AN: I think I've been cranking out these stories too fast. Maybe I should slow my pace. I feel that my chapters are kinda short. Should I do fast updates with short chapters or slow updates with longer chapters? What do you guys think? Anyways, reviews and comments are appreciated.

AN2: New version up. If its actually worse than the previous version then...my bad?

Disclaimer: Don't own KHR

-10 years ago-

"Hey Tsu-chan?"

"Hmm?"

"What do you think about friends?" Misaki asked while the duo lounged in the park.

"Friends? I dunno, I've never really had any friends before." Tsuna replied while absentmindedly playing with some sand. His sand castle might not have won any awards, but to a 5 year old like him, it was pretty darn impressive.

The girl smiled sadly at her younger brother figure before brushing some sand off of his head. "Do you wanna know what I think?" Upon seeing the little boy's eager nod, she continued "I think that friends are the most important people a person can have."

"Why?" The boy tilted his head in a manner that made Misaki want to squeal: He was just too cute for his own good sometimes. "Wouldn't it be family? Since your family is always with you and you live with them and stuff."

After a moment of thought, Misaki replied with a hint of bitterness that Tsuna couldn't detect. "Because there are some things only friends can help you with; some things that only friends will understand and your family won't. Friends, well good friends, treat you as an equal. You have no obligations that you have to fulfill or traditions you have to follow like with your family. You can just be you. A family stifles you with their expectations. They put you down when what you do isn't enough and sometimes you just feel so suffocated."

"Uhh, Misa-nee? I don't really understand what you just said." Tsuna admitted seconds later as his forehead crinkled in concentration.

All signs of seriousness were gone from the girl's face when she heard that. She didn't know what made her start her rant but she should've known that the little boy wouldn't have really understood her. "Haha, you'll understand when you're older."

But, Tsuna continued to think about it as he finished his sandcastle. He looked up and beamed as he saw his surrogate sister's smile of approval. Then, a thought hit him. "But Misa-nee, you're my friend right?" Tsuna suddenly asked.

"Yeah, I think of us as friends." she instantly replied, not really sure where this was going.

"But, you let me call you Nee-chan… doesn't that mean that we're family too?"

After another moment of silence Misaki lets out a laugh. "Yeah, I guess it does, doesn't it?"

"So…how does that work then? If you like friends more than family, do you still like me?" He started to tear up at the thought that she wouldn't like him anymore.

Misaki moved to comfort the boy. Patting the boy on the back in a soothing motion, she replied "No, don't worry Tsu-chan. You're different since you're both family and a friend. A two in one, you know? So, you're way better than just family or just a friend. You're my little brother."

"That's right! I'll be the bestest little brother on earth! And, we'll find some more friends to join our family, a family of friends! Maybe a little sister, yeah I've always wanted to be a big brother!" Tsuna excitedly exclaimed.

'A family of friends huh? That wouldn't be so bad. We could all protect eachother and hang out together when we don't want to be home. Who knows, maybe one day this family of ours will become something big.' Misaki smiled fondly as she watch Tsuna speak animatedly about the kinds of people that they would one day call family.

-Present-

It was graduation day for Nanimori Middle School and everyone was excited. Underclassmen and staff members hurried to set things up perfectly so that they could send off the graduates with flair. Fireworks were prepared and balloons were blown up. Chairs were placed accordingly and the podium was properly set up. The graduating class was one of the biggest in history so the ceremony would take place outside instead of in the gym. One might ask, why go through all this trouble for a middle school graduation? The answer most members of this school would say was: because Hibari Kyouya is graduating.

Hibari "I'll bite you to death!" Kyouya was definitely a man, for all those that called him a boy meet the end of his tonfas, to be feared. As chairman of the school's disciplinary committee, all students feared him. Teachers, although also afraid of him at times, couldn't help but admire his way of getting students to behave. So, the students energetically prepared for the graduation, dreaming of the upcoming years that would be Hibari free. Well, that is until they entered High School.

But that wasn't important right now. Nor was the reason why Hibari Kyouya, someone who clearly should've graduated last year, was still at the school important. So, enough about Hibari, let's take a look at what our main character Sawada Tsunayoshi is up to.

Tsuna woke up today feeling great. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and today would mark the end of his middle school career. Nothing could ruin this day for him, not even the usual morning chaos.

The ceremony would begin at 1 in the afternoon so he had plenty of time. But, instead of sleeping in like he planned last night, Tsuna promptly woke at 6 AM. He sighed as he silently cursed his body. Reborn had been giving him morning workouts for a while and his body automatically woke itself up. It was probably a defense mechanism created so that he wouldn't have to face Reborn's scary wake up methods.

As Tsuna made way around his room doing his morning routine, he heard an excited yell from downstairs. Fearing the worst, he ran towards the front door and was greeted by his mother frantically hugging his father. "Honey! You came home for Tsu-kun's graduation! He'll be so happy! But, I thought that you couldn't get time off of work?" an excited Nana rushed out.

