DisclaimerXx Naruto and KHR do not belong to me

Enjoy~

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Six weeks had passed since the awakening of Kitsune, they had traded names later on the second day of their acquaintance, because both had been too tired to do much more then drag themselves to their futons (read Tsuna dragged first Kitsune and then himself) on the first day thus the second was introduction day

As a person, Kitsune remained a mystery to Tsuna.

For starters, the fox seemed to have numerous mood swings that Tsuna had later classed as the three main attitudes.

First was Kitsune's main persona, calm. Calm Kitsune was serious and yet gentle.

He tried to distance himself from others and enjoyed the relative peace of the shrine. Calm also possessed a rather pacifistic attitude but would not hesitate should it come down to it. Calm was good at analysis, easily noticing and identifying small disturbances that others would easily miss. It was for this reason that Tsuna tried to hide himself slightly when Kitsune was in this mood. Because he didn't want Kitsune to learn about his mother, he told himself it was out of embarrassment of his weakness.

(But although Tsuna would vehemently deny it if ever asked but whenever he thought of an angry Kitsune he couldn't help but think of the crimson that had soaked the teen and his blade on the day he found him. After all, most of that blood wasn't Kitsune's)

Kitsune's second persona was a personality that Tsuna was far more relaxed with. He nicknamed this mood of Kitsune's, Joker. Joker was the light-hearted side of Kitsune. The one who smiled wide (but not always true) and overdosed on sarcasm.

This side of the fox could be rather childish and somewhat cute. Joker was slightly more sadistic then Calm but when around Tsuna he was fine. The worst that Joker had gone was a few mumbled daydreams that Tsuna had stumbled upon. And believe him it was more than a little scary to hear the blonde talk about what he would do to 'that coward' (whoever it was Tsuna pitied them) because honestly, who fantasized about slowly carving open a man with a rusty screwdriver

(Tsuna couldn't help but find it more worrying that he had simply listened to the threat before telling Kitsune, "don't forget someone will have to clean up the blood," and leaving. The fox really was getting to him.

What made it worse was that it had only been six weeks)

Tsuna had only seen the final mood once.

They had both been leaning against the trunk of the sakura tree, watching as the pink blossom orchestra conducted a dance before their eyes, a habit they had picked up after the second week, when Tsuna had asked a seemingly innocent question,

"Can you actually fight with that scythe? Its kinda cool I guess,"

As soon as he said it, Tsuna regretted it.

The blondes eyes had narrowed, his pupils had slit to become that of an angry predator and once more Tsuna had felt a slight tingle as a really cold chill seemed to seep from the very being of the fox. His voice had been harsh and sharp as he spoke,

"Yes. I wield that blade. But that scythe is in no way cool, it's nothing more than a killing machine Tsuna. Weapons like that scythe shouldn't exist Tsuna, not when all they leave in their wake is bloodshed,"

Tsuna had been pale and shaking by that point from the combined force of Kitsune's words and the strange force. Upon noticing this Calm was instantly back and lifting a gloveless palm to rest soundly upon the fluffy head of the brunette.

"... sorry,"

(The word had been mumbled and quiet but Tsuna had appreciated it none the less )

Nevertheless, even after the force had disappeared and the blonde had turned away Tsuna just couldn't get the image of the fox's eyes out of his head. What could have happened to create such self-loathing for one person?

That had been Tsuna's first and (hopefully) last meeting with Kitsune's most fearsome side.

He had named it Akuma.

Demon.

(Let it be known that Tsuna saw far more than many gave him credit for. Far, far more)

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On the seventh week, Kitsune asked for his mask back.

He said that now he was nearly healed he had to leave, that he had a job to complete far, far away in Italy.

That all he needed was his mask and then he would be gone.

Tsuna didn't want him to leave.

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Tsuna remembered a while back, during one of his punishments his mother had mentioned his father leaving the country for his 'work'.

He later found out that Lemitsu had moved back to Italy.

Kitsune was going to move back to Italy.

Was it going to be the same as with his father? Would he never see the fox again?

But it didn't matter. Because Tsuna was strong and Tsuna would not give in just because Kitsune was leaving. Tsuna was a strong, big boy!

A boy who was just nine years old.

A boy who was damaged and broken and yet still smiling.

A boy who was nothing more than a hurt child struggling to keep control of his life

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Kitsune watched with veiled eyes as Tsuna walked up to the shrine.

Today had been his final day spent within Namimori.

His flames had finally recharged and all of his wounds had been healed, the scars serving as a reminder of his stupidity.

(All thanks to the one little boy with the stupidly big heart)

He wasn't able to deny that Tsunayoshi had grown on him, the boy was as much as a conundrum as himself. Going from cowardly to protective to brave in a matter of seconds. He was amazing and more importantly he was pure, unsullied by the darkness that was the mafia.

(Although Kitsune still retained suspicions about the bunny's home life)

But above all Tsunayoshi Sawada was an innocent, a civilian whilst he himself was an assassin, one of the roots of the bloodied tree that was the Mafia. This was more than enough reason for him to leave, because he couldn't and wouldn't let anyone else get hurt as a result of his actions.

All that he needed now was his mask. Because theoretically without that mask Kitsune did not exist. And how laughable that was, the very existence of the feared protégé of the infamous Kyuubi-no-youko, the very existence of the assassin Kitsune lay upon the simple mask of white, shaped in the likeness of a long eared, snarling fox that now lay in the hands of a nine year old.

