Turning Point

Author : 27x18

Warnings : Swearing~ Moar Swearing~ And some violent themes from our grumpy Varia Commander.

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Squalo was ready to pull his hair out, he had been making calls all afternoon, and then evening as well, to the Vongola to get another copy of the paperwork and they were fucking him around at every stage of getting the paperwork.

Vongola were putting him through all the paperwork loops, they wanted to know why he needed, where exactly it had gone, who had taken it, why did he need a copy if they were from the Varia, did they need to worry about any information leaks. Even when he got to the end of all the bureaucracy he still got stonewalled on another copy being sent, they had to do it by hand, the Vongola never sent important paperwork via any electronic method, they could be monitored and they could be intercepted much easier then someone having to track and remove the paperwork from any of their specially trained couriers.

Paper and hand deliver was the only way to send this paperwork, so even though he had finally managed to talk his way around every question the Vongola had been asking he still had to wait 12 hours for another copy to arrive.

That was twelve hours where Xanxus could arrive at the location and begin his job, all with the civilian six year old in his care. The day was going from bad to worse and Squalo was only moments from screaming and going on a killing spree himself.

Fuck he hated that arrogant bastard boss sometimes, he never fucking thought before he acted, and taking a child, a six year old child, a civilian at that on a job, what the fuck had he been thinking?!

"You keep pulling your hair like that you'll go bald." Mammon noted while she floated in to check on the teen, Squalo spared her a dirty look before going back to the papers in front of him

"If you're not going to help then fuck off." Squalo snarled while Mammon rolled her eyes at the teen, she was sure he was over reacting, the boss wasn't going to let the kid get hurt. So he had taken the kid on a mission, big whoop, he probably had her holed up in a hotel room while he killed people.

Mammon had done some thinking about it while handling the bribery of certain Vongola personnel to get Squalo the re-issue of his information.

Mammon of course taking back recompense from Squalo with a hefty fee on top. It was however quicker to just pay her, Mammon knew people that Squalo had no chance of getting to, the Arcobaleno had been around for a lot longer then him in this industry, and Squalo wasn't exactly the easiest person to get along with, often rubbing people the wrong way, which left him floundering when he needed someone to help him.

Squalo would be broke for a while, but he was sure he could make some of it back with the photos from the first meeting with Tsuna, at least he had something Mammon didn't have that he could sell to Nono and his other sons.

"Well if you insist, enjoy cleaning up this mess~" Mammon smirked while floating slowly towards the door, knowing well that Squalo had no choice but to keep her help, if she disappeared then he was in the dark until the paperwork finally turned up sometime very early tomorrow morning

"..." Mammon cocked an eyebrow while he muttered something,

"What was that strategic commander?" Mammon purred while Squalo shot her a dirty look,

"Don't go…" Mammon smirked at him "I'll pay you." Squalo reluctantly groaned while Mammon cackled quietly to herself.

"Excellent, I'm at your service Squalo-kun~"

"Bastard brat." Squalo muttered while shooting Mammon glares still. Squalo hated having to rely on other people for anything, especially Mammon, the Arcobaleno added on extra costs as easily as anyone breathed. If he didn't sell some of the photos he had soon he was going to be broke before they got the bastard boss back from his tantrum.

"Oh, also, I forgot to mention." Mammon noted flicking her camera onto record "Nana called to say she would be back tomorrow and could we take care of Tsuna for the night." Mammon shrugged "She asked to speak to her to say goodnight, you owe me for an illusion of the brat." Squalo's eyebrow twitched at that, this is not what he had signed up for. Coming to Japan was meant to be an extended holiday not this sort of shit.

"Fuck fuckity fuck fuck fuck." Squalo muttered pacing back and forth, checking the time every few seconds while Mammon cocked an eyebrow, that was a grand idea. How much organisation would it take for her to introduce a swear jar type situation here, it would help cutting down on all the swearing nearly happening around the kid, so Xanxus would probably like the idea.

Maybe once he finished his tantrum she could speak with him about it, as long as she got a cut of course.

"I have news." Mammon noted looking up from her phone "The Varia jet just landed in Italy, no one saw anything though, no sightings of the boss or the kid." scrolling through the text on her phone, a report from a fellow illusionist. It was always good to keep up to date on the world of illusions.

"Fuck, so we still don't know where he went with the brat?!"

"At least the plane got there in one piece." Mammon shrugged, it was a toss up whether or not they would ever make it to Italy with the boss in such a shit mood, he was known well for his destructive tantrums. Especially since the bastard could use his Flames to fly with his guns, he had once before blown a hole through the side of the jet and just flown off leaving it to crash into the ocean.

Xanxus got lucky and the crew ditched and survived, otherwise Timoteo would have been pretty pissed off about the unnecessary deaths, of course he hadn't twitched at the cost of getting a new plane for the Varia, Xanxus was one of his beloved children.

"Voi! How does a huge bastard like the boss get through a fucking airport with a six year old and no one notices?!"

"He is an assassin." Mammon reminded while rolling her eyes at Squalo "Do you really think he would be seen if he didn't want to?" Squalo grumbled to himself, but the brat was right, Xanxus may be loud, obnoxious and grumpy, but he was a professional.

"Well what do we do now? Even if the fucking paperwork arrives we can't do shit, boss will be done and back before we can do anything!"

"So he gets a job done and has a holiday with the brat, I still don't see how this is a problem." Mammon shrugged her back stiffening when she felt the cold aura behind her, eyes flicking back to see the blond haired idiot Dino standing in the doorway his mouth dropped open and Reborn on his shoulder glaring at them.

