A/N: I'm sorry for not updating this fic and my other fics as regularly as the beginning but I'm in my final year in school and have a lot of things to worry about. I'm sorry if it irritates you that I sometimes update my fic once a month or once in two months but school is a priority for me now. I hope that everyone can understand this.
It had been nearly forty years since his nephew ran away from home and now forty years later, when he finally came to accept the fact his nephew was never going to come back, he learnt that his nephew had a family and died for that family. His nephew died, never watching his beautiful daughter grow up or having the joy of holding his own grandchildren in his own arms or even threaten the man his daughter went out with. His nephew had been so young to lose this but what on earth could have happened for his nephew to sacrifice his life for his family?
Did Minato even have enough time to tell someone to tell his daughter about her heritage before he died? Ietsuna doubted the boy, who left the Mafia would want his own child to know about his dirty past but it didn't explain how his great-nephew-in-law knew about Giotto. It didn't explain if the boy had enough time to tell his daughter about her heritage, not allow her to be raised by his mother, who would have been delighted to know about the girl. Then again, his mother didn't become a better mother until Minato left, leaving a gaping hole in their family.
"Who is Giotto?" The man Sasuke asked, leaning against his spot.
Ietsuna sighed, rubbed his forehead and stared at the young man in front of him. "Why do you want to know about him? Did my nephew write anything in his will to tell your wife her heritage?" The young man raised his eyebrow at him, giving him the look that said that his nephew was not stupid enough to do that. "If he did not want his daughter to know then why do you want to know? It does not concern you unless both of my grandsons die or decides to give up their birthright."
"My wife won't inherit would she? Nor any of our children?"
Ietsuna didn't miss the look of relief in the man's face or the worry in his eyes. A good man, he thought to himself, gazing into the man that he could clearly expect to protect his great-niece. "Do you want them to inherit?" The black-haired male narrowed his eyes and shook his head, making him shrug his arms at him. "Then no they'll not inherit,your wife will be a good candidate to be a boss since she is old enough but I've a feeling that like her father, she will not accept it am I right?"
"Yes."
"And you don't want any of your children to have this responsibility," Sasuke nodded his head, making Ietsuna sigh. "I don't blame you. If they inherit this responsibility, they'll not be able to have any dream they want nor would they be able to live a normal life...especially considering the tutor my cousin wish to hire."
"What does Giotto have to do with this responsibility?"
Ah yes, Ietsuna forgot that there was a possibility that the man didn't know anything about his wife's father family but it had been so easy to forget, considering how the man appeared and acted like he knew what was going on. "Do you know about the mafia?" The man cringed but nodded his head, making him wonder what on earth did his great-nephew do for him to look so guilty. "Do you know about the Vongola Family?"
"I heard of them."
"Do you know they're the strongest family in the Mafia?"
"Yes."
Ietsuna nodded, gazed at the photo of his great-niece, who looked so much like her father that it hurt him to know his beloved nephew was never coming back to give him an interesting debate about how things should be ran. "Do you know who founded the Vongola Family?" The young man shook his head. "If the Giotto you're talking about is the same Giotto I'm thinking about then Giotto is the founder of the Vongola Family. He's your wife's great-great-great-grandfather."
"Did Giotto ever meet a kunoichi?"
He blinked his eyes at the man's sudden question and racked through his brain to find out if his grandfather ever talked about his great-grandfather meeting a ninja. Yes, there was that one time but he thought his grandfather was making it up. "Yes, he did meet a kunoichi but only after he lost his wife," he ran his hand through his gray hair as he remembered the story, "My grandfather told me she was a very pretty woman, long black hair and eyes that looked like obsidian. She was younger than him by a good couple of years but he had somehow met her in a forest."
"And?"
"She was injured," he could almost hear his grandfather telling him the story, "And he couldn't leave her by herself without any aid so he took her in his house and helped heal her. She stayed with them for a good couple of months, long enough for the two to fall in love and for her to leave him with a broken heart. I think her last name was like yours, no it is the same last name. Her name was Uchiha Natsuko."
