Felt like finishing up this chapter today after getting stuck on it before. It's longer than some of my other chapters and the beginning i kind of...skipped a lot of dialogue...sorry about that, but it was a lot of dialogue and i didn't want to drag out the mosca fight. so...tada! ^^ please review and let me know what you think. and sorry if her box weapon seems a little lame. i just didn't want her being overpowered or anything, especially since her flame itself is so destructive. the cambio forma i have for her should be better, but we aren't up to that point yet ;) oh, and please review! lpoor natsu's starting to feel a little left out lately with the group, and i want to know what you guys think.

I was guessing that everyone ahead of me was conversing about something, but I seemed to miss out when someone said we were stopping, because I ran right into Ryohei's shoe.

"You know," I grumbled, rubbing my nose. "it would be nice if I actually knew what you guys were saying.

Just then, we scrambled forward and I just barely managed not to get caught in the lasers thanks to Ryohei tugging me forward at the last second. It was too bad I couldn't read what he was saying, especially when we suddenly fell out of the air duct and I landed roughly on my shoulders; legs dangling over my head as I stared out from between them with a annoyed expression.

"Thanks for the heads up."

Yamamoto chuckled a bit, helping me up. "Sorry, Natsu."

Just then though, I spotted everyone looking over at a rather large man that we didn't notice before.

"Huh? I thought it was a mole, but it's just a bunch of human kids."

Well, this can't be good. I mused, silently taking a step back over towards Tsuna as everyone in our group panicked for a moment. There's no time to panic. He needs to be taken care of and we need to move on. Come on, brain, look for an escape! I wasn't able to think for long before the man pulled out some lightning cannons and shot at us. I went to block it, pulling out my boxes, but it was blocked before I could and I lightly sighed, recognizing the smell of gunpowder from Gokudera's bombs.

"Geeze, Octopus-head, way to give me a heads up."

"Huh?! Why should I, freaky-hair?!" he shouted back as I gave him a dull look, before everyone's eyes shifted to the big man from before and I turned around as well.

I must have missed some sort of insult though, because the man suddenly shouted something incomprehensible to me and pulled out a huge electric lance. I knew that some of the group were discussing him, but I already knew who he was and I didn't really care all that much. I mean, sure, he was known to be really good at fighting and such, but something about him was off compared to the reports I had read about him. Like…this isn't his true self or something. Sure, he's super powerful and all, but…all brawn and no brain doesn't match with the reports.

"Tsuna…" I muttered, catching his attention as I relaxed my stance and scratched the back of my head, eyes scanning the room. "We don't really have time to deal with this guy, but there's no way past him."

He nodded, gaze hardening as the man charged and Tsuna used his dying will to stop the guy's lance, melting the end of it in his hand. It was pretty cool to see how far Tsuna had come, not even moving as the large man pushed against him; and I was glad that Tsuna had finally figured out how to use his flame. I figured at this point that Tsuna wouldn't need our help, so I just stood back with the others and began checking the maps of the building in my sunglasses as we waited, checking for alternate routes should we run into something like this guy again.

When the big guy (I didn't even bother to remember his name from the reports) pulled out his box animal though, I was a little distracted and paused what I was doing to figure out what I could about the large electric boar. Now that makes more sense. I thought, glancing away and going back to the maps over my lenses. I knew something was off about those reports. They weren't talking about the big guy, but his box animal. Shaking the thought out of my head, I found our most direct route and then waited patiently until Tsuna used his X-Burner and finished the man off. He reverted back to himself then and I relayed what route we should take before we were off again, though something in my chest warmed up when Tsuna thanked me. Not now, body. There's more important things to worry about…like Irie…

Just the thought of my friend had the muscles in my body tensing as we hurried along to the eighth basement. I still hadn't figured out what I was going to do once we caught up with him. To me, it sounded as though Tsuna and the others were going to ambush him and possibly defeat him in battle or something. I knew it wouldn't be like that though, because I knew that Irie wasn't much of a fighter, but more of a thinker, a strategist like me…sort of. I still knew how to fight, but he…he was different. At least, when I knew him, he was.

Someone tapped my shoulder. "U-Um, Natsu? Are you okay? You look a little…worried or something…"

I blinked at Tsuna, noticing the others looking at me as well, and I shook my head. "No. I'm fine. I was just thinking, is all."