"Xanxus has done what?"

"Well..." Mammon murmured while Squalo swallowed heavily,

"Fuck."

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Timoteo sat very still at his desk his eyes closed so no one would see the blazing orange Flame fighting to get out while his temper flared "Let me get this straight, Xanxus took an elimination order, and took Tsunahime with him on the job? And you have no contact with Xanxus as he neglected to take his mobile with him?"

"Well…" Squalo nervously scratched at his cheek avoiding looking directly at the Arcobaleno that had just forced him to call Nono and report what was going on. "When you say it like that it sounds worse then it is."

"Worse? How could it sound worse then it is?" Timoteo bit out sharply, he knew he was being a little short with Squalo when none of this was his fault, but that didn't change the fact that his son had kidnapped Tsunahime and taken her on a job with him. "Xanxus has taken a civilian child with him on a job without her parents knowledge or consent."

"W-Well yeah….but the boss won't let anything happen to her." Squalo argued, they were making it sound like Xanxus was going to take her to the base with him while he cleared it out, there was little to no chance of that happening, Xanxus may be an asshole but he cared about the kid. He had been the most steadfast protector of her innocence, there was no way he was going to show the girl him killing someone. If anything he had just taken her to make sure she was safe while he was away or something. The only other reason he could think of is if the boss wasn't sure the killing would calm his temper, then maybe exposure to the kid would.

"Squalo. Shut up." Reborn noted while the silver haired teen glared at the hitman,

"I have people heading towards the location the job was to take place in to ensure Tsunahime is kept safe. In the meantime, Reborn, would you please impress on the Varia exactly how serious this kidnapping is. Even if it's Xanxus, I gave my word to Iemitsu. The child is not to be involved ever again. If she is, then the Varia will be pulled from Japan and I will seal Tsunahime's flame, I will alter her memories if we have to, this is never to happen again. Am I understood?" Squalo fell silent while he clenched his good hand. They were on thin ice right now with the Vongola,

"Yes." he bit out finally "It's understood." Squalo was going to punch Xanxus when he got back for putting him in this position, Squalo hated being the one getting yelled at, yelling, he was good at that. Being yelled at? It seriously grated on his nerves, but to backchat Vongola Nono with the mood the old man was in, Nono would probably respond by commissioning Reborn to kick him into next year.

While Squalo knew he was good, he wasn't even close to being able to take Reborn on, under a curse or not, the kid was number one hitman in the world for a damn good reason

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Xanxus had never been this mad before, never, not in his darkest times. There was one thing that he hated beyond everything else, just one thing that could drive him to fury, and that was lying.

On the streets he had beaten anyone that lied to him black and blue, in the Vongola he had been well known for his temper against those that lied to his face.

For his father, no, for Vongola Nono to have lied to him all these years, lied to his mother, to him and to everyone. It had infuriated him.

The thought that maybe everyone knew hadn't helped either, they were all laughing at the bastard with the crazy fucking mother behind his back, he was the butt of all the Vonogla's jokes, the stupid bastard that followed along behind Nono like a loyal fucking dog when he was nothing but the scum of the streets. Son of a whore.

Proud little bastard that thought he might ever sit on the seat of Don for the Vongola, the little bastard that had only been taken in because Nono had pitied him. He wasn't his son, he wasn't his family, he was nothing but a piece of trash the man had taken in because he had nothing better to do at the time.

Xanxus needed to get out of that mansion, he needed to get as far away from the Vongola as he could and take out some of this frustration before he exploded. Xanxus didn't want to do anything he could regret, the small little hands that had so often cupped his flame were the only things that stopped him from storming into the Vongola mansion and holding a gun to Nono's head for answers.

If he did that Tsuna was alone, and she would not recover from losing him right now, the little girl was fragile, but slowly changing, to abandon her now meant that all the progress was lost, she would feel betrayed by his abandonment no matter what reasons he had, Tsuna trusted him. Xanxus couldn't do that to her.

He had brought her to a turning point in her life, as she had to him as well, he needed to make a choice and he had, he would take out his anger, he would calm the fuck down, then he would go home and try not to punch Nono while asking him for answers

Xanxus didn't know what he would have done if he somehow found this out without the kid in his life, he knew he had a temper, and he held grudges for a long time, but that had changed with the influence of one tiny Sky in his life. Xanxus didn't want to think about it any more, he would have done something stupid he was sure.

Taking one last deep breath Xanxus steeled himself for the job and quietly tightened his grip on his two guns, slipping into the door of the base he shut out everything else and let his anger take over, for this brief time he let it work its way out of his system and he fell back on his darkest of emotions and tendencies.

Xanxus let himself calm down by murdering everything in his way.

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It was very late that morning when Nono finally received a call from his personnel he had sent after Xanxus. There was no one booked into any of the normal motels, no one under either Xanxus' name, the Vongola or any of his known aliases.

They had checked every motel that Xanxus might have gone to, and even the ones he wouldn't and asked around about anyone at all checking in the last few days, either on his own or with the kid, and no one recalled Xanxus, no footage had caught the teen on camera either.

Xanxus was still missing, as was Tsunahime. They had even gone to the job location to find it already done, there was nothing left there but death.

There was no Xanxus, and no Tsunahime, and they had no idea where they might be. The investigation team had called Timoteo, all scared out of their minds at the possible reaction their boss might have to their failure, and they weren't let down, the icy response from the man was being transmitted through the phone line before the line was cut off leaving them all shaking in the aftermath of a furious Nono.