So that name was familiar to him, Ietsuna thought, noticing how the young man had blinked his eyes at hearing this news. "My grandfather told me that she was barely older than him by a couple of years but somehow he fell in love with her," he shook his head, "I don't know if she ever fell for him or if she did then her reasons for leaving him the way she did. It broke his heart to know she left without a word."
"How old was she when she came?"
"Probably around twenty," He nodded his head, "I don't know but I heard from my grandfather that she was young and beautiful."
The young man looked uncomfortable, which only made Ietsuna laugh at the young male. It was obvious to him that the man didn't like talking about emotions, especially ones to deal with other people emotions but the man brought it up. Still, Ietusna had to wonder why did this young man wanted to know if his great-grandfather met a kunoichi? Why was it any of his business? The woman was gone now, she probably died surrounded by her many grandchildren.
"Uchiha Natsuko was my great-grandmother," Ietsuna blinked his eyes and raised his eyebrow at him, "You wanted to know why I asked the question and I'm answering Iit. When your nephew came to my village, he was found by my father who took him to my parent's home. My great-grandmother insisted that he was taken care and they would always talk about him in some weird language."
"Italian is not a weird language!" The young man snorted, which just made Ietsuna want to throttle the young man for insulting his mother's tongue. "And if she knew about my nephew being related to her ex-lover then why did she not bring him back?"
"I wasn't even born when it happened," Sasuke pointed out as he rubbed his temple, "And my great-grandmother is dead so I don't know why."
Ietsuna rubbed his temple at this. The more he hear what the man had to say, the more he wanted to know about the things his nephew did. God, why couldn't his nephew have a normal dream? He could have been a doctor or even a soldier! Why ninja! And how was his nephew able to meet his great-grandfather's ex-lover? His great-grandfather couldn't find her nor his grandfather so how on earth did that boy meet him? There must be an explanation for this.
"Did anyone mention how Minato come to your village?"
"No one knows how he got there," Sasuke said but Ietsuna knew from his intuition that the male was lying about how no one knew how his nephew got there.
"Tell me the truth boy, does anyone know how my nephew entered your village?"
The man stilted his eyes at him. "No."
"You know there's a talent that us Sawadas have," Ietsuna informed the man, grabbing a glass of alcohol from the table. "And that is, we know when someone is lying to us. I'm sure your wife have the same talent since she is my great-niece. Now tell me, do you know anyone who knows how my young nephew entered the village?"
"I don't know anyone," he narrowed his eyes at the male but the man continued on, "but I have an idea on who knows, one of them is dead and the others won't talk."
"Why not?"
"To protect Naru and to protect our children."
"I see," Ietsuna muttered, gazing intently at the man. "You don't seem like the type to respect people's wishes so why don't you try to persuade them like you're doing right now."
The man flushed light red but didn't bother to explain himself to him. So the man did not think of doing that but not everyone could make a million of ideas in one minute, Ietsuna thought, quirking his lips into a smile before shaking his head at the man. Maybe it was time to get rid of the man's embarrassment and turned to a happier topic. God knew he wanted to have something happy to think about with all the bad news surrounding his life.
"So how old are your twins?" He gazed at the picture and felt his heart throbbed as he wonder if his own grandsons would be as adorable as those two were. Probably not, Ietsuna thought, frowning as he remembered how his daughter-in-law didn't seem to notice Tsuna. It was odd though when he considered the fact when those two were born, Tsuna had been the one with the stronger flames and even sealed flames went to the stronger flame and not the weaker one. He sighed. Perhaps, he need to have some people look it up because things weren't adding up for him.
"They're six," The young man didn't show his emotions when he said it but Ietsuna could hear the proudness in the man's voice. "Haruto is four but he doesn't act like a four year old, the boy acts older then he should just like my oldest son and brother."
Ietsuna curled his lips and looked down at the photo, gazing at the black-haired boy who had a big smile on his face and then to the sleeping girl, who held a serene smile that was the same as her mother and grandfather. "Your oldest son doesn't seem like he's older then he should be," he missed the panic look from the man but he did notice that the man didn't seem to be annoyed about what he said, "If anything I would think the girl is but then again I'm saying this since her smile is just like her grandfather."
