at the brunet, eyes flickering across V's face with concern. The silveret shut the door behind him and took a seat on the right side of the brunet's bed.

"Yes. I am Sasagawa Ryohei," He surprisingly softened his voice. "How are you feeling, Ot--Tsunayoshi?"

V opened and closed his mouth, still a little shocked at seeing an older Ryohei. Reborn then reached over to whack the brunet in the back of his head.

"Speak, idiot."

V rubbed his head, wincing before he nervously looked over at the silveret.

"Uh, I'm feeling f-fine...Sasagawa-kun..." The brunet then looked away to his metal, right arm, eyebrow furrowing. V then looked up at the silveret with a weak smile. "Er, this is a little urgent...but I must contact Gesso-kun. I-I still need to w-warn...well...myself about my world."

"That's the thing," Reborn cut in. "You still need to explain yourself." The hitman leveled a calculating look at V. "What the he** have you done to my student?"

V swallowed, looking down at his hands--one metal and the other flesh.

"That is...d-difficult to expl--"

Slam!

"TUNA-FIIIIISH, MY SON!" A certain CEDEF boss wailed dramatically. "I heard you got siiick!"

Reborn turned to look at the open door with annoyance, glaring at the blonde that was there.

"Baka-Iemits--" Reborn's eyes then suddenly darted back to V, who was starting to shake violently in the bed. "Ts--?"

Crackle!

Black flames flooded the room as V floated above his be slightly, his lone, obsidian eye growing cold and dark.

"I e m i t s u . . ."

Ryohei felt a chill go up his spine while Reborn quickly got up from his seat, one hand on Leon. Iemitsu froze in shock at the door, his brown eyes flickering across the unfamiliar yet familiar face that greeted him.

"Tuna...-fish...?"

V was about to shoot off of the bed, the flesh that connected to his metal arm throbbed with pain, along with his eye and the scars along his face.

Iemitsu needed to be defeated--quickly. He's going to hurt Takehito--he's going to kill Takehito. He can't hesitate like the last time. People would get hurt. It would be his fault again. He can't let anyone get hurt because of him. No, no, no, no--

I don't want to hurt Da--

Click.

"Tsunayoshi." Reborn's voice cut through Vindice-Tsuna's feverish thoughts as cool metal pressed against the side of his head. "Calm. Down."

The brunet froze, finally realizing that he now had Iemitsu pinned to the floor, his metal fingers digging into the blonde man's neck while a ball of Night flames danced in his left hand, ready to smash the other's face in. V let a strangled breath of air out past his lips as he side-eyed the green gun that was against the side of his head.

"Breathe, Tsuna." Reborn murmured, sharp onyx eyes watching the brunet carefully. "Remember. This is an alternate world."

V heard his blood rushing in his ears, metal fingers twitching around Iemitsu's throat before they relaxed from their bruising grip. The brunet staggered back quickly, slowly sinking to the ground, flesh hand clutching his head once he dispelled his Night flames.

Iemitsu sat up silently, one hand rubbing his throat while his other propped himself up, looking at the brunet across from him with wide eyes. Ryohei tossed his clipboard onto a nearby desk, bending down quickly to check Iemitsu, activating his Sun flames.

Reborn tsked and let Leon transform back into a chameleon. The ravenet walked over to V and yanked him up to his feet, tossing the brunet onto the bed.

"Cool your head, idiota." The hitman took his fedora off to run a hand through his hair for a moment before placing it back on. "We still need to talk."

~~

Iemitsu sat silently on the outside of the infirmary, watching his hands as he twiddled his thumbs. The bruises on his neck were long gone with the help of Ryohei's Sun flames. He took a deep breath as he stared at his hands for a moment.

That was his son in there.

Well, not the son he knew...but that person was still his son. Iemitsu had heard that Tsuna had gone to a parallel world, so he'd hope to break the ice by being a silly worrywart when meeting the different--Vindice--Tsuna.

The...the hatred and fear that went through that obsidian eye made him freeze; it was the first thing he saw as he ignored Reborns irritated mutter on the side. He then took in his face--that scarred face. And then he saw the metal arm--the fake arm that shouldn't be there on his son.

And then he was pinned to the ground.

However...there was no sense of fight from V-Tsuna exactly. What Iemitsu saw while he was pinned to the ground...it crushed his soul. He wasn't pained by the fact that an alternate version of his son was trying to kill him--he was saddened by how...lost and hurt that obsidian eye was as it glared down at him.

