AN: Erm...I haven't got a clue what to write except that this is based on the single chapter fic written by Seto's Darkness, and I do have full permission to completely destroy such a wonderful piece if writing. Which I'm pretty damn sure I have done. *sighs* Oh well, here's the (crappy) first chapter. Enjoy and review!

DISCLAIMER: I in no way, shape or form own the tiniest smidgen of Katekyo Hitman Reborn. If I did, do you think I'd be writing on ?

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Sawada Tsunayoshi didn't know much about life before the walls. That time had been when his Mother was a young girl, long before Tsuna had been born. So, he always listened to his Mother's stories with rapt attention. His father, Sawada Iemitsu, always watched his son with sad eyes, dreading the day his sweet little child would go to sleep and never wake again.

Because Tsuna's body was so fragile.

Because Tsuna was born different.

Tsuna envied the others, children who were born right.

Children whose soul attribute wasn't killing them.

You see, everybody is born with an attribute, Plus or Minus. The attribute was the source of an individual's powers.

Plus: People whose qualities are based on building or creating. They are good healers, and good at repairing broken things.

Minus: People whose qualities are based on destroying. They are respected and admired for their battle skills and prowess against foes.

Everyone was born as one or the other. But not Tsuna. He was neither of these. Tsuna fell under another category.

Zero: People whose qualities are unknown or non-existent. They have no use and do not belong. They are anomalies.

By all rights, Tsuna should have died the day he was born, as most other zero-attributes before him had. Zero-attributes were always born so, so weak. Their bodies just couldn't survive through those precious first few hours. If they did, the next few years were touch and go. And Tsuna kept going. He survived those first few hours. His body had strength enough to keep going, through the next year and the doctors said that Tsuna was very, very lucky.

The doctors said he was very interesting, and that it would be in everyone's best interests if, when Tsuna was a bit older and stronger, he be referred to some specialists.

The doctors referred Tsuna when he turned four years old.

Tsuna called the specialists THEM.

Tsuna didn't think he was so lucky.

THEY took Tsuna away, put him in a small room with no windows.

THEY fed him mush that didn't taste of anything, and gave him water that tasted funny and made him feel strange.

THEY took Tsuna to other rooms filled with machines that flickered and clicked and whirred, whilst THEY stuck needles into him, filling him with strange things that made him feel cold.

THEY left Tsuna in rooms filled with others, and left them to fight amongst themselves over pleasant tasting scraps.

Tsuna didn't feel the same when THEY sent him back home, to the supposed haven of his mother's arms. Nothing looked the same to Tsuna. The world had lost some of its sparkle. He was so paranoid in the first few months, refusing to drink or eat anything he hadn't made himself.

Tsuna had always thought he was different. His stay with THEM had merely confirmed that fact. An anomaly, THEY had called him.

"Interesting," One of THEM had remarked with a callous smirk, "But ultimately useless."

-0- -0- -0-

Even amidst a war-torn world, there were still schools.

Tsuna had, by this point, forgotten all about THEM (or so he told his Mother), and enjoyed school, seemingly not caring about the two-year 'black-spot' in his memory. At least, school had been enjoyable when it was about making inedible cookies that you painted, and pasta and glue pictures. Personal talents didn't matter so much. Until the next couple of years, when everyone started normal lessons. After that it quickly became apparent that Tsuna had no discernible skills whatsoever. He was constantly tripping over nothing, and couldn't solve problems in maths. He could never pay attention in class, even though he tried so hard.

Some of the more mean-spirited children had started calling him "Dame-Tsuna", but it didn't upset him too much because the rest of the children stood up for him. Tsuna was content.

Then, they'd moved up to Middle-school.

Their first lesson in Middle-school had been about soul-attributes, and there had been a special speaker. He'd taught them all about Plus, Minus, and even Zero. The man even had a list of their names and had told them all what attribute they were.

Even Tsuna.

More and more people called him "Dame-Tsuna" after that. Nobody defended him anymore. They turned a blind eye, or watched on with haughty glares. Nobody did anything when the bullies started physically attacking Tsuna. Not even the kindest and most popular girl in class, Sasagawa Kyoko, spoke out for him.

