Disclaimer: The Reborn manga and anime series do not belong to me

Prologue

It had started out a normal day. It should have ended like a normal day. The day that would change the life of Tsunayoshi Sawada forever. She was 5 years old and lived with her mummy, Nana, in the town of Namimori. The young girl hadn't stepped foot outside of the town she was born in and was content with her safe albeit boring life. Then again at 5 it wasn't hard to find wonders in her garden; the thrill hadn't worn off yet. She rarely saw her daddy but he always sent her presents on her birthday and at Christmas and always told her he loved her and mummy more than anything.

It was mid-afternoon and she was colouring in a drawing of her family. The small child with long brown hair and warm innocent eyes had no idea of the tragedy that would happen that day. Her mummy was cleaning in the kitchen so the only company she had was the stuffed raggedy bear that she took everywhere with her. Chubby fingers were clumsily gripping a yellow crayon and Tsuna had a huge smile on her face. Her daddy was coming home today and she wanted to give him the picture.

"Tsu-chan what are you doing?" She looked up to see her mummy leaning out from behind the kitchen door.

"I'm drawing a picture for daddy." she said and held up the paper. Nana came out to get a better look, she smiled at her daughter and rubbed her hair affectionately.

"He'll love it I'm sure. You're going to be quite the artist when you grow up." Tsuna blushed and smiled at the praise. She carefully smoothed out the drawing on the table and looked back at her mummy.

"Can we play a game mummy?" Nana looked back at the kitchen with a slight frown on her face.

"I don't know Tsu-chan. I want to make dinner perfect for your father." Then she made the mistake of looking at her daughter, who at 5 had mastered the art of the puppy-dog eyes. Knowing it was a lost cause she sighed and nodded her head.

"OK, we'll play a quick game of hide and seek but only for a couple of minutes OK." Tsuna nodded and Nana closed her eyes and began to count down from 30. The little girl ran away from her mummy and started to look for a place to hide. Their television sat on top of a small wooden cabinet and it was just big enough for a young girl and a stuffed animal to hide in. It was perfect, her mummy would never find her in there. After a few tries she was able to wriggle herself inside and shut the doors. She heard her mummy reach 0 and she hunched even smaller into a ball. For a few there was silence then there was the noise of footsteps walking around the room.

The doorbell ring nearly caused her to fall out in shock. She wondered if she should get out and see who was there but something inside her told her to stay still and she got a nasty feeling in her stomach. Her hands clutched in her bears fur and she wanted to warn her mummy. Something wasn't right.

"Hello. I'm Nana Sawada. Who are you gentlemen?" Nana had opened the door and Tsuna could almost see the smile on her face.

"Well madam. We are associates of your husband and we would like to speak with you about him." The voice was oily and sent a twinge of fear down Tsuna's spine. She was scared.

"Of course, please come in." Tsuna was the only one who would sense the nervousness in her mummy's tone and it made her feel even more frightened. Who were these scary men? There was a small crack in the door and she craned her head to get a view of the living room. She could see the back of one of the men; he was wearing a black suit and was quite tall.

"What do you need to tell me about Iemitsu?"

"All in good time Madam. Is your daughter here?" Tsuna froze when they mentioned her and she prayed the her mummy wouldn't tell them where she was.

"I'm afraid my daughter is at school. She started a few months ago." Tsuna let out a sigh of relief maybe mummy did know the men were not right.

"Ah, I understand. Now Mrs Sawada recently your husband has..." Tsuna couldn't make out the rest of the words either because they had lowered their voices or because her heartbeat was so loud it was all she could hear. There was a shout and she focused on the scene; the palm clutching her teddy bear was sweaty. The man had taken something out of his jacket and Tsuna's world narrowed on that item. It was black and pointed at her mummy. It was the first time she'd ever seen a gun. Her mother screamed and Tsuna wanted to shut her eyes. She would give anything to just close her eyes, but she couldn't. The thing in the mans hand made a loud banging noise and she heard the thump of something or someone hitting the floor.

Tsuna would never see her mother alive again but at 5 she didn't know that. All she knew was the sudden pain in her chest and the knowledge that something had gone horrible wrong. Her body stiffened up and she was almost deaf to the outside world; paralysed by a crippling fear that she didn't know the cause of.

A few words caught her attention but she was too shocked to fully understand. "Find...brat...school...search...hurry..." She was finally able to close her eyes and when the shutting of the door signalled their exit her body started to shake with relief, or terror it was hard to tell the feelings apart.