It took a while for Iemitsu to notice that V had let go and backed up. Iemitsu was stunned by the sudden events before he sat up, rubbing the forming bruises around his neck.

Eventually, Ryohei healed him up before sending him outside. The Sun Guardian and Reborn stayed in the room with V.

It had been an hour since then and Iemitsu was getting more and more worried.

Clunk.

Iemitsu shot up from his seat by the infirmary door when it opened. Reborn stepped out first, leveling Iemitsu with an unreadable look before Ryohei also exited the infirmary after the hitman.

Iemitsu was about to enter the room, but reborn firmly clamped a hand on the blonde's shoulder without looking at him.

"You're going to visit him after he tried to kill you? Idiota."

Iemitsu gritted his teeth and looked over at Reborn with steady, brown eyes.

"He is still my son."

Reborn gazed into the brown eyes before scoffing softly. The hitman then dragged the CEDEF boss along with him as Ryohei trailed behind silently.

"Trust me, Baka-Iemitsu, Dame-Tsuna really wouldn't like to see your face." The hitman let his hand fall from the Iemitsu's shoulder as the blonde reluctantly followed. "After what he's told me..." Reborn's gaze darkened as he walked down the hall. "Things have gone to sh** in his world."

Iemitsu narrowed his eyes at that before looking at the hall ahead of them.

"But..."

"The idiot's sleeping now, so you can't visit and check up on him just yet. He was exhausted by his sudden emotional outburst and his retelling of his fantastic little story." Reborn muttered. "Right now, I need to get a certain Marshmallow Overlord to meet with my wayward student."

<<(In the Alternate World)>>

Tsuna watched as an airplane flew through the air, seeing line of white trail behind it. The brunet then brought his gaze back to earth to watch the students enter Namimori Middle, crouching on a thick tree limb slightly reaching over the school wall. He soon found a few familiar faces from both the Vongola and Simon Families, and he smiled fondly at their small interactions before frowning thoughtfully.

'I wonder....is the conflict about Vongola Primo and Simon Primo solved yet?' The brunet mused. 'I haven't actually told Hito-kun on what to do after finding Enma-kun and his family...'

Tsuna was brought out of his thoughts when he heard the bell ring for school. He watched as the last of the students scramble through the gates to avoid Kyoya and Adelheid. The brunet snickered when a few tripped and fell on their faces.

The Decimo suddenly tensed up when Adel and Kyoya looked at the tree he was hiding in. He was currently shrouded in Mist flames, so he knew they couldn't see him, but he understood that the two could probably sense him.

Kyoya--Tsuna smiles fondly at the sight of the teen version of his Cloud Guardian--scans the brunet's tree for a while longer before turning to Adel, muttering a soft 'we'll meet up later' before walking away. The Glacier Guardian merely nodded at the Cloud, watching him go before walking over to stand closer to the gate to the school.

Tsuna inclined his head at this before disappearing in a controlled burst of Night flames. The brunet appeared at the Kokuyo school, eyes wandering the ruined area before teleporting once more, covering himself up with Mist flames.

He was happy to see a teen Mukuro there. Apparently V, taking control over the Vindice, decided to release Mukuro. The brunet watched as the young Mist Guardian looked in his direction in the room.

'Everyone's senses seemed to have heightened.' He turned his gaze to see Ken sniffing the air and Chikusa asking if Mukuro was alright. 'I can't tell if that's a good thing or a bad thing.'

Tsuna inclined his head thoughtfully when he saw Chrome look at Mukuro with concern.

'...I wonder...did she learn to stand independently by herself yet?'

The brunet sighed in the shadows, disappearing in muted burst of Night flames. As the blacks flames disappeared from his sight, he stood on the edge of a familiar cliff, watching the city below with a lone sunset-orange eye.

He removed the bandages from his face and took a deep breath of fresh air. Tsuna swiveled his head around carefully, both of his orange eyes now visible as he took the sight in.

'...Heh...good old Namimori.'

He stuffed his hands into his pockets as his cloak whipped around him gently. He then furrowed his eyebrows, taking a seat on the edge, using one knee to prop his arm on.

'...Vindice-version of me had said that Iemitsu had gone to war with Vongola. After interrogating those two mafioso, I can see that Iemitsu is just gathering masses of people to his side.'

Tsuna moved a bandaged hand up to his mouth, orange eyes calculating.

'However...people do not snap like that and suddenly declare war. It's usually a gradual thing--pressure builds up before something breaks.'