They could feel his rage through the phone line, he was actually angry at one of his sons, Nono who always smiled off anything his precious children did, was not just a little ticked off, the man was furious with this situation. It was an anger like nothing the Mafia had seen in a very long time, not since Timoteo's younger more violent days.

"H-How about we continue searching." they all nodded in agreement at that suggestion, it was safer searching out a grumpy Xanxus then going home empty handed to a furious Nono.

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It was probably only because he had gotten so used to listening to Tsuna that he even noticed it at first, but he was in the middle of peacefully dismembering a scientist when his ears picked up on and honed into a sob, a child's sob. Normally, or at least pre-Tsuna, Xanxus wouldn't have noticed or cared about some brat sobbing, but since meeting and getting attached to his small Sky his eyebrow twitched in anger the second he heard a kid sob. Logically he knew it wasn't Tsuna, but still, it pissed him off, someone fucking around with kids.

Pinning his blood red eyes on the scientist that was barely conscious at his feet awaiting his turn to help alleviate his anger, Xanxus dropped the body in his hands and grabbed the live one up slamming him against the wall "Tell me what the fuck you're doing to kids!" Xanxus growled the man choking against the tight grip on his throat,

"W-W-We." Xanxus slammed the man against the wall again his nails biting into the scientist skin while he snarled at him "Experiments! We use them as experiments!" Xanxus tightened his grip and crushed the throat of the man while growling lightly. Before he wouldn't have cared since it wasn't affecting him, but Tsuna would hate this, and the little shit was his moral compass.

Dropping the lifeless scientist to the ground Xanxus strode over to a door and tore it open, the locks snapping with the force behind his pull while he glared in at the dirty cell, three small children all huddled together, covered in bandages all dirty and unchanged. One kid was in front of the other two trying to protect them and glaring up at Xanxus.

"Stay close if you little shits want to get out of here." Xanxus growled before turning his back on the brats and getting back to killing everything that moved.

The children glanced at one another with a quick hushed conversation before warily following this stranger on his path through the building decimating everything that stood before him with ease.

The tallest of the small children glanced back at his companions with a nod, they had few choices as it was right now, and this man was strong, they would use him for information and skills in defending themselves then leave him, or kill him if needed.

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Xanxus slammed the door behind him while he kicked off his shoes, glancing at the three quiet brats that had followed him out of the burning bloodbath he had left in his wake

"So, who are you brats and where can I drop you off?" Xanxus grunted sitting heavily on the cheap threadbare bed. Not his normal preference of accommodation but he had felt the need to go incognito this time, he didn't want anyone interrupting his tantrum until he was good and done. Silence fell while he frowned at the three kids "You dumb or something?" Xanxus sighed while rubbing at his temples, what was he thinking bringing these brats here? He should have left them.

What he really wanted though was to hear Tsuna's voice. Grabbing up the land-line he quickly dialled the Japanese mansion, Squalo could connect him to the brat from there.

"Hello?" Xanxus's lips twitched hearing Ottabio answer the phone,

"Connect me to the brat." Xanxus ordered while a sigh came from his so called second in command,

"Xanxus….You know she's at school right now correct?"

"Do I sound like I give a shit? Connect me asshole." Xanxus could hear him rolling his eyes at him but the line clicked and he went through to the mobile, the ringing continued until it was went to the message system. Growling Xanxus slammed the phone down.

He wanted to talk to the brat. Unfortunately the bastard was right, it was day time in Japan and the kid would be at school.

"You brats going to answer me anytime? Where can I dump you brats?" Xanxus growled turning his eyes on the three injured children, they ranged from about 5 to 7 he guessed, they looked around his brats age. "Family? Do any of you brats have family?" they were making him regret taking them with him now, just staring at him, especially the taller one, the kid was creepy as all hell with his one red one blue eyes.

Slowly the kid with the heterochromatic eyes shook his head at Xanxus in response to his questions, "No, you don't have family or no you're not stupid?" Xanxus growled while the child finally opened his mouth,

"Both." was the short simple answer from the kid, sighing heavily Xanxus reached for his mobile to call in some investigations before growling softly, that was right he left the stupid piece of technology in Japan so that Squalo couldn't call him and bitch at him.

"Tch, fine." Xanxus growled, so he was stuck with brats, again, and this time he wasn't overly fond of any of them. Grabbing out his simple med kit he threw it over to land before the jittery kids "Clean bandages and shit are in there, bathroom-" Xanxus jerked his thumb at the door behind him "So clean up and shit, you're stuck in my care for now it seems." he should have left them, this was going to be a whole lot of trouble he didn't want. He would have too, but the damn brats soft brown eyes had invaded his mind when he had thought about it, she wouldn't like the kids being left there, even if all the scientists and guards were dead. "Any of you brats got names?" looking over to see them helping one another with their bandages.

The blond brat had a deep slice across his face that was going to scar and scar deep. The quiet brat with bandages over his head and a barcode tattooed to his cheek was holding the blond tight while the kid in charge cleaned the wound. The blond was whimpering and fighting at the grip but his companions seemed used to it.

"Mukurou." the kid in charge quietly noted while he began wrapping the scarred blonds face again "This is Ken, that's Chikusa." he pointed between his companions while Xanxus flicked his eyes between them all,

"You two mute or something?" Xanxus asked watching their interactions carefully while the children patched one anothers wounds.