"Mio is quite wise when she wants to be," Sasuke said, "She also likes to tease her brothers and keeps asking Naru and me for another sibling...she hates being the only girl in the family."
"Is there another little one in the way?"
Sasuke flushed. "N-No. F-Three kids are enough."
He didn't miss the fact that the man had nearly said four but Ietsuna didn't question him. Perhaps, he wanted four but his niece didn't want four kids. Ietsuna would not blame her for it. Women went through a lot of pain to give birth, it was a pain that Ietsuna was glad he was never going to experience. God he fainted when his own wife was starting to give birth to Iemitsu, he would have died if he had to go through her pain.
"So no little one on the way? That's a pity," He laughed when he saw the man's expression, "Why are you so shock? Do you not like the sound of your own kid's feet? You'll miss it when they grow up, god knew I did when my son decided to move out and even more so when he got married."
"Your son?"
"His name is Sawada Iemitsu," he pulled out the most recent picture of his son with his wife and kid, "This is him with his wife and son," he felt his lips curled into a frown, "He has two sons but...well the oldest ran away from home, my son would argue otherwise but it's history repeating itself again."
"What happened?" Sasuke asked, giving him a funny look.
Ietsuna rubbed his forehead. "His wife was in the playground with their kids when it happened. She said she was playing with Daichi since the boy was demanding for her to play with him so she did. Eventually she decided it was time for them to go so they left...only without Tsuna. She forgot about her son. Tsuna is the oldest of their two kids and the smartest as far as I can tell from looking at the photos of him."
"And they don't know where he went?"
"My son claimed some woman took him since he was able to get the video of what happened," Sasuke's body stilled at hearing this, "He told me what she looked like and he had been searching for the boy non-stop for nearly seven years but nothing came up."
"Are you helping him?"
"Of course, I want to see my grandson before I die," Ietsuna took in a deep breath. "And he's the heir to the Vongola family if your wife doesn't want the job. No way am I allowing my son give it to Daichi, the boy is a good boy but he's not meant for this life."
"And you think Tsuna is?" Ietsuna didn't miss the look of anger in the man's eyes and if he were a weaker man, he would cower in fear but he had seen many things in his long life that were scarier than the man in front of him. "What makes you think the grandson you never saw is better than the grandson in your gasp?"
"My oldest son tells me that Daichi is charming and sweet, his little Dai-kun and I love the boy but I know potential when I see it," He closed his eyes as he remembered his father, who would have been just as good as Nono in his job, only to be the son of his grandfather and not the son of the leader of the Vongola family. "He does not have the potential to continue on what my cousin want nor does he know the real meaning of being a leader. He never will and despite what my son and cousin thinks, a tutor is not a miracle worker even if he's the best."
"Tutor?"
"I won't tell you about it, now tell me more about my beautiful great-niece and your children!"
So Sasuke did that but Ietsuna didn't question him about his hesitant looks because he knew from experience that whatever the man's hiding from him was going to come out sooner or later.
His son didn't have patience but Ietsuna knew the key to finding out the truth was patience and he knew it would be his patience that would allow him to find out where his grandson was.
"The day has barely started and the three of you looked exhausted," His uncle said when they came to the training ground for their first ever meeting since he decided they passed. Tsuna laughed when Mirai and Satoshi glared at their sensei for making them come to the training ground at six o'clock in the morning instead of a normal time like ten. "You're barely twelve and all of you are so sleepy, I wonder how the three of you are going to survive in the future."
"You can't talk Shikamaru-niisan!" Mirai snapped, crossing her arms. "Ino-neechan says that you were impossible to work with because of how lazy you used to be. You napped all the time!"
"And you like sleeping in too much," His uncle shook his head, "But if you really want to complain then I guess you can go back home without doing your first ever mission but that's up to you..."
