On the Road to the Catena Inheritance Battle (chapter 1) -complete-

Title: On the Road to the Catena Inheritance Battle
From: Katekyo Hitman Reborn!
Timeline: 10 years later
Summary: An unbroken family history line that had lasted for 400 years is about to crumble when the war between the two last surviving heir of the Catena family breaks out. 10 years in the future and just before Tsuna was transported to the future, Millefiore was hired by an unknown enemy to wipe out the whole Catena family. After escaping the gruesome massacre of her family, Iratella is left on her own to find the murderer. One year after the war between the Vongolas and Millefiore ended, a new mafia group seems to be the new underground forces that is now threathening not the Vongolas. Instead, their target seems to be Iratella. But, the person behind this plot is definitely not something that Iratella expected at all......

Disclaimer:
> The original characters involved in this story belongs to me and fellow members of the DeVastella members involved in our KHR DVST Private Project 2011. Do not take them as your own character in your stories unless with our permission~ >:|

> This story is of my own originality and is not associated with any other stories. Any similarities are just coincidence (YOU HEARD THAT?? XDXD)

> All the other characters which originally belongs to Katekyo Hitman Reborn! stays as the original characters of Katekyo Hitman Reborn!. I do not own any of them.

> Katekyo Hitman Reborn! belongs to Akira Amano-sensei and not me!!!! XD As much as I want to own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!, I just can't.... >w>|||

Author's foreword: HOMAIGAWD!!!!! I'm skipping practically all of my other fanfic projects just to begin with this title!!!!! XD

I'm trying to catch up with time now, coz the main story of my original character (and you should know that it's Iratella~) actually officially begins when she is about to face the Catena Inheritance Battle. This is the key moment of her life because she will find out that what she had thought to be the way it was for so long turned out to be just a layer of thin sheet that covers all secrets of the family from her. The ultimate history of her generation that will change her point of view on the mafia empire.

The most epic project that I will begin...

STARTS NOW!!!!!!!!!

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*CHAPTER ONE*

- Innocent Sorrow -

"Don't cry
 kowaresou na hodo dakishimetara

kimi ga furueteita
Oh...
sotto kazasu tenohira ni furete misete
Never... Until the end"

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"We need back up forces here at the seventh area!!! I repeat!! We need back up forces!!!!"

"They've penetrated the front area!! They've penetrated the front area!!! ARGH!!!"

"Twenty of our men have been killed!!! We've lost them completely!! We need help at the west wing!!!"

"HELP!!! HELP IS NEEDED AT THE SOUTH MAIN GATE!!!!!"

A young girl about the age of 20 with a cute bob cut black hair walked up towards the front line and stood guard. She, the boss of the Volitaire family, lighted her ring with a heart filled with angst and all ready to take down the enemy."The one with the black coat and silver mask is heading towards the centre of the courtyard!!!!! Surround him and take him down by full force!!! Show no mercy to him!!!!!"

"Yes, ma'am!!"


"Yumizo, take cover!! Those people are aiming you!!" a man screamed at the girl who is about to join the rest of her family members to fight against the enemy. "No!! I won't stand aside to watch every one die just to defend me! I want to go in and take control of the situation even if it means killing myself!!" with adrenaline pumping through her veins, she ran off to join the rest of her family members.
The night was filled with thick smoke, tears, despair and screaming voices of the Volitaire mafia family in their main headquarter. A group of ten people in long black coats have invaded their headquarters just less than 10 minutes ago. In that mere 10 minutes, more than 500 strongest members of the Volitaire family have been killed brutally.

The young adult that was wearing the silver mask, who seemed to be the leader of the group, showed no sign of panic eventhough they've been surrounded by nearly 200 people with many different types of weapon boxes of all kinds were launched at them. With one snap of his finger, a massive explosion occured in the centre courtyard. Half of the Volitaire people that surrounded them were killed. The rest who survived the blast didn't face much luck as well. With the second snap of the leaders' finger, the other members of his group springed into action and wiped off the rest of them.

A lady wearing an indigo mask came forward to the leader and bowed to him on one knee. "It seems that we haven't got the Sky Boss of the Volitaire family. She is no where to be found in this manor."

"I see.... then there's no point for us to be here... let's leave... the  Vongola forces will be here any minute... we don't want to reveal ourselves too soon... not especially when she's already 100% associated with them..."

"She? You mean, Yumizo?"

"No, not her. You know... HER."

"Oh, yes. I understand. So, shall we make a move now?"

