Tsuna had two sets of friends: Japanese and Italian. School meant Japan, while summertime meant a vacation in Italy.

8. Chrome

Italy

Each of the trio of orphans were given a separate room once they turned twelve. Mukuro used this to his full advantage when he set his plans into motion.

Tonight, the Mist sat in his room with his eyes closed and Flames extended near their breaking point. The young teen was guiding his primary minion through a massacre of a Sicilian Family. *

The job was done, the feeling of success, contentment, and sweet revenge blossoming in the Mist's chest.

And then he opened his eyes. Three feet away from him on an old wooden chair, sat Iemitsu Sawada.

Mukuro swallowed hard. His mind raced with explanations as to why the Boss would be here.

Iemitsu interlaced his hands. "Rokudo, what were you doing?"

"Meditating," came the Mist's even-toned reply. That was a believable excuse; Mukuro had spent some effort and time to ensure most of the CEDEF knew about his fake habits (meditating for long periods being one of them).

The blond hummed thoughtfully. "That's strange; I felt Flames coming from you. They went to...Rome?"

Mukuro's heartbeat quickened. "What? What are you implying?" He quickly responded. 'Too quickly,' Mukuro's thoughts chided.

The soft clink of a wind chime announced the arrival of a text. Iemitsu read the message and then showed the glowing screen to his subordinate. "And look at that. There was a killing spree that just occured in Agrigento. The leaders of the Carlian Family were all killed."

The Mist couldn't stop the small tremble in his hands. 'No, no, no. You're tipping him off. He's only guessing.' "Are you accusing me without evidence?" He calmly asked.

"No. Otherwise I wouldn't be here to confront you," Iemitsu cheerfully replied.

Mukuro raised an eyebrow. "Okay, what evidence?"

The CEDEF leader tapped his phone and showed a photo. The blue pineapple hairstyle noticeably stood out among the crowd. "For starters, your contact with the perpetrator of a dozen odd slaughters over the past month. You had a job in Agrigento last month, a few days before the serial killing started. Afterwards, you were allowed to explore alongside Lal Mirch. There were about five minutes Lal didn't have her eyes on you. You probably researched where the guy would be beforehand."

Mukuro's eyes narrowed. It seemed he was wrong; Iemitsu had some evidence. The Mist was outplayed and would need to make a move.

"That's circumstantial," Mukuro pointed out.

Iemitsu did not acknowledge the interruption. "Second, I'm from Primo's line. Most know that Primo and many of his descendants had Hyper Intuition. Hyper Intuition has two major known flaws: distractions and Illusions. Strong HI can therefore be as much of a hindrance as a help in the Mafia."

Mukuro smirked at the admitted weaknesses and formed an Illusion of himself. The second him sat on his bed with an even expression.

Iemitsu smiled, for the first time since he entered the room. "You heard of that, and assumed my Hyper Intuition was strong."

Halfway to the door, the Mist had briefly frozen. 'There's a troublesome indication there. Well, I'm halfway to freedom. No point in turning back.'

"You assumed wrong. Mine is weak...and 'moldable'. In the same way one can train a domesticated terrier but can't tame a rampaging wolf," the CEDEF leader explained.

Mukuro's hand grasped the antique door knob and twisted. The door did not creak open, as the Mist oiled the hinges regularly.

"My Hyper Intuition learned to clue me in on the difference between Illusion from reality." Iemitsu nonchalantly turned his eyes from the Mist clone to the real Mukuro.

The Mist looked to the wide open door and then to the man. To the pineapple, the former was now useless.

The CEDEF leader approached the door. He clicked his tongue, disappointed in his subordinate's performance. "It was circumstantial evidence. As many green spies do when confronted, you revealed yourself out of panic."

Mukuro frowned, irked at the unusual experience of being outwitted. "What are you going to do with me?"

Iemitsu placed a hand on Mukuro's shoulder, but he withdrew it at the boy's flinch. "I'll make my decision tomorrow. You have made several horrible choices, Mukuro. I doubt you're getting any sleep tonight, so I suggest reflecting upon them."

With that piece of advice imparted, the man walked out the door and closed it behind him.

Mukuro stared at the door, thoughts rushing through his head. He should have felt horror or relief at being found out, yet all he felt was a numbness that sunk into his bones.