"Fuck you old man." the blond burst out finally while baring his teeth at Xanxus, though as soon as he had he instinctively ducked his head and his arms flashed up to defend him from the blow that was sure to come.

"You're not my type brat." Xanxus sneered while flopping back on the bed with a sigh his mind ticking over his options. He could take them to the Vongola, but that was throwing them right back where they had come from, an orphanage was an option, but troubled or different children would end up staying there for their whole childhoods, and separation seemed a bad idea right now given how close they were sticking to one another.

Xanxus flicked his red eyes back over to the children, all three of them watching him warily, keeping themselves close to the door while trying to assess what sort of threat he was to them. "Fuck it, fine." Xanxus groaned while sitting back up and pinned them with his red glare "Your two choices you brats, get the fuck out of here and go live on the streets, or come with me." Xanxus growled "I don't give a shit which you choose but if you little bastards come with me then you're going to damn well behave." flicking his red gaze between all three children, pinning each of them carefully with his warning red eyes "I've got a brat in Japan, if she wants, you three are her new toys." they twitched at that, the dual colour eyed kid glaring at him for calling them toys. "Door is there brat." Xanxus reminded waving a hand at the door while he fished into his bag with his other hand to grab a bottle of scotch he had sourced. "We leave come first light brats."

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Ottabio set the phone down with a smirk, seems like Xanxus still hadn't been contacted by the Vongola, that gave him more time.

"Who the fuck was that? The boss? The Vongola?" Squalo snapped slamming the door open while Ottabio adjusted his glasses on his nose.

"Neither, the paperwork you asked reissued will be here in an hour, the courier just landed." Squalo growled and slammed the door closed, that didn't matter now, the Vongola was all over this anyway.

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Tsuna had never been this scared before, not even when she was lost in Italy. Tsuna had finished school and run out as normal to meet Xanxus, only it wasn't him there to pick her up. Instead it had been the one she didn't like, and even though every inch of her screamed that this was bad she had still reluctantly taken his hand and let Ottabio lead her off.

It was a short while later that she knew things were really wrong when he had pulled her up and pressed some smelly cloth over her mouth, it had made her feel sick and then she had fallen asleep.

Tsuna had woken some time later, she didn't know how long it was, but it was definitely not the mansion where she was right now. Tsuna had explored the mansion multiple times with Xanxus, this was not a room she had seen anywhere in the huge place.

It also smelt funny, like when mama had forgotten something in the fridge when they went away, all...what had she called it, mouldy. It was dark, it was cold and it was wet.

All in all, Tsuna just wanted to go home.

At first she had cried, she had then tried calling for Xanxus, or Squalo, or anyone (except Ottabio who she really didn't like at all now) then she had just started trying to think. Xanxus said if she was ever scared she had to think, it would stop her being scared, stop and think.

So Tsuna thought, no one could hear her, or if they could they weren't going to help her, that was clear from all her crying and yelling. So no one could hear her, or cared if they could, she didn't know where she was and she didn't know how long it had been since school finished.

Her mother was off with Lussuria again doing girl things, or that's what Lussuria and mama called it, Xanxus would notice her missing though right?

Even if he did, he wouldn't be able to find her probably, she didn't know where she was….so she needed to find out where she was.

Tsuna nodded to herself while wriggling her hands again, they were tied behind her back, but maybe if she wriggled enough she would be able to get them loose. Xanxus said that wriggling was a good way to get your hands free. Tsuna had asked him why she needed to know that back then, but now it was sounding like good advice.

Xanxus was really smart. Tsuna really liked that he had told her all those weird things now, and her phone, he had given her this little thing and said it was a phone. He had even called her on it to prove it to her, it was in her bag, she could see her bag too on the other side of the room.

So….if she could wriggle enough she might be able to get out of these tight ropes and to her bag and then the phone should be able to call Xanxus.

Nodding to herself Tsuna wriggled harder, twisting her wrists in the bindings trying to get them off, she had to remember to be patient, Xanxus had to tell her that a lot, she got annoyed when she didn't get things, or they didn't work, but Xanxus said she had to be patient and keep trying, it was like her school work, just keep trying and don't give up.

So Tsuna wriggled, and wriggled, and twisted and turned and frowned, wriggling some more. Finally she began to feel her sore wrists getting some room, twisting and wriggling her hands more she ignored the pain of the ropes, they had been hurting her for a while now, but she really wanted to get out of them, she would ignore the pain and get Xanxus to make it better later, for now, the ropes, she had to get these stupid ropes….

Tsuna grinned brightly when she finally pulled one wrist free, a giggle bubbled out of her before she slapped her newly free hand over her lips to silence herself, peeking at the door. They hadn't come for her crying...but they might if she giggled, it was like in those scary movies with the bad people. Tsuna had to be quiet or they might come in and do bad things.

Her mama never let her see what the bad people do, but she knew it was bad, so Tsuna had to be quiet.

Slipping her other hand free Tsuna kept herself as quiet as possible, even while her small hands tugged and twisted at the ropes on her ankles. In the end it was easiest for her to pull her shoes off and slip her feet out that way, she would put her shoes back on later, but they were too big to get out of the stupid ropes.

Forgetting all about her surroundings Tsuna all but pounced on her school bag and turned it upside down her books spilling out while she sifted through the books and pencils for her phone. A soft whimper escaped when she realised it was gone. She was sure she had put it in her bag this morning, Xanxus said she had to have it on her always.

Pushing through her things again Tsuna deflated, nope, it was definitely not there.

