Spared by Intuition

VOLTS Headquarters...

Makubex was translating what Kazuki spoke in italian to Madoka in his computer.

'...uh-oh...' Makubex frowned.

'Did the translation results come up?' Juubei asked him.

'Yes, and apparently Japan's not the only one with special powers.' said Makubex. 'They have someone who can dive into minds and project memories as illusions. Kazuki showed them memories of what he thinks was Tsunade at her most frightening. What did he mean by that?'

'Oh my, I would know.' Sakura piped up. 'Tsunade-chan's been hurt by her family before being adopted by Shido so she has a rather bleak, cynical and dark view of the world and living in Mugenjou made it worse, so Kazuki convinced Shido to let me teach her that the world isn't so bad. So she's become the girl we've come to know as our Pillar of Support.'

'W-wow...I can't believe that, you know?'

'People change in years.' said Juubei. 'Tsunade used to hate the world and only hung around Shido until we had to work together to raise her. Had she remained her old self and with access to her power...it'd be a disaster. Only Raitei can defeat her without harm while the rest of us are burned to death. It was imperative she be raised properly.'

'Oh...Tsunade, hate the world? That's kinda hard to imagine...but at any rate, I better investigate some terminology relayed before I can translate the whole thing. They spoke in specific jargon in some unknown language my computer registered as Italian just now. I'll get it done in a jiffy but...'

'But?'

'Lower Town will soon be messy.' Makubex sighed. 'Hayato asked Shido to ask me if there's a place here nobody'd miss because he managed to persuade Tsunade to train him and Amon-san in Mugenjou so I had to find the most vacant area and pointed them there. Madoka-san spoke words that worried me.'

'What did she say?' Toshiki asked him.

''Will Tsunade-chan really kill her father'.' Makubex shuddered. 'Good thing she knew Italian.'

Fuuga exchanged disturbed looks.

His screen blinked in warning as he played the footage. It showed a car stop by the entrance to Headquarters and out came Tsunade, Gokudera and Amon with a lot of grocery bags. 'Uh...did anyone ask them to shop for us or something?'

'Er no...maybe they just want to cook here before going back to training?' Sakura pointed out. 'Its past lunch after all.'

'Maybe...'

xxx

'Its been a while since I last used this kitchen...' Tsunade sighed as she worked in VOLTS kitchen. It was a big room with ventilation, complete with EVERYTHING in regards to equipment and tools, but the pantry...depends...

'Well, its been years since you were back here after all.' said Gokudera. 'Three years, right?'

'Yeah...some techniques can only be learned in a place of pure nature, stuff Shido can't teach me here in Mugenjou so he took me away from here.' Tsunade explained. 'To a Mariudo, a city where life is nearly non-existent will drive them nuts...the air stinks and cities are devoid of life, replaced by concrete buildings and electricity...and all this modern life making pollution its no wonder Shido bought us a house by the edge of Tokyo.' she said. 'Well, I knew what he felt when I lived in the mountains for three years then stepped foot back here. It stinks even in the gardens and parks!'

'Heee...' Gokudera sweatdropped.

'We have sensitive senses than most humans, having lived with nature all our lives.' said Amon. 'By knowing, understanding, accepting and learning about nature and life do we learn our martial arts.' Amon told him. 'When we taught you the Bat Ears and Rabbit Ears Mimicry, we had to be in an absolutely quiet place while making you understand two animals without a textbook.' he snorted. 'These two ears will be of great value if someone got a cheap shot on you through your eyes.'

'Hai, Amon-san.' Gokudera nodded as they cooked their lunch together, unaware of what's waiting after a hearty meal.

They had hot pot together since its still spring, still kinda cold but 'bearable cold' as its May now. It will be summer soon.

xxx

Mugenjou...

'Honestly, Tokyo's slums are so bad!' Coyote fumed as he lost count how many times they were attacked. One even tried to kidnap Reborn, a reputedly DUMB idea in the minds of the men, Reborn went 'BOOM, Headshot' on them to Kazuki's wide-eyed disbelief before shaking his head in dismissal, being used to the weird and crazy himself.