XXX

He had spent the hours before dawn reflecting on his wrong actions. If by "wrong" one meant "a mistake one made while covering up one's killing of mafia families". He had also theorized as to to what his future would be: Vendicare, loss of a limb, death...?

Mukuro picked at his food, his eyes bleary from lack of sleep. Breakfast wasn't appetizing when you were waiting for your probable execution.

"Mukuro, pack for two weeks. You're going to Japan," came the unexpected announcement from Basil.

"Alright," Mukuro mildly agreed. It was generally a good idea to go along until you had information and a plan. Why Iemitsu was foolish enough to allow him to travel, Mukuro had no idea.

"What? Why is he going?" Ken asked, his voice incredulous. Chikusa had stopped eating, his eyes fixed on Basil.

"Training," Basil responded.

Mukuro almost snorted. It seemed a pretty blatant lie to him, since he knew, but Basil was a spy and acted sincere enough to dissuade the other two from asking more questions.

XXX

"It's not for training, is it?" Basil asked.

His boss hummed. "If you loosely define the word, it is."

"So...This is for a plan, to help Mukuro?" The Rain pressed.

"That's the only reason for this. I just hope it works, otherwise, I will have made a grave mistake trying all of this," Iemitsu cheerfully responded.

XXX

Japan

Everyone feels some amount of fear, discontent, and desperation when one is in the dark or seems to lose control of the direction of their life. Mukuro was experiencing this sort of discomfort.

The experience was made even more discombobulating for the Mist by not just being in the dark, but being in the dark with a flashlight. One might think that for Mukuro, being in the dark with a flashlight is better than being in the dark without a flashlight, but for Mukuro, this couldn't be further from the truth. The boy desperately tried to find a wall, something, but was left seemingly in a void. For him, having no idea was better than having some idea.

Except when it came to making escape plans, as he was currently attempting to do. Although he was failing horribly at that, too; Mukuro had no way to get away from Iemitsu unless Illusions suddenly started working on the man.

The car came to a stop in front of a house. This house was just like any other house on that road in Namimori.

Two children sat on the porch steps. More accurately, one child sat on the steps while a toddler sat on the kid's lap.

"Tsuna!" Iemitsu exclaimed as he got out.

"Hey Dad," Tsuna greeted, a smile on his face.

"How's Lambo doing? I heard he had a nasty cold two days ago," the man asked.

"He's over it now," Tsuna reported. Lambo shifted and reached for his dad, with an exclamation of "da! (dad!)"

"Good," Iemitsu replied and lifted the raven puffball into his arms.

"Lambo and Tsuna, this is Mukuro," Iemitsu introduced.

"Hi," the older kid brightly greeted.

'Looks like being optimistic and cheerful is a genetic thing,' Mukuro dismally thought. "Hello," he responded, voice flat..

"Is Mom home?" Iemitsu asked.

Tsuna shook his head. "No, but Uncle is."

The group traipsed inside and to the kitchen. There were brief, wondering looks from Tsuna and gurgles from the toddler toward the sudden appearance of a strange boy in their house. Mukuro spent the short trip trying to analyze his surroundings.

The Mist came to a halt when he saw who was in the kitchen.

"We're home," Iemitsu announced.

Reborn glanced at the new arrivals. He continued reading the book in his hands while sipping a cup of coffee. "Chaos, where's Basil?"

"He's picking up some files, he'll be here in a few hours," Iemitsu explained, putting Lambo into a high chair at the kitchen table. He then poured himself a cup from the pot of coffee Reborn had made.

Tsuna stood next to the the shell-shocked Mist. "You haven't been introduced to my godfather yet, right?"

"No," Mukuro dragged the answer out from his lips. His mouth was dry from fear. For all the Mist knew-which was nothing-Reborn was going to be his executioner.

"Chaos," Reborn greeted. He had heard the conversation, of course he did; he was the world's greatest hitman.

Mukuro smiled. "Hi. Yoroshiku (nice to meet you)."

"A pleasure to meet you as well, Mukuro Rokudo. I hope you enjoy your 'stay' here," Reborn said charmingly. Mukuro was thrown off for a second-this was not how he had thought the hitman would act. Was there something in the town's water?

