It was, once again, morning in the beautiful little town of Namimori. Birds chirping, children laughing in the schoolyards, ladies gossiping. It was a very pleasant sight to behold, but someone was in a very big rush at this lovely hour. Suit jacket undone and flying behind him as he speed walked, a tall Mafioso adorned with a black fedora hurried to get his shoes on. Thankfully, it was a Sunday so there was no school for the teenagers he especially wanted to speak with. He had a piece of white printer paper in his hand as he walked down the hallway from his apartment room. This was going to be one hell of a news break; he was sure of that. As he walked down the stairwell, Reborn pulled the fire alarm to the apartment building, only containing his subordinates, and motioned for them to meet him outside as fast as they could. Once assembled, the hitman ordered about five of them to drive and accompany him to the Sawada household as quickly as the limo could get them. He issued for the rest of the Mafia men to get to the airport and wait there for a certain flight; to hold it if necessary. Reborn had a feeling there was a lot of explaining that was going to be demanded and not a lot of time to be done in.

A slender long-fingered hand pushed against the small wooden door of Tsuna's bedroom. Reborn walked in, completely business-like, with a grim expression. Tsuna was sitting on the floor watching television when the Mafioso waltzed in.

Tsuna rose to his feet instantly, and seeing the Mafioso's face, anxiously asked, "Reborn..! What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Reborn stood in front of the teen, looking down so his eyes were invisible to him behind the fedora's cover, "There's no time to explain right now, but we have to go. Now. Don't worry about Maman, I told her we're all going on a vacation."

Tsuna's face became flustered and confused as he tried to spill out sentences, "But.. Wai-- Reborn! What's goi--"

"I said there's no time to explain!" Reborn interuppted in a firm voice. He turned his back on him and continued, "Get your things and be downstairs in five minutes. The other Guardians have already been accounted for. I'll be waiting for you outside." With this, the home tutor hitman exited the room and left the poor brunette to ponder about what the hell was going down. Reborn had no idea how he was going to break it to them. He had never even mentioned the mission to them before..

Tsuna bursted through the front door of his house in a mess of clothing bags and random things hanging off of his arms. He had changed into his favorite shirt, the blue one with the '27' on it. He called a 'goodbye' to his mother over his shoulder and rushed towards the limo to meet everyone, "I have my things, Reborn! Now, what's going on?"

"Get in," was all Reborn said, and the two of them, along with Yamamoto, Gokudera, Ryohei, and Lambo stepped into the back of a long stretch limo.

"Wait, where is Hibari? And what about Mukuro? We're not bringing all of the Guardians?" Tsuna looked utterly confused and bewildered about the entire thing. The subordinates of Reborn had taken all of their luggage in a different car, so all that was in the limo were the five Guardians present and Reborn.

"Relax, Tsuna. I'll explain everything. Give me time," Reborn assured with a sigh. He paused and then continued, "Hibari has been with Dino for the past two or three weeks so they are already in Italy. Mukuro is also already in Sicily with Chrome, Ken, and Chikusa. I'm not sure how willing to help us they'll be, however."

Tsuna's face slightly cleared of its confusion but the worry remained. He stuttered, "B-But why are we going to Italy anyways, Reborn? You still haven't told me what's going on..!"

Reborn looked into Tsuna's golden brown eyes and let out another deep sigh. He'd been sighing a lot lately. He should've told the young Vongolas about this a while ago but never got around to it. He didn't think it would happen so fast.

"You have a mission," he muttered at first and then raised his voice to that of a soft shout, "You are to go to Sicily and take on your first assignment as the tenth generation boss of the Vongola Famiglia."

--

You could say that the plane ride went rather smoothly. You could also say it was an exploding pile of nerves just waiting to happen ;of which were Tsuna's undoubtedly. Throughout the whole 15+ hour flight, he had bombarded Reborn with questions, and Reborn was sure that the first thing he was going to do when they landed was take a few dozen Advil. That should at least kill his senses for a while.