Tsuna tilted his head at their sensei, Satoshi just gazed at their sensei with interest while Mirai, who to Tsuna's horror and surprise, squealed at their sensei's words. The world must be ending, he thought to himself as he took a step closer to Satoshi because Mirai never squealed! She was the only girl he could trust not to squeal. His uncle must have thought the same thing because he looked almost horrified at what he just heard, which caused Mirai flush red in embarrassment.
"Why are you guys looking at me like that! Now I am not allowed to get excited on the fact we have a mission?" She snapped.
Tsuna rubbed the back of his neck. "No, Mirai-chan there's nothing wrong about being excited but you squealed."
"So?"
"You squealed," Satoshi scowled. "You squealed just like those fangirls who used to chase after Uzumaki and me."
Mirai blinked and blinked her eyes before shaking her head. "I didn't squeal like a fangirl! I just made a sound that makes it seem like I did. Never ever compare me to those terrible creatures."
"Boys, first lesson: don't argue with a troublesome female," Their sensei said, shaking his head. "You'll never win against them."
Mirai smiled triumphantly at him but her smile was wiped away when she realized what their sensei had just said. "I'm not troublesome," she cried, "I thought you said I was the least troublesome girl you met. Did you lie to me?"
Their sensei sighed. "Compare to my wife, Naru and Ino, you're not troublesome."
"The whole time you've been comparing me to all the woman who boss you around!"
I don't blame him, Tsuna thought, remembering how each one of those woman that his sensei mentioned had found some way to make him obey them without a single complaint. His aunt Ino teased him about his non-existent love life and only ever stop teasing him whenever he did a favour for her. Aunt Temari just gave him a look that just made him want to be on her good side because he knew being in her bad side would spell trouble for him. His mother was the worst out of them all. She would just give him that disappointed look or just tell him embarrassing stories about his childhood to make him do what she wants.
His mother knew she didn't need to do any of that to make him obey her.
"So what's the mission?" Tsuna asked before Mirai could go on a rant about how she didn't boss their sensei around.
Shikamaru shrugged his shoulder. "Well we'll have to go to the Hokage's tower and pick a mission for you guys to do?"
"Can we do a mission where we save the son of a Daimyo?" Mirai asked eagerly.
"Do you think the Hokage would give it to us?" Satoshi asked, rolling his eyes at the girl. "We're barely out of the Academy! The old lady won't ever give us that mission."
"Don't call my mother an old lady!"
"Your mum is nearly thirty and she look like she's in her early twenties which is not normal at all," Satoshi stated. "And she's old when compared to the three of us."
"Don't let Naru hear that," Their sensei said, pinching his nose. "She'll make you regret that. Naru doesn't want to admit it but she's just as bad as Tsunade-sama when it comes to someone pointing out her age."
"Naru-obachan is young! She's barely thirty," Mirai narrowed her eyes, "And you never call a woman old unless you want to die, only an idiot will call a woman old especially a strong woman like Naru-obachan or Tsunade-sama."
Shikamaru-sensei looked amused at Mirai's words as if he knew something they didn't know and maybe he did know something because Tsuna didn't know everything about his mother. Shikamaru must know something for him to be amused at what his best friend had just said. He frowned and raised his eyebrow at his sensei, who just gave him a smirk but didn't elaborate why he was smirking at them.
"Now that the three of you have finished discussing about what not to say to a woman, let's start to make our way towards the tower," Tsuna didn't like the look on his sensei's face especially not when his instincts were telling him that this was going to be one of those days where his uncle was feeling particularly mean to them, "You don't want to miss the good missions do you now?"
Mirai shook her head at their teacher, grabbed his arm along with Satoshi and started to make a dash towards the tower, not once caring that Satoshi was yelling at her to let go of his arm. Tsuna wondered if his mother really had a good idea of putting him and Satoshi with Mirai because as much as he liked his best friend, she was being too eager for a mission! For all they knew, their sensei could be making them have a mission to do with bandits instead of the Daimyo or worse, like escorting some middle age drunk man back home.