Suddenly, there was a dark, knowing smirk from the hitman, and he returned to his book. If Mukuro's mouth had figuratively held a sandbox before, it was now the Sahara desert.

The Mist held back a grimace. It looked like he was forced to give up trying to foil or escape whatever insane plan of Iemitsu's this was. With Reborn in the mix, resistance was futile and would most likely be extremely painful if not deadly.

XXX

Mukuro had no memories of his mother. His parents divorced when he was two years old and his father gained custody.

Nana Sawada accommodated him, talked with him, and coddled him when he got a large headache from staying up too late.

Mukuro was weirded out by Nana a quarter of the time; the rest was spent oddly enjoying her presence and care.

XXX

Mukuro blinked at the black puffball that tottered towards him. Lambo Sawada had yet to gain any sort of grace when it came to walking.

"Mu'k'o (Mukuro)," Lambo said, the syllables slurring together.

"Nani? (What?)" Mukuro blandy asked. The irritated Mist barely kept himself from snapping at the child.

"Bo'ed (bored)," the raven replied with a frown.

"And you expect me to entertain you? Aren't you a spoiled child," Mukuro snarked in Italian. At Lambo's pout, the Mist sighed.

Mukuro clicked his tongue in thought, what could he make to entertain the brat? The answer came to his mind without too much trouble, one of his favorite animals: the Cinnabar moth. He made a considering face and extended his hand out, palm up. ***

Lambo let out a cheer of joy and sat near Mukuro's head, his eyes lit up with anticipation. The high-pitched sound hurt Mukuro's ears. The Mist grimaced, more at the situation than the noise.

A black body started to form. Then came the bold splashes, strict lines, and artistic blotches of spectacular red. Beady black eyes and straight black antennas popped up next.

Mukuro frowned. His Illusion was missing a final touch, the hardest part. He pushed away his dissatisfaction and started to smear the harsh lines and splotches. The fuzzy-like quality of a moth was hard to portray correctly. Mukuro had ended up with moths that either looked misshapen or that appeared to have been closely shaved.

But, this time, Mukuro got the details right. A red and black moth beat its wings above Mukuro's outstretched hand. The Illusion fluttered past Lambo's head, just out of reach of the child's reaching hands.

"Coo', p'etty!" The child happily declared, his eyes practically full of stars.

It was pretty? Mukuro had never considered his Flames, the ability to change someone's perceptions, as anything except a tool for his convenience and survival.

But it was pretty, Mukuro admitted. A smile curled across his face. His smiles were rarely sincere, but this time, it was.

XXX

It had been a month since he got there when Tsuna suggested going on a walk together. Basil declined; the teen was going to check in with some CEDEF operatives tonight.

Mukuro had a sudden flicker of hope, of escape. But when the two stepped outside, the hope died. The hitman stood outside, obviously going with them.

Almost as if to mock his thoughts of slipping away from Tsuna, Reborn broadly smirked at the Mist.

Tsuna halted, his eyes suddenly wide. There was something telling him to go to the right. It was important.

Tsuna tugged on Reborn's sleeve. "Uncle, we need to go to the right."

Reborn glanced at his godson; there was desperation in the kid's eyes. "All right."

After all, things would be fine if he was there. Nothing bad would happen to the two, even though they were now headed to the rough and tumble part of Namimori. This was the place the gangs would hang out, where graffiti artists painted in bold colors, and where local shops weren't uncommonly harassed.

Mukuro was keeping his mouth shut, although he felt like making a smart-aleck comment. This was a bad part of town and it was near nightfall;being here was a bad idea, and he knew it. There was a high chance of some horrible encounter during their walk.

The group of three strolled down the cracked sidewalk.

Tsuna sped up, and went into an alleyway. Reborn clicked his tongue in annoyance, and he and Mukuro headed after the brunette kid.

Tsuna briefly stopped, his face anxiously twisted, and then he disappeared behind a trash can. Reborn deigned to wait at the entrance to the small alcove of metal cans since there was no way he could make it to the other side without disturbing the cans. However, Reborn could see what was happening in the small open space.

Tsuna was trying to wake up a child. Unconscious or sleeping, Reborn couldn't tell. Beside the hitman, Mukuro frowned. The scene seemed to draw some empathy from him.