Tsuna didn't look convinced, and I realized that I must have zoned out for a pretty long while, because the wound on Tsuna's elbow was healed-thanks to Ryohei, no doubt-and everyone seemed to have a good idea on where we were going next. Heck, we were already well into the heart of the eighth basement and no one seemed bothered by the mold growing on portions of the wall were there were long cracks. It caught my attention briefly, but I knew that I needed to focus now, or else I could put everyone in possible danger.

I noticed everyone rushing into a room in front of us, no Lal in sight, and I mentally cursed as I hurried in after them. Dammit! Pay attention! By the time I got in there, Ryohei was shouting something and a young looking kid in a pointed hat was chuckling.

"Fufu, you seem to have gotten the wrong idea. Even for the seven people reputed to be the most powerful, the cursed Arcobaleno babies, they drop like dead flies when exposed to the Tri-ni-set radiation. It's such a tedious matter, really. Why would I bother to kill him personally?" The boy smirked. "All I did was show my most cruel smile, while I suggested ways to kill him. And then I watched, that's all."

So he's an illusionist? At least, that's what I could guess from what he said, that, and I think I skimmed over his page too, but there were so many Millefiore members that he probably got lost in the information in my head. I pinched the bridge of my nose before glancing around at the others in our group. Ryohei and Lal are on edge too, so I'm guessing that the Arcobaleno he killed was Colonello. Though it's not good if either of these two fight this guy with their personal connection, but…Lal should be okay handling it. I jumped when spider webs popped up out of nowhere and trapped all of us in a box, leaving Lal to fight the boy.

I probably should have paid more attention to the battle, but I was distracted by the boy and how he seemed to use box weapons without actually opening any. Just a simple snap of his fingers and spiders appeared. And I guess he's not an illusionist since the spiders are glowing yellow. So a sun user then? But how is he opening the boxes? Is it possible that they were already opened? There was a light in front of me and I blinked out of my thoughts as Tsuna began yelling and the boy snapped his fingers, but nothing happened. I couldn't quite make out what Lal was saying, her being too far away fro me to read her lips, but when she glowed the blue color of rain, I was pleasantly surprised.

"But how?" I muttered, and a heavy hand landed on my shoulder as a smiling Yamamoto looked down at me.

"Colonello's pacifier, Natsu! You should pay more attention."

"Oh…" I said, looking away and trying to focus a bit more than I had been.

I watched as Lal jumped up and went for a direct attack, but the boy dodged. I couldn't help but smirk though as I say Lal use her centipede to help her maneuver midair and grab a hold of the boy. I flinched a little when she managed to impale him, but there was something off and the boy actually exploded, blocking our vision of her and him. Tsuna was shouting for her and the others were looking for her in concern, before I finally spotted her.

"Over there!" I shouted, running over with the others and going to check up on her.

She didn't look too bad, her centipedes having protected her, but when I looked over at the boy, I frowned.

"He was just a doll."
Tsuna was shocked and I headed over to the doll and checked it over.

"Must be a sort of last resort kind of thing." I muttered. "Take down the enemy with you."

I glanced back at the others, but they had ignored me to talk about something else and I felt a little left out. I suppose it's to be expected. I'm not an actual guardian anyway, but…doesn't meant hat it doesn't bother me a little. I sighed quietly to myself, standing and looking over, only to find everyone looking up abruptly.

I raised a brow. "Am I…missing something?"

Tsuna looked over at me with wide eyes. "T-The alarm is going off! Has the enemy found us?!"

I frowned and reached into the backpack I had brought along, a second smaller laptop inside it, and I quickly began checking the surrounding areas by hacking into the main server now that we were close enough, and the security cameras.

"Not yet. They know we're here, and they're mobilizing, but it sounds like they got word from someone, probably the doll."

Lal nodded as I tucked the laptop away. "We must hurry!"

We began running down the stairs and I stayed in the middle of the group, hoping to not miss out on anything because of my handicap if I was surrounded by everyone. I had this odd feeling that we were being watched though and glance up at the cameras we were passing in worry. If you're watching this, Irie, please…please tell me that you're still on our side. We suddenly stopped and I frowned, checking my sunglasses before making sure that the server had actually been knocked out like I ordered it to.

"Server's down." I announced, though that unsettling feeling was still there.

"Then let's move on to destroy the main installation!" Yamamoto said, making to move, but Gokudera stopped him.

"Hold it. We haven't finished talking about the Arcobaleno."

Is that what they were talking about earlier? What for? I frowned in slight confusion as they went on.

"Why do you know about everything?"

"…It was a promise. When I completed my training, the little guy told me everything."

"Wha?!"

"Reborn did that?!"

Even Ryohei seemed surprised. "Even I couldn't get my master to tell me anything."