His friend dropped his arms when they stood in front of the looming tower. Satoshi glanced at the tower then to Mirai before looking at the path they traveled. "For someone so little, you were able to drag us from one end to the village to the other," he narrowed his eyebrows at Mirai, "Are you sure you're human? A small person like ya shouldn't be able to run that fast or grab us that fast."
"That's the power of dango."
"No, it's the power of your eagerness," Tsuna pointed out, earning a laugh from the girl, "Anyways shouldn't we just wait for sensei to come? You did left him stranded like that as soon as he said mission."
"He's coming," Mirai waved her hand at him, "Shikamaru-niisan won't make us wait too long."
Tsuna opened his mouth to disagree with her but closed his mouth when he caught sight of his little brother standing in front of the gates with a book in his hands. Haruto was already this early coming to their mum's office? He grimaced and walked towards his little brother, leaving Mirai confused at where he was going. He tapped his brother's shoulder and smiled widely when he caught sight of his brother looking up at him with wide blue eyes.
"Aniki, why are you here? Aren't you suppose to be with Shikamaru-ojiisan?" Haruto flickered his eyes at his teammates and then to him. "Is that normal?"
"No, Mirai-chan got excited when Shikamaru-sensei said the word 'mission'."
Haruto stared at Mirai, who smiled widely at him, and then to Satoshi before looking back at him. "She does realize Mama won't give a mission until your sensei is with you right? And why didn't you stop her?"
"Why don't you stop Jun from taking your books?"
"She's scary."
Barely four years old and his brother was terrified of Aunt Sakura's daughter, which just told Tsuna so much about what their relationship was going to be like in the next couple of years. He glanced at Mirai, who smiled at him before making her way towards his little brother, who blinked his eyes at her. He still remembered the first time he met her even though it had been nearly nine years since the two of them met.
His mother had dragged him to Aunt Kurenai's house, saying with a bright smile about something about how he was going to make a new friend. He remembered clinging to his mother as they walked closer to the apartment. His mother had given him a small smile, swoop him into her arms and told him that he was her brave little boy and that his new friend wasn't scary. He could still remember how when his mum rang the bell, it wasn't Kurenai who opened the door but a smiling Mirai, who dragged him into the house.
That first meeting summed up their whole relationship and Mirai in one word.
"So Haruto-kun, why are you here and not at home."
"I always come with Mama to her workplace whenever Papa can't be here to watch me," Haruto said this as he stared at Satoshi, who gazed right back at him, "Mama doesn't seem to think I'm old enough to be in the house. I'm not like Ryo, I'm not going to cause any trouble."
"You know Mama worries if she doesn't know someone is keeping an eye on the three of you," Tsuna narrowed his eyes, "So why aren't you in the office with Mama?"
His little brother grimaced. "Because everyone in the office, except Mama, treats me like I'm a baby! I'm not one! I don't want to color in some stupid animal!"
"Then why don't you read a book?"
"I finish them all," Haruto crossed his arms, "And I love the Tales of the Gutsy Ninja but I read it a thousand times."
Tsuna rubbed his forehead and glanced at his teammates. Mirai smiled apologetically at him while Satoshi shook his head, looking just as lost as him about what to do with his little brother. An idea came to his mind but Tsuna didn't know if his mother would be happy to know what he planned to do. "Then how about this? If you go into the office then I'll teach you a super cool jutsu that not even Mama or Papa knows how to use."
"How could you know how to do it and Mama and Papa doesn't know how to do it?" Haruto asked, tilting his head. "And will you teach it to Ryo and Mio too? It won't be fair if I learned it before them and then we'll have to deal with Ryo's whining, and I don't want that. It's so troublesome."
"You sure that Haruto isn't Shikamaru-sensei/nii-san's son?" His teammates asked, gazing at Haruto then to him before looking back at the confused boy.
His youngest brother furrowed his eyebrows. "Why do they think I'm not Papa's son?"
Tsuna rubbed his forehead, gave Mirai and Satoshi a glare but thankfully he didn't need to explain why since his sensei appeared right in front of them. He glanced at his little brother, who looked up at their uncle with confusion before glancing at his teammates, who just flickered their eyes at Haruto then to him as if waiting for explanation on why his brother used the word troublesome. His uncle rolled his eyes, ruffled Haruto's hair and shook his head at them.
