Summary: At six-years-old, Tsunayoshi becomes the crown prince of the country of Vongola. The king's adopted son, Xanxus, doesn't like this, though, and orders his servant, Mammon, to take him into the woods and kill him. Mammon decides to let the boy free, thinking he'll die anyways. But what happens when Tsuna doesn't die like he was supposed to and comes across the house of the lumberjack Reborn, and his seven orphans? No pairings.

SkyGem: Well, I sincerely hope you guys have realized by now what fairytale this is based off of…if not…I worry for you…lol. Anyways, I decided to take a crack at a KHR fairytale fic, only without the romance…I hope it came out alright. I might end up doing other fairytales as well, if this one does well. Hope you like, ne?

Disclaimer: I don't own KHR.

P.S. Lambo is the same age as everyone else in this fic.

Little six-year-old Tsuna liked his life well enough.

His father was a well-respected knight in charge of the king's army.

He lived in the castle with his parents and his grandpa Timoteo and his big brothers Enrico, Massimo, Federico, and Xanxus.

And he was treated like a little prince because even though he was only fourth in line to the throne (his father was not eligible because of his vow of life-long loyalty to the king as his knight), all the servants absolutely adored the little boy who had a smile as sweet as honey, and a heart as big as the sky.

But the little brunet's life completely changed that one terrible, terrible evening.

Tsuna and his mother and big brother Xanxus were all having dinner with grandpa Timoteo when his father burst into the room, his expression grim.

Immediately, the lighthearted atmosphere disappeared, and the adults all stopped laughing at Tsuna's latest antic.

"Daddy!" squealed Tsuna, getting up to greet his father.

The man was absolutely covered in dirt and blood, and scratches marred every inch of his skin, but he didn't even flinch when his six-year-old son launched himself at him, even though it had to have hurt.

Instead, Iemitsu seemed to take comfort in it, hugging his son close to him and showering kisses on his face, thanking the dear Lord that his son was completely safe and sound, and wondering how he would deliver his terrible, terrible news.

"Iemitsu! Is there something wrong?" asked Timoteo of his old friend, not bothering with formalities, since it was only his family present. "You look so grim, but by the fact that you are back and relatively safe means that the battle must have went well?"

Iemitsu didn't move his eyes from his son, who was still clinging tightly to him, when Timoteo said this, trying to stall as long as he could.

Collecting his son into his arms, he stood up slowly, holding the boy even closer than he usually would, and finally, finally raised his eyes to look at his king.

Nana, always so quick to pick up on these things, took in her husband's grim features, his discomfort with looking Timoteo in the eyes, and the protective way in which he held Tsuna so close to his body, as if to protect him, and suddenly, it dawned on her what might have happened.

The woman dropped her utensils to her plate with a loud clatter, her eyes wide with disbelief, with shock, with grief.

But no one looked her way; Timoteo's gaze was fixed on Iemitsu, an expression of horror slowly dawning on his face as he realized what the cause of the younger male's expression, and his hand flew up to clutch at his heart.

"W-which one?" he asked, and Iemitsu's expression became, if possible, even sadder.

"All three."

And when he heard this, Timoteo, who was halfway out of his seat, collapsed back onto it, his expression grief-stricken, tears gathering at the corners of his eyes.

"A-all three of them?" he was barely able to gasp out. "T-three of my sons w-were…killed?"

Iemitsu didn't reply, merely tightening his grip on his son, and suddenly, all eyes were fixed on the little boy, who was looking around with innocent, confused eyes. So sheltered was the life that he'd lived so far, that he didn't understand what it meant to be killed. If he had, he would be almost as devastated as Timoteo.

Iemitsu and Nana were looking at him with eyes full of a fierce will to protect, while Iemitsu looked at him with a blank expression still not quite able to process that his sons were dead…but even in his grief-stricken state, he had enough awareness to be at least a little worried for this innocent little soul who suddenly had the weight of their entire kingdom on his tiny shoulders.