"However, I can't talk about it right now." Yamamoto said, making me even more confused and even curious about what this was that they were talking about.

"Why the hell not?!"

"I can only tell all of you after this battle is over. That's the promise I made with the little guy, too."

Gokudera was completely shocked, but Lal caught my attention, and I broke away from the group and looked down at her.

"You overexerted yourself, didn't you?"

She glared at me. "Shut it. Make sure they go ahead. I'll follow later."

I raised a brow at her, but it seemed that we were overheard and Tsuna and the gang hurried over in worry.

"Lal! I-Is it your condition?!"

"The fight with Ginger was a little rough." She said, making me confused until I realized that she was talking about the boy from before.

"Is your body…in pain?" Tsuna questioned, kneeling at her side.

"I'm fine. Just go already. I'm not going to be the one to slow you down."

"No way!" Tsuna shouted, getting serious. "This operation is a success only if we return with everyone!"

I smiled a little, when my sunglasses alerted me to something and I caught everyone's attention. "Guys, they're closing the gates along the main routes."

Ryohei frowned. "We predicted this, but we were supposed to head for the next point while Lal Mirch stays behind as a decoy."

"That won't work." Gokudera said, making me glad that I was in a position where I could see what everyone was saying.

"Ah, well…leave that to me." Tsuna said, surprising everyone. "A-According to the plan, the decoy needs to have mobility. So I think I'm the best choice for the job."

"That's true…" Ryohei said uncertainly.

"But boss!"

"I'll be fine!" Tsuna smiled at him. "I'll meet up with you guys later. Gokudera, look after Lal, please. Ah! Natsu too!"

I scoffed, arms in my pockets as I plopped a sucker in my mouth. "Not a chance. I'm coming with you."

He looked shocked. "B-But you can't!"

I frowned. "Yeah, I can. I'm the next person with great mobility and I could help you. There'll be no point in continuing the mission if the boss gets caught. A second person could prevent that."

"But, Natsu-"

"No." Ryohei said. "She's right. It's best if someone goes with you and Natsu's the best option. She's not a guardian and I can hack into the system if we need to."

I grit my teeth at what he was implying, but stayed silent, knowing that he was right. I'm expendable. Tsuna was reluctant, but I gave him a reassuring smile and he nodded.

"O-Okay."

"Besides, Tsuna, I have a map and know where we're going. You'd probably get lost." I snickered, trying to ease up the tense atmosphere and not quite missing how he turned a little red and my heart sped up. Stop it…

"Mn! Okay! Let's got then!" The two of us hurried off down the tunnel and after we got a ways into it, I stopped, holding out a hand to stop Tsuna as my sunglasses reported about the oncoming enemies.

"Four enemies and…they're not human."

"W-What?!"

"They're Strau Mosca."

Tsuna's eyes widened. "L-Like the thing that the Ninth was put in that one time?!"

I nodded. "Yeah, but they're a bit different. They've been upgraded." I rattled off, my mind going into report mode. "Tougher outsides, empty insides, and they won't die, according to the reports. They're virtually indestructible, as I'm sure Lal told you. I missed out on that lecture."

"N-No way…"

I gave him a small smile. "It's alright, Tsuna. I think I've just about figured them out. I just need a little time to make sure. So…I hate to ask this, but could you delay them for a bit?"

He grew serious, going into his dying will mode and nodded. "Yeah. But be careful, Natsu."

"You too." I said, moving over towards a shadowed area of the tunnel where I pulled out my laptop again and began checking for anything I could as far as their weaknesses goes.

It didn't take long for them to show up and I struggled to keep my eyes off the fight Tsuna was having with them and find what I could. After a point though, I needed to watch the fight and I grit my teeth as I watched Tsuna get dragged underwater. Dammit, come on, Tsuna! I can't give away my position just yet. Not until I've figured out their…weakness…I glanced at one of the Mosca as it dove with the other three underwater after Tsuna and my eyes focused on the round disc in the center of their chests. That's it! Just then, Tsuna came up out of the water and froze it over with his Zero Point Break Through.

I stood up and shouted at him. "The centers, Tsuna! Get through the layers and freeze the center!"

He nodded at me and I packed up my stuff, getting ready to help, should I need to and just as the Mosca shot their lasers out of the water, Tsuna was ready and hit them with a different attack, a revised one. Just then, I noticed Tsuna tense and I frowned.

"Tsuna…what's going on?"