"Now."

"Yes, 'sire."

All the rest of the members gathered around the leader and gave him a bow before disappearing into the night. The leader took one last look at all the dead bodies around him before turning away and looking far into the horizons of the dark night. He smirked, and disappeared into the night as well.

But as soon as he disappeared, something that seemed like a metal chain dropped on the floor. The clear diamonds on the cross-shaped chain sparkled under the moonlight.

Only sounds of people moaning and car sirens echoed into the night....

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It had been a cruel and bitter year for her to endure the pain and suffering she had to go through. The lonliness was stabbing her without mercy, and all she hoped for was an answer to her questiosn that have been circling around her head for as long as she could remember.

Who had targeted to kill her family?

Why did they wanted to wipe out her whole family?

Most importantly... why didn't they kill her as well?

Anyone who have wanted to wipe out the whole family would've definitely love to find out on her whereabouts no matter what and kill her. They could have even hijacked the plane she was on when she was flying back from Russia to Italy. Come to think of it, that was the main question. Anyone who wanted to kill the whole family would've taken the initiative to find her and kill her along with the rest of the family.

But why?

Why was she the only one still left alive...?

Why was she KEPT alive?

She can't accept the reality of being left alone to find out the answer.

If she was given the chance, she'd rather be the one to be killed rather than seeing her whole family die in front of her very own eyes.

She slowly walked towards the tombstones where her parents were laid to rest. Her steps were slow and elegant. As she reached in front of the tombstones, she removed her crystal shades and held them in her hands. She first took in a deep relaxing breath and sat down on the fresh and cooling green grass.

Iratella placed the bunch of fresh flowers wrapped in white crepe paper and tied together by a blue silk ribbon around it. Both blue and white are the favourite colours of Edwarde and Arianna Catena. Iratella looked at the grave stone of her parents and sighed long. The autumn wind brushed past her like a silent creeper. Golden brown leaves fluttered down from the shady tree nearby. The sound of the rustling leaves didn't break the silence she was listening to. She shut her eyes close and prayed silently for them.

Her heart is flooded with multiple emotions, making her tremble as she recited her silent pray in her heart.

"Papà ... mama ... Ti prego, aiutami a rimanere forte ...."

Soon enough, she began to cry. Warm streams of tears began to trickle down her cheeks. She covered her mouth with the back of her hand and wiped her tears away with her palm. She suddenly felt someone tousled the top of her head. Hibari took out a handkerchief from his pocket and bent down beside her. He lifted her chin with his finger and gently ran the soft cotton handkerchief down her cheeks carefully. "You wouldn't want to go to the meeting with swollen eyes."

"Thank you, Kyoya..." she took the handkerchief from his hands and wiped her tears away thoroughly. "I'm ready to go now..." she extended her right hand to him as he helped her up. She swept her light violet dress thoroughly and tousled her hair that hung over her shoulders. "Let's go now, Tsuna is waiting..."

Hibari walked beside her to her silver Mercedes racing series. "You drive or I drive?" Hibari asked when they approached closer to the car.

"I will." Iratella got into her car and buckled her seat belt. After Hibari got into the car, she switched on the engine. As soon as the gear was set to "D", she drove off from the graveyard and onto the suburban roads of Milan.

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"And according to our previous report by Squalo, the damage have been reported as pretty severe but with the right actions taken, the damage on the properties can be fixed or somehow replaced." Tsuna's humble voice echoed across the luxurious Vongola manor meeting room.

"Voi....at least the Cavallone family can support in terms of financial problems. Wouldn't you, bucking bronco?" Squalo sneered at the blonde Cavallone decimo.

"As usual, this matter will be taken control by my family. This will be solved, most probably and the fastest, by this week. So there should be nothing to worry about, the Hesterenette family will recover and stabilize in no time." Dino arrange a thin pile of white papers and slipped it into a brown coloured file and kept it to one side. He then took another file and opened it. "So... shall we start on the next one?"

"Didn't we said that we are to wait for Iratella and Hibari's arrival before we can start the discussion? She seems to have the most connection with this case, so... I think we should really wait for her." Haine tried her level best to convince everyone. "She has some personal things to deal with first."

"Yes, I couldn't remember when was the last time you actually didn't mentioned about that." Xanxus smirked and crossed his arms across his chest. He seems dissatisfied.