'Get used to this...then again, today is only a one-time visit, hopefully you're not driven to drink like Dino-san did...I heard from Juubei Tsunade-chan took him to Mugenjou once.' Kazuki giggled. 'Apparently the guys in Ura-Shinjuku are all monsters to him...'

'We agree with that sentiment.' came the flat, utterly deadpan choruses at him.

'Not all Japan's slums are bad, it so happens that the worst slum is here in Shinjuku since the Black Market is close by.' said Kazuki awkwardly. 'In other slums, the most you'd get are pickpockets and muggers or worse, rapists while just solely here, anything goes.' he said. 'Sooo before we go in, I'll tell you a bit about Mugenjou.'

'What about this place other than a nest of desperate idiots for money?' Reborn asked him. 'We tried searching for information but nothing.'

They hacked in all databases in Japan, nothing came up. At all.

It was as if Mugenjou did not exist.

But in the Underworld, it did but there's barely any information anyway, nothing to write home about, other than the fact that the VOLTS gang ruled Mugenjou. There, information was VERY extensive that even Tsunade was known by her moniker Lord of Flames and her accomplishments which spoke volumes on how she was known by the Underworld. Thankfully not the Mafia they know, but its a matter of time...

'Of course you won't find anything...one, the government could care less about it. Two, information might deliberately be concealed since despite how Mugenjou looks, there's more to it than meets the eye.' he said. 'Like I did to Himiko-san, I'll use Yin and Yang as an example to make it somehow easy.' he said. 'If Yin's extreme is Death, Yang's extreme is Life. For now we focus on Yang as Mugenjou's unusual atmosphere, causes people to heal seven times faster than for outsiders like yourself, muscles and bones get stronger here, children grow faster since we compared the growth rate of children in and out...I'm sure you've seen what Tsunade looks like at ten...'

'Yeah, what a big ten years old kid...most Japanese kids her age are at least a foot shorter than she was.' said Iemitsu, recalling how big she was and did mental comparisons in his head with average ten years old kids.

'The nasty part is if you got cancers and tumors, it'll grow quick so if you guys have Yang-type diseases, I'm afraid you'll have to go back to Honky Tonk before I allow us entry.' said Kazuki. 'I said heal faster right? Cancer and Tumor cells grow seven times faster too.'

'I don't think we have anything like that...right...?' Iemitsu asked the Ninth Family nervously.

'Nope.' said Ganauche III.

'I'm too young to have Cancer! I'm as old as you!' Brow Nie Jr. huffed at Iemitsu.

'Nothing in my genetical history.' said Schnitten.

'No.' said Visconti flatly.

'I had Intestinal Cancer once, but that was years ago, long gone.' said Bouche with a shudder.

'I had an early-detected Prostate Cancer three decades ago but that's long gone too.' said Coyote.

'None but my family has Myopia on my paternal side, lucky my sons and I didn't have it.' said Timoteo.

'With that, lets go.' said Reborn as they went into Mugenjou.

xxx

Mugenjou...

Its what you'd expect of slums with tall, half-way constructed buildings left and right. Nothing but 'concrete frames'.

People walked around in loose shirts and pants. Even women wore loose things.

'...all women here wears boys clothes...' Visconti mused as they see women in boys' clothing with short hair.

'Well, showing off your curves is tantamount of a death sentence here.' said Kazuki. 'So a girl makes themselves as unappealing as possible...unless you're someone who can fight off powerful rapists that is. Rapists here gained the boon granted by Mugenjou.' he said. 'Sakura and Tsunade can wear whatever they wanted with no consequence. Touching Sakura will earn a lot of revenge the slow and painful way, and nobody wants to be barbecued either.' he chuckled darkly. 'For a girl, getting to wear actual girls' things is a status symbol here in terms of freedom and strength, not how rich you are.'

'Oh...'

En route, they met with a blonde man who has impressive musculature in black spandex and tight pants with a sweater tied around his waist.

'Kazuki, Tsunade and her guardians are on break time in base. It'll be a bad idea to take these men there.' he said, casting a wary glance at Kazuki's clients.

'Oh...well, I'll take them to where they pitched training camp then. Thanks for the heads-up, Toshiki.' said Kazuki in a nervous smile as Uryuu left.

