Chapter 7

A/N: This chapter takes place during episode 34 The Varia Arrive

After the Mafialand adventure that I wanted no part of, I decided that I deserved a break. I went to my morning practice and avoided anything Reborn related. Of course that didn't last long. I definitely didn't expect Reborn to be sitting in my living room when I got home from my morning training. Seeing his face, I just knew he had something up his midget sleeve.

"Ciaosu Talia." Reborn greets me with a smirk on his face.

"What do you want runt?" I ask with no sign of enthusiasm.

"I have a letter for you." Reborn stands and walks to the edge of the couch and holds out a letter that has an insignia on it.

"Who's it from? And is it gonna blow up when I try to open it?" I ask while inching towards the letter in his hand.

"It's from Nono." Reborn states nonchalantly. I reach out and grab the letter wanting to know what the hell he wants now.

"By the way, Tsuna and the others are going to the shopping district on Sunday. You should come, Nana could use your help with Lambo." Reborn says as he walks out the door.

"Sure, whatever." I mumble not paying attention to what Reborn says as I read the letter from the ninth Vongola boss. I nearly have a heart attack when I notice the top of the page is on fire. I drop the letter and try to stomp out the flame but it doesn't go out. I reach back down at pick it up, its only when I have the letter back in my hand that I notice the flame is not hot. With the knowledge that the flame is not going to burn down my house I read the letter.

Miss. Murasakibara,

I hope this letter finds you well. I would first personally like to welcome you to the Vongola as the tenth generations Madre dei Tutrici. I remember in my youth, the ninth generations Madre was a vital member who I relied on for support. The next few weeks are going to be hard on the Tenth generation, so I am asking you to please show your overwhelming support and dedication to them.

With regards,

Nono

"Ughhhhh" I groan, 'I knew it, my life is never gonna go back to being normal' I think despondently. With the warning of dangers to come in the next couple of weeks, I decide to just crawl into my bed and forget about the day.

I had just made it to my bedroom when I heard the doorbell ring.

"What now?" I groan as I trudge back down the stairs. I open the door only to have my legs get grabbed. I look down and see Lambo trying to crawl up my tights. I reach down and pick him up, then turn to Tsuna and the boys who are standing at the door.

"What's going on guys? Did something happen?" I ask

"Reborn said you were going shopping with us." Tsuna replied

"What? I don…." Just then I had a flash of the last thing Reborn said before he left. 'ah shit….i really need to pay more attention when Reborn is talking.' I think to myself as I remember agreeing to whatever Reborn said. 'At least it's just shopping.' I think.

"Alright just let me grab a few things first." I say as I walk to my living room. I grab my arm holsters for my tanto blades. 'With the warning from the ninth, I think it would probably be best if I don't go anywhere unarmed.' I think as I secure them to my arms and pull my sleeves down over them. I walk back to my genkan and bend down to put on my boots. Once I finish lacing them up I turn back to the boys.

"Alright, I guess I'm ready." I say as I walk out the door and turn to lock it. 'I didn't even get the chance to change my clothes' I think as I look down at my outfit. I had decided to wear black tights and a black sports bra. I had put on a long sleeved off the shoulder top over my bra. My hair was pulled up into a high ponytail and I was wearing the same boots I wore to Kokuyo Land. I look over at the boys and see a strange look on Tsuna's face.

"Everything okay Tsuna?" I ask

"hm? Ah, Yea, I just found out my dad is coming home." Tsuna says.

"He is?! So they found him?" I ask shocked.

"Apparently he was never missing. Mom said he was off drilling for oil." He mutters

"But your mom said he disappeared…" I say

"Yea, apparently dad told her to tell me that cause it sounded more romantic." Tsuna grumbles 'you've got to be shitting me.' I think.

"Your dad is so weird Tsuna…." I mutter

"Tell me about it." He also mutters.