He looked over at me and I nodded, going silent. Someone was listening in or talking, I couldn't be sure which, but I knew that giving myself away wouldn't be good. Surprise is always the best option. A Mosca came up out of the ice and Tsuna dodged before kicking it, slamming into it and knocking it back. There was something off though and I glanced over at the Mosca he defeated as the other three came up too. Tsuna began talking again, but I was growing frustrated at the lack of information I was getting, a nagging feeling telling me that whatever interaction was going on in front of me could help me help Tsuna.

Suddenly, two of the Mosca began shooting flames at the larger on and my eyes widened. What?!…What could they be- I stopped as an idea popped in my head. Once that worried me and made me sweat. They can't be…they're doing the same things as Tsuna's revised breakthrough? They're bathing that Mosca in flames so that it can revert those into it's own and…oh no…

"Tsuna! Get out of there!" I shouted, but I was a little too late, and the new Mosca attacked, Tsuna getting hit hard in the stomach and hit again, falling back towards the ice as the Mosca shot at him.

I couldn't take it and hurried out, opening my animal box weapon and blocking the bullets with Aki and Yuu's help. I glanced back at Tsuna who nodded in thanks before mouthing for me to go hide again, but I was done hiding. I'd already let him get hit once and I wasn't going to allow it again.

"I'm not going to hide again. You need to listen to me, alright? That Mosca just used your own weapon for itself. It turned those other Mosca's flames into it's own energy, so now it's three times as powerful, got it? The only way to beat this thing is to freeze the controls. Not just the outside, but the inside too. Concentrate your flames into one point and try breaking through that way. It might work."

"Are you sure?"

I nodded and turned away from him to face the Mosca. Once the smoke began clearing though, Tsuna pushed me back behind him and spoke, but I couldn't see his lips and scowled. He then launched himself up and I was forced to watch, not quite knowing what he had in mind, until I saw it. He's taking out the thrusters so that he can put the thing on equal ground. He's not fast enough to catch it in the air, so he's bringing it down to his level.

I rolled my eyes, rolling my shoulders. "That idiot. He should just tell me what he's up to."

Aki seemed to chuckle and Yuu sighed, as I pulled out my other box. My actual box weapon. Guys just can't admit they need help, can they? Opening the box, a white and red kitsune mask appeared on my head, black fingerless gloves were on my hands, and my tekagi-shuko now went half way up my lower arm, had longer, thicker claws, and could even be filled with poisons or acid. Having expected the Strau Mosca to show up, I had obviously filled it with the later. Taking a deep breath, I pulled the mask over my face and calmed myself. There were no eye holes which had caused me quite the trouble when I first discovered my box weapon, but training with Hibari had quickly gotten me over that and I was forced to focus on my other sense; namely, gut instinct.

Fighting in this fashion was difficult. I knew that. I knew that deep inside, I was scared, petrified of what could happen with two of my senses closed off to the world. But I trusted myself. I trusted that my instincts that had been pounded into me from the day I was born would help me get through this, and I knew that Tsuna would have my back. So I let out the breath I'd been holding and charged, covering my tekagi-shuko with grey-orange flames and attacking the Mosca. Hit left, dodge, right, duck, jump, hit head, dodge, kick thruster, hi-crap! I was knocked back, but righted myself and landed easily on top of the water, my flames under my feet keeping me afloat.

Tsuna was probably shouting at me or something, I could imagine him doing such after I just jumped in there, but it was when I felt warmth, that I caught onto what was going on and I quickly went to block the attack, but realized something a second too late. There's projectiles in the flames! I blocked the attack with my flames, but the projectiles still hit me and I was thrown back into the ice that Tsuna had covered the water with.

It hurts… The breath was knocked out of me, but my flames were still active and I growled, before throwing the ball I had been preparing right at where I assumed the Mosca's chest was as I felt it attack Tsuna. I know that sounds ridiculous, feeling it attack Tsuna, but I could. I didn't know how to explain it, but Hibari actually described it to me once, saying that it was like Tsuna's intuition. Tsuna was able to realize when someone was hiding feelings and such or their bad intentions, and I did something similar, but with guessing. I could guess an opponent's next move, go through the possible options they could take and then, based on what I knew about them or what I figured out, I could guess which one they would choose to take and act accordingly. 'Gut intuition', Hibari called it and that's all I've ever been able to describe it as.

So when the ice suddenly fell out from underneath me and my mask floated out of place a bit, I was glad to see that my attack had hit exactly where I wanted it too. The Mosca's center piece was cracked and smoking. It was then, that a message came over the inside of my mask, sunglasses having been removed a when I opened the box.