'...break time huh? Lunch.' Kazuki sighed wistfully. 'Tsunade-chan's a really good cook too...'

'Eh? Really?' Iemitsu perked up.

'She has talented hands in that regard...when I tasted her cooking for the first time last year, I thought I ate off the gods' tables on my first bite I ended up overeating to the point of bloating like a blimp. Its that good.' Kazuki sighed wistfully in a dreamy manner. 'I had to ask her for any vegetarian and shellfish recipe she had since my martial arts roots forbade meat consumption but the way she does it can make even those who prided hard on self-discipline break self-control like shattered fine glass.' he shook his head. 'If I'll ever break diet rules, its got to be only for her cooking.'

'Ahaha, I wish I could taste that...' Iemitsu chuckled sardonically. 'I don't think I ever will.'

xxx

An area in Mugenjou later, in a rather rubble-torn place...

'My goodness...what a mess they've made...' Kazuki tut-tutted as the place, was a total mess of environmental destruction.

'Looks like war went through here.' Timoteo commented as they looked at the place.

'We got word that Tsunade-chan wants Amon-san to train Hayato in combat because his style of combat was something she could not teach. She could only give him the physique and prowess for it.'

Well, the citizens here are violence incarnate...

So they waited.

Stakeouts was nothing new to the mafioso. Done this a thousand times in their youth.

Soon...

From their lookout point by the open windows, they saw her.

13 years old Sawada Tsunade, the only one left to be Vongola Decimo.

No.

That wasn't her real name. Its merely her civilian guise when her true name in their society was Tsunade Capricia di Vongola. In the Mafia, as long as you're an eligible heir, it mattered not whoever fathered you. Your surname by default is that of the Main Branch famiglia's name.

It was something Tsunade, Dino, Gokudera and Shido knew a long time ago thanks to the Vindice when they snooped around.

She was no typical Japanese kid. Sure her ethnicity and figure are of a typical Japanese in body frame but it ends there. Her physical development were as if she was a western teenager into sports but unlike a sports girl, she has the physique and bearings of a fighter without ruining her beauty as a female. Women into fighting or sports ALWAYS make the mistake of being too muscular in a bid for more physical strength at the expense of beauty and thus, their chances of attracting the man they like who are scared away/turned off by their muscles that its rare for them to marry unless its a fellow sportsman who understands.

She was 5'3 tall and can be mistaken for a high schooler and her hair is styled into a traditional hime cut different from Madoka's wherein Tsunade's was traditional, Madoka's was of the modern variety as her frontal fringe covered her entire forehead while Tsunade's frontal fringe only went as far as the tips of her eyebrows, allowing long hair to frame her face. She wore a flimsy, simple but elegant white dress and brown sandals, looking like an angel.

Gokudera has a very fit-for-a-boy his age but slender body. But unlike before when Reborn last saw his photos, his hair is now sleek and parted from the right(think Athrun Zala). He was 5'5. He dressed in his usual 'bad boy' style with accessories to match.

The eldest, Amon Natsuki, dressed in loose tiger stripe print shirts, platinum-gray pants, and gold jewelry crudely-carved...then again, it must be tribal work, not crafted by modern jewelers. His element was Sun. An active, harmonized Sun. Yet he was described by Kazuki as the Grim Reaper because the Mariudo's four clans represented an aspect of life. Sleep, Awakening, Life and Death. The Natsuki Clan was a clan who can cause Death on a whim. It was thus ironic that 'Mr. Death' has powers of life by Sun Flames in turn.

'Reborn, have you determined the nature of Mugenjou's atmosphere?' Timoteo asked Reborn whose animal partner took form of an elaborate, complicated computer linked to many devices.

'...its a rather unusual form of electromagnetic waves that respond well to the bio-electricity in our bodies. Even I'm completely stumped.' Reborn muttered as he recorded all he could. 'Verde would gladly enjoy the challenge.' he stated as Leon changed back to normal. 'This air we breathe is thick with it but it gets quadruple thick at the Belt Line...and another quadruple that of Belt Line in Babylon City. For now, its good for humans but trying to absorb it forcefully will turn it into deadly radiation ala microwave so its best to let things go naturally.' he told them. 'Our bodies are already being affected by it, especially Ganauche who is a Lightning-type.'