The walk to the shopping district is uneventful. I spend most of the time chasing Lambo, I-pin and Futa around while Tsuna walked with the guys and Haru and Kyoko. For some reason we continued to go into the same Candy store over and over again. Lambo kept demanding lollipops or grape candy. I am such a sucker for kids that I couldn't tell him no. I was walking the kids back to the group when Kyoko pointed out that Lambo had disappeared. I spun around looking for the missing boy.

"When did he slip away?" I ask myself. I-pin is the one who ends up finding him. He was sleeping inside one of the cages at a pet store.

"How the hell did he get in there?!" I yell. Tsuna ends up having to apologize, while he is doing that Lambo takes off again. But this time I saw and followed him. I try to stop him as he grabs a bra from a lingerie store. He puts it over his eyes before I can swipe it from him.

"Eyeball torpedoes, fire!" He yells just as I grab it from his hands. I hand it back to the lady who runs the store and apologize.

After all the excitement we end up at an arcade where the kids are running rampant. 'I feel bad for Nana if she has to put up with this all the time.' I think as I watch Gokudera try to win a shooting game with Futa. Then we ended up at a music store. While the others were browsing the CD's I was watching Lambo who had fallen asleep with headphones on. Then we ended up taking pictures in a phone booth. I took one with Tsuna and Reborn, then another with the Futa, Lambo, and I-pin. After the pictures printed Lambo said he was thirsty so we made our way over to the food court. I smile as I watch Tsuna blush while talking to Kyoko.

'so he has a crush on her, how cute.' I think as I pat Lambos back.

"Lambo, you drank it too fast, your gonna five yourself a tummy ache." I say as an explosion shakes the area we are sitting. I am immediately on my feet and handing Lambo and I-pin to Kyoko. I look around and see a boy landing on top of Tsuna. I whip back around and point towards the exit of the food court.

"Kyoko, take the kids and go!" I say before turning back to Tsuna. I see him sitting up and talking to a boy who has a blue flame on top of his head. Just then Gokudera arrives with Yamamoto, Haru and Futa. I was just about to repeat my order to leave when I hear a voice that stops me in my tracks.

"Voi!" I spin around and look at the shopping mall to see a man in a leather outfit with a sword attached to his left hand. He has long white hair and an obnoxious face.

"Well, pretty noisy in the outfield. I'm gonna kill the scum standing in my way." He says. I don't hesitate I unsheathe both of my tanto blades and prepare for a fight.

"Feels like a storm's coming." Reborn says

"Reborn…the kids." I mumble at him

"I'll handle it." He says before turning to the girls

"You want to kill anyone you go through me first grandpa!" I yell at the loudmouth.

"Hah?! And who the hell are you supposed to be." He responds. He raises his sword and sends a flurry of attacks our way. I block as much of it as I can but with just tanto blades some of the attack gets by me. I hear Tsuna yell. I manage to block enough of the attack so Reborn can get the girls out of the area. Once I notice they have cleared the area I focus back on the white haired man. While focusing on the enemy, I miss the boy with the blue flame grabbing Tsuna and running for it, Gokudera's question brings my attention behind me.

"Hey, where are you taking the boss?!" Once Tsuna and the boy have cleared the dust cloud that the attacks had kicked up, the white haired man quits his assault. Only to bypass me completely and chase the two fleeing. I spin to pursue and notice the white haired guy attack, he sends the strange boy flying and the turns his attention on Tsuna. I rush forward to intervene but am stopped in my tracks when I notice Gokudera and Yamamoto attack him. Gokudera tosses some bombs at him while Yamamoto draws his sword.

"Go ahead, try to lay a hand on him. But you might not get off so easy." Gokudera says as he readies some more dynamite.

"yup, that's how it goes. We'll be your opponents." Yamamoto adds as he sets his katana on his shoulder. The white haired man focuses his attention on the two.

"Are you involved in this too?" He asks he sets himself into an offensive stance.

