Sketch of characters getting older

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I keep contemplating how the younger KHR characters got to their TYL selves, and what they are at that age and I think I want to jot this down.

Gokudera: Gokudera calms down as time goes on. This does not mean he becomes any less heart-bound to Tsuna, but as he becomes more confident of and secure in his place in the Family he stops needing to yell about it. The point at which Tsuna confirms that Gokudera is his right hand is the true turning point for this. As he calms, Gokudera becomes more efficient, his edge shows more clearly, and he starts to solidify a reputation quite separate from his old one of ‘feral punk’, one of absolute loyalty to Tsuna and his wishes and of complete incorruptibility–the Vongola’s feared right hand, as Gamma says. Given the ruthlessness we see in, for example, 61, I suspect that Gokudera becomes extremely dangerous as he becomes cooler and more effective, and that it is, in large part, only Tsuna’s kindness that restrains him.

Yamamoto: Yamamoto keeps going on the same trajectory. Yamamoto's reasons for bonding so tightly to Tsuna are never explicated, but I surmise that at first Tsuna simply roused Yamamoto's protective streak; he is so often shown protecting Tsuna. Yamamoto values excellence for its own sake, witness both baseball and the sword, but he seems to have engaged with people only at the surface level in the past. If we accept the near-suicide incident at more or less face value, it seems to indicate that, on the one hand, before Tsuna Yamamoto never really had a friend close enough to take risks for him and, on the other, that Yamamoto is impressed by Tsuna's wisdom. Thus Yamamoto's willingness to stay by Tsuna and follow his lead wherever it goes. As time goes on, this only deepens, and I suspect it develops into genuine loyalty to and trust in Tsuna as his leader.

Hibari: Hibari moves from being a dictator of the first water to being a genuinely good warrior, and all the while his devotion to order and propriety never waver, remaining very attached to Namimori with the Vongola folded in. His sublime conviction that he is the strongest ever is tempered by meeting other strong people, and evolves into a delight in fighting other strong people, not to win though he generally does that, but to fight; the opportunity to do so may be part of what keeps him with Tsuna. His intellectual curiosity sharpens as well. He is always a little apart, as befits the Cloud, but Tsuna's growing strength secures his respect. This is the personal bond within his abstract allegiance to the proper ordering of the Vongola.

Lambo: Lambo appears to be raised by Tsuna and his Guardians, so that they become Lambo's family in all senses. I suspect this gives him a rather odd sense of loyalties in which Tsuna comes first, but the Bovino are always part of the equation.

Ryouhei: Ryouhei never loses his basic approach to life, which is direct in (how else?) the extreme, but he does mature considerably. He becomes less inclined to blind optimism and, though the optimism is always a basic part of him, more inclined to an analytical view. As he understands more of the actual stakes involved, his focus moves away from Reborn, or even Colonello, and toward Tsuna. By around the end of high school, I suspect, he understands what his position as Guardian entails and accepts it, quite likely enthusiastically, as a good cause in which to live his life.

Chrome: Chrome performs a balancing act between Tsuna and Mukuro. From the start Tsuna impresses her, sufficiently that she grants him the accolade of "boss" at once. Equally, though, she doesn't have much to do with the other Guardians or even Tsuna himself day to day; that is reserved for Mukuro, Chikusa and Ken--Mukuro's personal Family. She gains control of her own bodily integrity through the ring she possesses by virtue of being Tsuna's Guardian, but the skill to do so is something she learned from Mukuro. Mukuro continues to come first for her, unsurprisingly given her bond with him, but Tsuna's priorities are second only to that.

Mukuro: Mukuro comes to serve Tsuna willingly albeit backhanded. Mukuro alleges to still want to possess Tsuna, but he makes no move to do so. Part of that may be that Tsuna has become too strong for him. More of it may be because Tsuna fascinates him--a mafia Boss who is utterly set against and seeks to mitigate the harshness of their world. I surmise that Mukuro takes a sufficiently long view that he sees Tsuna's goals as equivalent to his own, at least once Tsuna has cleansed Mukuro's aura/will/heart. This does not mean that he won't cheerfully destroy anyone he identifies as evil or corrupt, but he is also willing to serve Tsuna's more creative approach.

Tsuna: Tsuna grows into his strength and a high degree of ruthlessness. Even as a youngster, he is relentlessly determined to do what needs to be done. As time goes on, this only refines alongside the development of his Will. By TYL he is someone who will gamble his own life and not inform those closest to him because of the risk. He becomes someone who will do and allow things that cause Gokudera to be feared, who Yamamoto will call his boss, who Hibari will be entranced by the strength of, who Mukuro will do the will of, who Xanxus will acknowledge the power of.