Disclaimer: I still don't own.
Thanks to the guest who pointed out mistakes.
Beta'ed by ShamelessDilettante
Ten years had passed since then, and within this decade many things changed.
Within the first week of Tsuna's appearance, the family settled back down to everyday life. Natsume quickly grew fond of his 'Tsuna-nii's' presence, and spent most of the time while he was at home playing with the brunet. During the other sections of the day the blond continued to go back to preschool, albeit reluctantly, because his 'brother' was unable to accompany him.
As per Tsuna's suggestions, Nana really had decided to adopt him—although Tsuna managed to convince her to not do so. Thinking back on it, suggesting the adoption hadn't been the best plan of action. If he were to be adopted, then all sorts of legal business would arise, and frankly he didn't want his presence to be known to the mafia world just yet. He wasn't absolutely certain that he could keep his existence a secret from the Vongola if the need should arise, especially if his name was suddenly registered as part of the Sawada family.
In order not to raise any questions about his stay at the Sawada residence, he made sure to never leave the house when somebody else was watching. Although this method of action was irritating, he deemed it necessary. He didn't trust the neighbors around them to not raise suspicions and rumors about the sudden brown-haired teen who suddenly appeared out of nowhere. From experience he knew that rumors spread quickly, and it would only be a matter of time for one to make its way back to Italy where the Vongola lay in wait.
In the beginning, the household had been very awkward. Tsuna hadn't known what to say to Nana, now that she was cooperating with his proposals. True to her word, she seemed entirely carefree around Natsume, adorning the boy with loving hugs and kisses that made him squeal in delight. But when he wasn't around, the traces of worry and terror slid back into her expression, and Tsuna would leave her to deal with her own anxiety.
He kept his part of the bargain, too. Within the week of the Ninth's and Iemitsu's departure from the Sawada residence, three assassins tried to attack. Tsuna had dealt with them accordingly, maiming them just enough to send the message across and shipping them back to their boss with a warning to never attack again or to face the consequences. It disgusted him to think of how overconfident the Vongola had been about the safety of Nana and Natsume—if he hadn't been there, what would have happened?
Yet time passed relentlessly, and with it the household became more relaxed. At times Tsuna still had to make a move, but as years flew by he no longer needed to remain as vigilant, something that he was grateful for. Although at first their relationship had been strained at best, Nana became indescribably thankful after the first time she witnessed him dispatching an enemy, which had gotten far too close for her liking, proceeding to shower him with praise and adoration. Soon after that he was truly treated as a member of the family, accepted by both as 'Tsuna-nii' and to his amusement, 'Tsu-kun.'
The nickname still made him laugh.
Time passed, and Natsume grew older. Everything was peaceful. Nana continued to dote on Natsume, and soon began to smile genuinely at Tsuna and to laugh from the bottom of her heart. The household always seemed warm and radiant in those passing years, as if it had never had any connections with the perpetual darkness of the underground world.
Within the decade, Sawada Iemitsu had visited the house a total of three more times. Tsuna always left the house then, unwilling to be seen by the leader of the CEDEF. Days before the man's first arrival since he moved in, he had instructed Nana to pretend he never came and drilled Natsume into never mentioning his name to his father. "It's a secret," Tsuna had said teasingly—and Natsume played along with that brilliant smile. Then the brunet would always leave, and never be seen again until he was certain that the Vongola had left.
What really amused Tsuna was that Natsume never seemed to remember who the man had been. One time, days after Iemitsu's visit when he had been five, the blond child had asked, "Who was he?" and Tsuna didn't know how to reply. Nana had been devastated to hear that, but not surprised.
The man had never been there for his child, after all.
More time passed, and soon Natsume entered school. Tsuna would follow him on the walk there, camp out somewhere where he could keep an eye on the boy, and follow him home when it was time to leave. Natsume never seemed to be aware of his personal stalker, which was fine. Tsuna didn't need the child hunting for him every minute of his life.
The boy soon discovered books, and quickly immersed himself into them. However, he only seemed to like certain books—specifically fantasy and science-fiction tales. Despite Tsuna's encouragement, Natsume never seemed to want to even touch non-fiction books, and his grades suffered accordingly.
Nana was rather put out by this, and seeing his mother upset, Natsume began to cry. Nana, seeing her adorable son so sad, immediately reached out to comfort him.
"Don't cry," Nana said gently. "I'm not mad."
"But I got bad grades!"
"Grades don't matter. They are only what the teacher thinks of you." Seeing her son unconvinced, she desperately added, "Na-kun, you are special. You are destined for great things, soon to come…"
And still the clock kept ticking, and the countdown to that meeting began to draw to a close.
"Tsu-kun!" Nana called from the first floor. "Come down here!"
"Coming!"
It was in the morning. From beyond the window the endless blue sky stretched forever. Sunlight filtered through the window and into the bedroom, the room which he and Natsume shared.
Tsuna climbed out of his bed, running his hand through his unruly brown hair. In the entire ten years he had been in the house, his appearance hadn't changed at all—something that Nana had been quite incredulous about. His brown hair still stood on end, sticking straight up at times as if it were held up by gel. Sometimes he thought that it was too irritating, and made a move to cut it—but then his brother's face would flicker through his mind, and he would set the scissor down immediately and push the thought away.
Behind him, there was a tired groan and a shift of movement. Natsume rolled over in his bed, pulling the covers up over his head. He murmured something like 'five more minutes' and promptly dropped back into dreamland.