'According to Makubex, the only one who gets away with it with impunity, would be Fulmine del Imperatore, Amano Ginji. However, while he's immortal solely in Mugenjou, he had to leave because his body keeps absorbing this place's electricity making him a ticking bomb who goes off when he's too full. Ganauche can absorb these waves safely as well.'

'Alrighty, something I'd like to try myself, too.' Ganauche grinned.

'You'd be doing that when we face a pissed-off teenager.' said Schnitten, complaining. 'You're immortal in here, we're not.'

'Awww deal with it old man.' Ganauche grinned. 'We got two Suns here and three shields and you're also a shield, nothing to worry about.'

'Old?! I'll have you know I'm only 55!' came the indignant sputter.

'Jeez, get a grip.' Visconti scoffed. 'Its time for the moment of truth.' and they left, leaving Reborn in that room while they went downstairs to head for the grounds.

xxx

'Man oh man, nothing beats a great meal after a workout!' Gokudera chimed cheerfully.

'Like totally but are you ready to get beat up again Hayato?' Amon grinned at the younger guardian.

'Shuddup! I'm gonna get you this time!'

'That's what you get for spending years on bombs when in the end, your body is your bestest friend you know!'

'Really, you two are like big and little brother respectively its just so cute!' Tsunade giggled at her guardians fondly before going serious. 'As much as I'd like us to goof off and cause a mess...we have guests~' she said as they went serious immediately.

From a building's shadows, they could see legs of men first in black suits but as they came out, they're all foreign old men and a familiar face.

'Vongola...' Gokudera gulped as he and Amon could feel heat from behind them.

'Tsunade...its been a while,' said Iemitsu nervously at his daughter who was within a wild tornado of flames.

'You dare show your face here...?' Tsunade spoke calmly but her tone was so frigid. 'Good idea...I can kill you here right here and right now.'

As soon as she said 'now', she fired a giant beam of flames that gave them no time to react. It was too fast that they got considerable injury before erecting flame shields.

'Too slow.' Tsunade then sent her attacks as gigantic fireballs...that explode on impact. 'Hayato...'

'Hai?' Gokudera nervously looked at her.

'I've been having a funny feeling when you wanted to go train here...I see why.' she said while still focusing on murder. 'But really, give me a little more credit, I won't blow up our house you know.'

'Well, seeing this I really wanted extra reassurance.' Gokudera shuddered. 'But still...are you really gonna do this?' he croaked nervously.

'1. The mafia. 2. I hate his guts and 3. I'm just pissed beyond help. So don't stop me, OK?'

On the other side...

'Sheesh, what power!' Iemitsu gasped out as they were struggling to erect their shields and it was all they could do. 'This is the result of Awakening of the Mariudo Tribe?!'

'No kidding, we might just die here from this alone...she really wants to kill us!' Coyote cried as he was countering the fireballs albeit barely. 'Schnitten Ganauche hurry up!'

'We're trying, OK?!'

'Iemitsu, break free!' Timoteo wheezed out as he too, was countering the bombardment. 'We'll handle this! Get close to your daughter!'

The attack pattern changed to bombs from above not just in front of them.

'Looks like she foresaw that too...' Iemitsu winced. 'These flames...have nothing but grudge...'

'No thanks to your wife.' Timoteo griped as he winced. They ain't what they used to be and worse, she really has great power and potential in spades, all channeled to hatred from her abandonment. 'It would also have helped had you actually visited home at least once a month.'

'If could have done that back then I could have saved Tsunade earlier! The backlog work I got kept me from flying home and all of them had freaking red tape(urgent: to be filed asap)! Not to mention everyone kept dumping work on me from six years back to intelligence updates! The most I could do was phone calls!' Iemitsu sputtered. 'How could I have known Nana was lying to me all these years?'

'Coulda start suspecting when she makes excuses each time you want to talk to the principessa!' said Ganauche. 'A few times is understandable but six straight years of being unable to talk to her? Get real dude!' he snarked. 'Reach out to her!'

