Howling Wind Chapter 10: A New Guardian Emerges, a katekyo hitman reborn! fanfic

I'm too lazy to say anything as no one really reviewed except for EvilBoyzR2Cute, omgpink and music fans. Thanks for all those who read my story!

By the way, I was already losing my idea for this chapter so it's okay if you don't want to continue reading or flame me after this epic failure of a chapter.

Now on with the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own this awesome anime, Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

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Howling Wind

By: Fire Princess21

Chapter 10: A New Guardian Emerges

"Well, that's the most of it, I guess." Tsuna said, scratching his head as he finished explaining their current situation to me. I stared at the tabletop in silence, my hands on my lap.

It had been approximately an hour since I arrived and I was mostly surprised by the shocking story Tsuna told me. I had never thought of him to be something short of a coward and finding out about what he was facing right now and that he carried the responsibility of the safety of everyone in the base made me realize just how deep his love for his family, the Vongola, and everyone in the base was.

I really admire him now.

He was able to change himself from the pathetic Dame-Tsuna that I once knew into a man worthy of anyone's respect.

I really wanted to be like him. To be strong for the people who needed you the most, that was the noblest thing a person could ever do.

I continued to stare at the table for a couple of seconds, trying to absorb it all before I spoke.

"I understand. Then unless we defeat Byakuran, we won't be able to return home. And since you're in charge and there's no way for me to back out, I'll be under your command." I told him finally as I looked up. Tsuna released a sigh of relief and leaned back into his seat. "I'll do whatever I can to help you guys." I added firmly.

"A-Ano… Hitako-san-" Tsuna stuttered, looking at me guiltily.

"Sawada-san, please call me Sakura-chan instead. After all, you are my boss now, right?" I told him with a smile. He smiled back albeit a bit nervously.

"A-Ah… Sakura-chan then. I'm really sorry for involving you here." He apologized. I shook my head.

"It's not you're fault, Sawada-san. It's fate. Besides, I could have a whole new experience from this!" I told him cheerfully.

"E-Eh? You don't feel sad? Angry? Scared?" He asked confusedly. I shook my head.

"Not at all. This is totally out of the ordinary and I don't know what to make of it so let's just say that for now, I'm perfectly fine with this." I reassured him.

"Sakura, you did say that you have a ring, right?" Reborn asked from his seat, sitting with his legs crossed. Turning my attention to him, I nodded and took off the ring, handing it to him. Taking it in his small hands, his onyx eyes looked at it carefully, turning it around in the light. After his examination, he tossed it back to me. I caught it in my hand before slipping it back on.

"The ring is real and authentic. She's one of your guardians, Tsuna." Reborn said with confidence, looking at me.

"Eh? I thought you said that there were only seven guardians." Tsuna asked.

"There are, officially. The eighth is just a useless guardian. The presence of that guardian has never been needed before there has only been one in the whole Vongola history." Reborn said.

"Only one?" Tsuna asked. Reborn nodded.

"Aa. No one could light the ring that was forged by the eighth guardian of the Primo family so it had been forgotten by time and history, only to be passed on to the descendants of the eighth guardian and had been kept as a secret ever since. It was rumored that only people from the lineage of that guardian had the flame that could light that ring so it's possible that Sakura is a descendant." Reborn explained.

"That's amazing, Sakura-chan!" Yamamoto said, putting his hands behind his head.

"But Reborn-san, what's her attribute?" Gokudera asked.

"The howling wind that guides the family in times of crisis. She is the guardian of the wind." Reborn said.

"Eh? Wind?" Tsuna said, confused.

"She is the restlessly persistent force that pushes the adversaries back with her might. The guardian of the wind essentially has the 'support' factor, strengthening the abilities of the seven attributes." Reborn explained.

"Ahahaha! That sounds just like Sakura-chan. She does like to help people." Yamamoto said.

"You mean meddle with other people's business!" Gokudera objected, glaring at me. "Reborn-san, are you sure she's not just a spy from the Millefiore?" he asked, turning to Reborn.

"Gokudera-kun! Sakura-chan is our classmate. Besides, I have a feeling that she's a very kind person." Tsuna said, admonishing him. Gokudera didn't say anything after that.

"Sakura, what weapons did Faye give you?" Reborn asked me.

"A pair of fans." I told him as I brought them out for him to see.