Chewing at her bottom lip the six year old finally gave up looking through her things, it was clearly gone, someone must have taken it out of her bag, because she remembered putting it in her bag this morning, Tsuna never forgot something like that, she had promised Xanxus. Tsuna never forgot a promise to Xanxus.

Reaching up the child gripped the small pendant sitting under her school shirt with a relieved sigh, at least that was still there, she would be so upset if they had taken her necklace too, it was her first present from Xanxus, Tsuna was never letting it go.

Fighting back the sniffles desperately trying to escape her while she shakily stood up trying so hard to be calm, to think, Xanxus said to think….but Tsuna just wanted to cry again, what did she do now?

Tsuna chewed at her bottom lip again before nodding to herself, she still needed to find out where she was, she didn't know Xanxus' phone number, but she could call the police, mama had made sure she knew those numbers, it was 119 if she was hurt or there was fire, and mama had said 110 was the police.

If Tsuna could find out where she was she could find a phone, or an adult that wasn't scary and get them to help her call 110, then the police could get Xanxus for her.

Pulling her shoes back on Tsuna forgot all about her bag and moved straight for the door, reaching up for the handle and twisting it slowly, trying to be very quiet, peeking out of the room into a long hall, it was dark and scary….but being in this room longer was more scary.

Tsuna was in luck too, there were no scary adults in the hallway, it was just the dark and the nasty smells. Gathering every ounce of her tiny pool of courage the six year old slid out of the room and began to quietly walk in one direction, she didn't know if the exit was even this way, but nothing would get better if she just stayed in that room.

Smiling brightly the six year old gripped the handle for the door she had reached and twisted it hurrying through a soft squeak leaving her when a tight grip descended on her arm and twisted it

"Which one of you fucking morons left the room unlocked?" her eyes filled with tears while she peeked up at Ottabio, the young man glaring down at her "You're meant to be professionals for fucks sake." Tsuna flicked her eyes over to the two other men, they looked scarier then Ottabio, but that feeling in her stomach was telling her that Ottabio was definitely the more scary one,

"Brat shouldn't have been able to get out of those bonds." one noted before shrugging "Not like she managed to escape. No harm no foul." Ottabio pointed his gun at the man and swiftly pulled the trigger. Tsuna's eyes widening impossibly large while she sobbed eyes on the man while he crumpled to the floor and red….there was so much red. It was pooling on the floor under the man while he laid there still.

"You wanting to make excuses as well?" Ottabio growled over at the other man who only shook his head silently, Tsuna unable to concentrate on anything but the man on the floor her eyes taking in the red, there was just so much red….he wasn't moving, he was just lying there.

Tsuna did the only thing she could, she screamed.

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The second Xanxus stepped foot in the airport he was accosted, Vongola personnel came out of the woodwork like a swarm and headed straight for him, all of them looked furious and all of them were most definitely not fucking around.

"What the fuck." Xanxus demanded while Visconti, his not father's Cloud came straight for him and struck him hard across the cheek, Xanxus' eyes widening "What the actual fuck old man?!"

"That you could be so stupid as to take Tsunahime on a job with you, are you insane Xanxus?" Visconti froze when the face of the teen paled immediately to an ashen colour.

"What the fuck happened to the brat?!" Xanxus snarled his flames almost going out of control, Wrath and Sky wound around him shimmering off him in waves. It was enough to stop Visconti dead his eyes flicking to the three children that Xanxus had with him, none of whom were the missing Tsuna

It took only a moment for it all to fall into place and Visconti to very much regret all the wasted time over the last day, Xanxus hadn't taken Tsuna with him, the child hadn't been kidnapped by Xanxus, she had been kidnapped.

Visconti had not even tried to stand in Xanxus' way while the furious teen headed directly for the jet, he was actually hot on his heels, ushering the three strange children he hadn't had a chance to ask about onto the jet as well.

Xanxus was in no mood or state of mind to be able to talk about that right now, but it was clear he had been going to take them back to Japan, he assumed they were survivors of the Estraneo facility, their reports said that there were probably no children left alive in the facility. But as they were discovering, their information could be very very wrong.

Standing anywhere near the furious Sky was a big no at the moment, the passive Wrath Flames coming off him as a response to his mood were dangerous to anyone not equipped to deal with Flames, so Visconti instead sat the three children down and got them settled. They were quiet, that was for sure, and checking him out warily,

"Best you three wait here, Xanxus is not one to approach now." Visconti warned while the three whispered to one another in a hushed manner before just nodding quietly at him, the man dialling Nono, he hadn't a chance yet to call his boss with this urgent information

"Visconti, you've found Xanxus and Tsunahime?"

"Well...about that."

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Squalo growled when the phone started ringing again, on and off it had been going nuts all night with updates and reports on the search for Xanxus and the kid, Squalo was frankly tired of it.

"Uh...Squalo, you might want to take this one." Dino whispered while he held out the phone to the grumpy silver haired teen, Squalo had fobbed off that responsibility to anyone else while trying to get a nap in,

"What? They find the boss?" Squalo dove for the phone and pulled it from the blond "Boss?" Squalo froze at the next sentence that came from his boss "BELPHEGOR!"

The little blond bastard was dead, as soon as Squalo got his hands on the little shit, he had told him the boss picked the kid up from school, the boss had certainly not picked her up from school and they had just wasted a hell of a lot of time while the kid was actually missing.

"Blondie get your boss, we're going to skin a prince alive." Dino tilted his head in question at the silver haired teen.

