A:N- to those only familiar with the anime, there's so much fillers as by the time they made the anime, the manga wasn't updated much enough they HAD to improvise so what's in anime in episode 26 onwards is not canon. Then the Venus de Milo arc, only Natsuhiko and Yukihiko are shown, other siblings didn't make an appearance and the rest are made up arcs. The real GB Story that's now finished, is in manga. Go to (mangapark . me) for the actual canon arcs I followed off of. As of this chappy its now the 'Eternal Bond' arc.

This A:N is for those who PM-ed me that they're unfamiliar with stuff I wrote, even asking if I made it up when I did NOT XD...as a tip, follow the manga storyline, NOT the anime if you wanna write an anime fanfic.

Big Bad Buggy World

Outside Tokyo, the forests...

'The way you're going, you'll render species extinct...' said Ginji with a sweatdrop as they ran into the woods after leaving their taxi cab from the highway.

'Worry about US than the bugs!' Tsunade yelled at him with a big head. Really, Ginji's priorities are highly skewed! 'Put this in your head: in the Kiryuudo Domain, the bugs here are no innocent encyclopedia bugs...the bugs here enhanced with Kiryuudo powers as well as commanded by them count as bioweapons like in the movies! These bugs are ordered to eat intruders down to the bones and they'll be hard to kill, even worse if we meet actual Kiryuudo who succumbed to their Karmic Burdens!'

'Karmic Burdens?' Gokudera asked.

'Each Kiryuudo will become a bug hybrid from the tribe they came from. The only way to revert back to human is to die.' said Tsunade grimly. 'The Karmic Kiryuudo are stronger than those with still human forms...imagine this, a metamorphosed-hybrid with access to supernaturally-enhanced carapaces that serve as armor. Humans with access to a Mantis' claws that can tear human skin. Possess the jumping powers of a Flea. Even be the real Spidermen unlike in the movies! Anything goes! Due to that, Shido had me write a nice flowery cheque to get a lot of helpers willing to come here...because this job is ultra-dangerous.'

'There's the Butterfly Tribe, Bee Tribe, Spider Tribe, Mantis Tribe, Beetle Tribe, Water Bug Tribe and Cicada Tribe. Kiryuudo 7. As a warning, the more monstrous they are the more pain in the ass they are to fight, so really, show no mercy and I'm talking to you Ginji-san. Hayato, you too.'

'So we have to have attributes to consider...Beetles have great armor, Bee, Butterfly and Spider are poisons and webs for the latter, we're instant human steak with the Mantis...' Gokudera frowned thoughtfully. 'By the way, why didn't we take another route? Going from above is faster than traveling in the woods.'

'I wish it was that easy but with bugs, mind control is easy peasy for them.' said Tsunade darkly. 'Controlling the pilot into crashing the chopper? Swarm us in to lose control? And kindly remember I'm the only one who can fly and I'm too small to catch all of you!'

'Well, there's that...I haven't seen you fly yet though.' Akabane quipped.

'Well, if we're being swarmed, you just might.' Tsunade snorted. 'Oh, and if things will go real shitty, don't ask questions, ride my back ala magic carpet and hang on tight, OK?'

'Uhm, hime-sama, I'm bred as a gentleman I cannot bring myself to sit on a girl...' Gokudera choked out. 'Bad enough I had to deal with showering with you in the bathroom today because we're pressed for time...'

Ginji had an imagine spot about that...

'Which is more important, life or manners?' came the grouchy question.

'I want to say both!' Gokudera wailed.

'For now hold your life more important than society manners! Society's not here anyway!'

'Hime-sama...' came the near-whine. 'My mom will haunt me if I don't repent for seeing you naked!'

'You're already forgiven AGES ago!'

'Oh my...' Ginji sweatdropped. 'Considering how they grew up, there's gonna be cultural differences...Tsunade-chan grew up in Mugenjou and Hayato-kun grew up in a disciplined home...'

'She's right though...culture means nothing in where we are now...here, eat or be eaten.' Akabane purred. 'Good manners won't save you here. By the way, where are we going?' he asked Tsunade who's on the lead.

