Hi everyone! Sorry for the late update, but I was busy with school stuff. I've written the longest chapter up until now for this story. I suddenly got a writing spark and had to write out what was in my mind. I have more plots for this story ready to be written, but I need to think them out more. I hope you enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 14: Uncovering the Truth

"Good morning Gokudera-kun," Tsuna said as he yawned. It was morning and he was about to leave for school, but of course Gokudera was always there when he left for school in the morning. Tsuna didn't mind at all, Gokudera was one of his best friends after all.

He closed the door behind him and met up with Gokudera near the entrance to his yard.

"Good morning Judaime!" Gokudera said happily. The proclaimed right hand man of Vongola's to be tenth generation boss looked to his right and left before nodding, "I've checked all parameters twice, you can relax now Judaime," Gokudera said confidently.

"I'm sure assassins won't dare to attack me while you are around Gokudera-kun," Tsuna said with a warm laugh. Almost immediately Tsuna regretted giving the compliment, because Gokudera's eyes started welling up and before the brunette knew it Gokudera was crying and holding his hands, looking him in the eyes while nodding furiously.

"I won't ever let you down Judaime! Your words are like fresh air after being contained in the Vindice prison for forty years!" Gokudera wanted to jump in happiness because Judaime complimented him, but as his right hand man he needed to stay composed and collected. Lucky for Gokudera, there was one thing that turned his mood the other way around faster than the speed of light. It was something that made him both alert and annoyed.

It was him.

"Good morning Tsuna! Are you ready for me to teach you how to play basketball? I'll teach you how to move like a pro in no time," said one of the most popular boys in school and one of Tsuna's other best friends, Yamamato.

"Hell will freeze over before a meatball like you teaches Judaime how to play basketball," Gokudera yelled as he stepped in front of Tsuna and almost caused Tsuna's eardrums to collapse.

"It's no problem Gokudera-kun," Tsuna said trying to calm down Gokudera before looking at the school's star baseball player, "good morning Yamamato-san, you and Gokudera-kun can both teach me how to play basketball if that's okay with Gokudera-kun," Tsuna said before giving one of his many puppy dog looks towards Gokudera.

"If that's what Judaime wants," Gokudera said stumbling on words while scratching the back of his head as sweat poured down his face.

"Besides," Yamamato said as he slung an arm over Gokudera who got even more annoyed, "the last time we taught Tsuna something, swimming remember, he went from a goldfish to a shark in hours, we make a dream Gokudera!" Yamamato said happily.

Tsuna wanted to say something when a familiar feeling gripped his shoulders, "oh no…..Please no…"

"What's wrong Judaime!?"

"Tsuna?

"It's Reborn!" Tsuna said remembering the incident yesterday in the school's cafeteria where Reborn was the school's replacement chef for the day. The number one hitman in the world had made a dish so disgusting that it made Tsuna's insides churn by just looking at it. Reborn said that it would toughen his stomach so he could become a better boss when dining with other Famiglias. Needless to say Tsuna had refused and ran away as fast as he could. Ever since then Reborn was nowhere to be seen, but something told Tsuna that Reborn wanted revenge and that he used the time to plan it all out.

Gokudera and Yamamato both joined Tsuna in his horror. Both the grey haired academically excellent student and the raven haired genius sportsman ran after Tsuna as the brunette made a run for it.

After a while of running the trio made it into an alley nearby Namimori High.

"You think we lost him Tsuna?" Yamamato asked hesitant.

"Yeah I think so," Tsuna said equally hesitant.

"Wrong," said an all too familiar voice. On all three teenager's necks hairs began to rise.

Tsuna turned around, ready to receive whatever punishment Reborn had planned for him, but to his and the other's surprise, Reborn wasn't holding any large object to hit them with. Instead they were welcomed with Reborn looking very serious.

"We need to talk Tsunayoshi-kun," said another all too familiar voice from the shadows behind Reborn.

"Is that you?" Gokudera said surprised before taking a fighting stance. Yamamato did so as well.

None other than Byakuran emerged from the shadows. He wore khakis, an unbuttoned white shirt and underneath he wore a white tank top.

"I'm not here to fight, so relax Gokudera-kun, Yamamato-kun," said the white haired boss of the Gesso Famiglia. Unlike himself however, Byakuran sounded very serious, almost as serious as Reborn. Normally Byakuran was playful, but it looked as if all color had drained from the tall youth's face.