"Boss?"

"He means me stupido." Reborn noted kicking Dino to the floor "What's happened?"

"Xanxus didn't take Tsuna with him." Reborn's black eyes glinted his green Chamelon partner scurrying to his hand and morphing into his green pistol,

"Where's the prince?" Squalo didn't think he had ever heard anything more deadly from a person in his life, Reborn was really scary, no wonder the little bastard was the number one hitman.

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Levi A Than wasn't exactly sure in the beginning why he was following Ottabio, but in truth there was just something about the actions of their second in command the past day that was...off.

The anal retentive obsessive young man hadn't been following his normal routine, and that was a red flag to anyone watching. Of course the main concern for the last day had been the missing little Tsunahime and their boss, Ottabio wasn't the sort to let that ruffle him, especially since he really didn't like Tsuna at all, nor the principessa's softening effect on Xanxus.

So Ottabio shouldn't be letting anything change his normal routine, and right now he was normally working on paperwork, but instead the quiet man had left the mansion without letting anyone know and headed off into the warehouse area of Namimori, there was nothing here that the Varia had ordered, no stock houses or weapons caches, so what exactly was Ottabio doing this way?

It was more then a little suspicious. Levi had shadowed him since he left from the mansion and watched carefully as the man disappeared into one of the warehouses.

Slipping his hand to his mobile he went to flick it open, a sharp pain blossoming from his neck before he had a chance to call anyone, the mobile slid from his hand while he crashed to the ground unconscious.

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"Hey boss." Ottabio glanced over at another of his associates when he entered with an unconscious teenager in his grip, Levi, the bastard must have followed him,

"Did he have a chance to call for backup?" Ottabio demanded while striding over to the teen and kicking him for good measure, this bastard couldn't have fucked with his plans, he had been so careful, timing the kidnapping with Xanxus' tantrum.

The Vongola were out for blood and Xanxus was their target, he wasn't going to let one suspicious stupid bastard ruin all his hard work.

"Nope, I knocked him out before he could." Ottabio nodded with a smirk, good, that meant for now they were still out for Xanxus' blood. He just needed to do a little more work to get them onto the shoot first ask questions later status for the teen and then this could all be over.

After that he only had to dispose of the brat and then step into his new position as head of the Varia.

"Lock him up, properly, remember he's Varia, he's not a six year old….who still managed to get out of your so called secure room." Ottabio sneered, the man biting his bottom lip so as not to retort, he knew what would happen if he did, he would be shot just as mercilessly as his companion had.

This was more then he had signed up for, but there was little he could do about that now, he was in too deep, anything he tried to do from here would lead to his death unless this arrogant Italian asshole got his way.

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The second they got close to landing in Japan Xanxus just blasted a hole in the side of the jet while they were in the middle trying to land, flying straight for the mansion to kill someone if they didn't have information for him on where Tsuna was. Visconti was left sighing in the absence of Xanxus and ushering the three new children the young Vongola had picked up into a car to take them to the mansion, he would leave them in the care of the other Varia while he followed Xanxus.

Nono had ordered that he stick as close as he could to the young man while they found out where Tsuna was and got her back into Vongola hands.

Visconti arrived at the Varia mansion to find a hole in the wall and no Xanxus, looks like he had his information and was gone already. Visconti should really have stayed closer to Xanxus, but he wasn't about to leave these three injured children alone after an emergency landing in a country they didn't know surrounded by a language they had never learnt.

Squalo was gearing up for war in the entry way when he entered, Visconti set the children to one side and turned his attention to Squalo instead "Did you find her?"

"Not exactly, Levi's missing though, and Ottabio, boss went to find them. We tracked Levi's phone to a warehouse district, Ottabio's is offline." Squalo noted softly while Visconti frowned deeply,

"You think that they had something to do with this?"

"Who else would plan this out when the boss is away, and manage to divert all blame onto the boss? Who else wants to take over the Varia and doesn't like the brat?" Squalo bit out, it was so fucking obvious that he was furious with himself for not seeing this earlier, did they trust Xanxus so little that they were so easily swayed to thinking that he would take the kid with him on a job? Xanxus would never do anything to put the kid in even the slightest danger, there was no way he would have taken Tsuna with him to Italy without the rest of the Varia as protection for his brat, let alone take her on a job.

Squalo was ashamed to be his bosses so called strategic commander, he hadn't even thought of this as an option until Xanxus had blown apart the side of the building and come storming in his Flames going out of control while he allowed his rage and wrath to control him.

As soon as Xanxus had landed he had punched Squalo, the bruise already forming on his cheek from the powerful strike, Squalo however knew he deserved it, and more. He hadn't trusted Xanxus, he had not gone looking for the kid the second she went missing, and he had accepted Ottabio's lie about who had called last night when it should have raised flags about the missing child.

"Reborn?" Visconti asked while Squalo smirked.

"With the boss. We have Levi's GPS location, they're headed there now." Visconti breathed a sigh of relief at that, Reborn could be trusted to ensure the enemy disappeared and Tsuna was retrieved safe. Xanxus' temper might be volatile and something to worry about, but in this particular situation everything was going to be fine.

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Reborn didn't normally work with such….emotional partners on jobs, but to go without Xanxus wasn't an option, in fact the teen had been a quick method of travel to the warehouse district. Reborn had only had to jump on his back and Xanxus had flown there at record speeds leaving a trail of Sky Flame behind him.