As much as Tsuna liked her, and no matter how understanding he was, he would never forgive her. Even if. Even if he did understand why.

After all, who wants to defend what shouldn't exist?

-0- -0- -0-

Despite his lack of skills, Tsuna managed to get into High-school. It was quite a shock to his peers, but they quickly got over it and spent most of their free school-time speculating as to how Tsuna got in. Their theories ranged from pity to outright cheating.

But they soon dismissed these theories after the class got their first test results back. Tsuna had barely scraped 10 out of 47 marks.

"Aha!" His classmates had cried cheerfully "The school let Dame-Tsuna in to give us an example! And for morale."

At the others' quizzical looks, they elaborated.

" I mean, You can't get more pathetic than Dame-Tsuna, can you?"

Everyone had laughed hard that day. Everyone except Dame-Tsuna, who had (with tears silently flowing down his cheeks) forgotten the mantra taught to him by his Mother. Soft spoken words meant to motivate him.

"We're all the same. All equal. Different, but equal."

Tsuna wasn't equal. Tsuna was nothing.

Zero.

-0- -0- -0-

Tsuna was often cited a daydreamer by his teachers.

"Always with his head in the clouds." They'd chuckle to the various school inspectors. "We've tried our best, we really have, but its just in one ear and straight out the other."

Which wasn't necessarily true, nor was it false.

Tsuna did have the potential to succeed, he just learnt better through doing things. His teachers had neither the desire nor the patience to sit down with the young brunet and walk him through the first few steps of his topics. Combined with his lack of self-esteem and the stigma against him, Tsuna had given up trying, and spent the lessons staring into space.

There'd always be at least one inspector who would push the matter further, asking why one child of so many was being "left behind".

They stopped asking when his teachers told them what Tsuna's attribute was. The inspectors would spend the rest of their stay sending him haughty or pitying looks.

Tsuna simply gazed at the board, watching words take shape and vanish with the swipe of a hand, just like smoke.

-0- -0- -0-

Another year passed, and Tsuna was still breathing, still alive.

Each and every year that slid by and still had Tsuna within them brought great joy to his Mother (Tsuna didn't know his Father's opinion. Iemitsu had vanished a few years prior to Tsuna starting middle school), and she did her best to show Tsuna just how much she loved him.

On the day of his birth, Sawada Nana would take her beloved son to the research centre, where Tsuna would undergo routine physical and psychological tests, which would last all of the morning.

Then, Nana would take Tsuna as close to the nearest wall as she possibly could.

That meant that they would go to an abandoned sushi restaurant called "Takesushi".

It was a small building that consisted of a shop area and a kitchen on the ground floor. On the first floor was the living space, which was made of a living room, a bathroom and two bedrooms.

Tsuna's Mother would stride in like she owned the place, gently place a blanket on the nearest available patch of clear ground, and put out a small and simple spread that included Tsuna's favorites. Tsuna would sit down with her (taking care to avoid the sharp shards of dirty glass and that nasty patch of damp) and began eating the nearest piece of food.

Nana would gaze about the old building with a wide, melancholy smile. She'd continue to do this, occasionally glancing at the youth in front of her, until she deemed him ready. The older woman would start with a dreamy sigh (always a dreamy sigh) and describe, in vivid detail, the beauty and life of the sushi restaurant named 'Takesushi'.

And Tsuna would listen while he ate with the same rapt attention he had as a small child, even if he could recite the tale of the first time his Mother ate at Takesushi, even if he could tell another person his Mother's exact feelings when she first met his Father.

They would sit there together, Mother and Son, one reminiscing and the other trying to imagine what her life was like.

Trying to imagine life before the walls, the sirens and the empty streets.

Tsuna believed his Mother's gleeful words, agreeing with her as he looked around the dilapidated building. The young boy could almost see the patrons seated at the mouldy stools, could almost hear the buzz of conversation and shouted orders shot back and forth between the father and son who owned the place.
And Tsuna knew his Mother noticed his faraway look.

They always made sure to leave before dark, as the streets his Mother had grown up had become ten times more dangerous since the establishment of the walls.

Every year they did this. Every year, going to eat and reminisce inside the broken comfort of Takesushi's walls.