"What's wrong?" Tsuna asked with concerned eyes.

A silence reigned that nobody but Tsuna was aware of. After a while Tsuna wondered why nobody said anything. Then Tsuna noticed what was wrong. Byakuran's lips were moving, but he couldn't hear what was coming out. Suddenly the alley became very hazy. Tsuna became drowsy and lost his footing.

"Judaime!" Gokudera yelled worriedly as Tsuna fell to the ground. The self proclaimed right hand man noticed how Tsuna closed his eyes before snapping them wide open. Tsuna looked startled. When Gokudera went closer to help Tsuna up, the brunette slapped Gokudera's hands away.

"What's wrong Judaime?" Gokudera asked confused.

"Where am I? Did the Vongola kidnap me?" Tsuna asked as he looked around in confusion. He remembered falling asleep in his room back at the apartment which Fran and he shared, and suddenly he was somewhere entirely different. It looked like he was in an alley. Both of Tezuka's friends, Gokudera and Yamamato were present.

"Tsuna, what are you talking about?" Yamamato asked looking at Tsuna worriedly.

Tsuna looked around one more time before jolting up and taking a fighting position, "I don't know how the three of you kidnapped me without Fran killing the two of you, but you can choose how you want this to end, either I leave in peace or none of us do," Tsuna didn't like making threats, but Tezuka's goons had kidnapped him in his sleep! Fran must be worried sickly and only God knows what the scary ten year old was doing right now, probably rampaging through Namimori shouting out Tsuna's name.

"Relax Tsunayoshi-kun, I'll tell you exactly where you are," said someone from behind Gokudera and Yamamato. Tsuna's jaw dropped when he saw who it was. It was Byakuran! And next to him stood Reborn.

"Start talking," Tsuna said, but not before activating his hyper dying will mode. Gokudera and Yamamato both looked shocked to see Tsuna so angry. Tsuna's dying will flames roared all around the brunette. Tsuna was having a hard time believing Byakuran would be near any Vongola without killing them. Perhaps Vongola had hired an illusionist as strong as Rokudo Mukuro or Fran. Yes, that had to be it, the brunette thought assured.

"You're currently in a parallel earth, another version of your earth laying in an axis of multiple parallel earths, a multiverse if you will," Byakuran said as calm as ever. Gokudera, Yamamato and Reborn all looked towards Byakuran, listening carefully to what he had to say.

"It may be hard to believe, but in this earth you are the tenth generation Vongola boss, well," Byakuran said scratching his chin, "almost at least, in this earth you decided not to take the position yet."

Tsuna registered everything Byakuran said. It made sense. Tsuna had studied the multiverse theory on his own multiple times and was even secretly experimenting on it.

"If what you're saying is true, how did I get here?" Tsuna said letting shutting off his hyper dying will mode.

"That's why I met this earth's Tsunayoshi-kun along with his guardians and Reborn-san today. We're still waiting for the rest who should arrive soon," Byakuran said using almost as playful a voice as he did in his own earth.

"Before that," Reborn said, saying something for the first time since Tsuna arrived in this other version of earth, "why would the Vongola kidnap its future boss?" Reborn wanted to confirm what he feared.

"It's because I'm not Vongola's tenth generation boss in my world," Tsuna said with disgust, "I'd die before becoming Vongola's boss."

Gokudera and Yamamato widened their eyes in shock. They couldn't believe what Tsuna was saying. Their Tsuna or not, they never expected any version of Tsuna to speak so ill about anything.

"Then who is?" Reborn asked curious. This earned the attention of Byakuran, Gokudera and Yamamato as well.

"My twin brother, Sawada Tezuka," Tsuna answered with the same amount of disgust as earlier.

"Oh I see, and Tezuka is just like this world's Tsuna!?" Gokudera asked hopefully.

"If your Tsuna is crazy and out for chaos, then yes," Tsuna answered with a leer. Whenever his brother was mentioned, he couldn't help but feel resentment, resentment for being related to Tezuka. He tried to contain his resentment most of the time, but this time he just couldn't.

"And that's exactly why I've asked Reborn-san to set this meeting up," Byakuran said gravely, "in all of the parallel earths, Sawada Tsunayoshi ends up becoming the Vongola boss, no brother or whoever else takes your place. Strangely in your world this brother of yours is set up to become Vongola's boss, and in doing so his appointment to becoming Vongola's boss is disrupting the tri-ni-set. That's also the reason why you're here without using any special item like the ten year bazooka for example that can send people to the future. The disruption is causing fluctuations in the multiverse space-time flow, and if we don't do something about it, all reality will end."

