Chapter 10

Tsuna heard the knock on his bedroom door. He didn't want to get up yet. He just felt drained…..and really warm. It was cozy. He made some incomprehensible sound, burrowing further into the bed and blankets. He felt Cacciavite stir next to him, and mutter something in english that he didn't quite catch. Apparently, they took the mutterings as permission to come in. The door creaked, and Tsuna groaned a bit.

"Maa! Tsuna! You can't sleep all day!" Chirped Yamamoto. "You already missed breakfast, and we gotta test out the improvements on the equipment."

"Five more minutes Takeshi…." He said, yawning.

"Vongola, we don't have too much time to waste before we miss our window." Spanner said, stomping into the room. He heard Yamamoto laugh.

"I know a sure fire way…" He said, lighter footsteps coming closer to the bed. "Huh… Tsuna, is someone in there with you? Nah…." And that's when it happened. The blankets we all ripped away, the evil sunshine invading Tsuna's eyes. He shot his left hand a look that could kill, then blinked a few times….

"Vongola…. I was wondering where my sister was…."

"It is defiantly not what it looks like Spanner…" He mumbled, pulling himself up. "She couldn't sleep, so we talked until we fell asleep." Spanner sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, nodding.

"Yeah, well…hurry up and get dressed." He turned to leave. "We got to get this done."

As Spanner walked out of the room, he was hit in the back of the head by a pillow that came out of no where.

"Cacci, I swear, one more pillow…and it's on."

"Should have let me sleep" She muttered.

"Maa, we're more scared of Reborn than you two" Yamamoto said as he turned to head out. He paused, door half closed. "By the way…about time you two quit playing that whatever game you were playing. After ten years, it was getting old." With that, he closed the door.

"I should shower and change…" He muttered getting out of bed. "You should too Cacci." He turned towards his bathroom. "Reborn does get scary if you anger him." He laughed as she sighed and pouted, pushing herself up.

"But I was so comfortable." She gave him a smile and got out of the bed, padding her way to the door. "Hopefully you don't get us stuck in a tree." She sang as she walked out of the room. That girl was as manic and crazy as they come, but he did love her.

"What does that make me?" He asked himself as he headed for the shower.

Testing went much better today than the day before. Tsuna was thankful he got the hang of dodging trees. He stretched, walking inside, listening to everyone talk. It has been a long week already, and they still had to deal with the battle and of course, the Varia. Squalo seemed surprised when he found out about Xanxus's plan. It seemed to really be between him and Cacciavite.

Of course, the swordsman understood that they were going to keep her for her protection. He did warn that his Boss wasn't going to be happy when he found out, which Tsuna promptly told him exactly how much he cared about that. He swore he saw the slightest glint of respect flash through Squalo's eyes before the communication ended.

Tsuna realized everyone stopped walking when he slammed into Yamamoto's back. "Ow…." He muttered, rubbing his nose. He looked up and saw everyone staring at him. He just blinked a few times, confused. "Um…did I miss something?"

"You were…um…muttering to yourself Boss." Chrome said quietly. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I be?" He asked giving everyone a bright smile.

"You have been under a lot of stress with everything going on." Shoichi pointed out. Ok well that was true but he hardly saw reason for them to worry.

"Even Cacci is being quiet." Spanner said quietly. "What's going on Vongola?"

"I'm just juggling a lot right now, and well, she's probably worried that the Varia are going to come after her." He held up a hand. "I realize she's perfectly safe here. So does she. But she's still going to worry about it." He yawned and stretched a bit. "If there's nothing else, I am beat. I'm gonna go grab a nap." When everyone shook their heads, still shooting him worried glances, he headed inside, slipping by the group.

As he headed back to his room, he went back to his thoughts. She's probably worried about the whole protection thing. She just told him she loved him. Didn't mean she wanted to marry him right away. But then again, Yamamoto was right. There was really no safer place than being his wife, as safe as being a mafia wife can be. He sighed and went into his room, falling face first into his bed. He did want to keep her safe, but did she want to take those lengths?

Also, she was such a free spirit, that route would clip her wings so to speak. He defiantly did not want that to happen. He knew everyone had an ideal that a mafia boss wife should be, like what a mafia boss should be. Well, he kinda held up his part. He's not exactly what he'd call the poster child for the perfect mafia boss. He's usually taking out illicit activity done by other families. Rolling on his back, Tsuna laid his arm over his eyes.

"Bringing the family back to what it once was when Primo created it….easier said than done." He muttered. "But that in mind, don't need to be what everyone expects…now do we?" He thought out loud to the empty room, or what he thought was an empty room.

"I knew you were stressing." He heard Yamamoto say from the doorway. There were footsteps as he walked all the way into the room, sound of the door closing mostly. "You left the door open, and I figured I'd come check on you. I have a feeling this isn't about the reformation you're doing with the family."

"Partially." Tsuna sighed as he moved his arm, looking at his friend. "Mostly, I'm not debating anymore with what to do with Cacci, but I'm worried what it would do to her. She's so….so…"

"Insane? Hyper? Complete opposite of her brother?" Yamamoto offered with a laugh. "So, you're worried that it wouldn't be a good fit for her." He let his smile fall for a bit when Tsuna nodded. Sitting back, he shrugged, putting an elbow on the back of the chair he was sitting in. "That may be true, but c'mon Tsuna….it's better than the violent death that the Varia would give her." Tsuna frowned deeply, eyes flashing, and Yamamoto took a second to form the thoughts in his head. "Have…you talked to her about it yet?"