Tsuna flicked his gaze up to the town below before moving to the forest surrounding the outskirts of the area. He moved his hands up to readjust his bandages. Once they were fixed back into place he vanished in a burst of Night flames.

~~

Tsuna looked at the trees around him with curiosity. His Hyper Intuition had urged him to come to this part of Namimori--the forest. He sighed softly as he came to a clearing, watching a flock of birds take to the sky once he walked throug--

Tsuna whipped his head around, raising a hand up quickly to catch a dagger between his fingertips. He brought his hand down to study the dagger resting in his palm. He then raised an eyebrow in mild surprise when he recognized the design.

'This is Be--'

"Ushishishi...the Little Bunny has sharper reflexes than I remember."

Tsuna raised his gaze to see a blonde teen come sauntering out of the line of trees, hands stuffed in his pockets as a Cheshire grin spread across his lips, a crown tilted in an angle in his hair.

"What brings you here, Little Bunny?"

The brunet sweatdropped at the nickname as he gazed at Bel with a lone, obsidian eye. Tsuna quickly put up a little act, being the stuttery, 'little bunny' he was supposed to be.

"A-Ah, um, I'm sorry, uh, f-for intruding....!"

"I'm guess you're looking for Boss, hm?" Bel cut in. "He was expecting you to meet him after all."

Tsuna shut his mouth and nodded, adding a look of nervousness to complete his little act. Bel continued to grin before waving a hand over his shoulder.

"Come on, Little Bunny. Follow me."

~~

Tsuna gazed up at the mansion before him. It looked pretty much like Varia station that was in Namimori in his own world. The brunet mentally shook himself of his thoughts as he follow Bel inside.

"VOOOOOIII, IS THAT THE SH***Y VINDICE B*****D AGAIN!?"

Tsuna hid a fond smile with a fearful look as he saw a certain, long-haired silveret come stomping down the stairs, brandishing a sword. Bel chuckled as walked up the steps without flinching when the sword came too close to him at some points.

"Yep, the Little Bunny is back. I think he's here for another meeting with the Boss, ushishishi~"

Squalo glared at Tsuna for a moment, and the brunet did his best to look frightened and nervous.

"H-Hello, S-Superbi-san..."

Squalo huffed, jerking a thumb over his shoulder, up the stairs.

"The sh***y Boss is in his usual room." He growled. "Just go right on in."

Tsuna gave a nervous nod and a muttered 'thank you' before running up the steps. He turned a corner, letting his Hyper Intuition lead him to the right room. He finally stopped at a wooden door, raising a hand up to kno--

"Just get in here, you piece of sh**!" A low voice grumbled past the door.

Tsuna felt an amused smile twitch at his lips before he put on a frightened expression. He quickly opened the door, pretending to stumble in slightly. He yelped when a bottle shattered to pieces against the wall beside his head.

"Stop stumbling already!" The Varia leader barked. "Get the f**k in here and close the d**n door!"

Tsuna quickly did as he was told before turning his gaze to look at the ravenet before him. The brunet mentally chuckled with amusement at the hair-style Xanxus had--it was gelled back compared to the flattened bangs in the future.

Xanxus was lounging at the opposite end of a long table, sitting in a cushioned chair, feet kicked up on the wood. A line of windows were at one side of the room, letting warm rays of the sun through. Xanxus had the white sleeves of his undershirt rolled up as he crossed his arms, black slacks covering his legs.

Tsuna took in the ice-scars on the visible parts of Xanxus's body before finally making eye-contact with crimson eyes. The fiery eyes glared back at Tsuna before narrowing further.

"You're f**king late, b*****d."

Tsuna let a nervous laugh fall past his lips.

"S-Sorry..."

Xanxus scoffed, taking a swig of wine before setting the bottle on the table, continuing to glare at Tsuna.

"Sit down already."

Tsuna quickly sat down on a cushioned chair, moving his cloak around himself so it wouldn't get wrinkled when he sat down. The brunet let his gaze lift in time to see a...flicker of surprise dart across Xanxus's eyes before it smoothed over. Tsuna couldn't help but feel a bit of apprehension at that.

'Did I do something wrong? Did I do something V doesn't do?'

"Well speak up, b*****d!" Xanxus snarled. "I don't have all sh***y day!"

V smiled nervously, before placing his hands onto the table.

'Talk about what? My adventure in Italy, right...?' "...I-I saw some of Cavallone-san's men..." He looked down at his hands with genuine distress. "Th-They were dead."

Xanxus growled quietly.