In a way for the entire duration of his stay at the shrine, Tsuna had been talking to nothing. Because Kitsune was only present alongside the mask, without it he was simply...

"Kitsune-kun, here you go," the mask was given to him swiftly and with only a final glance at the boy that was Sawada Tsunayoshi he slid it on and Kitsune was once more. He was already redressed in his original clothes, freshly washed, thanks to Tsuna of course and alongside the mask he cut a rather intimidating figure especially when,

"Kitsune-kun! Your hair its!"

Woven into the making of the mask was an intricate layer of mist flames. These flames worked to dye his hair a deep, bloody crimson, although it was only effective when he was wearing the mask, coincidentally the red was the exact same shade as his sensei's had been.

"It keeps my identity secret, a kind of... hair dye," he finally answered Tsuna before turning toward the trees, ready to make his exit. But something stopped him.

He tilted his head slightly and lifted the corner of his mask, so as to look Tsuna straight in the eye, a small amount of red hair fading back into brilliant gold as he did.

Blue met brown.

(Aquamarine met amber)

"If we ever meet again, without this mask between us.

Then call me Naruto.

Naruto Namikaze."

He quickly readjusted his mask, deciding not to linger any further, before jumping into the trees and summoning a mirror portal that would lead him straight home to Italy.

He had always hated good-byes.

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"If we ever meet again, without this mask between us...

Then call me Naruto.

Naruto Namikaze."

Naruto Namikaze.

Naruto.

It suited him, Tsuna thought, because Kitsune was, in essence, a maelstrom.

Naruto had drawn him in and provided with a sort of comfort that he had desperately needed. The gentle encouragement and the calm humour that only an older sibling could provide, and yet Kitsu- no Naruto probably hadn't even thought of him as much more than a means to an end. Tsuna had nursed the blonde back to health and the entrusting of his name was probably nothing more than a way for him to pay of his debt towards the nine year old.

And like a maelstrom Naruto would leave and he wouldn't return because, well... why would he? There was nothing for him in Namimori.

But Tsuna told himself that he didn't mind, because even if Naruto forgot about him he would not forget the fox. He had been his first and probably last friend.

(What Tsuna failed to notice is although a maelstrom is a tempest of wind and water it still plays to the whim of the all-engulfing sky. The sky is the reason the maelstrom existed and Tsuna had unknowingly pulled Naruto into his territory the moment he had saved him. There was no chance of the fox forgetting him.

After all, how does one go about forgetting the one thing that keeps them rooted to reality?)

(And not once did Tsuna suspect that Naruto may have just been named after the fishcake, within Ramen. Because, well, ramen was the food of the gods, as his Naruto's mother would have confirmed)

And if Tsuna made a habit of visiting the shrine every other night, just to check for a certain blonde, well no one was there to see.

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"You have news on the Onda(wave) family, Reborn?"

A baby clad in a black suit and a large black, with an orange strip, fedora gave a smug smirk in reply to the old man's question. His mission had been to eliminate the small-scale drug dealing operation, of course it had gone perfectly.

(He was after all, the world's greatest hitman, any less would be insulting)

The old man he faced was known simply as Timoteo di Vongola and was the ninth boss of the Vongola Famiglia. Although not in his prime the seventy-year-old boss was still to be feared as neither his flames nor his fighting prowess had fallen too far and his 'old bones' had not failed him yet.

To most, the image of the elderly man and a baby calmly having a conversation on 'business' may have seemed unnatural and more than a little unsettling. However, this was the mafia and any respectable criminal with connections to the Italian Underground would recognise the baby as an Arcobaleno, a adult cursed to the form of a child.

(And anyway, they lived within a profession that allowed them to summon and fight with flames. A cursed baby wasn't that out of the box!)

The old man simply gave a serene smile in response to Reborn's smirk before placing a folder down in front of the baby any sign of humour completely vacant from his face. The baby raised an eyebrow.

"You're assigning me a new mission this soon?"

"Indeed," the elder of the two flipped open the cover of the folder and gestured to the picture of the man upon the page, "this is Ricardo Helios, boss of a small famiglia specializing in theft and dealing. Recently the man has been spreading rumours of how he has orchestrated the death of the assassin, Kitsune. Obviously, such a claim is doubtful, after all we have employed Kitsune before and can attest to his prowess.

However, it has been seven weeks since Kitsune apparently accepted the job, and there has since been no contact with him. I want you to find both Kitsune and Ricardo as I have need of the fox's services, Ricardo meanwhile is becoming arrogant and bothersome, it seems after his supposed victory over Kitsune he thinks of himself as invincible.

It would be best that he is... taken care of. For good."

Reborn glance down at Ricardo's picture briefly before turning back to Timoteo.

"The Ricardo brat will be dealt with, I can assure you of that. However, next to nothing is known of Kitsune, how would I know where an assassin would hide out, I am the world's greatest hitman, not the world's greatest ninja wannabe,"

Timoteo ignored the heavy sarcasm within Reborn's last words and instead pulled a small strip of paper from his pocket,

"These are the coordinates to Kitsune's most used base, the one I believe he will return to, I could not get hold of his more 'hidden' bases but this should be enough,"

Reborn leaned forward to grab the slip before nodding and turning to leave, but not before a final question.

"So who exactly is Kitsune, to have gained your worry?"

"Simply the son of an old friend,"

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Thanks for reading~

Reviews would really be appreciated guys,

Wingedsilverfang~

Ja ne