Episode 14 – Revelations
"With arms up… stretched into the sky… With eyes like… echoes in the night… Hiding from the hell that you've been through… Silent one, you go, giving up your home… Go, leaving all you've known…. You are not alone…"
-"Not Alone" by Linkin Park

I was walking home with Hayato from the park. We were coming home from a day of skipping school to hang out. When we got to his house, he had received a package. That's when he started to drag me to Tsuna's place. There, we met Haru, and when Hayato told her, "I have something to give Juudaime," they two began to argue.

I sighed resignedly and kept walking. "Gosh, you guys, you'd think you could lay off the arguing for just one day," I muttered, putting my hands in my pockets. Neither of them listened to me. I sighed again and spotted Tsuna, calling out Reborn's name. "Hey, Tsuna-kun!" That's when silence overtook the arguing duo.

Haru ran up to Tsuna and exclaimed, "Did you hear that they're making an underground shopping district under the Namimori station?" I facepalmed. That was what she was so eager to tell him? I was hoping that she'd decided not to stalk the poor guy… "They're holding an event up till today! Let's all go together!" she cheered.

Hayato scoffed. "What a child."

"Haru is a proper lady!" she yelled back.

"What part of you is a lady?" I sighed. They couldn't stop arguing for one minute, could they? "By the way, were you going somewhere, Juudaime?" I looked to Tsuna, who rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

He began, "Well… Reborn hasn't…" Something bad happened, didn't it? Tsuna explained what happened; Reborn and Lambo were arguing again, and Reborn was hit with the 10-Year Bazooka, but no one appeared in his place.

Hayato looked away in thought and asked, "Reborn-san did disappear because of the 10-Year Bazooka, and no one took his place, right?" Tsuna affirmed it, and Hayato explained, "If he didn't come from ten years from now, that means, ten years from now, Reborn-san doesn't exist."

I gaped. "Dead?"

The bomber shook it off. "I don't know, but anyways, let's go look for Reborn-san! We'll go to check the school!" He grabbed my hand and dragged me off.

For hours we looked for the Arcobaleno, but no one came up with anything. I thought to myself, Something bad is going to happen. No one is going to be safe. If Reborn is gone, what's going to happen? I stopped short. Is this what Mukuro warned me about?

When we walked back to Tsuna's house, we saw pink smoke coming from the house. Had Tsuna been hit by the 10-Year Bazooka? I didn't think twice about running into the house. "Lambo! What did you do?" I yelled, picking up the now-crying cow.

Lambo only cried, "Tsuna… 10-Year Bazooka!" I gasped. So he had been hit. "Wah!" he wailed, picking up the weapon.

"No, Lambo!" I cried, trying to wrestle it away from him. "Give me the bazooka!"

Bang.

X Tsunayoshi Sawada X

The twenty-four year old Gokudera had just finished explaining about Shoichi Irie when Tsuna noticed the other coffin at the other end of the clearing. It looked like he was burying someone. "Ne, Gokudera-kun, whose coffin is that?" Tsuna asked, pointing to the dark blue coffin.

The older man stopped short. "That… that's Najika's coffin." Tsuna gasped. Najika… was dead? "She was murdered right in front of me," Gokudera sighed. "She… she betrayed us, Juudaime. She claimed that she didn't mean to, but…" Tsuna could see that his friend was trying hard not to break. "We have a son, you know."

Tsuna smiled at the silver-haired man. "What's his name?"

"Kaito. Kaito Gokudera. I have a picture." He handed Tsuna a picture. It was of an older Najika, whose eyes weren't as glassy as he remembered, with Gokudera and a little boy holding both of their hands. He looked a lot like Gokudera, except for his blue eyes. "He's around four now."

Looking back at the coffin, Tsuna's smile fell. "I'm sorry for your loss. Does Kaito know what happened?"

Gokudera shook his head. "No. Kai has no idea of what happened, or why his mom isn't going to be coming home any time soon."

"Are you angry at her?" Gokudera looked at Tsuna, who's brown eyes peered curiously back at the ten-year-older version of his friend. "I'm serious! Last time she betrayed us, I remember how angry you were at her." The Vongola Boss sighed. "I guess I just don't want your last memory of her to be a bad one."