Tsuna dragged the child outside of the alcove as carefully as he could. Along the way, the loose shirt of the child collected even more dirt and grime of unknown origins. "We have to help her," the brunette pleaded to his godfather.

'That was unnecessary. Few people had the lack of heart required to leave an unconscious child in a alley, even the World's Greatest Hitman,' Mukuro thought.

The hitman picked the child up, the baggy clothes shifted. He noted the dark bruise on the unconscious kid's arm, as did Mukuro, who grimaced.

"Of course we'll help, Tsuna," Reborn calmly replied to his godson.

XXX

The boys had been sent to bed, although the older two stayed awake, listening to the murmurs of the adults downstairs.

Nana went over the child's wounds in the bathroom. As the kid had been quickly confirmed to be a girl by the mother, the men stayed outside to give them privacy. When Nana came out, there was a solemn shadow over her usually optimistic countenance.

Nana informed the two men of the girl's condition.

There were motley bruises: black, blue, purple, and pinkish brown.

There were wounds, mostly straight lacerations, across the girl's skin. They covered all parts of her aside from those that would usually be visible: hands, feet, face, and neck.

Iemitsu frowned, his eyes dark. "Reborn, call Shamal."

The hitman inclined his head. Leon dropped into his hand and transformed into a lime green cellphone.

XXX

Shamal picked up the phone with a sigh. Hopefully this wasn't a repeat of the time Reborn woke up in a morgue and needed a dead body to replace him.

"Chaos, come to Japan," Reborn ordered, his serious tone screamed to Shamal that this was non-negotiable.

"Patient?"

"Young female, and yes, she'd be jailbait. If you treat her in any way except respectfully, you will have both Iemitsu and Nana plotting your punishment, probably death," the hitman warned.

"Dealing with you is not good for my health," the doctor replied with a disparaging sigh.

"I'm a hitman, my job is the opposite of being good for people's health."

XXX

Iemitsu showed up at the Namimori house of a couple with a young daughter known to fit the description of the mysterious child now under his care.

The CEDEF leader left with legal custody of the child, a promise of no interference from the birth parents, and the first name of his new daughter, Nagi.

XXX

Shamal was in Namimori for two weeks. At the end of the series of weird and unfortunate events that followed, Kyoya got a mysterious disease called sakura-kura and Chrome physically recovered.

The girl looked healthy now, hollow cheeks now filled out and her ribs were no longer visible. Her wounds slowly scarred over and bruises faded, now only a few bandaged-over lacerations and sore spots remained. A small smile now often appeared on her face.

XXX

About three years after her adoption, Chrome had been sent out for some groceries. Currently, ten thugs surrounded the girl in a semi-circle, and she mentally chastised herself for taking a shortcut home.

One of the guys put a hand on her arm. Chrome shrugged it off and took a step back. Her shoulders brushed against the wall.

"Hey, dude, she's just a kid," a cap-wearer chided.

The first held up his hands, palms outward in a 'chill' motion. "I know, I know, I'm just trying to scare her. We don't want little kids on our turf."

Then those in the alley clearly heard a phrase that chilled them to bone: "I'll bite you to death." Kyoya Hibari stood at one of the entrances to alley. The dull metal of his tonfas stood out against his pale hands.

Chrome shrunk back against the wall, her eyes fearfully watching a bloodthirsty teen fight nine men. The tenth man sprinted toward the other entrance of the alley.

Thwacks, thuds, and groans filled the ears of all present. One young man with some fighting ability pulled out a knife and managed to cut shallow furrows into the raven's arms. Far from slowing Kyoya down-it might have only made him fight more ferociously-Kyoya clenched his teeth and continued his onslaught.

After thirty seconds, Kyoya leisurely finished off the ninth man.

The tenth man was dropped to the floor, unconscious. A blue-haired teen seemed to materialize, and at his feet lay the knocked-out body.

Mukuro smirked. "Hey, Kyoya-kun."

The raven practically flew across the distance, an arm raised to strike. Mukuro pulled out a trident.

"No fighting! I'll tell Mom, Dad, and Uncle Fon!" Chrome quickly shouted.

The two boys directed sour looks toward the girl. Kyoya narrowed his eyes and left.

Mukuro almost pouted, but instead decided to portray his frustration at the lack of a good fight and battle of wits with a disappointed sigh. 'Baiting Kyoya is fun, but fighting an unworthy, but adequate, rival is more fun. Ah well, that's my sister ruining my fun per usual, still love her, no matter how much she interferes.'