She wasn't sure how long she lay there shaking in the dark trying to understand what had happened, what had shattered her world and why. The door slammed open and she winced at the noise.

"Nana! Tsuna!" She knew that voice. There was a flurry of footsteps before everything fell silence. There was a thump and she uncurled her form a bit.

"I-I'm sorry boss. We were too late." It was a girl's voice but Tsuna didn't recognize it. All she knew was that her father was out there.

"Nana. I'm sorry. So god-damned sorry." It was her fathers voice but it was so sad and hollow that she wondered if it was really him.

"Find my daughter. She has to be here. There's a chance she might be alive."

"Yes sir." There was more footsteps and then all she could hear was her daddy's breathing.

"Please be alive Tsuna. I can't lose you too." He whispered and Tsuna felt a little of her fear go. With an unsteady hand she pushed open the door and her stiff body fell onto the carpet. She pushed herself up and met her fathers wide eyes.

"D-Daddy." Her voice broke and tears started to run down her eyes. Instantly she was swept up in a fierce hug and her face was pressed into her fathers chest. Finally she could release all the terror she had felt and the sobs kept on coming. Her father stroke her hair and began whispering fervently in Italian; it sounded like a prayer. She took comfort from the embrace and let her mind be soothed at last.

Iemitsu knew the second when she fell asleep but his embrace didn't loosen at all. The two conflicting emotions of relief and sorrow warred in his mind. His daughter was still alive but his wife was dead. For years Iemitsu had seen death and fighting, it was a part of the world that he lived in, but this brutality shocked him to his core. He'd known he'd messed up on his last mission and they'd been able to discover that he had a family. In the Mafia it was a huge weakness. The second he'd realised his mistake he'd basically ran back to Namimori but he had been too late.

His family had paid the price for his mistake and that guilt would stay with him for most of his life. Now the Mafia world would learn of his daughter; with the Primo's blood in her veins she was a possible successor to the Vongola. He'd planned for her to become the next boss but only when she was much older. She shouldn't have had to see the ugly dark truth of his world so early.

The question that went round and round in his head was what did he do with his daughter? Should he find her a new home and retreat form her life forever? Should he leave her with her grandparents whilst he went back to his job and wiped out any information about her? His eyes fell to her small sleeping body; hands still clutching his jacket and tears still running down her cheeks. No. He couldn't leave her. Not after what had happened. Leaving her would do more harm then good and now that people knew of her she would need more protection then ever.

He looked at his wife's body and felt a vice squeeze his heart. She would want him to stay with Tsuna not hand her over to some strange relatives. He'd let his wife down but he wouldn't let Tsuna down as well. His daughter would stay with him.

"She's alive then." His head spun around to see Lal Mirch watching him, her eyes glanced down at Tsuna and he could see the question forming on her tongue.

"She hid in the cupboard under the TV. Nana must not have told them where she was and they didn't find her."

"What are you going to do with her?"

He looked up and Lal could see the steel in his eyes, the absolute conviction which told her that nothing on earth would change his decision. Though the man could act like a clown at times, it was clear that had he not been head of CEDEF the Ninth might well have chosen him as the next boss. She looked at the young girl in his arms, he had often boasted about his "cute little daughter" and you have to be an idiot not to realize how much he loved his family. This attack was going to leave a pretty big scar. She couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of sick bastards went around killing innocent women and children.

"Tsuna's coming to Italy with us. She's going to live in Vongola headquarters." His tone allowed argument so Lal merely nodded. Still her mind erupted with doubts at the thought of such a young child growing up in the Mafia. More importantly, would the Ninth even allow it? She watched Iemitsu stand up and gently carry his daughter outside and Lal let out a sigh. No matter what the Ninth would say Iemitsu was not going to leave his daughter and when she looked at what happened today she could understand why.

Tsuna Sawada's entrance into the Mafia world had come a lot sooner then planned. It would change everything.

AN: OK here it is my newest Reborn story. I know it was a really dark and angst filled beginning but don't worry it gets happier next time. The next couple of chapters are going to be about Tsuna growing up in Italy and some of the people she meets and the bonds she forms with them. Still not sure how Xanxus is going to fit in but I'll figure it out. Her return to Namimori will be when she's about 15/16. Pairing wise feel free to suggest any, I'm not really sure at the moment and I hope you enjoyed the beginning, or are at least gong to wait and see what happens next. Thank you for reading.