The older Storm Guardian was about to reply, but the lid of the coffin across the clearing popped off, and a younger Najika sat up, coughing. "God, if that's what it's like to be hit by the 10-Year-Bazooka, I will never let Lambo out with that thing again."

Gokudera stood up sharply, facing the other coffin. "Get out!" he snapped. Najika looked up at him. "Leave, Najika!"

So he was angry with her. "Hayato-kun? What-why? Why do you want me to leave?" She didn't sound angry or upset, only confused. "Did I do something wrong?" she asked.

He didn't reply, only snapped, "Leave Juudaime alone, Najika!" She sat up straighter, looking now extremely hurt. "No one wants you back at the base!"

"Why are you so angry?" she cried. "What did I do wrong?"

As Gokudera was about to answer, a burst of pink smoke erupted, replacing the older Gokudera with the younger one.

Aw, damn!

X Najika Kamiya X

So I did something wrong? What did I do? Tsuna was here, and now, so was Hayato. All we had to do was wait five minutes. But Tsuna stood. "It's been well over five minutes since I got here."

Oh, God… we were stuck in the future!

I slipped out of wherever my twenty-four year old self had been and walked up to Tsuna and Hayato, who was going through a briefcase left by the future Hayato. "Did the older Hayato-kun say anything about me? About where I was?"

Tsuna hesitated to answer. "He… he said you guys had a son. His name's Kaito Gokudera." I smiled, but soon frowned. I knew that Tsuna was hiding something. "And… and that you were murdered right in front of him."

So that was a coffin I'd woken up in. I looked down. "I knew it." I looked up. A familiar purple Flame was standing across from us. "Nice to meet you, and goodbye." I gaped. I knew that voice.

"Lal-san!" I cried as she launched an attack at us. "Lal-san, stop! It's me, Najika Kamiya!" The woman stopped. "Lal-san… what? Why are you attacking us?" She didn't get a chance to answer.

I could only watch helplessly as Lal Mirch, my tutor, attacked Tsuna and Hayato with no mercy, only to have Tsuna attack her back. "You're not all bad, Tsunayoshi Sawada."

Everything was going wrong! Tsuna and Lal were fighting each other! Why? I gaped at the battle of Flames. Everything… I stopped as Tsuna whacked Lal in the stomach. "Stop it!" However, Lal wasn't one to give up. She released something that was had a purple Flame, forcing Tsuna to release all of his orange Flames. I ran over to him as he collapsed. "Stop!" I demanded. "He's had enough, I get it."

"He passed, kid. Don't get so upset," she snapped. "As you've probably heard, the name's Lal Mirch. Let's get out of here." She dropped a chain in front of each of us as Hayato was freed from his blue-Flame prison. "Put these chains around your Rings. They seal the power of them."

I immediately did what she said, pulling the chain around the Ring around my neck. She simply told us to follow to "our hideout," but when Tsuna even mentioned that perhaps this time's Reborn was there. "What happened to the Arcobaleno?" I asked quietly.

Her voice wavered, but only so that no one really noticed, as she replied, "Skull, Viper, Colonello… The ultimate infants, the Arcobaleno, all died." My jaw dropped. Wasn't she an Arcobaleno, too? "Of course, Reborn isn't here either."

X Tsunayoshi Sawada X

Their hideout was more than Tsuna expected. Considering they had to keep up with Lal Mirch the entire time, it was well worth it. It didn't seem like Najika had as much trouble as them. Their first night camping out was hard for Tsuna. He'd never done anything like that before, and even though he found mushrooms, they were all lost.

Lal Mirch and Najika had found food, and the former told them what she knew. "I was working with the Vongola's External Advisors Organization." Basil and Dad? "Because of an emergency, I was ordered to find the Juudaime's Family. Vongola HQ was nearly destroyed. There were no survivors found, and the Kyuudaime is missing. A team was sent there immediately, but we lost contact with them."

So their opponent was the Millefiore Family, led by Byakuran.

As the four continued through the woods, they noticed a robot, much like the Varia's Gola Mosca, called the Strau Mosca. With one more Ring that Tsuna had, it found the group easily. Lal was about to buy them some time, but a swordsman came out of nowhere and slashed the Mosca, making it freeze. "Attaco di Squalo. That should buy us a minute." Najika stood first, running up to hug the older version of Takeshi Yamamoto.

She was latched onto him and she exclaimed, "Thank God it's you! I thought we were going to die!"