The bustle and chatter of the airport snapped Reborn out of his expressionless stupor. The Rain, Storm, Sun, Thunder, and Sky of the Vongola stepped into the lobby and looked around astonishedly; besides Gokudera. Everyone seemed to be just as listless as Reborn was. The high ceilings, pillars, and convenience stores on either side of the wide hallway were very familiar to Reborn, however. This new area must have been intimidating for the young Vongolas who had not yet seen the other side to their Mafia Famiglia. The main headquaters and main branch of the Famiglia were merely a thought to them back in Japan, but it was nearly right in front of their faces now. They would be coming face-to-face with the head of the entire Vongola and its home.

The atmosphere in the airport was not unlike that of the one in Japan. However, not knowing the language on the signs and from the mouths of people surrounding them was, in itself, unsettling. Gokudera had taken the liberty of translating several things around them. He named off a few shops that were similar to the ones in Namimori and told them which bathroom was which, "And that's the girl's bathroom, baseball idiot, so don't walk in there.."

Reborn clenched his hand into a fist and realized he still had the paper he had gotten in the fax machine in his pocket. He took it out and handed it to Tsuna, who took it hesitantly.

"T-This is..," Tsuna looked at the paper in bewilderment. It was a letter addressed to the Guardians. Tsuna skimmed the message and said frustratedly, "Reborn! Why didn't you tell us we'd be doing this? And so soon?"

The brunette gave the message to Yamamoto, who read it aloud, " 'Greetings, Vongola Guardians. It is a requirement, upon entering the Vongola Famiglia, to prove your worthiness and loyalty, as well as responsibility, by completing an assigned mission. However, this time around there have been some difficulties. As you may know, the Famiglia has been experiencing some conflict with a neighboring group of thugs and you were asked to be accompanied by Reborn for this reason. I trust he has informed you of this situation. Your job is a dangerous one and I ask that Reborn please inform you of the details. My sincerest wishes, Vongola Nove.' "

Yamamoto handed the letter back to Reborn's awaiting hand and said, "So, we have to beat the bad guys, right?" He smiled wide and looked at Tsuna.

Ryohei's face lit up at the words and he punched the air with his bandaged fist, "Yeah! This is going to be great! We'll have to give it our all, to the extreme!!" He yelled in the middle of the hallway.

Tsuna sighed audibly and muttered, "Reborn should have told us about this months ago.. Why didn't you?" He directed his last statement towards the tall Mafioso.

Reborn hesitated and then replied honestly, "I wasn't sure how soon it would be. Regrettably, I had to be away for a few months helping this case, but it's a lot bigger of an operation than we anticipated. The group we fought shortly ago is actually part of a much larger organization. Now it's our job to clear them out," He sighed. "I wasn't sure I wanted to leave Japan again either, but this is what the Mafia does after all.."

The black-suited man took a few steps to the side. In all actuality, he wasn't worried about them one bit. He was sure these were just some low ranking thugs not knowing their place like the last time. The Guardians were well-trained and more used to the fighting; they were mature. However, he was worried for someone else. Reborn had made a big show of worrying about the teenagers when he had actually been hiding what he knew was going to happen. He even hid it from the blonde Arcobaleno that he's been seeing a lot of lately..

Reborn's feign worried demeanor hid the real concern that he had for someone entirely different. He had been afraid for the safety of Colonello. Reborn was aware that if his suspicions were correct about this case, it might've gotten him involved. Now he was all the way Italy and Colonello was still in Japan. He had seperated them as he had wanted, but could it last? Reborn's confidence in his students had allowed him to pretend he was worried about them, but can he keep it up? How long was he going to have to lie to Colonello..?

Please excuse the small-ish chapter..! I know it's kind of rushed but this is kinda like an intermission !
It's getting up to the good part, so please don't abandon my existence and my fanfic !
Please stick around to see what happenssss..!! DX
It'll be good, I promise !

-shot-

Thanks again for reading ! I love you to the extreme !

-throws Reborn! plushies at you- OAO;;

- Apple