DISCLAIMER: REBORN IS NOT MINE

CHAPTER 1

It was a long day at the shop, not that Tsuna minded, no... He loved this shop and its oddities. He loved to pet and feed all the animals. Really, he was such a sucker for cute things.

But, today, hardly any customers stopped by his quaint shop. The animals were good company, but amidst all the sqwuaks, barks, and meows, he craved the sound of a human voice.

The brown-haired boy sighed, the economy was so bad lately. Everyday there was new of disaster on his early morning program. Yesterday, the community of sorceresses went on strike, claiming that they were underrepresented in favor to the witches coven. The day before that, the CEO of blood banks inc. was found cheating on his werewolf wife with his vampire lover.

And the day before that, Pirates and Ninjas officially declared war on each other. Well, everyone saw this day coming, but... the raid competitions and conquering will be thorn in the practically non-existant banks of the country. They couldn't have picked a worse time.

The petshop was close to the coast as well. Buisness wouldn't bade well if either one of the two factions decide to prowl the area. Think of how many customers would be scared away? His only customers would be rough and rowdy brawlers with a alcohol fetish (pirates) or assassins with a bamboo fetish (ninjas).

He couln't possibly sell his precious pets to any of them. The rare bunnies from hell need constant attention, while phoenixes are picky eaters (they'll only eat fireberries and platinum that's heated at exactly 250 degrees...celsius). The last time Tsuna sold a perfectly normal labrador to a mafia leader (His name was Hades); the dog ended up being mated to a hydra. The puppy was called Cerberus.

Quite frankly, Tsuna didn't want to be the reason that hundreds of soul go missing from hell every year... the bounty hounters would jump for joy if they knew their quarry was a small, wimpy shop owner.

Indeed, life is depressingly hard.

The telltale jingle of the shop's bell could be heard. Tsuna made haste to welcome the hopeful customer. He scrambled to the door while dodging the various cages and whatnot.

"Good evening, welcome to my sho-Hiii!"

The customer, or not, had blood dripping down his front. The white frock he wore was stained red, as was the wicked looking scimitar he wore. Tips of navy-blue bangs could be seen from beneath the skull-and-bones hat he wore. (oya, don't worry, it's not mine.)

"P-P-P-Pi-Pi-"

"fufufu, What? You look like you've never seen a pirate captian before"

"Captian!"

The stranger smiled and sauntered over to a bench and raised his feet up onto a couple of cages (hiii, not the gremlins. They don't like blood!) He took a look around and smirked, relaxing as if he owned the place. "Yes, you've never heard of Captian Mukuro? of the Kokuyo Pirates?"

Tsuna paled. Of COURSE he's heard of the kokuyo pirates...who hasn't? Countless tales of victory and bloodshed fill the tavern two blocks down. It was said that all who've met Mukuro fear him more than anything itself. They'll throw themselves in the water rather than to face him head on.

Not that it would helf, of course... apparently lotus monsters with tentacles suddenly appear to eat the submerged sea-farer.

Tsuna stared at Captian Mukuro, he certainly looked like a pirate. He even had an eye-patch over one eye. His other eye, though, was such a pretty blue color... like the depths of the deapest sea.

"Oya, have you fallen in love with my good looks? You're staring at me."

"Sorry! I was just..."

" Just...?"

"I was just wondering... how you lost that eye." Tsuna pointed to the eyepatch with one finger. "S-Sorry, I don't mean to pry..."

Mukuro simply chuckled. "No, it's only natural that you're curious." He reached up and ripped the eye-patch off carelessly. It fell away to reveal a...

...an eye?

The eye was red, a bit odd yes, but was there any reason to hide it behind an eye-patch?

Mukuro must have seen Tsuna's confused expression.

" It's only for show. Everyone know that any respected captian needs to have one missing body part. It's in the Pirate rule-book. Eyepatche's are so much more convenient than wooden legs or hooks."

"The pirate rule book?"

" Of course? You've heard of those Ninja bastard's honor code right? Well, we have a rule book! Important rules such as:

Rule #11 Parley is for peace, you can wait to kill the man as soon as it's over.

Rule #32 It's forbidden to have a male figurehead.

Rule #46 Pirates are sworn enemies of ninjas. Those who kill the most ninjas are hereby crowned the 'King of Pirates'.

See.. Important rules."

Tsuna felt like pounding his face into a desk. "Who made those rules?"

"A pirate king, long ago... over a barrel of ale." Mukuro threw an arm around Tsuna, bringing him closer to his body. He wore an amused look at the prompt blush that covered Tsuna's face. "Now, since I've told you something, shouldn't I be getting a present in return?"

"L-like what?"

For a minute, Mukuro leaned in towards Tsuna, as if to steal a kiss...but stopped an inch short of his lips.

"I don't know... a pet? How about a bird to sit on my shoulder?"

"Ah hah.. I see... hiii..." Tsuna tried to calm his thumping heart. That Pirate. He was doing this on purpose... wasn't he? "Ah... Let's see... I've got a beautiful parrot shipped in from paradise island. Would you like to see him?"

"No. Parrots are old-fashioned."

"E-Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Parrots are old-fashioned. Let's see... how about an owl? I hear owls are all the rage now."

Tsuna couldn't imagine, no matter how he tried, pirates sailing with an owl on their shoulders. That just ruined his pirate fantasy... after all polly would make a better name for a parrot than an owl.

"Umm... well... I only have one owl in stock right now... If you really don't want a parrot."

"I don't"

"Well.." Tsuna sighed. "Please follow me, Captian."

Tsuna lead mukuro past many hallways to the inner rooms of the petshop. It was dimly litted, (owls hate bright lights you see), and contained a single snowy owl.

"Thank you for your patronage." Tsuna weakly smiled a Mukuro, now completed with a sleeping owl perched on his shoulder.

"Hmm... I like this place. It makes a nice break from crushing the bones of ninjas." Mukuro commented. "I might drop by often." With that, the pirate captian sauntered out of the little petshop, not giving Tsuna a say in the matter.

Shoot me. I thought that Mukuro would make a delicious pirate captain, lol.

If Mukuro is a pirate captian... then, no doubt, you'll realize who the ninja is going to be. I'm still deciding on what the others should be.

Any suggestions? Any reviews? Pretty Please?