Yamamato was the first to react, "that isn't good is it?"

"Of course it isn't meathead!" Gokudera yelled raising his arms, "it means if parallel Tsuna doesn't become the Judaime in his world, we're all going to cease to exist!"

Tsuna was having a hard time registering what he was hearing.

"Listen Tsuna," Reborn said stepping forward in front of Tsuna, "I may not have met you in your world, but you must understand that if you let this happen, your mother, your father, your friends and everyone else will die. Do you really want that to happen?"

"He," Tsuna said softly before starting laughing, letting his voice echo through the alley. All spectators in the alley looked at Tsuna in mixed feelings of shock and surprise.

"What do you expect me to do?" Tsuna asked cynically, "walk to Vongola Nono and tell him this crazy story? Who do you think you're talking to exactly," Tsuna said before narrowing his eyes and taking a step back from the group. He took a breath before saying, "my name is Abel Tsunayoshi, loyal member of the Gesso Famiglia. I'd let all reality end before becoming the boss of Vongola," Tsuna spat on the ground, "honestly, even if I manage to make them believe me, you don't realize how much my brother has pulled them in to his act."

Silence followed.

Tsuna decided to continue, "also, how stupid do you think I am? Tri-ni-sette? If something like that really existed, I would have heard of it by now, this is all some stupid trick devised by the Vongola. There may be a thing such as the multiverse, but the chances of your fairytale of a story and me actually being in a parallel earth are close to zero."

Before anyone could say something, Tsuna toppled over backwards. Tsuna could hear quick footsteps nearing him. His body felt weak. Somewhere Tsuna hoped that Fran was rescuing him and the inability of moving his limbs was part of Fran's rescue operation. He looked above and noticed the clear blue sky. It was beautiful.

And just then his eyelids became very hard to keep open. His eyelids closed. Just as fast as they had closed, they opened again.

Tsuna sat up and looked around. He wasn't in the alley anymore, he was back in his bedroom in the apartment that Fran and he shared.

A knock came on his door. Fran entered his room before turning on the light switch.

"Are you okay? I thought I heard something so I came to check," his best friend said with slight worry in his voice.

"Nothing," Tsuna said before noticing it was still dark outside from the closed window near his bed, "just a bad dream."

{Uncovering The Truth}

Dear Iemitsu,

Regarding last week's mission, I wish to congratulate Tezuka on defeating Mukuro and bringing him back to the Vindice Prison. As you wrote in your last letter, his win over one of the most fearsome Mafia refugees in history has certainly helped his reputation. All over Italy his name is blooming. I am confident that sooner rather than later he will be able to take over my place as Vongola's Boss.

Regarding your son's odd dying will flame, I have sent a portion of his flames to Vongola Labs. They have never seen such a powerful flame before, not since Primo's time according to the lab's history records. Your son proves his merit with each day passing.

Yours faithfully

Timoteo

Iemitsu put the letter down with a wide smile on his face. He was very proud of Tezuka. His son was becoming more like him with each passing day. He knew that Tezuka would surpass him one day and become Vongola's torch in the darkness.

It was midnight. Whenever Timoteo and he needed to communicate they could exchange letters through a courier that passed Iemitsu's home every few weeks.

He wore his striped pajamas. He stood in the hallway downstairs where the living's room light cascaded his shadow over the floor.

"Hey dad, are you going to sleep soon?" Tezuka's voice said from the stairs. His son was wearing only his bottom pajamas and had a white tank top on. Iemitsu appreciated the muscle on his son's frame, it would do him good in the future in terms of looks.

"Yes, I just received a letter from Nono, he wants to congratulate you on defeating Mukuro," Iemitsu said happily while waving the letter around in his hand. The ex-Mafioso noticed his son tensing up, "something wrong Tezuka?"

"Oh it's nothing," Tezuka said quickly before swiftly turning around and ascending the stairs, "I was just surprised that the boss would congratulate me for something so trivial," Tezuka gulped as he looked behind from the corners of his eyes. Tezuka was bad at lying and the blonde of fourteen thanked the heavens that his father was even worse at picking up lies.

"Don't be ridiculous, defeating Mukuro? That's huge in the Mafia world, your name is going all over Italy," Iemitsu said joyfully, "you can be humble anytime you want, but not this time! No son of mine is going to shrug off defeating one of the strongest Mafioso in the history of the Mafia."