"Come on, let's all calm down and wait for her. I know she'll arrive in no time. She always does now, right? She always step right into the meeting room when the important discussion which heavily involves us is about to begin." Yamamoto, with his usual positiveness, agreed with Haine's suggestion.

"Speak of the devil in three.... two... one." Michiru counted. Right after she said "one", the doors swung open wide, and there stood at the door, Iratella and Hibari.

"As Haine said~ I know my lightning guardian well~" Kiku smiled with full of delight.

"I apologize for arriving late. We encountered some problems before we could make our way here." Iratella bowed to the people in the room.

"Yes, yes, we know what your story is. Can we go on with the meeting now? Sheesh~" Xanxus scowled at the two.

Hibari, dissatisfied with the way Xanxus talks, ignored whatever words were being thrown at him and just took his seat. Iratella sighed and took her seat as well, beside her fiance.

"That's pretty rare of you to arrive at the meeting when the main topic is about to begin." Dino gave a smile to her and kissed her cheeks. Iratella blushed and stared at her laps. "I-I know... but, you know what I had to do just now, right? It's been fully a year... so it's a must for me to do it..."

"We know, we know. Don't take his words too hard. You know how short his temper can be." the Cavallone decimo patted her shoulders lightly. Iratella sighed long again and focused on Tsuna standing at the front of everyone.

"I'm in the room , you know." the Varia Sky sneered and gave a cold look at Dino. Iratella just stared back at Xanxus and gave him a "Mind Your Own Business" look.

"Now that everyone's here, we shall start on our main topic of the day. As we all know, things have been quite of a peace after Millefiore was thoroughly destroyed last year. But... just this past week, things have been... not much of what it's supposed to be... attacks on many mafia families across the world have been launched and almost half of the total number was completely wiped out. In several European and Asian countries, it is reported to be close to 90 of the families have been wiped out, leaving only the Sky bosses and guardians of each family alive. Although some were so, but a small amount of them were destroyed to the roots. Italy seemed to be the last country to be attacked by this group. In Italy, the latest attack was the ambush of the Volitaire family last night. The ambush have been pretty serious. More than 1000 family members were killed, leaving only less than 200 of them alive." Tsuna explained with a seemingly devastated tone.

"Oh my gosh, is Yumizo okay?" being a close friend to the young Sky boss of the Volitaire family, it was a definite for Iratella to ask this question.

"Fortunately, yes, she is. She only had minor cuts and bruises. But... she's facing a mild traumatic experience, but we can assure that she will recover in a short while."

Iratella sighed with relief and sank herself into the leather chair. "Oh, thank God...."

"Her manor was burnt to ashes that only several parts of her manor was left standing. The secret lairs of the manor have been reported to be invaded." Gokudera added the information.

"You think we should check the site out?" Shino asked as he flipped his bangs to the side of his head.

"Yea, I totally agree on that. We should go to the site to check things out. After all, sitting inside here and just discussing about it is not gonna help much if we are to find out who had been responsible of doing all of this. " for one, Squalo actually agreed to join in such an activity which was suggested by a DeVastella member.

"Hmm.... why not? We can get more informations on the attack if we go there personally. Plus, it's not that far. So... shall we go now? It's still early." Tsuna suggested. With a nod of agreement with everyone after some small discussions among themselves, everyone got up from their seats and headed to their vehicle.

"And to think that I just arrived here less than 20 minutes ago." Iratella crossed her arms.

"Now, now, don't be mad. After all, isn't this one of your favourite things to do? To go to the site personally to check it out?" Dino hung his hand across her shoulders and smiled.

"Man, you know me too well~" she felt a hot blush creep up her fair cheeks. It was simply impossible to hide that from him.

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"Whoa.... this is like, practically adventuring into an old ruined castle or something..." Gokudera began to wander off aimlessly into the ruined manor of the Volitaire family.

"How much more wanderous can you be???" a big drop of cold sweat ran down Kaede's head.

Hibari, as usual, was trailing behind Iratella like a little puppy as she walked beside Dino, with her hands clinged lovingly around his arm. "From the damages that have been done, I could tell... that last night had been a pretty rough night for Yumizo-chan..."

"Indeed..." Dino nodded in agreement. Step by step, they carefully checked around the ruins of the manor.

Yamamoto, together with Haine, walked across the partially destroyed hall way. When they were about to cross over a big broken chandelier, Yamamoto held onto Haine's hands and made sure she is not injured by the pieces of the broken glass. "Thank you." Haine declared shyly.