Yamamoto looked down at her. "Najika?" he asked in shock, pushing the girl away from him. She looked about to cry with happiness. "You… why?" he demanded, his eyes hardening to become fierce. "Why did you sell us out to the Millefiore?"

"What?" she squeaked in surprise. "I sold you out?"

He pushed her away, into Gokudera. "Leave. You're not going to be stepping one foot in that base." She backed up, clutching Gokudera's hand. "I won't hesitate to attack you."

Lal stood in her defense. "Let her come with us for one night. She's harmless without her medication. She has no idea where she's going." Yamamoto finally conceded.

X Najika Kamiya X

I felt numb. Takeshi and Hayato both accused me of doing something, which Takeshi confirmed to be betrayal. All I could do was follow them. My mind had gone into shock. I couldn't think, I could barely breathe.

Betrayal.

Why did you sell us out to the Millefiore?

No one wants you here!

No one… wanted me at the base? I turned under the blankets, almost crying. Scratch that. I was crying. I just didn't notice. Lal had given me a pill, that my future self helped to make, which allowed me to see fully, and now, I couldn't sleep.

I should leave.

I pulled out my cell phone and scrolled through my contacts. Tsuna, Hayato, Takeshi, Hibari (yes, I had Hibari's number; it's a long story), Chrome, and Basil. None of them would be able to help me. Kyoko, Haru, and Fuuta wouldn't be able to help me, either. Bel. Bel may have been able to help me. Before I knew it, I had dialed the number. One ring. Two rings. "What do you want?"

"Bel?" I asked. "It's me, Najika."

He paused. "Who the hell is this? If this is a joke, I don't find it funny at all," he snapped icily. I stopped. Right, I was dead in this time period. "If you don't give me an answer, I'll track you down and make sure to make your death painful."

I bit my lip. "Bel, it's really me. I'm from nine years and ten months ago. I was shot with the 10-Year Bazooka, and we're stuck here. Hayato-kun and Tsuna-kun are with me."

There was silence on the other end of the phone. "Do you know?"

"About my betrayal? Yeah, I do," I replied sadly. "But I'm in a jam right now. Can I ask for your help?"

Bel giggled childishly. "Why of course, Princess. If you can get to Italy safely, feel free to drop by. But…" his voice turned serious, "it's going to be really dangerous. It's a huge if to get to Italy from Japan. You're going to need every ounce of strength you have just to get out of Japan."

I smirked. "No problem. How long do I have?"

"I don't know. Just get out of there before they launch their attack. Now that HQ has fallen, I don't know if you'll even be able to get out yet."

Sighing, I tugged at the ring around my neck. "I understand. I'll get out as soon as I can, Bel. Make sure the way is clear for me?"

He laughed again. "Of course, Princess. We'll all be waiting." A click and then the dial tone. I groaned. Now I had to get to Italy. From Japan. With all the airports shut down.

The door opened and Lal walked in. "I heard what you're gonna attempt, kid. You may want this." She put a Ring on the table in front of me. It glinted a sea-green. "It was yours in this time," she explained. "Take these, too." She put three boxes down and a bottle of pills. "In this time, you and I kept in touch, along with one of the Arcobaleno, Verde, and these cure your blindness completely, this time, for six hours. You eventually had surgery to cure you, but that would take too long."

I nodded and pocketed the pills. "Do you think I could get that in Italy?"

She hesitated, but nodded. "Yeah, probably."

Picking up one of the boxes and examining them, I asked, "What's up with these?" They were all a sea-green, like the jewel on the Ring.

"You just need to channel your Flames into your Ring, and then put the Ring in the hole to open it. One of these boxes has your twin guns, Ryuu and Michi. The others have your two friends, Frusta, a leopard, and Vento, a hawk." She pulled another from her pocket. "This last one has a weapon you've been working on for a while. Only use it when you're in real big danger."

I nodded again, picking up all of the boxes. "How in the world do I hold these things?"

She pulled another thing from her cloak pocket. "This belt. The boxes strap onto it. Here." She handed it to me. "I'm only trying to keep you alive. It'll be stupid if you don't even get out of Japan. Now, listen closely, 'cause I'm only gonna explain this once. To get out of Japan, you have to get to an old friend and say you know me. You may know him. His name is Hikaru Kobashi."

Hikaru Kobashi… "He was in my class."