"Shikamaru-ojiisan, why do they think that I'm your son? I don't look anything like you."
His uncle sighed. "They were just joking Haruto, you were just saying something I would have said."
"You mean troublesome?" His teacher nodded, making Haruto tilt his head at his teammates. "But I'm telling the truth. Ryo-niisan would complain and it's so annoying."
Shikamaru just smiled at his little brother, glanced at the three of them and gestured for the three of them to make their way towards the mission assignment desk to get their mission before grabbing his youngest brother's arm. His brother frowned at their uncle before shrugging his shoulder and allowed himself to be dragged by their uncle without any complaint.
Shaking his head, Tsuna followed behind his sensei and teammates. He held his breath when his teacher opened the door, announcing to his mother of their arrival. Was his mother going to be indifferent during this? He hoped so. He didn't want anyone to think that he got to where he was because of his mother or get missions that were too safe because his mother didn't want him to get hurt but knowing his mother, there was a chance that was going to happen.
"Team nine reporting for an assignment, Hokage-sama," His sensei said as his mother shuffled through the scrolls on the desk, "And I brought your troublesome son here. It looks like he was trying to escape from the tower."
His mother furrowed her eyebrows, glancing at him then to his teammates before finally spotting his little brother who was hiding behind Mirai-chan. She shook her head, placed the scrolls down before walking towards his brother. He smiled widely as his mother scooped his brother from Mirai, rolling her eyes at Haruto, who insisted that he was too old to be carried but it was obvious to everyone in the room that his brother enjoyed being carried by their mum.
Placing his little brother in her seat, his mother placed her hands on her hips and gave them a big smile that made him think he wasn't going to like what his mother was about to say. "So you decided to make them do missions first, Shikamaru?" Tsuna gulped when he saw the twinkle in her eyes. "You think those three are ready for a hard one?"
"We're so ready." Mirai declared.
His mother smiled even wider and glanced at Haruto, who was looking at their mother in confusion. Tsuna frowned. Why was Haruto confuse? Wasn't it normal for Mum to act like this when she gave missions? He felt the corners of his mouth move further down when his little brother gave him a look of sympathy. Now he really wanted to know what was happening! Damn it why couldn't he have been born around the time his mother started her job or even slightly before then? It seemed like Haruto knew more then he did and his brother wasn't even in the Academy.
"It's good thing you guys are early then because we got a wide range of D-rank missions for you to pick," His mother smiled but Tsuna knew from the look in her eyes that she was trying her hardest not to say anything about how it was his first mission. Honestly if they were home, Tsuna knew she would be crying about how grown up he is. Shaking her head, his mother pulled out a bunch of scrolls that were labeled D-rank. "You could either clean Konohamaru's house, take a couple of the Inuzaka's dogs out for a walk, take care of Sakura-chan's daughter or my son," Haruto scowled at their mother but she gave the look that said either he did what she said or no more books, "Or capture Tora."
"That's chores!" Surprisingly, it was Satoshi who spoke out and not Mirai this time. "I didn't become a ninja to do chores."
His mother shrugged her shoulder. "You think that all ninjas immediately start spying kid? We all start from somewhere. You're genins, a newbie to this field and you think you're ready for this? Every genin team when they first start out do these missions, just ask Shikamaru or Kurenai. None of us were sent immediately to the field."
"But it's useless," Mirai cried.
"It depends on how you look at it," his mother pointed out, gazing at the picture of her old team, "Now you might think it's useless and boring but when you get older, you'll look back at these missions and think how it really wasn't useless."
Tsuna glanced at his sensei, who was just staring at his mother as if she lost it before muttering about how she was a hypocrite. Was there something he didn't know? He wondered, gazing at his mother who gave them all a warm smile. Maybe he should ask Aunt Sakura when he see her because other than his father, Aunt Sakura was the only person who ever really worked with his mother as a team.