"I see. It was said that they could generate a tornado that could destroy a whole town in a matter of minutes." Reborn said as I took them back.

"Eh? Hontoni?" Tsuna asked with a bit of surprised. "Have you used them before?" he asked me. I nodded.

"I was able to knock down a few trees." I replied.

"Che. You're going to need a lot more than that to beat the Juudaime." Gokudera said confidently from his seat. I let his snide remark pass.

"In any case, welcome to the family, Hitako Sakura." Reborn said, facing me with a smile. I smiled back.

"Arigatou. I promise to train hard and serve the Vongola Decimo faithfully and loyally." I swore.

"That's good. We can use your help in the upcoming battle. Your skills as an athlete will be useful in your training." Reborn said as he jumped off his seat. "Go to the training room tomorrow with Tsuna and the others. You should rest for now in Hibari's base. He's waiting for you there." Reborn added as he left the room, Bianchi walking after him.

"Hai!" I replied.

"Eh? You're staying at Hibari-san's base?" Tsuna asked me, surprised. I nodded and smiled a bit.

"Yeah. That's what he said a while ago before he left." I replied. My hold on my bag and my violin case tightened a bit.

I was nervous to the very pit of my stomach. Though the Hibari of this era seemed nicer and more mature than the Hibari I from ten years ago, I still couldn't shake off the feeling that he might attack me the moment I step into the room. And with the increase in Hibari's fighting prowess, there was absolutely no way I could even evade his attacks now.

Standing up, I bid them goodbye-promising to eat dinner with them later, and proceeded to walk through the maze-like halls of the underground base, my heart throbbing louder in my throat with each step.

Clutching the handles of my bags, I kneeled on a tatami mat in front of the sliding door, my back rigidly straight. Kusakabe Tetsuya had led me to Hibari's part of base that was connected to the Vongola's base. The door slid open, revealing Kusakabe behind the door and Hibari, sitting cross-legged on the tatami mats inside, wearing a black yukata, and silently drinking tea.

"Kyo-san would like to see you now." Kusakabe said in an ominously grim voice as I stood up and walked inside. I stopped in front of Hibari, a meter from his seat and sat down myself, imitating him. Kusakabe left the room once I had seated myself.

Hibari was silent, sipping his tea every now and then but his eyes were focused on me, as if silently appraising me. Self-consciously, I didn't make eye contact and looked around the room, noting the possible escape routes I could use if he suddenly attacked me though I was already doubting that that was his intent.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Hibari spoke.

"Why won't you look at me in the eyes?" he asked silently, setting down his cup of tea. I looked at him, and then at my hands on my lap.

"U-Um… I think it's impolite." I replied, stuttering a bit. He narrowed his eyes at me.

"Talking to someone requires eye contact."

"We're not exactly talking, are we?"

"We are now and yet you still won't look at me. Are you afraid?"

"No. Why should I be?"

"Then look at me." He ordered. I didn't reply nor did I look up from my hands. That was until he walked over to where I sat and bent down until we were eye-level and used a finger under my chin to tilt my head up.

I gulped when our eyes met. He repeated his question before.

"Why won't you look at me?" he asked again. This time, I could detect a slight hint of hurt in his voice. My face felt warm at out close proximity and I wanted to move away but it felt like his touch had frozen me. I took care to breathe slowly.

"I don't know." I said softly, trying my best to avoid his penetrating gaze. With a sigh, he let go and sat in front of me. He eyed my violin case and my book bag with narrowed eyes.

"You should keep those somewhere safe until you return to your time." He said. I nodded listlessly, still averting my eyes from his by staring at nothing.

After a few more moments of silence, he spoke again.

"Are you really not going to answer my question?" he asked.

'Why do you keep on asking me that?"

"Answer it. I want to know."

I grimaced at his persistence but I was secretly thankful that he hadn't threatened to bite me to death. The old Hibari would have. At the thought, a painful pang went through my heart and I realized that I missed him.

That was strange by itself. To miss someone that had always inflicted physical pain on my person, it was really strange of me.

And yet as soon as I felt it, it was gone the moment I looked into Hibari's eyes. The Hibari of this era, ten years into the future.

"I… can't look into your eyes because I think like you're another person. But when I look into your eyes… I feel like you are the Hibari I know, ten years ago." I told him finally, slowly. I let myself stare at him now, noting the change in his usually cold and stoic expression.