"F**king b*****d is finally making some movement again." The ravenet muttered to himself. "Sh***y Iemitsu must have finished licking his God d**n wounds."

Crimson eyes flickered back to Tsuna.

"Where's the sh***y Bronco?"

Tsuna furrowed his eyebrows.

He is safe. His Hyper Intuition whispered. Dino is currently somewhere safe. You shall meet him later.

"C-Cavallone-san is fine....he's r-recovering a bit."

Xanxus sneered.

"I knew the d**n horse was too stubborn to die." Xanxus took a swig of wine again. "Anything else, you sh**?"

Tsuna furrowed his eyebrows.

'What else was there to talk about...?' "I-I think I-Iemitsu's men are simply trying to regroup a-again..."

Xanxus huffed at that before tossing his empty bottle to the side, letting it crash against the wall.

"Tch, f**king b*****d doesn't know when to give up!" His scars seemed to darken for a moment before his gaze returned to Tsuna. "...Now that's done. Let's get to the real d**n question here.

One of the Varia boss's hands dropped to his side, where his pistol was. Tsuna stiffened slightly in his seat.

"...Who the f**k are you?"

Tsuna sweated mentally, slowly getting up from his seat.

'Holy sh**. Just like Reborn, he found out quickly.' "Wh-What do you mean, X-Xanx--?"

"You aren't the Vindice-brat at all!" Xanxus snarled standing up from his seat, letting the poor chair fall and crack against the carpeted floor. "WHO THE F**K ARE YOU!?"

Tsuna swallowed, preparing to dodge or deflect any bullets of Wrath flames that would most likely be coming at him soo--

"Xan-chan~! Don't shoot Tsu-chan!" A familiar voice sang. "I need to talk to him about his alternate-self wanting to talk to him!"

Xanxus directed his gun to the new target at the windows, glaring darkly at a white-haired young man, who was floating with the help of...wings? Tsuna breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Byakuran-kun..."

~~

Everyone was seated once more.

Xanxus looked ready to kill anything that moved. Tsuna smiled amusedly as a bead of sweat ran down the side of his face, orange eyes moving between the Varia boss and the Gesso one; his bandages were currently off since it was no use hiding that he was a different Tsuna now.

Byakuran smiled his fox-like grin as usual, looking over at Tsuna with his closed eyes.

"Hi, Tsu-chan~! It's been a year since we've last met each other."

Tsuna sighed softly, smiling awkwardly at the white-haired teen.

"Technically, you've seen me three days ago."

Byakuran grinned.

"Heh~I guess so." He slid his eyes open to reveal purple irises. "The other Tsu-chan wants to meet with you again."

Tsuna sighed, leaning to one side of his seat, elbow propped on the armrest, chin resting on his knuckles.

"Thank goodness--I still need a bit more info for this situation. It was an abrupt switch, but I can see why he needed some help."

"Hold the f**k up," Xanxus growled, waiting for Tsuna to make eye-contact with him. "So you're an alternate version of the Vindice-b*****d that I know?"

Tsuna smiled, his expression sheepish as he moved his elbows up onto the table, fingers laced as he looked back at Xanxus head on.

"Yes. Apologies for my act." Tsuna inclined his head. "I found that it would take up too much time if I suddenly introduce myself." The brunet narrowed his orange eyes as he steadily gazed back. "I can tell right now that we mustn't waste anymore time."

Xanxus stared back for a moment before grinning wolfishly.

"I like you." Tsuna raised an eyebrow in surprise as Xanxus continued. "You're a lot more different than that stuttery mess."

Tsuna chuckled, gaze a little nostalgic.

"I'm sure my other self will grow out of his shell soon enough." The brunet smiled. "Just give it a little time."

Xanxus scoffed, getting up from his seat.

"Whatever. I'll leave you with the freak and throw stuff at my sh***y team."

"Hey!" Byakuran pouted childishly. "I'm a Marshmallow Freak!"

Tsuna sweatdropped.

'He did not deny that he was a freak.'

~~

Byakuran smiled as he walked to the center of the room after moving the table and chairs out of the way with Tsuna's help. The Gesso boss then shut his eyes before opening them, his irises glowing orange with Sky flames. He gave a sly smile to Tsuna.

"You have to hold my hand, Tsu-chan, in order for this to work~"

Tsuna rolled his eyes before reaching out to grasp Byakuran's hand. Quickly, a dome of bright, white light surrounded them. Tsuna shut his eyes for a moment before opening them once the light died down.