"We'll capture Tora," His sensei finally said, snapping him from his train of thought. "And Hokage-sama, don't go preaching without remembering your own genin days."
His mother smiled even wider. "I'll have y'know that I was a good genin and never ever complained about anything," Shikamaru snorted and rolled his eyes, "It's true! You can ask Sakura-chan if you don't believe me."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night," His sensei said, shaking his head.
She pouted at his sensei, shook her head and gave his team looks of sympathy before saying, "I wish you all good luck with this mission...just one warning, make sure that you hold that cat as far as you can."
"And don't lose sight of it," His sensei muttered. "Even after all these years that troublesome cat still exists."
His mother laughed before shaking her head. "I hope the three of you can beat the record of the shortest time in finding the cat."
"What was the shortest time?" Tsuna couldn't help but ask.
"Three hours."
Mirai glanced at him and then to Satoshi before declaring, "We're going to beat that time!"
Satoshi groaned and glared at his mother, who just shrugged her shoulders at him. His sensei just shook his head and gave them a look that just said that the three of them needed to go search for the cat or else they would be in trouble. Tsuna nodded his head, glanced at Mirai and Satoshi, who was now having a heavy argument with the girl about the chances of beating that record. His team wasn't bad but he did wish that Satoshi and Mirai didn't argue that much.
To do that, they needed to find the cat fast.
"Hokage-sama, can you tell us what Tora looks like?" He asked, looking away from his mother, who frowned at his formal tone. Tsuna wasn't going to call her his mother in front of his teammates, oh no that would not be professional and he wanted people to take him seriously.
"It's an ugly cat with a huge red ribbon on its ear," His mother informed them, handing him the picture of the cat. Tsuna nodded, glanced down at the cat and grimaced at how angry the cat looked. Mirai just frowned while Satoshi had a strange look in his eyes at the image. "I should tell you that if you don't hurry up, the chances of you guys finding the cat dwindle...and I doubt the four of you want to be searching for the cat till nighttime."
"Night time!"
"Hmm, didn't I tell you? This mission could take hours if your teamwork isn't good enough," His mother smiled widely and Tsuna knew that meant his mother was enjoying torturing them with this information. Why did he have a sadist for a mother? He shook his head and stared at his smiling mother. "So now go! And find that demon, no I mean lovely cat and return her to her owner!"
It was times like these when Tsuna agreed with his father about his mother being an idiot.
It took them one hour to locate the cat that his brother's friend proclaimed as a demon. Satoshi thought the old lady was mocking them when she told them good luck finding that demon cat but after searching through most of the town even with Uzumaki's shadow clone, they couldn't find the cat until they reached deep into the forest. He glanced at Uzumaki, who stared intensely at the cat, and then to shaggyhead, who licked her lips at the sight of their target. He didn't even bother to look at their sensei, the man already told them that he wasn't going to be of any help in this mission.
"How are we going to catch that cat?" Uzumaki asked as they watched the cat walked further deeper into the forest.
Yuhi rolled her eyes at him. "We grab it of course."
"Don't be so hasty," The black-haired girl frowned at their brown-haired teammate, who gazed intensely at the cat. "From what my mum is hinting, the cat has been around since her genin days...and if it's around during my mother's genin days then..."
"Then there's a chance that it knows all the tricks that genins have used to capture it," Satoshi finished, earning a nod from Tsuna. "If that's the case then I'll just grab it with all of us working in a team, the cat must definitely expect more than one person to capture it."
"No," His teammate shook his head, "I think the cat would also expect that after all her owner would hire as many people as she can to find the cat...who's to say that cat won't expect that. There must be another way."
"Genjutsu?" Their female teammate suggest, rubbing her hands together. "I'll need you guys to distract it so I can do the genjutsu on the cat to make it stay still."
"How long can the genjutsu last?"
Mirai gave an offended look to Tsuna. "Are you saying that I can't make a genjutsu last long? Out of the three of us, I'm the one with the best chakra control."
"Shaggyhead, just answer the damn question before we lose sight of the damn cat! You want to break the record of the shortest time in finding the cat or not!" He snapped.