But it stopped the year before Tsuna's graduation. Enemies had attacked that particular section of wall, destroying Takesushi and a large chunk of the surrounding area.
They stopped leaving the house for anything other than necessity, and Tsuna's Mother stopped telling him stories.

Stopped reminiscing.

-0- -0- -0-

Amongst everyone he knew, Tsuna understood that they were all individuals.

Tsuna understood that, even as individuals, they all wanted to 'clump' together with other, similar individuals. Herding together, as it were.

Tsuna understood that, even if he shared any similarities with the others, he would never be accepted into their 'herd'. His one difference was too great, and bore too big a stigma.

He was too different.

Tsuna understood that people fear what they themselves don't understand, so he understood why the others said such horrible things about him. Words that slowly chipped away at his heart and soul.

Tsuna understood when even the kindest and most caring person in class joined the others, became a part of that large, collective 'clump' that rejected him.

Tsuna even understood when the attacks became physical, and made him even more fragile.

He understood that they were scared of what was coming after graduation, scared of what they didn't and couldn't understand.

He understood that the bullies were simply lashing out, using Tsuna as a scapegoat to quell their uncertainty, make them feel like they had some semblance of control.

Tsuna understood that every bruise, cut and break was a desperate cry for help.

Even among the born sadistic, each blow they dealt to strange, different, unnatural Tsuna was a shout-out.

Each blow screamed out the stress and frustration that each individual held.

Tsuna understood, but he didn't forgive.

He didn't hate any of them, but he didn't like them either.

But none of that mattered, because Tsuna's opinions and feelings didn't matter.

Because he didn't belong.

In this social pattern, Tsuna was an anomaly.

Tsuna was alone.

Tsuna didn't belong.

-0- -0- -0-

The day of Tsuna's graduation had been much dreaded and anticipated.

When his class had first been informed of the exams, Tsuna had descended into a blind panic, knowing that he would fail. Knowing that any teacher he approached wouldn't give him the help he desperately needed.

It was only after several heart-to-hearts with his Mother that Tsuna pulled himself together, and spent as much spare time as he could studying.

Although, never in school.

He stopped trying to do so after his third notebook had been ripped to pieces and burned. Tsuna couldn't even take notes in lesson, because he'd be mugged at lunch and after school, and his notes would be destroyed. So, he spent almost all of his time at home studying. His Mother had even spent a small fortune on study guides and step-by-step topic books.

Tsuna spent many sleepless nights pouring over his surviving notes and text books, and quickly grew accustomed to passing out at his desk only to wake up the next morning in his own bed, tucked in tightly and surrounded by two or three hot water bottles. Tsuna even gained the foresight to change into his nightclothes when he settled down to study.

When Tsuna's exams had come around, he hadn't exactly been at his best, due to the prior months of work and stress taking its toll on his health.

But he hadn't let his mother know.

He had refused to let all his work go to waste, and was ecstatic that the exams had to be taken in complete silence. It meant that the harrowing words spewed at him weren't there to distract him. No one could snatch his work away from him.

Make no mistake, Tsuna still found the exams hard (he'd tuned out about four years worth of education, so no amount of cramming over a few short months would ever change that), both physically and emotionally (He'd lost count of the amount of times he'd barely got through the front door before collapsing into a sobbing pile of goo). Tsuna's health had been heavily affected by the extra stress, and he'd almost collapsed in the midst of exams, although he always caught himself and struggled on.

Collapse was inevitable, however, and Tsuna managed to fight it off until he'd finished checking his answers in his final exam before he let the black fog take him.

Tsuna barely scraped a pass in all of his subjects, but pass he did. Compared to his performance before his study scramble, he'd improved by miles, so Tsuna didn't feel bad when the others had looked down on him and his results.

Tsuna was very proud of himself, as was his mother.

His results must have shocked more people than Tsuna originally thought, because a few days later, two scientists from the research centre knocked on his door.
Tsuna always felt uncomfortable around scientists, especially ones that experimented with live subjects. They were two-faced, so Tsuna was always wary around them.

His discomfort only increased when he saw the devious smirk on their faces.

