Holy Cow its been a while! I haven't died I promise and here's another long chapter (Or at least long for this story)

Word Count: 2,109

Kurama: 6

Tsuna: 5

'All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.'

– Gandalf the Grey

Kurama had already pieced together that his father was not honest about his job. In fact, Kurama had a sneaking suspicion that the unknown job in question was illegal in some way. It didn't really matter to him, but he was dreadfully bored as a six-year-old. His mother had decided to keep him home instead of sending him off to a daycare or kindergarten. How she managed that, he wasn't quite sure, but he was grudgingly grateful for that. He wasn't sure if he was ready to be surrounded by other human brats.

Tsuna was enough trouble, especially since lately he seemed to develop this strange fire like aura when he was upset or overly excited. Their mother didn't seem to see it and it didn't burn Tsuna or even himself, so he wasn't overly worried for his brother's life. It was still disconcerting, however, since he distinctly recalled an old man with a similar flame like ability when his father took him to get tested when he was an infant.

Unfortunately, with the limited resources he had at his disposal, he couldn't find the answer to neither his 'father's' job nor Tsuna's new ability.

That was until the answered walked straight through his door one afternoon a few weeks after Tsuna's fifth birthday.

Kurama eyed the old man suspiciously from his position in front of Tsuna. The boy had taken to hiding behind him whenever they had strangers over. Currently, the elder was smiling sheepishly and apologizing for canceling his visit last spring. Iemitsu had his arm around his mother's waist as she soaked up his sob story without a hint of doubt leaking into her composure.

Apparently, the old human was Iemitsu's boss.

Kurama was less than impressed with the vague descriptions of their work, though the old human did mention he was from Italy. He filed that information away for later examination as the adults in the room finally turned their gazes on the two children. His 'father' gushed over how cute Tsuna was and how much he had grown while make several unsuccessful attempted to remove him from behind Kurama. Tsuna clutched the back of his shirt so Kurama reached back smoothly to run his hands through the boy's soft hair. The familiar gesture never failed to calm the frazzled child, though he doubted Iemistu bothered to learn that fact considering he was gone most of the time.

Tsuna finally calmed down enough to allow himself to be separated from Kurama and swept up into his father's arms. Kurama twitched minutely not trust the man one bit as he threw Tsuna in the air and caught him, however, he was distracted by the older human kneeling down in front of him.

"Hello there Shuichi-kun. My name is Timoteo. I'm your father's boss."

Kurama eyes him for a moment trying to decide what approach he'd use, before deciding naive child with a bit too much perception would do nicely.

"Nice to meet you Timoteo-san. You're a con-contruc-construction boss?" He tilted his head and widened his eyes in a way he knew most adults couldn't resist while clutching the front of his shirt to portray nervousness.

For a brief moment, the man's eyes narrowed and Kurama's breathe caught in his throat at the amount of danger presented in those deceivingly average brown eyes. Then the man smiled just as calmly as before while nodding his head.

"Why, yes, I am. Your father sent you a postcard from one of our constructions on the North Pole, right?"

"Oh yes! The penguins were adorable!" His mother gushed while giggling like a school girl.

Kurama frowned inwardly. Silently giving the man points for being able to spout that ridiculous lie without a single twitch.

The rest of the visit was less informative than he would have hope. It seemed the two men had made an agreement beforehand not to talk about their work at all except for in, what Kurama assumed was, Italian. He would sit in the room or in the next one busying himself with normal childish activities.

However, they never slipped up and the old man tended to shoot him amused looks.

All he could do was memorize certain words or phrases they repeated or seemed important. After they left, he planned to learn Italian for easier eavesdropping in the future. His mother wouldn't question it. She never even looked remotely curious as to why he would want certain books. High level Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Botany. Anything he was vaguely interested in learning. He would grab himself or point and his mother would buy it for him.

Well, there was that one time when he tried testing her patience with the porn magazine…

Kurama shook his head and returned his focus to the little game of ball he and his brother where playing while the adults sat watching and chatting off to the side. He watched absentmindedly as his mother went to get refreshments while keeping an eye on his little brothers progress in getting the ball back from a bush.

He turned and smiled at Tsuna when he finally got it and came trotting back, but was unable to stop the boy from tripping over his own feet. He sighed and went over to him as his 'father' laughed loudly. He helped him up noting the wobbly lip and tear filled eyes, but no obvious injuries.

"It's okay Tsuna." He said as he patted the boys head. "You're not hurt, you'll be fine."

He nearly cursed when the boy looked over at their still laughing 'father' and the wobble became more pronounced.

Tsuna burst into tears. Making Kurama wince. He was never sure how to deal with the boy when he cried.

Of course, the strange flames had to make an appearance today. He reached out for his brother to try and calm him down like normal when he was yanked away suddenly. He nearly scowled at his 'father's' unwanted involvement and did scowl at the old human when he tried to get close to Tsuna.

He wasn't sure what the strange flame on the end of the old human finger would do, but he wouldn't let him touch his brother. He sunk his small baby teeth in Iemitsu's arm and quickly shuffled himself between Tsuna and the two adults.

"Shuichi!"

"Shuichi-kun, please stand aside. I'm just trying to calm little Tsuna down. You don't like seeing your brother cry, right?"

"Tsuna is fine." He insisted. Trying to make his voice sound like a petulant child.

Turning to his brother as if proving a point he ran his hands through his hair and murmured softly to him. Like usual the flames merely tickled his skin leaving behind a strange warmth, but nothing more as they faded away. He wrapped a protective arm around the boy as he turned to the narrowed eyed adults.