"Pleasure's mine." and his smile made her blush to the max. "This is the main hallway heading towards the centre courtyard... and the place which recieved the heaviest damage was the centre courtyard... why is this hall way only partially damaged?"

"Not just that... this hall way.... wasn't even damaged at all... only this chandelier fell.... what kind of attack is this...?"

Xanxus and Belphegor had no interest to join in the little adventure across the manor. They just stood one side as they observe the others rummaging through the place to look for something which seemed clueless for them to find. After all, they were just searching for the cause of the damage and who might be the possible culprits, not to search for a precious gem or anything.

"Sheesh... this is just a waste of time..." Belphagor sneered and crossed his arms over his head. He circled in the same small circle for nearly 10 minutes before deciding to sit down on a big stone rubble nearby where Xanxus had been warming on since they arrived.

"Shut up, you idiot. If you think this is just a waste of time, then why did you even bother coming along with us in the first place?" Gokudera snapped and held his fist in front ot the Prince. Bel just laughed sinisterly and ignored Gokudera. Gokudera, who hated being ignored, nearly landed his fist on Belphegor's face when Tsuna's appearance beside him made him stop.

"Is there anything going on around here?" Tsuna came forward to ask them.

"No!! Nothing at all, juudaime!!! Ahahahahahhhh!!!" Gokudera rubbed his hand at the back of his head as he laughed dumbly.

"Hmph. Scumbag." Xanxus sneered again as he usually does.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY???" Gokudera snapped again.

"And I thought you said nothing was going on here." Tsuna said. He patted Gokudera's shoulders as he asked him to resume the original purpose they were here in the first place. With no intention of denying his beloved boss, Gokudera left the two Varias to sit there and just laze around while everyone else works their ass off to search for something they do not know what they should be looking for.

Iratella, Dino and Hibari were the first to arrive at the centre courtyard where the last attack on the Volitaire family was launched. Yumizo was close to facing her own death last night at this very place. Iratella walked her own way as she looked around. She stared up onto the ceiling. The tinted glass ceiling which used to be the decoration up above where she was staring at had been complete destroyed. All that was used to be up there was now down here on the floor. Iratella watched her steps and walked carefully not to step on the sharp glass pieces. "Indeed this had been the core of the attack... the biggest damage was done here... clearly wherever this ambush may have started... definitely ended here...."

Hibari picked up a piece of the tinted glass and shone it to the direction of the sun above where the glass used to be. The ray of the sun that shone through the ceiling and through that piece of broken glass, made the splat of blood on the glass piece visible. The partially dried blood was dark red. Hibari threw the glass piece to one side and walked on. This might have not interested him in the first place, but looking at all the broken pieces of the used-to-be-beautiful arches and statues that decorated the destroyed courtyard made him a little interested to join in the little investigation.

The grand chandelier that hung above them on the ceiling was supported by a rope that looks as if it was going to break soon. Without realizing the danger that was hanging above them, they just walked through underneath it. Just when they were directly underneath the chandelier, suddenly the thick rope snapped like a toothpick and came falling down directly towards them.

Dino, being the first person to see the danger approaching them, quickly pulled Iratella's hand. "LOOK OUT!!!!" as they ran towards a big undamaged pillar, Iratella pulled Hibari's hand as well. They were in time to take cover behind the pliiar just when the chandelier hits the floor. Dino shielded Iratella with his own body, whilst Hibari protected himself with his blazer. It took a while for Iratella to come back to her realization on what was going on.

"That was... so close...." Dino's voice was pretty shaky. He was quite scared of what might have happened back then if they didn't make it to safety in time. The big crystal chandelier weighed at least 300kg or so. With the height from where it was to the ground plus the weight of it, the impact would've killed them in a blow.

"Oh...my...gosh....that was so...c-close...oh my gosh...oh my oh my oh my... I can't breathe...." Iratella was really panicky. Her breathing pace increased dramatically. She felt as if she could get asthma attacks or even a heart attack despite being someone who does not have any significant illness yet.

"Are you injured, Iratella?" Hibari came over to her and inspected her to see if she had any injuries.

"I think no- ouch!!" Iratella felt a sharp pain on her ankle. When she turned to look at it, she saw a trail of warm blood flowing out from a gash of wound on her right ankle. The two guys removed her shoes and inspected her wound closer. It was at least 10 cm long. The cut was mildly deep and more blood flows out whenever they squeezed the wound slightly to see if any glass pieces were in the wound. She also had several cuts on both her legs, but they weren't as serious as the one on her right ankle. While they were at it, suddenly Iratella began to panic.