'Tsunade!' Iemitsu called out. 'Your Intuition should know if I'm lying or not, right? I'm divorcing Nana!' he cried as that got them the reprieve they wanted as the assaults stopped. 'She lied to me for six straight years yet ensuring I couldn't even talk to you on the phone even once!' he told her. 'I heard everything from her parents...I'm so sorry!' he cried in utter grief and guilt.

'Hooo? So you heard what a unique case she was.' said Tsunade. Her voice still stayed cold and void of anything. 'Ideal life, ideal marriage, ideal child, ideal lifestyle...there's no such thing as ideal or perfect yet it was enough to abandon me to die on my own. How you missed that is anyone's guess, given Vongola's proud bloodline limit.'

'It dwindled...it was weak in my mother...and I or my sons didn't have it.' said Timoteo ruefully. 'The blood thinned too much yet in you, its like seeing our Founder in you.' he said with a wistful smile. 'Legend has it that his intuition was such that he could 'see through' all.'

'...'

'Tsunade...I know the damages are done but let me make it up to you.' Iemitsu pleaded. 'I'm divorcing her. Its also highly-unlikely that you'll return to Namimori anyway so I guess I'll have to sell that house away...' he choked out as he worked hard to build that house and the happy memories they had in it will disappear. 'And what do you truly want? I'll give anything!' he pleaded. 'Just please...come home again...'

'I AM home.' said Tsunade with an eye roll. 'Mugenjou is my home, as well as the place I'm in now, with my boys.' she said. 'Somebody once told me home is a place where you're happy in. Well, I'm happy here. I don't need a fancy house or anything.' she said. 'What I want...is impossible to have.' said Tsunade bitterly. 'Shido was a very good big brother to me but not even he can heal the gouge in my heart she caused.' she chuckled. 'You don't know what's it like to be rejected by a parent. You have no idea how it feels. You can't help me. Nobody can help me. All I have is my anger. My bitterness. I once thought of destroying that fucking town myself but even then it won't make my pain go away.'

'Tsunade...'

'And no, remarrying will not work. How can you make a woman love a child not even hers? So predictable of a typical man.' Iemitsu sputtered at that.

'Oh my, that's not true Tsu-chan~' came a familiar, playful voice of a woman who stepped out of the shadows.

'Maria-san...' Tsunade croaked out as the men looked at the spanish woman whose outfit should be illegal. However, they noted her instant change in demeanor.

Tsunade clearly respected her.

'Due to complicated family matters, I raised Ban as a favor to his father and grandmother...I loved him like he was my own son but that bad boy ran away from home eleven years ago...' she pouted before smiling. 'Tsunade, there's a reason why its women who get pregnant. Every female has a maternal spirit in them in various levels. Its to the point that there will be one woman who'd happily nurture any children she felt would need her. As long as she feels she's needed by children, she would be there. In fact, you had that same spirit as well...until these old fuddy-duddies showed up, that is!' she giggled as said 'fuddy-duddies' twitched. 'But you get my point.'

'...'

'Sooo you're her daddy huh?' Maria asked Iemitsu with a curious look on her face. 'She's right though. But you can make up for it in your own way by letting her pursue what she feels can make her happy. She will heal in time. And she would know by her experience what not to be as a mother.' she snorted. 'Tsunade-chan, just by being your boys is already helping you.' she said. 'Figure it out. Your intuition is a really incredible thing...and you will meet more people who will need you and help you heal your heart faster. In fact, pay a visit to the hospital.'

'Why?'

'You will meet a person who helped your grandparents with justice. You will meet 'anonymous' there.' Maria smiled. 'This one will join your family.' and she vanished.

'Anonymous...that person who reported to the media who and who did what to you back in your old school?' Gokudera blinked. 'That means he or she's in your class.'

'We know who it is but this person is in hospital?' Timoteo blinked.

'Who is this person?'

'...its one Yamamoto Takeshi. He was in your class.' said Iemitsu though Tsunade clearly didn't remember him by the look on her face. 'He was the one who sent a letter to the media. He's got one impressive memory. Then again, people tend to remember bad things done than the good.' he snorted. 'Shall we meet up with the kid?'