"I don't know if it's as simple as all that Takeshi." He muttered, arm going back over his eyes.

"Well, sometimes, it is. After the battle tomorrow, you two are going to be locked in a room and talk this out. That way it can all be laying in front of you, and it can be sorted out." When Tsuna sighed, Yamamoto stood. "I'm sure Gokudera would agree. He'll be back tonight." Shoving his hands in his pockets, he turned to leave. Half way to the door, he paused, tilting his head back to look at Tsuna with a bright smile. "You're calling me Takeshi a lot lately."

"Oh, sorry…" He mumbled, going to grab the comforter.

"Don't be. I like it. You should call me that all the time!" With a wave, Tsuna's rain guardian left the room, making sure the door is closed behind him. Tsuna gave a small smile as he yawned, the past few days catching up to him.

Takeshi Yamamoto, rain guardian and left hand to the tenth Vongola boss, stretched out on a sofa, a book in his hands, but he wasn't really reading it. He couldn't focus. He was thinking about his past few conversations with Tsuna. The poor guy was stressed to his wits end, but didn't even realize it. He sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. He opened his eyes, hearing footsteps come into the room. The silver haired storm guardian stared at him with worried eyes.

"Hey Gokudera." He gave him a bright smile. "Just get back?"

"Yeah." He replied, shoving Yamamoto's feet off the sofa and sat down. "How's the boss? Any better?"

"Ah…."He laughed a bit. "He's better if you mean less angry and rash."

"Whaddya mean?" He asked, stretching his arms over his head.

"He's always stressing about the whole reformation thing. Which is why he buries himself in paperwork." When Gokudera nodded, he continued, putting the book down. "Now it's the whole Cacci thing too, and tomorrow of course."

"What about the Cacci thing? We sent that knife freak packing, and she's here safe. Why worry?"

"They're sure to come after her. So Reborn said the best way to put her under his protection was marriage" He watched as his friend paled, green eyes going wide. "Um…what?"

"Yeah…." Yamamoto yawned, and stretched. "I told him to go for it. Sure she's a free spirit…"

"She's certifiably crazy…."

"and he doesn't want to tie her down…."

"Damn menace…probably hack every system she can get her hands on…"

"But it's probably for the best. He does love her…"

"Uuuugggghhh….."

"And wants her safe…."

"We can lock her in a cell…."

"So, better marry her, and have her alive than dead…"

"Says you…"

Yamamoto laughed and put his feet in his friend's lap. "You might not like it, but that's because you've loved him for a while now." He laughed even harder watching Gokudera go as red as a tomato.

"Well….that's…..but…. I mean….. Eh, so do you."
"I do, and that's why I want him happy. So, if she makes him happy, so be it." He shrugged slightly, then nudged Gokudera with his foot. "Who am I to stand in the way. Better to support than cause a rift you can't repair right?"

"I guess so." The storm guardian sulked, crossing his arms.

"You should probably talk to Tsuna. It'll ease your own worries."

"Yeah…someone should check up on him anyway." Yamamoto watched Gokudera push off of the sofa and head out of the room. He let out a heavy sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. Sometimes Hayato Gokudera was the same hot headed brat he met so long ago…

Tsuna was perfectly happy dozing, comforter over his head, still fully dressed. Wait…did he take his shoes off? Ugh…no he didn't think he did. Ah well, he was too lazy to try to get them off. As his eyes started to close, there was an impatient knock on the door, then the sound of it sliding open.

"Crap, now what?" he muttered, pulling down the comforter to peek at the invader. He blinked a few times, seeing a tired, yet disgruntled Gokudera standing there. He sat up slowly, letting the blankets fall, and looked at him. "Is…everything ok Gokudera?" He asked worriedly. His right hand man ran his fingers through his hair, and looked away.

"Yamamoto briefed me when I got back" He swallowed and glanced at Tsuna. "He's right you know." There was something off with that answer. Tsuna felt that it was sincere, but there was something underlying that he couldn't quite place. That could wait for later. He was just tired for some reason today.

"Noted." Then he frowned a bit. "When did you get back in?"

"About twenty minutes ago" Came the reply. Tsuna gave him a warm smile.

"And instead of getting some food or relaxing you came straight here?" He ran his hand over his face. "I appreciate that you care so much Hayato….really. But go get some rest. We have a lot to do tomorrow." The silver haired storm nodded and turned, walking to the door. "Oh, one more thing!" After Gokudera stopped and looked back at him, he continued. "Thank you for doing that for me. It couldn't have been easy. It means a lot you volunteered."

"Of course! Anything for you Boss." Gokudera gave him an award winning smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, then headed out, closing the door back behind him. Tsuna, yawned, stretched, and pulled the blankets around him nice and tight like a little sushi roll, and drifted off to sleep quickly.

A/N: I really do hope you guys are enjoying this! I decided to post this here after I finished it. One more chapter until completion! I have a bad habit of losing my train of thought with fics. Damn life always getting in the way! Comment and review! Let me know how it turned out!