And Xanxus, meanwhile, was staring at the boy with a carefully blank expression on his face.

If one were to look into his eyes, though, they would see the fierce, giddy joy in them.

This little boy; this little brat was all that was between him and the throne.

Tsunayoshi and Iemitsu were now the only ones left, other than his adopted father, with the Vongola blood in them, and the latter couldn't rightfully claim the throne.

All Xanxus had to do was get rid of the boy, and with no heir left, the throne would go to him; the king's adopted son.

Oh, today was a wonderful day.

In the weeks that followed, Xanxus laid low, not doing anything; after all, it would be far too suspicious for the last heir to the throne to "disappear" the day after the king's sons had died.

Finally, when two whole months had passed since his brothers' deaths, and the whole country had learned of whom their new crown prince was, Xanxus decided it was time to strike.

Calling upon one of his most trusted servants, his mist guardian Mammon, he demanded of him, "Listen up, little snake. I want you to take that little piece of trash out to the forest, and make him "disappear." Don't let anyone follow you, don't let anyone hear you, don't let anyone ever see even the scum's body ever again."

The illusionist just blinked lazily at his boss, his expression remaining completely blank, before finally nodding and saying, "As long as you pay the fee."

Xanxus snarled in disgust but agreed to pay his guardian anyways, and the illusionist immediately left to do his duties.

"Hehe, this is so much fun, Mammon! I've never been to the forest before! There's lots of trees and pretty flowers and cute animals, right?"

"That's right," replied the teen in a monotone voice, and Tsuna tugged at the hand he was holding in reply.

"Then hurry up! I want to hurry up and see it! Let's go, let's go, let's go!" said the little boy enthusiastically, trying to hurry up their pace, and it wasn't long before the two had taken the first steps into the woods.

They walked for a good thirty minutes, with Tsuna having already let go of Mammon's hands and skipping ahead of the illusionist, marveling at every sight or sound.

Their trip thus far had been very confusing, with many twists and turns, and Mammon was absolutely sure that the boy would never be able to find his way back to the castle.

So when the boy was busy examining some flower or other, Mammon wrapped his mist flames around himself, 'causing himself to be invisible to the young boy, and abandoned him there.

In a few hours, the wolves would be out, and when they found him, the boy was history, and knowing that was good enough for Mammon.

Why dirty his hands when he could have someone – or rather something – else could do his work for him?

The lumberjack Reborn had just set lunch on the table for his seven young charges when he heard it.

It was the faint sound of a crying child, approximately a mile or so away.

No other man would have been able to hear it, but with having raised seven rambunctious orphans all by himself in the forest, where they could (and would) wander any which way at any given point in the day, his hearing was exceptional.

Looking at the oldest of his charges, an eight-year-old named Kyoya, Reborn told him, "I want you to look after your siblings for an hour or so. Do not leave the house under any circumstances, and do not open the door for strangers. Am I understood?"

"Yes!" replied all seven kids, not even bothering to tell their caretaker that no strangers ever came to their house anyways.

And with a slightly uneasy heart, Reborn left his charges to go look for the child that was wandering the forests alone, already anticipating yet another addition to his already rather large family.

Well at least they were over their most troublesome years. He could handle one more.

When the man finally saw the child, though, he was shocked to see who it was.

Even though his family lived isolated in the woods, he still knew what was going on in the kingdom from their monthly trips to town, which meant he already knew that this child he had just stumbled upon was no orphan.

…It was the young crown prince.

SkyGem: Well, what did you guys think? Like? Hate? Please do leave a review and let me know what you thought! The ending will be either be in the next chapter, or the one after that, okay? Anyways, that's all for now! Ciao!

P.S. I almost forgot; I have two things to tell you. Number one: I'm leaving for Montreal tomorrow for four days, and I'm not even sure if I'll have internet access, so don't expect many updates. And number two: I have a new poll up (again)! Please do vote, ne?