The pair finally landed just outside the warehouse area Xanxus grabbing up the fallen phone with a frown, Levi wouldn't betray him, he knew that much, the bastard worshipped the ground he walked on. The fact that his phone was lying forgotten on the ground was actually very telling about what would have happened. Levi most likely followed Ottabio and had been found out.

Managing to drop his phone was a godsend, if Ottabio got his hands on that he would have been able to shut it off like the kid's phone was, as his own was.

That meant it wasn't Ottabio that had discovered Levi, it had to be an outside element, probably mercenaries that Ottabio would have hired. That did mean they didn't know how many people would be in their way, along with a Flame expert as Ottabio was, he was well versed in the many uses of his Cloud Flames.

"Ottabio is mine brat." Xanxus growled while the pair set off down the hill, Xanxus had a few plans in exactly how he was going to torture and kill the slimy bastard who dared to lay a hand on his brat.

"I guess I'll save little Tsunahime then." Reborn mused, while he was sure that would have rubbed Xanxus the wrong way, for anyone other then him to be the one rescuing Tsuna, he was so controlled by his rage right now that every single part of him was focused on killing Ottabio.

Reborn jumped off the teens shoulder as they looked over the warehouses "Eenie meeni miny mo." Reborn murmured before flicking his eyes to Xanxus "So, mister Sky Flames, can you sense Tsuna?"

"Shut up." Xanxus growled while he closed his eyes, Reborn rolling his eyes at the temperamental teen, but he could see Xanxus was trying to do just that so he left it alone.

Xanxus stretched out his senses, he could only sense Flames when he was close to the person, he may have strong Flames but his ability to sense others was less then impressive. It required an awareness of those around him that frankly he didn't have, but for the kid, he had always had more awareness, he had been able to find the kid as they played Flame Hide and Seek in the mansion.

The game had been to help train her Flame awareness but it had proved more helpful to his own awareness, Tsuna was just so in tune with her Hyper Intuition she was able to find them all even without relying on Flames.

Tsuna was able to hunt them all down no matter where they hid in the mansion, she was even able to name who she was about to find before she found them. Now it was Xanxus' turn to show he had learnt something as well, if he couldn't find the brat then he had no right to stay by her side.

Xanxus' red eyes snapped open as he strode down the hill towards the district not even noticing the weight of Reborn as the hitman jumped back to his shoulder for a lift, no hesitation in his stride as he made his way directly towards a warehouse on the far side of the district.

The moment he reached the doors he blew them open with his gun, Flames of Wrath thickly corrupting his Sky Flames and devastating the room beyond and the one person there leaving the room and body charred and broken.

"Tsuna is in the back, underground." Xanxus bit out before his red eyes locked on a door to one side, in there, the fucker that had touched his brat was in there, Ottabio, the traitorous scum that had tried to set him up for this atrocity, the bastard was going to live for a long time yet, but it would not be pleasant for him at all. "Get my brat safe." and with that he kicked the door off its hinges and dove in the room his Flames coating his whole body.

Reborn ignored the scream that came from the room and instead shot the lock off the door to the back room, in fact it was stairs, winding down to a sub level under the warehouse, no wonder Ottabio had chosen this place, the kid could scream for help for hours and no one was anywhere close enough to hear it.

The baby slid down the hall in total silence Leon at the ready for any associates he might run into. Shifting Leon to a walking cane he used the hook to tug at the door handle and slid into a room silently his eyes on the three men all sitting around a table playing cards.

Reborn didn't even twitch as he let the three shots go from his gun, not looking to check he had hit his targets as he already knew they were dead, clunks following after the baby sized hitman while he made his way to the next door leaving the bodies of the kidnappers behind.

Shooting the lock off the first door he reached Reborn kicked it open his black eyes finding Levi chained to a wall looking seriously pissed off. Shouting at Reborn through the gag in his mouth he kept jerking his head towards the other door,

"Keep still idiot." Reborn warned while shooting off the chains, Levi tearing the gag from his mouth while scurrying over to the other door.

"The bastard is going to pay." Levi growled while kicking the door hard, cracking it open from the middle as he made his way to Tsunahime, the child sitting deep in one corner her face buried in her knees while her bleeding wrists wrapped around her knees hugging them close to her chest sniffling softly.

"Xanxus is taking care of it." Reborn noted, Tsuna's face jerking up from her knees at the mention of Xanxus her wide brown eyes on Levi and Reborn,

"L-Levi-nii." Tsuna sobbed while the teen hushed her taking the offered Leon-knife from Reborn so he could cut away the ropes. Levi carefully looked over her wrists with a frown, they showed signs of rope burn and some sores had opened probably from her wriggling against the too tight ties. "Nii-san is here?" Tsuna whispered while Levi nodded scooping the girl into his tall form and hugging her tight.

"Yes, he came as soon as he heard you were missing." Reborn explained while he reached up with softly yellow glowing hands, Levi angling Tsuna so the hitman could reach her easier, the Arcobaleno taking the sting from her sore wrists and closing up the sores. "He was in Italy when he found out." Reborn explained "Otherwise he would have been here sooner." Tsuna sniffled while rubbing her hand across her nose tears still escaping her,

"Wh-Where is nii-san?" Tsuna whispered while Levi tugged her tighter into him again, ready to hide her in his chest from what was surely something she didn't need to ever see outside this room. If Reborn was living up to even the slightest of his reputation there would be no one alive outside the room, let alone what Xanxus was probably doing to Ottabio.