"Oh, damn!!! Dammit dammit dammit!!!"

"Chill, Iratella! What's wrong?" Dino calmed her down. He patted her waist gently.

Iratella placed her hand on her neck as her head turned to all directions in search of something that was seemingly important. "My Catena necklace!! It's missing!!!"

"Forget about it for a while, your injury here on your ankle is more important now." Hibari took out a piece of white cloth and wiped off the blood that was still flowing out from the wound on her ankle.

"No~ my necklace is as important as my life itself~~ I lost it, it's like practically losing my identity as a Catena~~" Iratella moaned and continued to search for her flower-shaped Catena family. As she ran her hand through the rubbles, suddenly she saw something shiny just up ahead of her. Not shiny, but more of sparkly, like a diamond. "Ah, found it~~~" she stretched out her hand to grab her necklace. But when she was about to grab it, suddenly she noticed that there wasn't only her necklace there -- right next to her necklace is another chain. A chain with a cross shaped pendant the length of an average thumb. As her ankle was pain, she just forced herself up into a sitting position to get a clearer view of the chain. She took hold of both her necklace and the chain beside it for a closer look. "This chain......"

Iratella placed the cross pendant on her hand. The moment she did, she felt something in her. Something struck her from the inside, but she wasn't sure what it was. Her silverish grey eyes glowed slightly, and the glow recided slowly as she continued to stare at the pendant.

The skylark impatiently pressed on Iratella's wound, intentionally to make her stop moving around as he tend to her wound. "Hey!! That hurts!!" Iratella snapped. She slipped the chain into her coat pocket and fastened her necklace around her neck.

Meanwhile, everyone ran into the centre courtyard from different directions simultaneously after hearing the loud crash and bang earlier. "What happened in here???" Tsuna was the first to ran towards them, and the first to throw a question at them.

"The grand chandelier fell, as you can see." Dino stood up and swept his pants.

"Iratella is injured, but it's nothing serious. We've taken care of it."

"Ehhh??? Let me see your wound~" Haine quickly ran towards to Iratella to consult her already-bandaged wound. Iratella just smiled to see her friend acting so panicky.

"Ahh... with you two around her, her safety is always assured. Thank you." Kikuya smiled sweetly at the skylark and the Cavallone decimo.

"As always." Hibari smirked and walked away.

The Cavallone decimo helped Iratella up and carried her behind his back. Iratella weakly hung her arms over his shoulder and rested her head lazily on his shoulders as well.

With nothing more to say about the near-death incident of the three, everyone headed back to their respective manors.

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Iratella continued to stare at the cross pendant chain as she rolled lazily on her bed. The little diamonds on the pendant sparkled beautifully under the light from her room chandelier. As she ran her fingers over the beautiful diamonds, she recalled back the feeling she felt back in the Volitaire ruins. It was something, a kind of feeling that she had felt before some time ago, but strange enough she couldn't remember. Furthermore, she also has a feeling that she had seen the chain before. It was, as she thinks, also possible that she knows the owner, but apparently there was just no fragment of any memories regarding the owner of the chain.

"Whose chain is this...? Why do I get this familiar feeling whenever I touch it... or even look at it...?" she wonders. The chain brings back blur memories of pasts she somewhat remembers, but unable to see the clearer view of it.

She rested the chain on her chest as she ran her fingers over her necklace. She felt something was similar between the two necklaces. When she touched the diamonds on the cross chain again, she suddenly realized something.

"This diamonds.... they are ... snow diamonds....?"

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END OF CHAPTER ONE

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Author's note: Ahahahahhh!! End of chapter one desu!!! Didn't expect to finish it in a pretty short time despite not having enough time around~ wheee~ (P.S: I'm using my elder sis's lappie, mwahahahahhhh~~ ) So...what do you think of chapter one ? Good? Bad? Haha, I'm flexible~ so if you think it sucks, then please do tell me~ so I can edit it to make it better~
Wow~ to think about what to write in the next chapter is pretty hard~ it's not that I don't have any idea, it's just that lately my brain isn't fuctioning as how I want it to be~ weird, eh?
But, this is the least I can do to help "reactivate" it~ woots~

Kindly leave a comment/review/critic on this chappie, yea?

Be honest, but be nice.

Be cruel, and I shall KAMIKOROSU YOU!!!

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHHHHH!!!!!

*smacks myself*