Chapter THIRTEEN

The Rain Owl, now a Mist Owl, collapses soon after and Mukuro's presence vanishes. Sakura sinks down into the ground, recognizing that perhaps she was in some state of shock.

Sakura-chan.

"No." She gasps out. "No, no, no, no."

She feels Nagi quiver within her and she takes harsh, shallow breaths in an attempt to breath in more deeply.

"Chrome!"

Sakura looks up because yes she was now Chrome call her Chrome and sees a man with grey hair in a black suit standing at the doorway. Sakura's hand flies to her trident again but she is suddenly very very tired and-

"Wait, I'm extremely not an enemy!"

Sakura narrows her eye and does not drop her weapon but she does not raised it any further. "Who are you?"

The man stops a little away from her and places a hand on his chin. "You really are ten years younger."

Sakura's eye widens. "Sun?" She asks uncertainty, because she then remembers what Glo Xinia had said about time travel and the man before her was most certainly not the teen she had met a few days ago.

Still, the man's expression melts away into a wide grin. "You are extremely correct."

Sakura's knees finally gives way and when she falls, Sasagawa Ryohei is there to catch her. She clutches her bag and the Mist Owl and he easily throws her up and into his arms. "I see you've taken care of the creep." He says, eyeing Glo Xinia.

Sakura nods, her head feeling heavy.

"Rest." Ryohei tells her. "You did extremely well."

Sakura allows the man's uncharacteristically soft voice and warm arms to lull her to sleep.

Ryohei runs a hand over one of the locks of the doorways to the Vongola hideout then adjusts his hold on the girl in his arms. Chrome has been unconscious since their departure from Kokuyo land and that worries him just a little, because he knows the girl has always slept light and never for too long. Over the years it has gotten better, he knows, because he has been on his fair share missions with the girl of his time.

The door is opened and he steps through. He makes sure it locks behind him before he ventures in deeper.

"Sasagawa-san!"

Ryohei turns around to face Kusakabe Tetsuya, who comes running over. "Yo."

"You're back." The man glances over Chrome before he reaches out for the Owl. "We will run checks on it." He says.

Ryohei nods in understanding. The man rushes off and Ryohei takes a deep breath before he continues onwards.

He finally stops in front of a door and when it opens, he is met with the sight of Reborn, Tsuna, Hayato and Takeshi from ten years ago sitting around a table with Lal Mirch and Giannini. "Sasagawa Ryohei has returned."

"Turf Top!"

He grins a little at the familiar name. "Yo, it's been awhile." Nostalgia fills him. "Well, maybe not for you."

Bianchi rushes in, probably having been alerted by Tetsuya, and places a hand on Chrome's forehead. "I'll take her."

Ryohei nods and hands over the girl.

Tsuna looks both relieved and worried. "The reading from Kokuyo Land was her."

Hayato watches his sister carry Chrome away with narrowed eyes. "I don't know who she was fighting, but it looks like it was a rough battle." He notes.

"Will she be okay?" Tsuna asks.

"Leave her to Bianchi." Reborn says.

Tsuna nods hesitantly. "Okay."

Just then, Kusakabe Tetsuya then returns with Chrome's Owl in his arms. "Sawada-san, Mukurowl appears to be a box weapon, just as we suspected." He says. "Should we run more checks on it?"

Tsuna shakes his head. "That belongs to Chrome. I don't think she'll appreciate us messing with it."

Ryohei smiles at the familiar mindset of Tsuna; It has been a while since he has last witnessed it. He clears his mind of such thoughts and turns to face everyone gathered. "Now then, we have things to discuss."

It is only hours later when Chrome stirs.

Bianchi instantly notices the movement and hurries over to the girl's side. "Chrome?"

The girl slowly opens her eye and stares at her for a while. "Who are you?" She finally asks.

"I'm Bianchi, Hayato's older half sister." Noting at the girl is not in immediate danger, she pulls back. "You're at the Vongola hideout. You're safe now."

Chrome relaxes and sinks deeper into her pillows. "Okay."

Bianchi frowns at the girl's condition. She was roughed up but not heavily injured. She must have gone through a lot during the time she was in Kokuyo Land. "How do you feel?"

Chrome looks up. "Okay."She says. "My second and third ribs are bruised and I think I cracked the fourth. Nothing more serious in that; I stayed at long range." She goes quiet again.

Bianchi nods and notes this down. She has met the Chrome of her time plenty of times to know that the girl has vast knowledge on medicine and the human body. She is not surprised her younger self seems to know things too. However, though te Chrome of her time has her moments, she almost always has a smile on her face. She recalls what she knows of the girl and looks away at the thought that something must have happened in her past to change her, but the thought that something happens again, between ten years ago and her current time, that fixes her backup to who she could have been, relieves her just a little.

"I'll bring you something to eat." She tells the girl. "Try to rest."

Chrome nods and Bianchi exits the room.

The moment the door closes, Sakura relaxes. So much has happened today and she still has no idea what is going on. From what she has gauged, she is at some hideout, so she guesses it is safe to assume that the rest to the Vongola Guardians are here too. Her body feels sore as the adrenaline from the fight wore off ages ago and it feels like forever since the last time she has slept on a clean bed but she just cannot relax.

She recalls Mukuro's words and just knows something big is going to happen soon.

Heres chapter thirteen~

Darque: Hello readers, this is Darque from the hospital room, Raven's hospital room, to be exact. (To those of you who aren't aware, Raven fainted the other day due to stress. I bet he was just sad he couldn't find his pink post-its for his science notes.)

Raven:...

Darque: Anyways, things are a little different here, like how Sakura/Chrome wakes up almost immediately after arriving at the base.

Raven: This is because the initial fight went differently and Sakura is, well, Sakura, and her body remembers how to protect itself and stuff during fights.

Darque: More subtle changes to come~

Read and Review~