Tsuna made his way downstairs, careful not to make any noise as he moved. The door closed without a sound, and his silent footsteps inched closer to the dining room in which Nana was standing, her face nearly as pale and frightened as the first time they had talked.
"Is it time?" Tsuna asked, noting the piece of paper in her hands.
Nana nodded. "This flyer… 'Will raise your kid to be the leader of the next generation. Grade and subject don't matter. Signed, Reborn.'" She turned her wide eyes onto him. "Now what?"
Tsuna pulled a chair out from under the table and sat down. "Now nothing. Now we wait for Reborn to come."
Nana twisted the sheet in her hands, the paper crinkling with her movements. "Is—is it possible to keep him from coming? To give Na-kun more time?"
Solemnly he shook his head. "No. Reborn is the number one hitman in the world. He wouldn't let anybody get in the way of his job, which is to train Natsume-kun. My job of protecting him is over."
Nana turned her terrified eyes onto him. "Are you…leaving?" she choked out.
He smiled.
"I never said that. What's for breakfast?"
"Na-kun," Nana called, as she walked up the stairs. "I got a call from school. You came home in the middle of class again…"
From his room, Natsume sighed. He was lying flat on his stomach, flipping through yet another novel, his eyes skimming over the contents before turning the page. He was tired of this talk—honestly, she didn't have to remind him! He was well aware of his shortcomings, and what he needed to change, but old habits die hard, and he had no intention of changing them anyway.
His eyes flickered over to the clock hanging on the bedroom wall. It was noon; he had gone to school like it was any ordinary day, been bullied by the rest of his classmates from his grade, called 'Dame-Natsu,' seen his crush, and come home. All in all it had been a bad day so far, and he didn't want it to get any worse. He had come home hoping for a change of pace. After all, what could possibly go wrong if he didn't go out?
There was a knock on his door, and then with a twist of the knob his mother walked in, pouting. "Honestly!" she said, watching as he flipped another page with a disapproving frown. "If only you could read textbooks like that too! What do you plan to do in the future?"
"Dunno," he said distractedly. "Where's Tsuna-nii?"
"Out," Nana answered immediately. "And don't change the topic! I'm not saying that you have to get into a good college or whatever. Live your life to the fullest, and live happily. Don't waste it here, not when things can be much better."
"And they can be much worse," he quipped, ignoring the pained look that flashed briefly across her face. Sighing, he said, "Honestly, Maman. I'm perfectly content reading these books. Now if you'll excuse me…" He lifted his eyes to the door suggestively.
But she didn't leave; she stared at him for a moment and seemed to come to a decision. "Na-kun…a home tutor is coming today." She didn't seem to see his incredulous stare; her gaze seemed locked on a point above his head. "There was an interesting flyer in the mailbox 'Will raise your kid to be the leader of the next generation. Grade and subject doesn't matter. Reborn.' Isn't it great? I've never seen such a promotion before!"
Natsume eyed his beaming mother dubiously. "It's definitely a scam—"
But she kept talking, almost rambling, over his words. "It's probably a tutor from a professional business school for young proper men. I've always wanted a teacher like this for you."
Natsume looked at her indignantly. "I refuse to have a home tutor! I'm not good at anything I do anyways—"
"Ciaossu."
Flinching at the new voice, he looked around, frowning in confusion when he spotted an infant standing by the doorway. The baby was clad in an expensive black suit, a yellow pacifier dangling conspicuously in front of his chest. His spiky hair was covered by a large fedora; near the rim a green chameleon skittered and peered upwards with golden eyes. Grinning, the baby simply stared at him with his obsidian eyes, the distinct sideburns bouncing slightly when he moved. All in all, it was a strange but harmless picture, not that Natsume cared.
"I'm Reborn, the home tutor," the baby declared pompously.
Natsume managed to look at the baby for another second before dissolving into rude snickers. "You're kidding. I was wondering who the heck created that stupid flyer, but it turns out it was a baby! Sorry, but there's nothing that even I can learn from you!"
Before he knew what was happening Reborn had twisted, slamming a foot deep into his groin, and all of the air rushed out of his lungs with a cry of agony. He gasped and collapsed onto the ground, clutching at his stomach, wheezing as he tried to get enough air into his lungs. God, it hurt, not even the bullies had managed to hit him so hard. Through the haze of pain and coughing he heard his mother murmur something unintelligible and run out of the room, slamming the door loudly behind her.
Reborn smirked in contentment, satisfied that the woman had left. Now he could finally talk. He pulled open the briefcase that he had been carrying, quickly assembling the components of the gun before holding it up with a loud click. Wiping the saliva from his mouth, his newest student took one look at Reborn and his jaw dropped open like a fool. Reborn frowned inwardly, it seemed like he had to educate the blond on a lot of things, common courtesy among those, though, he mused, he hadn't expected anything else.
"Well, let's get started now, Sawada Natsume. My true line of work is assassination, and my real job is to make you a mafia bo—"
"Tsuna-nii?" the blond whispered.
In an instant Reborn realized what was wrong, what the blond had been staring so incredulously at. Not him, not the gun, but at someone behind him. Reborn spun around, reflexes taking over as he quickly leveled the gun. Nobody, absolutely nobody, snuck up on the legendary Reborn: being the number one assassin in the world should have ensured it. For someone to sneak up behind him took skill and years upon years of training and experience.
The two gazes connected.
"Who are you?" Reborn demanded, tightening his finger on the trigger.
The teen before him smirked.
"My name is Sawada Tsunayoshi."
Edited, some scenes rewritten, hope this is better.
Natsume's name: 笯妬芽