"See, Tsuna is fine."

His mother chose that moment to reappear, cutting through all of the building tension like a breath of fresh air. Kurama tightened his grip on Tsuna's shoulders making the boy look at him funny. He looked at his snot cover face for a moment before shaking his head and dragging him inside to get cleaned up.

The old man left the next day, but not before trying to do that strange flame thing several times. Kurama stopped him each time, sometimes even with the help of his mother. There was no way her timely appearances were entirely coincidences.

This seemed to upset Iemistu terribly, but Timoteo seemed to find it amusing after the first couple of times.

His 'father' left a few days later allowing everything to return to normal.

Or at least, that's what Kurama first assumed.

Kurama hadn't been paying attention. Something he would always regret whenever he thought of that moment later in life no matter how many time his mother claimed it wasn't his fault.

They were walking home from the grocery store.

Tsuna was holding their mother's hand while Kurama walked a few steps in front of them. It was cold and he wanted to be inside, instead of out in the snow.

He never did like winter.

The car screeched loudly as it jerked to a stop in front of them.

He had reached his demonic power but came up short…

Kurama froze.

That's what cost him in the end.

The man that jumped out of the car was human, Kurama noted vaguely as he watched him smirk and preen. He was saying something in what Kurama identified as Italian, but he spoke too quickly for him to catch any of the basic words he had started learning. Their lack of understanding and therefore lack of response seemed to irritate the man.

A gun made an appearance.

He waved it around most likely trying to intimidate them. When they still didn't answer what must have been a question he grew angry.

The man aimed threateningly at Kurama, but he wasn't able to do anything about it.

He wasn't even able to make a noise when his mother yanked him behind her and took the shot for him.

From that point on everything seemed to move in fast motion.

The man hadn't been subtle at all, despite the snow, the street had been semi-busy and someone had called the police. The police in Namimori had always been quick. It probably had to do with the fact that a Hibari had always been Chief of Police and that family was simply scary.

Kurama watched, vaguely aware of his brother clutching his arm tightly, as an ambulance arrived on the scene.

It took his mother away.

Her pale face twisted in pain.

An Officer was talking softly to them.

Blankets were wrapped around them as they were led to the officer's vehicle and taken to the hospital.

Even after they had been sitting with the officer in the hospital waiting room, all Kurama could see was the blood stained snow.

He gritted his teeth as he wrapped his arms around his trembling brother.

A psychologist had tried to talk to them earlier, but Kurama hadn't trusted his acting skills while his mind had been in such turmoil, so he had ignored her until she left. Tsuna simply followed his lead, like he did with most things pertaining to strangers.

He wasn't sure how long they stayed like that before a nurse finally made an appearance and informed the officer that their mother was now stable and they could visit her.

They practically stepped on the woman's shoes as she led them through the winding hallways to their mother's current room. It really couldn't be called a room Kurama noted dully as Tsuna scrambled toward the bed tears and snot streaming down his face when he caught sight of his mother. It was tiny and there wasn't even a door, just a curtain. He supposed she'd probably get a real room later, but there was no telling when that would occur.

He shifted awkwardly to a corner while the nurse helped Tsuna curled up next to their mother on the bed. She was smiled gently and telling Tsuna to be 'really careful 'cause his mommy was very hurt and couldn't move her arm very well'.

His mother cooed softly over Tsuna telling him she was okay and not to worry.

She was still very pale.

Her eyes were slightly tight around the edges from pain.

Her voice wavered a little bit as she tried to answer some of the officer's questions before the man decided to let her rest and gave her his name and phone number for a later meeting. Both the man and the nurse glanced at him as they left, but neither said anything.

His mother murmured comforting words to Tsuna as he drifted off to sleep.

Kurama flinched and looked away when her eyes turned to him.

"Come over here, Shuichi." She said softly. "Give your Mama a hug."

He didn't hesitate to climb onto the bed, the opposite side of Tsuna, but then paused in uncertainty. His mother laughed softly and stiffly moved her hand to cup his head and pull him to her chest.

"I'm so glad you're okay." She whispered as Kurama laid there stiffly. "I was so afraid I was going to lose you."

He didn't say anything.

He wasn't sure what to say.

But he did curl his small hands into the fabric of her hospital gown and hid his face in her stomach.

He stayed like that until her soft breathing finally lulled him into unconsciousness.

Me too.

Ookay! So, this chapter focused heavily on showing rather than telling. I'm actually quite proud of it, to be honest. Anywho, I've got a few partially written chapters that I haven't finished that should be up within the next week or so. The semester has started up again, but I think I'll have time to keep writing. Three of my classes are fantastic, which makes everything easier. :D

Thank you guys for all of the reviews! I never thought I'd get close to forty with only ten chapters in a rather small crossover group? section? thing? I'll answer a few questions that I saw here:

~No, I don't have any romance planned for this story. In fact, I rarely write romance in general. There might be hints because I found that hilarious in cannon, but there won't be any pairings, yaoi or het.

~ Kurama helped Mukuro and his crew before the Kokuyo incident. They had just arrived in Japan which was why they were a mess.

~ Yup, Kurama is in Hibari's grade.

~ Iemistu is a mafia man through and through. His familia and family is everything to him...and he doesn't really consider Kurama in either category. So...

Also! Grizzmon, its funny you brought up Naruto, because I had been thinking about doing a fic along a similar premise with Naruto's Kurama, though not a crossover. XD

Thanks again for the reviews! You guys are awesome! :D