"Stupid herbivore. I told you already. I am Hibari. Fight me if you don't believe me." He said, smirking. I shook my head immediately, waving my hands.

"That's not necessary! I believe you. It's just that it's still too unbelievable to absorb." I told him. He smirked again and then stood up. He extended one hand towards me as he did. I looked at it dumbly for a few seconds.

"Take it or I'm going to leave you." He said impatiently. I blinked at him. "Take it." He growled when I still wouldn't. "I won't attack you." He added. I took his hand then and he pulled me up. He also took my bags from my hand. I didn't protest.

Not even when he took my hand as we walked through the empty hallways of his base.

"This will be your room for now." He said, placing my bags on a table as we entered a room just a few doors away from his.

I nodded and looked around the room. It was simple and plain. No other ornaments decorated the room, save for a bed, a chair, a shelf filled with books on one corner and a desk where a laptop resided and with folders and papers filed neatly on top. A closet was in another corner of the room.

I shifted my attention to the bed. It was strangely a bit bigger than an ordinary one, like it was meant for two people to sleep on instead of one. The bed sheet was a checkered blue that matched with the blanket and a pillow decorated with fading embroidery of flowers. It looked strangely like my favorite pillow back at home.

Stepping towards the bed, I sat down and reached for the pillow, hugging it close to me. It had a faint scent of home and I felt comforted. I buried my face in the pillow and only looked up when I felt the mattress sink beside me as Hibari sat down.

"This was your room when you were here. You often complained that you always seemed to lack time or to forget to decorate this room." He said. I looked at him questioningly.

"Didn't I stay with Sawada-san and the others?" I asked him.

"No. You preferred to be with me."

I stared at him, my eyes widening in surprise at his response.

"Eh? Really? Why?" I asked. He stared at me, as if he expected me to know the answer. When I didn't say anything else, only to look at him expectantly, he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You really have no idea?" he asked. I shook my head.

"Then it's better for you not to know." He said and stood up to leave. Out of impulse, I grabbed his hand and held it. He turned to look at me, anger glittering in his eyes. I gulped mentally.

"I want to know!" I told him persistently. My mouth was set in a firm line and I held his hand in a tight grip. He made no move to pry it off though- which I'm sure he could have- but he stared at me with an odd expression. It was somewhere along the line of longing and sadness. He looked away from my eyes.

"Iie. It's better if you don't know. That way, you won't have to think about it and it won't interfere with your training. I'll allow you to rest for today. Tomorrow, you'll be coming to train with me and Sawada Tsunayoshi. Am I understood?" he said sternly. I nodded and let go of his hand.

"Do your duty as the Vongola Wind Guradian. I cannot allow you to be distracted by trivial things. Focus on your training." He said before he left, his yukata flapping gently behind him. I sighed when the door closed behind him and lay down on the bed, my arms stretched out at my sides.

I really didn't get him.

One minute, he was acting the cold Hibari that I knew and the next, he was like an affectionate person. Or his version of it anyway.

I snorted at the thought of him being affectionate.

Staring at the ceiling, I closed my eyes and wondered vaguely about why my future self had stayed here with Hibari in the first place before I fell asleep.

Hibari leaned against the wall outside Sakura's room. He looked up at the ceiling and smiled to himself wryly.

"She doesn't know?" Reborn asked, standing a few feet away from him. Hibari inclined his head towards him and stood up from his leaning position.

"No. It would be beneficial for her training if she doesn't. The Wind Guardian tends to be easily distracted from the happenings around her." Hibari replied.

"I see. But she will never be able to understand why you act that way."

Hibari started to walk towards him. "That won't matter. Her only purpose here is to defeat Byakuran. I don't intend for her to find out such trivial matters."

"You're sacrificing the time you have left with her. She may not know but you do."

"That doesn't matter, okambo." Hibari said as he disappeared down a corner of the hallway. Reborn looked at the door of Sakura's room for a few seconds, an unreadable expression on his face.

"The Wind Guardian... She must be fit for the job no matter what happens." He said to himself as walked on.

I was wondering if I should continue writing or not. Our school is about to start soon and I was thinking that I may not have time to continue writing this so I may discontinue but if anyone objects, I may still continue but expect slower updates. Please tell me what you think.

Thanks for reading the story!