'Shido will know soon we're here, just split-up.' said Tsunade. 'I don't know where my gut will take us, I just follow and it should be something good...for you at least!'

A lot of monsters jumped down from above.

'Its Karmic Kiryuudo!' Gokudera gasped out upon seeing their nasty forms.

'Akabane-san and I got this!' Ginji cried as he and Akabane took action to defend the teenagers as Gokudera took out dynamites, lit them up and strategically threw them around.

'This form...its cicada...we're in Cicadan Territory.' Tsunade frowned. 'We better find the head honcho.'

'If we kill a head honcho, their numbers will die?' Ginji asked her.

'Its not that easy. Kiryuudo Hierarchy moves by promotion by their leader, Kabuto.' said Tsunade. 'Even if we kill the current chief, he'll just be replaced anyway. But getting rid of one won't be too bad...'

Later...as they got further and further, they get to hear a melody clearer and clearer...until they came to a waterfall area.

Akabane chuckled at the sight before them.

'Nice one, Tsunade-jousan...your gut led me to an old friend.' he said as before them are Cicadan Warriors and a covered figure sitting on a rock.

'Long time no see, Kuroudo.' said the sitting man.

'I've been looking forward to our next meeting as well, Kanade Semimaru.' said Akabane. 'Everyone else handle the subordinates. Leave him to me.'

'No arguments there.' Tsunade agreed quickly. 'Looks like you got it personal so we'll make sure you get things done.' and two groups split up as Akabane gunned for Kanade while Ginji and the kids lunged at their pick of subordinates.

xxx

Elsewhere, a bird reached Shido who's with companions.

'Hooo? They're here eh? At least I know she'll be fine.' said Shido. 'Go tell her I met up with others. We'll meet at the final destination.' the bird then left.

'Your other friends arrived, Shido?' the woman asked him.

'Aa. I got my little sister round up powerful guys to help us out.'

'Sister? Last I checked you're an only kid.' said the guy.

'She's adopted obviously, Ryuuho.' the woman giggled as they sat on a tree's roots. 'Never saw this coming, Shido.'

'Well, I couldn't leave her all alone in Mugenjou...and doing a good thing paid off big time she's my equal in her own way. She's recently gotten independent she lives by herself now.'

'Heee...is she cute?'

'Yup. She's sweet. You guys'd like her.' Shido smiled. 'But still, even though she's adopted she's thrown in her lot with us. That's what I'm worrying about. Once she decided on something, she won't turn back.'

'She's willing to come here for you innit?' Ryuuho snorted. 'To be a Mariudo this much is expected. She better be strong.'

'She's below us by seven notches in fist fights but if she wants you dead, she can easily roast you with a flick of her wrist while you charge at her. She's a real killer with fire.'

'Fire and bugs...convenient!'

xxx

While indeed they defeated the Cicadas, Kanade retreated.

It was a difficult battle as they gave up individuality in favor of a patterned team-up attack like in a video game.

Well, not that it worked...but still, it was tough putting Tsunade's leadership to practice while ensuring nobody is in Akabane's way but he got a rather fatal stab by the end of it.

'Yeesh...these guys are tough...I see what you mean when Shido's fine with 50 million per head but what about Akabane-san?!' Ginji freaked out as Tsunade checked on him. 'He killed him!'

'He'll be fine in a minute.' said Tsunade. 'This guy probably can't imagine dying without getting a really sweet deal so he'll force himself to be fine...he does want a date with you at your best after all.' Ginji went sheet pale.

'Tsunade-chan that's not really healthy for my heart...' Ginji shuddered, going tare on her. 'You called my leaving Mugenjou with Ban-chan elopement and now a fight is a date with Akabane-san?' he choked weakly, sweating buckets.

Gokudera looked at his charge, gobsmacked.

She's not into those, is she?

'That's not a bad idea.' came Akabane's smooth voice and Ginji let out an impressive shriek of terror.

"Hime-sama's scary..." Gokudera shuddered. He hoped she won't have gay fantasies of him with some guy...

'Well, its hard to imagine I'm dead so I don't plan on dying any time soon.' said Akabane. 'Where to next?'