"Arggh, Nana-chan, too tight… can't breathe." Iemitsu choked out as his wife hugged him to death. After being freed he responded "My boss said that you only graduate form middle school once, so I should come back! Isn't that great?"

Nana's eyes sparkled as she pecked her husband on the cheek. "That's wonderful, Honey! I'll have to bake some more cookies for your boss!"

Tsuna couldn't help but feel that what his dad said was a lie. Maybe, it was due to his Hyper Intuition or something like that. But, he knew that there must be another reason for his dad's visit, probably something Vongola related. What was he thinking? It was definitely something Vongola related. 'Now that I think about it, Frederico should have been sent back to the Vongola by now. Maybe dad came here to tell us? Nah, they could have just called to tell us the news.' Tsuna thought.

Tsuna politely coughed to interrupt the love fest that was happening right in front of him. It didn't matter what age you were, children never want to see their parents be all lovey dovey in front of them.

"Hey Tsuna!" Iemitsu shouted. "I can't believe that you're already graduating!" he said as he walked towards his son. The man gave his son a hearty pat on the back before loudly exclaiming that he was hungry and started to walk to the kitchen. "Meet me in your room in an hour, we have to talk." the CEDEF leader softly said as he passed Tsuna.

"I'll be blunt and say this; you and your guardians have a mission directly from Nono." Tsuna's dad said later in his room. It was still hours away until graduation, so there was plenty of time for details.

"Huh? What are you talking about, dad?" A mission? On his graduation day? 'That's kind of messed up!' Tsuna thought as he sat down on his bed while his dad took the only chair in the room.

"Nono's son Frederico was found 2 days ago. He was in a coma and just woke up last night. Months ago, there was a fire at his house and a Family kidnapped him. They faked his death and kept him prisoner all this time." Iemitsu said gravely. "As you can imagine, the Boss wasn't happy when he learned that an ally Family of all people took his son from him."

"So, grandpa wants us to do what? Find out which Family it was?" Tsuna asked. Nono had insisted many years ago when he came to Nanimori for a visit for Tsuna to call him grandpa. Tsuna could think of many reasons, both bad and good, for that but they didn't matter all that much now.

"No, we already know who it was. Frederico provided us with enough information. Tsuna, he wants you guys to completely destroy the Genovesse Family. Traitors are not tolerated at all."

"Destroy as in kill?" when Tsuna received a nod from his father he continued, "Why can't they send the Varia to do this? I don't think that we're ready for something like that yet!" Not to mention this was their graduation day! A day of happiness that shouldn't be ruined.

The external advisor got a dark look on his face, "It has to be you! You're going to be the next Boss and you have to show the Families what happens if you mess with the Vongola. As the next generation leaders, it is your job, your duty to do this! No one should oppose the Vongola!" he said passionately. "Tsuna, you are already part of our world. Sooner or later you and your guardians will have to kill. What better way to start than to deal with these betrayers?" Iemitsu said softy.

"But still, isn't it better to just capture them instead? How do we even know it's the right family?" It was a good question. Even though he knew that the intel was right since it was the Ombranera who saved Frederico, he wanted to know if the Vongola had proof and didn't just blame a random Family.

"Yes, we do. Frederico, that resilient idiot, broke out of captivity all by himself. He managed to stumbled his way to one of our safehouses and alert us. He was out like a light when we reached him. When he woke up, he told us all about what happened. Those bastards starved and beat him. They were about to kill him before he managed to escape. Took out one of their bases, he did. What a man. I'm glad we have people like him in this Family." His father said with pride, as if it were his own son who did those feats.

Tsuna was confused to say the least because he knew that most, if not all, of the things Frederico said didn't happen. Hell, the only part that could have been the truth was the part where he was unconscious. 'Why did grandpa's son lie like that? Maybe he was hallucinating?"

"So, when do we leave for the mission?" Tsuna asked. If both his father and Nono felt this strongly about it, then he should consider it.

"As soon as the graduation ceremony is over. That's actually why I'm here. The CEDEF will provide transportation. It's the least I can do for Frederico. After all, I did watch him grow up and it pains me to see him in that state." His father replied. After seeing some hesitation on his son's face he continued "Maybe I'll ask Nono if he could change the orders a little. Maybe you guys won't have to kill everyone. This is your first kill, better not overdo anything."

Iesmitsu stood up and headed towards the door. "I'll go make the call. For right now, you just relax to prepare yourself."

Tsuna sat on his bed deep in thought. He didn't want to kill anyone and he sure as hell didn't want his friends to kill anyone either. Becoming a murderer at age 15 didn't appeal to him at all. Maybe his grandpa will change his mind and let the Varia go. Xanxus and Squalo love doing things like this. Or at least, let them come as back up. Killing was always a subject he avoided. He knew that sooner or later he would have to kill or order kills. After all, this was the Mafia; disputes will not always be settled by words. If worst comes to worst, he wouldn't let his friends kill anyone yet. He didn't want them to have such a burden.