"Ah, konnichiwa, Sawada-san. May we come in? We have something...important to discuss."

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White. Four walls so close together they looked like they were moving. Bleach, the smell filled the air thickly. No windows, only a heavy steel door. Rooms that reeked of blood and filth. Hands reaching out and grabbing, tearing, trying to snatch what he so desperately needed.

Blurred movement, then another room. Still white. Walls, floor and door coated in it. This time, there are beeping machines, and sharp things piercing the skin. Agony, dancing along nerves and disrupting thoughts.

The white is still there. No matter where the movement. Its always there.

After the third day of being held within the walls during testing, Tsuna remembered why he hated the colour white.

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A week after Tsuna returned from the his short stay at the research centre, he received The Letter.

It was a letter that every boy (well, man, really) his age received upon graduating. Some girls got it too, but only if they had previously displayed good combat skills.
The Letter would arrive when a person was ready to go to the nearest MAFIA base, and would undergo training to become a competent soldier to defend Japan.
It told them where there assigned base was, what training they would get, and the ranking system. It informed them of the rules, the living arrangements, and the names of their teachers within MAFIA. It also revealed the identity of the enemy, a European organisation similar to Japan's MAFIA; the MILLEFIORE.

The Letter also told its receivers of the Omerta, and the consequences of breaking it.

Underneath this small paragraph, sat another, smaller paragraph. It read:
" I, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ , do hereby vow to never reveal information to the enemy unless instructed to do so by the Don of MAFIA.
I acknowledge that any unauthorised action that is seen and/or acknowledged as betrayal will result in immediate undertaking of the above noted consequences.

Signed: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _"

Tsuna stared blankly at The Letter, before picking up a nearby pen with lethargic movements.
He was stopped by his Mother's gentle hands on his arm. She peered at him with worried eyes.
"Are you sure, Tsu-kun?" She asked him quietly.

Tsuna looked up at her with lifeless eyes. He nodded mutely, then moved his hand, slowly imprinting his name onto the crisp, ivory-white paper.
The black ink stood out, seemingly burning the shining-white sheet as it absorbed the dark liquid.

Tsuna signed away his life. Signed away what little freedom he had, however minuscule.

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Tsuna stood outside the reception area of the Namimori MAFIA branch. The building looked like a giant had just slotted hollow cement cubes into a neat rectangle. Tsuna knew that there would probably be countless underground tunnels and rooms, but couldn't bring himself to care.
His Mother had come along with him, to say goodbye along with the other parents before carrying on to the evacuation buildings. His classmates and their parents stood around him, only in such a way that left at least a foot of ground between them and Tsuna. None of the other adults acknowledged Tsuna or Nana, and they stood talking quietly until a loud voice boomed out a surprised sounding "Nana-chan?!".

A tall, lean man with short ebony hair strode towards them, wearing the standard black suit of a high ranking MAFIA member.
All the adults around them parted to let the stranger through, and waited until he'd passed before sending haughty glares that said "Hn, in trouble are we? Ha!"

So Tsuna was tempted to laugh hysterically when the stranger (and his superior) swept his Mother into a bear hug that stole her breath away in a peal of airy laughter.
His Mother and the stranger (Who Tsuna learnt was in fact Yamamoto Tsuyoshi, previous owner of Takesushi and an old childhood friend of his Mother's) chatted away like two old wives.
Sensing that they had much to catch up on, Tsuna hugged his Mother one last time and bid her goodbye.

She watched him go with sad eyes, leaning into the comforting arms of Tsuyoshi.
"Don't worry so much, Nana-chan," He murmured softly, "He'll be fine. I'll look out for him. Besides, can't you see? He's grown, Nana-chan. Look how strong he is."

And look she did.

Tsuna was the first one to enter the building, the others following on behind him.

Following on like a herd.

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AN: So, how was it? PLEASE put me out of my misery! I'd like to know if I'm doing Seto's Darkness justice! T-T Please click on that lovely button at the bottom of the page and tell me what you think!

Edit 24/12/2009 : Just some formatting and the correction of a misspelled word. Nothing majorly important. And OMG! I've had so many (In my opinion anyways) reviews and faves/alerts its unreal! Thank you all so much XD