'Lessee...this way!' and Tsunade took the lead again, northwest this time...into a land of spiders.

'...Cavallone will never believe me if I write my monthly report now...' Gokudera gulped at the spiders as big as cows.

'Haha, he'll probably kick himself for missing out on a big party, sucks to be him!' Tsunade grinned, activating herself. 'Hayato, time to see if you can pull it off cuz' dynamites just won't cut it here.'

'Hai!'

For Gokudera Hayato, training was pure hell on day one alone but he persevered.

He trains to the point of feeling his limbs fall off, but 'forcing himself to keep going' is the first step.

Second step was feeling like he was close to death, but raise his will to live and fight against death.

That was what Tsunade called 'Dying Will'.

It was to materialize his flames and its strength when called out, is based on his materialized imagination. If he wanted to burn down a forest, so be it! He can even choose what to and what NOT to burn as a perk.

This was after Tsunade used Chakra of Awakening on him to unleash his Full Potential. In both his brains and strength as a fighter. That means he has to explore his world and find his best talents, exploit and experiment as he studies, along with a body that will grow to its peak as he trains.

He materialized beautiful crimson flames in his hands.

However he has a limit...

'Let Akabane do most of the killing' as the man would rather enjoy slaughter than the actual money he gets as pay for his work. And a happy Akabane means they get to enjoy life more. It was his warning as soon as they left their house to go to Chinatown.

So he unleashed his first try on spider webs shot at him and his flames turned extremely corrosive.

'Oh! My flames are red! Its different from hime-sama's!' Gokudera exclaimed as the spiders that jumped on him vanished. 'What is this? All Cavallone said is that aside from watching you for him, I'd train under you too...'

'Well, your flames are different from mine Hayato.' said Tsunade as she did her fair share of kill. 'If mine enables me to harmonize, synchronize and assimilate all I wish as well as fly, yours can Disintegrate anything you wish...even poison inside a body, tumor cells, parasites in a stomach, you name it you can Disintegrate them all! I can't do that! The only similar thing between us is that we can burn and control what we burn or affect with our flames' special trait.'

'Huh? I've never seen you do that with your flames...' Ginji pointed out.

'Hey, its how I know and feel stuff incoming and its how I survived Mugenjou you know. And I learned Divine Design fast with it.'

'Oh my, that power is kind of interesting...' Akabane mused thoughtfully, intrigued. 'So there are different types depending on people eh?'

'I'm basically a destroyer with it...' Gokudera choked at what his power can potentially do...if misused!

'If you use it wrong but if you use it right...' Ginji pointed out, 'You can save lives with it. Maybe you can even save someone we know...I'm worried about Hera-san.'

'Ah, about Kaito's situation huh? Apparently being forced to sculpt that Venus statue with pure ultra-refined drug mentally killed him since he had to breathe while doing the carving.' Tsunade scowled. 'We'll give it our shot but IF we survive this job! IF!'

Soon, they successfully slaughtered the 400 spider army.

'Hime-sama, I think after this I need more training.' said Gokudera. 'Because who knows what your next job will throw at us, this really defies all common sense I grew up with.'

They survived battling with giant bugs, as he took photos with his cell phone for evidence. All of them, are sooo banged up!

'That's why I said throw your common sense into the trash can didn't I?' Tsunade giggled.

'But Tsunade-chan...do we really need to kill?' Ginji asked in a pained voice. 'They used to be people you know.' he said sadly as he looked at the corpses that lay around them. 'This is senseless.

'Yeah but as long as they're indoctrinated to kill-and-don't-ask, its either them, or us who will die.' said Tsunade darkly. 'Ginji-san, there will always be a vicious cycle that will happen whether we like it or not and death is always at the center of this cycle. As I said earlier, I don't know what happened to start the war between the two tribes and nobody from that era told their kids who are instead indoctrinated to murder the other without knowing anything as to why. This then started a cycle of revenge as the new reason to fight and kill as the new excuse the elders gave their descendants while hiding the real truth away. Tell me, do you accept that?' she asked him harshly.