"Xanxus is taking care of Ottabio." Reborn explained "Levi." Reborn noted to the tall teen with a telling look, Levi nodded while standing straight and shifting his hold on Tsuna to turn her face into his shirt.

Tsuna gripped tight to Levi's shirt while trying to stop crying "There was so much red." Tsuna whimpered, Reborn frowning deeply his eyes flicking up to her "There was so much red, he wouldn't move…." Reborn did not like the sound of that at all, it would seem that someone was killed while she was there, this did not bode well for the little girl being kept out of their world.

"We're taking you home now principessa." Levi promised while he moved towards the door keeping her face pressed into his shirt.

"I want nii-san." Tsuna whimpered "I want mama, and nii-san." Levi stroked a hand through her hair gently while he carried her out of the warehouse, Reborn sitting on his shoulder gun at the ready in case of any other mercenaries.

"Don't worry principessa, you'll be with them soon." Levi noted the car in the distance just pulling into the warehouse district, he could see Visconti driving, the kid would be back at the mansion soon and safe finally.

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Omake~1

Enrico, Massimo and Federico Vs Iemitsu's Balls

Iemitsu doubled over with a groan while he crashed to the floor "Surprise!" Massimo cried while he darted back from the CEDEF commander giggling while the flames on his hand extinguished.

"Surprise, asshole!" Iemitsu glared at the other two brothers while they all smirked at him, turning they followed after their brother leaving his office without any apology or explanation for their unwarranted attack.

"Fucking brats!" Iemitsu squeaked after them, the brothers didn't notice however, they just continued on their merry way after attacking the CEDEF commander for no damn reason "Lal, get a sun user." Iemitsu squeaked while trying to stand shakily, using the desk as a support "I fucking hate Vongola brats."

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Omake~2

Xanxus' "motivational" speech

"This is the one and only warning I am giving you disgusting sows." Xanxus hissed "If you, or any of your fucking kids even look at Sawada Tsunahime wrong from now on, then me and my associates are going to come visit you, at your homes." Pinning the mother that had flinched at the mention of the little shit that had called his Tsuna a whore, Xanxus towered over her, using his tall frame to intimidate her more then she already was "Takahashi Mio mother of Takahashi Toshio, thirty four years old, employee at the Namimori Bakery weekdays from 11am to 3pm. Having an affair with your the owner of the bakery for the last four months, banging in the back room while your shithead son goes to school and husband works abroad to keep you in your comfortable lifestyle." Xanxus purred while the woman shivered in terror "Then going home to your small two story house in a nice block of houses to bitch to your child about a honest housewife and her child." His red eyes bore into her own promising death "If even one of you think about fucking with the kid, I will ruin what little you have left of your pathetic lives."

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Omake~3

Mammon's Swear Jar

"Oh, also, in the interest of our young Tsunahime's delicate ears, a swear jar system has been approved of and introduced as of today." Mammon smirked, she had been thinking of that for the last month, it had just meant getting it approved of by the brass and set up before she could make it official and announce her newest source of income "Every time you swear, in any language, €2 into the kids account, and of course €2 into mine for managing the service. All approved by both boss and Nono~"

"The brat's not here you fucking moron." Mammon smirking, while Squalo glared at the Arcobaleno

"That's €4 from your account, €2 to the brat and €2 to me."

"The fucking kid isn't even here!" Squalo snapped again while her smirk grew to a grin.

"No one said it was only in her presence~" Mammon cackled floating down the hall,

"Well fuck."

"That's €12 now strategic commander~"

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you lovely people!

As always the reception of this has blown me away~ You're all amazing and I love reading every review.

Apologies for bad editing that I'm sure is through this chapter, I haven't had much time for or energy for the normal double/triple checking I do. I've started a new job in this crazy busy time of year, so haven't had much writing time either, it was a really hard choice to decide what to work on first, but the fluff has been helping me stay sane after long days, so this ended up coming first, though not much fluff in this chapter.

More Cielo Perduto and Contritum Caelum will be out as soon as I can.

Much love and huge thanks to everyone that took a few moments to leave me some feedback, and the many many people that added this to their follow or favorites.

The amazing people below though, thank you so much for the continued support and feedback.

HogwartsUnited , Whatstoknow , Kurogane Tsubasa , Ice Night , L's Cappuccino , Littlest1 , tofldh , 00-SilentObserver-13 , meme7789 , Neko Nishiriu, Kav30, Pipe Dream (Guest) , EmptySurface , Arashi - IV of VI , Natsu Yuuki , fairytailbunchan , YastoraRisa , belladu57 , Lola (Guest), wanderer13, ilovecartoonsgirl

Evani : Ottabio just gives off creep vibes, he really does need to go far far away, or six feet under

Of Stories Told : Thank you so much! Glad to give out the hits of the Varia familial drugs. This story haunts my brain.

n1ghtdr34m3r : Made my morning reading that xD " Okay f*** all those people who called Tsuna and Nana wh*res. f*** them" couldn't have said it better myself.

EndlessChains : *bows* doing my best to make it intriguing as well as fluffy, really enjoying reading the speculation peeps having about what's going to happen next

Sola Potterhead : You know shits gotten real when Mammon breaks out the fuck

icefox94 : I did wonder how many might think that, Belphegor kinda jumped to conclusions while being lazy, the teacher never said that the one at the gate was one that had picked her up before~

AyumuMatsuoXIII : I was wondering if anyone would pick up the little hints xD There weren't many and they were pretty small, but yay, someone guessed it hehehe.