"Haha, jeez dad," Tezuka said as he arrived above stairs.

Tezuka locked his room's door and sighed. He looked down at the ground with closed eyes. Then Tezuka snapped and looked up with angry eyes.

"Why does it always have to be that stupid, stupid idiot!? After all this time why!?" Tezuka wasn't worried about his parents hearing his yelling. The only thing they would hear would be muffled noises. And since Reborn was always torturing him, they weren't surprised by the muffled sounds anymore. Besides, if there really was something wrong, Reborn would solve it like he always did.

"Tezu-baka, lying to your own father, that's low even for you," Reborn said from his seat on the small bookcase beneath the window sill. The fedora wearing mafia elite felt like he had eaten a strange pie that caused anger, confusion and doubt to enter his mind all at the same time.

"I don't know what you're talking about Reborn-sensei," Tezuka replied with averting eyes.

"Is that so? Iemitsu may be the world's worst lie detector, but you've got it wrong if you think I'll fall for that crap. Lying to your father is one thing, lying to me is another, but lying to Nono?" Reborn jumped from the bookcase and sat Leon on his open palm. Leon turned into a green gun which Reborn aimed towards Tezuka's head. Immediately the teen tensed up.

"See, in Italy we kill people who make Vongola's boss's credibility fall into question, I wonder how the yakuza do it here in Japan."

"They don't point guns at their future boss and instead praise their excellence for completing a mission," Tezuka was getting annoyed. Ever since the incident at Kokuyo school, Tezuka felt empowered and stronger than ever. What could Reborn possibly do to him?

"I would make that thought in your head disappear as quickly as it appeared, because you are nowhere near my level," as a warning Reborn fired a bullet that stopped in mid-air, right in front of Tezuka's forehead. The teen in question widened his eyes. His knees became weak seconds later. When the bullet disappeared into thin air, the teen fell to the ground.

"As for you becoming Vongola's future boss, one day, sure, but before that you're going to have to deal with me," Reborn said confidently. He noticed Tezuka not giving him any more mouth, so decided to continue with what he was really doing here.

"I'll let your lie slip for now, but if I catch you lying to your father again and by default to Nono who hears all the news from your father, I'd make sure to watch my back if I were you," Reborn coughed before letting the built up pressure in the room lower by having Leon turn back into his true form. The pet chameleon quickly perched back on top of Reborn's fedora.

"By the way," Reborn said as he turned his eyes sharply towards Tezuka's face, "who's the stupid idiot you were talking about?"

Tezuka paled at the question. Why did Reborn have to be so damn noisy. Reborn was definitely going to disappear when he became boss of Vongola. In the meantime Tezuka was going to have to play it all out, "oh nobody, just someone from school who keeps bullying the weaker kids at school. I dealt with him, but I just can't understand why someone would bully others, it's just so mean," Tezuka's lies came as easy to him as swimming came to fishes.

Reborn's face was as blank as ever, but underneath that façade he knew that Tezuka was lying. Moreover, he was talking about Tsunayoshi.

Reborn wasn't known as the greatest Mafioso to have ever lived because he was an excellent assassin or strategist. He was known for uncovering all that there was to be uncovered, be it now or ten years from now, he would solve it. It was the reason that he could practically read people's minds when they were lying to him.

In Tezuka's case however, he didn't really need to use his years of experience at uncovering secrets, he just used his common sense. Tezuka hated Tsunayoshi. Tsunayoshi defeated Rokudo Mukuro. Tezuka told his father that it was he who defeated Rokudo Mukuro, but it was really Tsunayoshi. It was Tsunayoshi who awakened powers not much unlike Primo's, and it was Tezuka who awakened powers gravely contrasting Primo's. What, or better yet who was the key in it all? Tsunayoshi was.

As Reborn peered at the clear blue eyes of Tezuka, who looked so much like his father, Reborn couldn't help but wonder how it came to be that this twin was chosen to become heir of Vongola, while the other who was sincere and kind was left ignored. Maybe there was some chance that things could be set straight. Perhaps Tsunayoshi was willing to come back to Vongola.

That thought made Reborn happy and sad at the same time. The first because Vongola wouldn't be doomed, the second because somewhere deep down inside Reborn understood that Sawada Tsunayoshi might never come back as long as Abel Tsunayoshi decided so. And looking at the eyes of Tezuka, Reborn couldn't blame him.