He blinked in mild surprise as he stood in an open, blue sky, a few clouds drifting by lazily. Byakuran was currently floating beside him, smiling like usual as he crossed his legs.

"Okay~we just need to wait a little longer for my other self to connect to us." Byakuran hummed. "Currently, your other self had a little...emotional moment."

Tsuna furrowed his eyebrows at that before moving his gaze up when there was a flash of two white lights. Vindice-Tsuna appeared with an older-looking Byakuran at his side. The sky slowly darkened to a twilight-blue a few stars twinkling softly in the sky.

The two Bykaurans looked at each other before grinning and looking at the two Tsunas.

"We'll leave you two to each other--" One Byakuran started.

"--and we'll talk about other things and eat marshmallows." The other finished.

The two Byakurans smiled their fox-like grins at the two Tsunas before white light surrounded them.

"Bye~!" They sang before the light disappeared, leaving the two Tsunas alone in the sky.

Tsuna sighed before turning his gaze to V, who was looking...guilty?

"Hey--?"

"I nearly strangled your father to death." The Vindice boss mumbled without stuttering. "I nearly killed him."

V waited for an onslaught of anger and accusation. Instead, Tsuna sighed wearily.

"What did he do this time?" Tsuna groaned out. "Did he do something stupid? Merda, he probably did." (Cr**.)

V blinked in confusion.

"Ar-Are you not...angry?"

Tsuna sighed, smiling wearily at V as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Trust me, my old man has gone through worse things. If anything..." The brunet smiled weakly at V. "I think he's worried for you now."

"Worried..." V repeated dully. "He would worry f-for a person who n-nearly k-killed him?"

Tsuna chuckled as he sat down in the air, hands on his lap.

"He's our dad."

V's gaze grew bitter as he also sat down, black flames dancing along his shoulders for a brief moment.

"...I-I see."

Tsuna softened his gaze.

"That brings us back to your problem. Your world's Iemitsu."

V turned to look back at Tsuna with his lone, obsidian eye. The Vindice boss sighed, one hand rubbing his metal wrist.

"...What e-else is there to know, Tsuna?" V sighed bitterly. "I-Iemitsu snapped and n-nearly killed Tachibana-kun."

Tsuna hummed softly.

"That's the thing, V. Some of this just doesn't add up." V frowned in confusion as Tsuna continued. "I have dealt with multiple crazy people as a Mafia boss, V. People do not simply snap all of a sudden and declare war with one of the most powerful Mafia famiglias in the world."

V looked uncertain at that. Tsuna sighed at this.

"Okay, okay......so, first thing's first--you haven't met Iemitsu until that day he had attacked, correct?" V nodded and Tsuna grimaced mentally. 'So Iemitsu didn't visit V when he was a child? Strange...' "And you say that Iemitsu attacked Hito-kun a day after it was announced that he would be the Decimo?"

V nodded again. Tsuna hummed thoughtfully.

"...Has it ever crossed your mind that Iemitsu is being manipulated?"

V brow creased with confusion.

"You mean...b-brainwashed? B-Being lead on by s-someone?"

"Well, not 'lead on'--more like possessed." Tsuna raised a hand up to let Mist flames dance around his fingertips. "I'm sure you're aware of the abilities of Mist flames, yes?"

V looked down at his hands, fiddling with his thumbs nervously.

"W-Well...Reborn-san did t-teach me a little a-about the flames...but I d-don't know that much."

Tsuna nodded.

"I see...anyways, Mist flames can create illusions, but it also has the ability to possess living beings. Possessions can last for a long time, and a good example would be Vongola Primo's Mist Guardian, Daemon-san."

V widened his eye in surprise, looking back up at Tsuna.

"B-But he's...400 years old...!?"

Tsuna smiled.

"Unbelievable, yes. But he did it." The brunet extinguished his Mist flames. "Now that the possibility is in our minds, do you think you have any clues if Iemitsu might be being manipulated?"

V bit his scarred lip.

"...Iemitsu...I believe...he has a-a second-in-command that's a-always following him around..." V's obsidian eye darkened. "However...it might be the other way around. The second-in-command m-may be the true leader and I-Iemitsu is just a puppet."

Tsuna raised an eyebrow at that before nodding thoughtfully.

"Okay, good. We have a little start here." Tsuna smiled brightly. "But first, I'll have to go check up on Dino-nii and his family. Including Vongola Nono."

V stiffened slightly at that.

"V-Vongola...Nono-san...is m-missing."