She nodded. "He runs the only way out of Japan that's safe. Just be prepared to fight your way out of this country. Millefiore forces are everywhere. I know how to contact you and I'll keep you updated. When you get into Italy, keep a low profile. Act as if you know nothing about the Vongola. Just be sure to get there without fighting too much."

"I understand," I said, standing up to put the belt around my waist. Clipping each box to the belt, I grabbed the blanket on the couch. "I'm going to take this. Do you have an extra cloak?" She nodded and handed me the one she brought in, which looked much like hers. "But… Lal-san…"

She stood. "It's for good luck, kid. You'd better come back in one piece, you hear? Or I swear, I'll kill you myself," Lal snapped. "I gotta go. Good luck." With that, she left, with me staring after her in shock.

A small smile overtook my face. "Thanks."

X Hayato Gokudera X

He pounded on the door again. "Come on, Najika-chan! Wake up!" When she didn't reply, Gokudera pulled open the doors. "Najika-chan! You've had enough time to sleep!"

She wasn't there. Where was she?

Gokudera ran to Juudaime and practically shook him. "She's gone!" Juudaime pulled away from the frantic bomber and asked him what was wrong. "What happened to Najika-chan? She's missing!"

"She's gone." They both turned to see Lal Mirch at the door. "She left last night. You won't be able to find her unless she wants to be found. Don't expect her to come back after she learns what she's done."

Gokudera's eyes narrowed. "What did she do?"

Lal Mirch looked up. "She fed information to Byakuran. She organized the conference that led to the Juudaime's death. She even went as far as leave the base for good. Don't get me wrong; she's not going to the Millefiore base right now. She's going somewhere different."

Everyone froze. She was the reason that Juudaime died?

"Of course, she was tricked. She was tricked by Byakuran, who she was friends with in college," Lal Mirch explained. "Nowadays, she doesn't take lightly to being called a traitor."

So Najika left again.

Juudaime burst out, "But we need all the Guardians!"

The blue-haired woman shrugged. "If she's needed, she'll come."

Gokudera sighed. Back to finding the hidden Cloud Guardian.

X Najika Kamiya X

Finally. I found the hiding spot of Hikaru Kobashi. I walked up to the brown-haired boy and tapped his shoulder. He turned around and smirked. "You're Najika Kamiya. Glad to see you made it here in one piece." His green eyes sparkled mischievously.

I nodded. "So I guess Lal-san told you I was coming."

"Yeah. Let's get moving, huh? Where're you trying to get, Kamiya-chan?" he asked, turning back to the hovercraft he was working on.

Looking down at the machine, I replied, "Italy. And fast."

Atogaki-

Fail. I'm so sorry! I'm now in high school, and I haven't had time to update! -cries- But... yeah, so um... not much to say... Revelations... "Not Alone..." Linkin Park... Yeah, you get it, right? xD Welcome to the Future Arc! Things start to get super weird from here on in. Also, the romance of Gokudera and Najika takes a backseat in this Arc, but they still have their fluffy moments. Honestly, there's going to be a lot of Bel/Najika, Fran/Najika, and Basil/Najika. There might be a little bit of Byakuran/Najika somewhere mixed in there...

Well, as for the surgery for blindness, I can honestly say that I had fun messing with Najika and having her not be able to see. But now, it's getting rather tedious, and I don't think that you guys would like to have me describing the colors of Flames the entire time... So I fixed that up, too!

I'm just that messed up! So leave a review, or the euro-smiley-marshmallow-raping-mega-super-villian will kill youuu~

Character Introductions:

TYL! Lal Mirch, age unknown. She is still as "Spartan" as ever, but seems to care more about the Vongola than she used to. She also still cares for Najika.

TYL! Hayato Gokudera, age 24. The current Storm Guardian of the Vongola who recently lost his wife and boss, and now has to raise his son on his own.

TYL! Takeshi Yamamoto, age 24. The current Rain Guardian of the Vongola who recently lost his father, Tsuyoshi, and his close friend, Tsuna.

TYL! Belphegor, age 26. The current Storm Guardian of the Varia, and as loyal (yeah... let's go with that) to Najika as his past self was.

TYL! Hikaru Kobashi, age 24. A former classmate of the Vongola, and now a mechanic/scientist who worked under Verde, the Thunder Arcobaleno.