'Not even Shido knows why when I asked, he told me its how things have always been since his parents and grandpa told him that. But we'll get answers one way or another from these ancient bastards by force if we have to because this is pointless!' she grunted, angrily waving an arm at their battlefield. 'What if its something as stupid as two boys liking the same girl but either boy1 or boy2 won the girl and things escalated from there? And in the present date, with the convenient excuse of murder and revenge-killings, the ancestors can happily bury the truth forever as the tribes will kill each other. In this case, they wanna kill us for siding with the Mariudo and for killing their kin. In our case we killed them so we can live and rescue Madoka-nee who they kidnapped in the first place. Its a cycle of bouncing between 'reason to kill' and 'why I have to kill'. We don't like it, you don't like it, its how it works, sucks to be us, but we can't waste time to mope about it! All we can do is fight and work for the end goal.'

'Tsunade-chan...' Ginji wilted at how utterly blunt and blase she could be while stating horrible truths.

'Hime-sama...is that how things have always been?' Gokudera asked her. He really wondered how she lived her life with Shido since running away from home that she's gotten wise but the wrong kind of wise about life. She was jaded and cynical about life while balancing it out with her own kindness towards those she cares for.

But he felt weak.

'Shit...'

Its not just him...

'Crap, spiders somehow poisoned us...' Ginji gasped as three of them fell to their knees. 'I don't remember being bitten or anything!'

'Its the body hair you somehow inhaled.' said Akabane. 'Or their claws when they scratched us. Dear me, and we don't have antivenom...'

'And you're fine and dandy?!' Gokudera cried indignantly as Akabane was standing as if the fight did not happen.

'I can't imagine dying, I cannot imagine being poisoned as well, Hayato-kun.' said Akabane. 'That's how it is for me so worry about yourselves more.'

'O-oh yeah, I should try out what hime-sama spoke of but my head is spinning, I can't concentrate...' he forced himself using his flames and wound up setting himself on fire to burn away his own poison. 'OOOOAAAAAAHHHH!'

'Ahahaha, its like watching Dragon Ball Z when you do that...' Tsunade giggled weakly as Gokudera reached for her first to cure her of poisoning.

'I just wish we could fix our wounds too!' came the grumble from her student as he worked to heal her.

'What a tenacity for life.' a gentle woman's voice spoke. 'Your will to stand for another to live...perhaps it is not yet time for you to die.' they looked to see a beautiful woman in furry rabbit-eared hat, and a tasseled cloak. Underneath as shown when the wind blows is a miniskirt and knee-high boots. She also sported pearl and magatama jewelry.

'Who're you?!' Gokudera demanded while Tsunade's in his arms protectively.

'Its OK...' said Tsunade reassuringly. 'About damn time, Shido.'

'Don't you guys move.' said Shido, stepping out of the shadows. 'She'll fix you in a jiffy.'

'Open your heart and listen to the land.' said the woman. 'It should be possible for you.'

They did so...and they felt that they basked in warm, comforting water...as their wounds mended and their spilled blood vanished.

"It felt like I'm in a warm womb..." Gokudera thought as the warmth of a womb made him remember his mother.

'W-wow...' Ginji gasped as he looked up. 'A-are you one of the Shiki?'

'I am Shiki Clan's Haruki Leader...Haruki Kaoru.' said Kaoru.

'Shido...have you known the truth by now?' Tsunade asked him. 'Why did they kidnap Madoka-nee to lure the Shikizoku here? Its OK to say it since ever since we got here in Spider-land, not even a single mosquito or flea bit us. They can't listen.'

'Man, you'd be great as a Mariudo since we live with nature and animals...and you're prime instinct and intuition.' said a rough, arrogant-sort-of voice. 'Indeed its OK. I put the li'l shits to sleep. Shiki Clan Agi Leader, Agi Ryuuho, nice to meet you.' said Ryuuho who was sitting comfortably on a branch. 'Tell em'. They're your friends, right? No information will leave this spot.'

'...alright, I'll tell you.' said Shido reluctantly. 'I'll tell you all I know.' he said as he got close to the group. 'And I'll say this first, I'm not the one holding the key to this battle. That would be the last Shiki member...the Grim Reaper, Natsuki Amon.'