"Don't forget you're not alone, Natsu." The message read and I let out a chuckle, bubbles floating up out of the water as I grinned and nodded.

That's right. I have Tsuna and…my other weapons. I quickly used my flames to send a blast out behind me and launched myself up out of the water just as Tsuna passed, mask slipping back in place-though on top of my head now and not actually over my face; because I realized that what it does is separates me from everyone. It isolates me and right now, I wasn't alone. I wasn't by myself and I had someone I needed to protect.

"Yuu! Aki! Now!"

My two foxes jumped out of hiding, each with a mouth full of grey-orange flames and attacking the Mosca, blinding it for a few seconds as I gathered my flames in both my hands and concentrated them to the point that my hands ached from the shear amount of raw, spinning, condensed energy I was holding. Using the cover that my foxes had given me, I propelled myself at the Mosca and went to hit is with my attack, but it grabbed my arm before I could reach the center. I smirked though, knowing that that was exactly what I had predicted it to do, and I thrust my second ball of flame into it's arm.

Even I was a little surprised when the ball exploded and tore into the Mosca's arm, leaving a nice sized hole, but I didn't have long to think, before it threw me back. The thing was, though, I wasn't just a close-distance fighter and I threw the second ball I still had at the Mosca's chest. It barely dodged and the ball tore a chunk out of it's shoulder, before my two foxes were thrown at me and hit me, knocking the breath out of me and slamming me into the wall. I was a little more than spent at this point, feeling my vision fading in and out as my box weapons retreated back into their boxes, and the last thing I saw was Tsuna doing an airborne X Burner. My mind was still running though and as I slipped into unconsciousness, I couldn't help but mentally sigh. Tsuna…you need more…power in the…supporting flames…looks like…we're both screwed…

Spanner hopped out of the destroyed Mosca after Tsuna had hit it with the X Burner Air and hummed.

"He managed to cause so much damage to King Mosca. What an incredible move…but it looks like it's not perfected yet, huh…"

He headed over to where Tsuna had collapsed unconscious and then spotted the orange haired kid not far away, in the same condition.

"That kid wasn't bad either…but…my duty was to intercept these two." He held up the pistol he'd taken with him. "Farewell."

He froze as he swallowed thickly, glancing down at the cold metal under his neck before looking over at the person holding the weapon.

"Don't…Don't you touch him!"

He held his hands up in a surrender position, staring back at the orange haired kid with slight fear, but also curiosity. How is this kid able to move? Just looking at him, I can tell that he…she…has broken a rib and is pretty banged up. Heck, she's barely conscious! Her eyes can't even focus!

"Alright. I wasn't going to hurt him anyway. I don't care for things like these." Spanner waved his gun around, before slowly placing it on the floor in front of him, watching Natsu carefully as she panted and struggled to keep from blacking out.

"Get…Get away from him…" She muttered out, blinking to try and clear the fog in her head. I have to help Tsuna…

Spanner though, was thinking something else entirely. This kid…she looks familiar…like I've seen her somewhere before. In a photograph or something. "Look. I just want to help."

"Then why bring the gun? Why…" Natsu took a rasping breath, not sounding too good. "Why fight us?"

She's got a point…I wasn't planning on letting them go, but… "I'm curious."

Natsu just stared, so he elaborated.

"Your attacks are interesting. It's the first time I've seen a flame with two colors like that other than the rumors I've heard about another one of the Vongola bosses, but it was never a combination of orange and grey. I've never even heard of a grey flame. That, and this friend of yours has an interesting new attack. One I would like to see completed and could possibly help with."

"You…" She paused, and Spanner couldn't tell if it was because she was loosing her energy or if she was trying to think up something to describe him. "You're like him…Like Irie…"

Spanner's eyes widened in surprise, before Natsu's eyes rolled up and her tekagi-shuko disappeared, her body collapsing to the ground. She…She knows Irie? Spanner couldn't seem to be able to wrap his head around that concept and, in a last minute decision, he decided that he would take the young Vongola Boss and his friend back to his place, if only to receive some answers. There was one thing going through his mind though, one thing that bothered him. It was a picture he'd seen before. One Irie had. A picture of a younger him and an orange-haired kid with a big white bandage on their face, ruffling Irie's hair with a goofy grin. Spanner remembered asking Irie about it and the small smile that he'd made after he replied with a simple, "They were just a friend". What was her relationship with him? Spanner wondered as he got the Mosca working again and carried the two kids back to his section of the base. And better yet, what's their relationship now…