Tsuna widened his eyes at that before narrowing them.

"'Missing'?"

"Th-The spies say that...I-Iemitsu d-doesn't know where he is either. V-Vongola N-Nono-san is just...gone. S-Some people th-think that he might j-just be dead..."

Tsuna furrowed his eyebrows before standing up carefully. He adjusted the cloak around himself before smiling gently down at V.

"Alright. Thanks for the info." Tsuna moved a hand forward to help V up. "I shall contact you when I have discovered anything important."

V stumbled slightly to his feet, looking at Tsuna guiltily.

"I'm sorry...for d-dragging you into this."

Tsuna merely smiled.

"Eh, don't worry. Knowing myself, I end up going on adventures without my consent. I mean..." Tsuna's orange eyes brightened with amusement. "...Both of us have been dragged into this Mafia business by the same, crazy, sadistic hitman."

V couldn't help the nervous chuckle that slipped past his lips.

"I-I guess..."

As the twilight sky around them began to fade away, Tsuna waved lazily back at his alternate self.

"Oh, and relax with my family, ya' know? They're technically your family too. Also," Tsuna rubbed the back of his head. "Don't worry about my old man. He cares about the both of us even though he's not the best kind of dad there is in the world."

V blinked in surprise, feeling a small pain in his eye before he felt something blur his vision. The Vindice boss smiled weakly, wiping his eye quickly.

"Th-Thank you...Tsuna." V bowed to the other. "G-Good luck."

Tsuna saluted the other before they both vanished.

~~

Tsuna walked beside a teenage Byakuran as they exited the Varia mansion, ignoring the loud swearing and crashes. The brunet sighed softly before glancing over at Byakuran.

"It's amazing how you have not become insane from all of your world traveling."

Byakuran chuckled, purple eyes slitted as he looked over at Tsuna, stuffing his hands into the white jacket pockets he had.

"Who says I haven't become insane?"

Tsuna stared at the other before scoffing.

"Hm. Indee--"

Suddenly, a blur of brown, red and yellow came rushing through the trees. Tsuna widened his eyes before standing defensively in front of Byakuran.

The brunet quickly snapped his fingers and a portal opened in front of him, swallowing up the attacker and spitting them out in an opposite direction.

The attacker bounced against a tree, leaves suddenly coming to life and darting toward Tsuna and Byakuran like sharp daggers. Tsuna whipped out a few chains and deflected the leaves to the side before lashing one out to grab the attacker.

However, the attacker was quick, their movements a blur. Tsuna lashed a chain out again to try and capture the newcomer, but they simply kicked the chain to the side in an instant.

The attacker quickly regained their footing on another tree before they jumped off and charged at Tsuna again with a kick.

The brunet quickly lifted an arm up winced slightly when he felt a solid blow that jolted his entire frame.

'Strong...!'

He then noticed with idle surprise that a tiny foot was planted on his arm. The Sky widened his eyes in surprise and confusion.

'...The foot is...so small...?'

The attacker backed away and landed on the ground a few meters away from the pair. There was a soft sigh that met their ears as the attacker settled.

"Interesting..." An unfamiliar, childish voice murmured. "So this is the strength of the new, famous Vindice leader? Impressive..."

Tsuna couldn't help widening his eye further at the newcomer, feeling his mouth open in shock.

A bald, dark-skinned baby in a yellow robes, red pants and a red sash stood before them. His eyes were currently shut as three by three dots scarred the center of his forehead. He smiled gently at the two Skies, lifting a small hand to greet them.

"Greetings, friends." He placed a hand on his chest then as he bowed. "I did not mean you harm, but I wished to test if you were the real ones that I have heard of."

Tsuna blinked in surprise before crouching down respectfully, his Hyper Intuition telling him that the baby was not evil.

'A...baby...? He reminds me of a monk or something...' "Ah, it's alright...um...I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi. And," He waved over to a curious Byakuran who was smiling. "This is Byakuran. It's nice to meet you."

The baby smiled, eyes still shut.

"It is nice to meet you too." He shifted the robes he was wearing as he bowed toward them again. "I am Lan, a traveling monk."

He then moved the red sash he was wearing to the side.

Clink.

Tsuna widened his eyes as a lime-green...pacifier jingled softly as it swung out into the open. The baby smiled gently again as he looked up at them, the pacifier resting against his chest.

"Again, I am Lan. I am the Forest Arcobaleno."

(O.D.D.- Hey guys....please don't kill me. *Sobs* ( °̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥ ω °̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥ ))