AN: Done. No Hibari or Dino. The chapter was longer than expected so none. Hope this is enough for you PCheshire! Oh, and guys. REMEMBER TO REREAD THE EDITED CHAPTERS! AND THE POLL IS STILL OPEN!

Beta: Unbeta'd

Chapter 12: Shark and Shadow

Squalo made the first move. Darting forward, the long haired swordsman attacked. Even hidden behind the barrier, Tsuna could clearly see the man's strength and skill.

Hidden by the man's black trenchcoat, practice muscles flexed and worked. Every movement the man made was intentional. His eyes watched his prey like a rabid shark, smelling the blood and ready to tear his prey to pieces with passion.

Before Tsuna knew it, the blade was heading for the barrier, and it was only thanks to Basil's quick work with his boomerang, which had returned into his hand, that saved the day.

"Thee shall have to go through I before thou lays a single hand on Tsunayoshi-dono!" declared Basil, His eyes glowing a alien blue and his boomerang flashing with intense blue fire. HIs boomerang had collided with Squalo's blade, throwing the man back again.

"You won't lay a single hand on Juudaime when I'm around, Shark Bait!" snared Gokudera, drawing out what looked like orange tubes with with wicks at the end from seemingly nowhere.

Tsuna eyed the strange devices curiously but quickly turned his attention to Reborn and Iemitsu when the two attempted to enter the barrier, only to be repealed and thrown back.

"Strange" muttered Reborn as he knelt down to study the barrier. The chameleon from before crawled down from Reborn's fedora to his hand. The little reptile, stuck out it's tongue and 'tasted' the barrier before climbing back to the infant's fedora, hissing something to the infant's ear when the lizard passed by.

Nodding, Reborn replied to Tsuna's curious glance, "His name's Leon, he just tasted your barrier. According to him, You're using a lot of flames. You might want to stop, or you'll faint."

"Nice pet, Reborn-san!" complemented Yamamoto, even as his body remained tense, his eyes hard as ice, and his hands holding the baseball bat defensively in front of him.

Twitching, Tsuna muttered something like "I'm a boy, I don't faint. I pass out", but complied with Reborn's advice and deactivated the barrier. Drawing the orange flames back, causing his body to glow, Tsuna knew Reborn had been wise when he saw that his flames had shrunk by at least half.

But Tsuna didn't have time to think, Squalo striked again. This time, he bypassed Basil by slamming his blade against the boy's side. Stiffening, the boy froze, pain erupting on his face, as the boy collapsed, blood bleeding out from his side.

"Basil!" shouted Iemitsu in worry as he ran toward his apprentice, even as Squalo advanced to Gokudera. Slashing his strange devices in front of him, to Tsuna's surprise flames appear on each of their wicks in quick succession. Throwing the things at Squalo, they explode in the man's face.

Eyes wide with shock and hope, Tsuna could only gape in disappointment when Squalo cleared the explosion by jumping over it. As he landed, his slashed his blade against the boy's chest, causing red to explode outwards.

"Gokudera!" shouted Tsuna in distress even as Basil struggled to stand. But to no avail, the boy couldn't get up, only causing himself harm as red liquid continued to spill out of his side.

Running towards them, Squalo was blocked by Yamamoto. "Neh, Neh. That wasn't nice" castized Yamamoto, his hands holding his baseball bat much to akin of a sword.

The two quickly advanced into a battle. Much like the others, it was rather one-sided. But Yamamoto proved himself as a capable, if inexperienced, fighter. He managed to avoid the loud swordsman's attacks, abit only barely, but he couldn't attack at all, Squalo's constant barrage forcing him on defense.

"Can't you help him" asked Tsuna desperately to Reborn. The infant's face twisted into frustration, "No. My abilities in this form are severely limited. The trinisette rays has it's bad side for us arcobaleno too, we can just barely use our flames at all and in large doses we're paralyzed. Even then", Reborn's face darkened,"we aren't allowed to interfere by the orders of our Leader, the Vessel of the Sky."

"What?" started Tsuna as the battle raged, "But Yuni..."

"I know" grumbled Reborn, "Somethings going on. She's been acting strange.I don't know what exactly. We won't find out until the annual Arcobaleno Convention this Summer Solstice. Iemitsu can't interfere either."

At Tsuna's questioning look, Reborn explained, "He's the regent. Even with his own personal opinion, he has to remain neutral, otherwise he won't be considered suitable to chose, with his biased opinions. If he interferes, even if we find an alternative heir, the heir will be disqualified automatically."

Nodding in understanding, Tsuna heard the sound of ripping flesh and a cry of pain. Turning around, Tsuna was just in time to see Yamamoto, on his knees, holding his arm in pain.

Struggling to stagger to his feet, Yamamoto managed to stand. "Yamamoto..." Tsuna whispered, staring at the boy with worry. Gritting his teeth, Tsuna searched his mind for any way to help.

Staring at the weary boy's back, Tsuna was sharply reminded of another man, nearly identical to the boy. The man had no differences, except for dark blue hair and black eyes. The man had always wore rather strange clothes. He wore clothes of a nobleman from the Heian area, a tall black hat and a white and blue robe.

"Neh, are you going to say sorry yet?" asked Yamamoto with a sharp grin, even as he struggled for air, his clothes stained with dirt and blood.

"VOI! WHAT ARE YOU SO COCKY ABOUT YOU BRAT! YOU HAVEN'T EVEN LANDED A BLOW" roared Squalo. And it was indeed true, the man looked as clean and proper as ever, only the blood on his sword signifying his actions.

Without waiting for a reply, the man struck and the boy fell. "Tch" snared the man triumphantly, "Looks like theres no one left."

Striding purposely to Tsuna, Squalo was a menacing threat. Basil, Gokudera, and Yamamoto struggled to stand, but it was for nothing. There bodies wouldn't work with the loss of blood.

Grabbing a handful of Tsuna's earth brown hair, the swordsman snorted, "So much trouble for this useless brat!"

When Leon transformed into a gun in Reborn's hand, Squalo smirked and quickly threw something at the infant. I looked much like a handful of powder. Almost automatically, Reborn frozed. The baby's eyes darted to Tsuna in alarm. Anti-Trinisette.

"Reborn!" shouted Tsuna desperately. Gritting his teeth, Tsuna thought grimly Looks like I'm going to have to do it. Narrowing his eyes, Tsuna's vision split in half. It was as if he was in two places at once, in the field with Squalo and in the Heart of the Earth with Gaia.

Touching one of the gems of the Heart of the Earth, a Turquoise to be exact, Tsuna felt power course through him. In the mortal plane, Tsuna's eyes glowed like fire, and he started chanting in a strange, divine language, the ancient tongue.

"*Spiriti di questa terra, vi supplico per il mio freccia e mi presti la tua protezione." Tsuna's delicate frame trembled with barely contained power as he chanted,"**Chiedo aiuto sulla mia ricerca."

"VOI! WHAT ARE YOU-!?" shouted Squalo. But it was already too late. Even as the swordsman was talking, the ground started trembling and the plants and trees started to either uproot themselves or grown to unnatural heights. Animals started to storm in, flocks of birds flying over.

Soon enough, the sky was blocked by the many birds. A wall of dirt separated Squalo and Tsuna, in the process moving Reborn, Iemitsu, Basil, Gokudera, and Yamamoto who were promptly caught by soft, yet giant trees or large furry animals. Squalo was all but wrapped up in branches, like a gift-wrapped gift.

Standing up from the large plant leaf that he had landed on when the wall separated the two, Tsuna brushed invisible dust off of his clothes. "Well, that went well" stated Tsuna cheerfully, much to the disbelief of the onlookers, "At least this time, I didn't level a Island. It was a pity, Buise was actually rather nice. I summoned so much things that time, and the island sunk."

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Translations: English to Italian by Google Translate. Sorry for any incorrections.

*Spiriti di questa terra, vi supplico per il mio freccia e mi presti la tua protezione. : Spirits of this land, I plead for your favor. Guide my arrow and lend me your protection.

**Chiedo aiuto sulla mia ricerca : I request for help on my quest.