"Voi! I don't really understand, but let me tell you how this is gonna go down." While he is talking I take this chance to move in between the white haired man and Tsuna.

"Tsuna are you okay?" I ask as I shift into a defensive stance. Yamamoto charges at the man but it only takes one strike for the guy to know that Yamamoto hasn't had any formal training. It takes one more strike from the white haired guy for him to knock Yamamoto unconscious. Gokudera goes to retaliate but the man is too fast. He cuts the tops off of Gokudera's dynamite and knocks Gokudera out with a kick to the shoulder. The man gears up to attack Tsuna and that when I move. I block his sword with one of the blade and aim for his gut with the other. He backs away and I follow with a flurry of strikes. I manage to nick his cheek with one of my blades before he knocks it out of my hand. I fall back into another defensive stance.

"Voi! Not bad. You've had training!" he says as I grit my teeth and prepare for the next clash. The white haired guy raises his sword and starts to charge but the boy with the blue flame intercepts him.

"Kid move! Your hurt, I'll handle him." I say

"I will not. He is after me." The boy says

"Yo trash. Feel like talking yet." The white haired man asks the boy

"I refuse." The boy responds.

"Then, this will become your grave!" The two start clashing rapidly. I focus on the attacking pattern of the white haired guy waiting on a chance to strike. Right as the boy takes a hit I see an opening and throw my blade. I manage to land a hit on the white haired guys sword arm but he dodged just in time so it only grazed him.

"Damn.." I mutter when he glares at me. He doesn't stay focused on my though, he turns back to the boy he just defeated.

"You little runt. Did you think you could defeat me? You're nothing but a stray dog. I guess I'll start by question this kid and the wench at his side." The man says as he turns back on me and Tsuna. I push Tsuna back as the white haired guy goes to kill the boy with the blue flame. However before I can move to stop him, I hear a gunshot and then Tsuna rushes past me in his boxers and grabs the white haired guys sword arm.

"Reborn!" Tsuna yells

"T-Tsuna?!" I yell as well.

"Long-hair, I'll beat you…like my life depends on it…" Tsuna yells at the white haired man.

"Voi! What the hell just happened?" The man mutters

"I see, you're the Japanese kid people've been talking about. So you're the one he came here to meet. What are you planning? You're either gonna spit it out, or die!" The man says. Tsuna goes to punch the guy but he catches his fist and hits him hard enough to send him flying back into a building. I slide between the two ready to resort to my aikido training to protect Tsuna. Tsuna jumps back on his feet and charges the man.

"Tsuna stop!" I yell as the white haired man attacks again. I rush forward to stop him but end up also getting hit by the sword. It managed to cut a shallow wound into my right shoulder before I could block it with the holster for my tanto blade. Tsuna jumps up again but before he can charge the flame on his forehead goes out and he notices me on my knee in front of the white haired man holding back his sword.

"T-Talia! N-Not good! The man goes to attack Tsuna but the boy with the blue flame throws his weapon and intercepts the attack. This creates a cloud of smoke which provides enough time for the two boys to hide. I stand up ready to fight against the man. Just as I push back and jump into a fighting stance I feel something hit the back of my neck really hard.

"At your current level, you don't stand a chance. Take a nap instead." Reborn says as I drop to my knees.

"D-damn it Reborn…"I manage to say before the world goes black.

A/N: So Squalo and Talia have officially met. I hope you guys really enjoyed this chapter. I will say that when everyone is working with their tutors, Talia will be working alongside Yamamoto with Mr. Murikado. As always, let me know what you think.

Adamantia13 – I feel like a 10 year bazooka incident is mandatory in a KHR fic. She kind has to be tough and take no shit from anyone since she does eventually end up with Squalo. XD

Very Confused Multi-Fandom-ist – I agree! There are hardly any Squalo fics. That's why I decided he needed to get a little bit of love. I hope you continue to enjoy the fic.