XXX

It took about a year before Mukuro and Chrome felt like they were truly part of the family.

That ordinary-looking Japanese house in the sleepy town of Namimori became something other than just a house to Chrome and Mukuro. It became their home.

9. Dino

Italy

Dino ran around a corner. Although he'd suffer for not being with his men, he needed some time when he didn't have to worry about messing up in front of them.

"Chaos," a baritone voice said. Dino jumped. The hitman seemed to have silently apparated beside the heir.

"Hey Reborn." The blond nervously laughed. It appeared that all plans of having time to himself today were shot.

Reborn smirked at his student's lack of composure; it seemed some nervousness tor-training would need to happen soon. "Idiot student, this is my Godson." The raven introduced the previously unnoticed teen.

The blond heir to Chiravone Family stared at the young brunette next to Reborn. "What?" Dino asked, his brain screeching to a halt.

"My Godson," the hitman repeated.

"Your Godson?" Dino parroted back.

"My Godson," Reborn repeated again.

'Who would trust Reborn with their child?' Dino thought in disbelief.

"What was that?" Reborn narrowed his eyes.

"Nothing," the Chivarone heir practically sang.

"I'm Dino," the blond introduced himself.

"I'm Tsuna," the brunette replied.

XXX

Japan

Tsuna had just walked into his home when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," he volunteered and turned on his heel. The brunette checked the window and immediately pulled the door open.

Tsuna gaped at the blond and his right-hand man at his side.

"Dino-nii?" Tsuna asked, not sure if his mind was playing tricks on him.

"The one and only. How's my little brother doing?" Dino ruffled Tsuna's hair.

"Stop," Tsuna playfully protested.

"All right, all right. It's not like you style your hair or anything. You have permanent bed-head," Dino teased.

Tsuna stuck out his tongue at the blond as he 'fixed' his hair. Dino's hand had made no noticeable change to his little brother's hair. The fluffy mess couldn't be changed noticeably without massive amounts of detangler or hair gel.

Dino moved into the kitchen. "Mrs. Sawada," the blond greeted.

"It's Nana, dear. You're practically family," the mother light-heartedly reprimanded.

Dino rubbed the back of his head. "Of course, Nana. I'm sorry for the formality."

"Deeenno (Dino)," Lambo loudly mumbled. The child looked at the blond.

Dino smiled. "Hey Lambo."

The blond suddenly paled as he felt the presence of someone standing behind him. "Chaos," said a velvety voice in Dino's ear. The blond barely held back a scream at his tutor's greeting.

"H-hi Reborn," Dino responded, barely keeping his voice from squeaking.

"Renato, don't scare the boy," the mother lightly scolded in an amused tone.

"I'm just messing with him, Nana. It keeps him on his toes." Reborn innocently made his way towards the coffee pot.

Dino shot a deadpan look towards the back of Reborn's head. 'Keep me on my toes, right,' the blond sarcastically thought.

Reborn turned his head just as Dino finished his thought. 'Oh, s***, can he read my face right now?' Dino frantically thought.

"Yes, I can." Reborn dully replied then turned back to making his coffee. Dino tried to surreptitiously edge away.

Tsuna walked into the kitchen, having grabbed his daily torture called homework from his room.

"Hey Tsuna, you need some help?" Dino asked. The blond was happy to help out however he could, even if it was with homework.

Tsuna shook his head. "Thanks for asking, but no."

The brunette subtly pointed with his eyes to the hitman and mouthed 'he'll join in.' Dino made an 'o' of surprise and nodded.

"What are you two talking about behind my back?" Reborn asked.

"Nothing." The two teens chimed in unison.

A/N

* It is known in canon that Mukuro controlled Lancia and killed Northern Italian Families. Due to being in Sicily, Mukuro targets Sicilian Families.

At Fatti-chan:So...turns out, Fon isn't in this chapter, sorry. But he will show up in two chapters.

At everyone:I'm lacking in knowledge on later khr arcs and characters, and I want to know the canon before I change it. So someone who knows a good bit about katekyo hitman reborn and has the time to explain different things to me, please say so in your review and I will PM you.

-Silver