She glared at him. "Of course I want to break the record! And for your information Tsuna, a simple genjutsu can last long enough for us to take the damn cat to your mum. It isn't like the cat could use chakra or anything."
"So the only thing left is the distraction," Tsuna grimaced and winced, "I got an idea but don't ever let my mother find out about what I suggested ...she's never going to let me live it down."
"What's the idea?"
"You henged into his owner."
"You want me to henge into a woman!"
Satoshi stared at the cat, who finally stopped moving, then to Tsuna before looking at Mirai, who smirked at him as if to say he was coward for not wanting to go in as a woman. He gritted his teeth. "Fine, I will do it since it is the only good idea you have but the cat is trying to run away from its owner," he pointed out to him, "It's not going to run towards my arms, if anything the cat is going to run like the wind away from them."
"I know."
"If you know then why you suggest it?"
"Because I'm going to make a net for us to capture the cat," He finally answered, "When I put the net, Mirai will do the genjutsu for it to stay still and we can finally go back to the training ground."
He scowled at his answer but agreed to his plan. He may not like Uzumaki but he know his teammate was a very smart boy, probably smarter than the other kids in their year. They needed to distract the cat and while Satoshi didn't like the idea of becoming a fake woman, he did want to go back to the tower and collect his money. God knew he needed that money to get a new place to live in.
Still, why did he have to be the woman?
"Mama, why are we watching Aniki and his teammates complete their mission?" Her youngest son asked as the two of them took a seat on the tallest looking tree of the forest. Naru didn't answer her son immediately, just sat there and watched Tsuna as he made a fine trap using the small resources his teammates had. "Mama, you know Tsuna-niisan would come to the tower as soon as he finish the mission right? You don't need to watch him."
She shook her head and stared at her youngest son, the only son she had that inherited her blond hair and bright blue eyes. He was so young, Naru couldn't help but think as she looked into her four-year-old's son eyes, but already he was telling her things that she already knew but things kids his age wouldn't consider. In some ways, Haruto reminded her of Tsuna when he was that age, only Haruto was just more serious than Tsuna ever was and didn't like clinging to her or Sasuke a lot. He was barely four but her son wanted to grow up so badly.
"I know your brother will come to the tower as soon as he finish but I worry about him kiddo, in the same way I worry about you, Ryo and Mio," she rubbed her stomach and shook her head, "I don't want him to get hurt."
"Mum, he's only doing D-rank missions," Her son scowled, "Aniki and his team should do C-rank missions, they aren't as bad as the other genin. Why are you making him do this?"
"I'm not making him do this," she ruffled her son's soft hair and glanced at Tsuna, "Your Uncle Shikamaru decides on the mission your brother does and he doesn't think your brother is ready just yet for a higher rank mission."
"Why not? He's better than some of the dummies that come to you."
"Haruto, language."
"But it's true! They're dummies even Tou-san agrees with me."
To your father, almost everyone is an idiot, Naru thought, staring at her young's son. She wondered how her son could think about that like people but then she remembered that Haruto was still a little boy who didn't know the world just yet. He only read stories about the world and Naru couldn't help but wonder if that was good, if she was allowing him to live in a fantasy world and not the reality. One day, she would have to break all four of her kids mentality of the world but not now.
She shook her head and stared at the stern face that belonged to Tsuna as he watched over his teammates and gave them orders on what to do while Shikamaru watched them with a hint of curiosity. Her little boy was growing up, she realized with a bitter pang as she watched Mirai leaned closer to her son to tell him something. She knew he was growing up but watching him like this just made her realized that he was no longer a boy she needed to shield but someone who she needed to see as someone who could protect himself.
It only became more apparent when Satoshi henged into the owner while Tsuna ran straight ahead to make a trap. Was it only five years ago when she started teaching Tsuna the art of traps? Was it really nearly six years ago since she got married? And six years since she had Ryo and Mio? She felt her eyes watered but she held them back, reminding herself that her son was still her little boy, was still the same little boy that made her a mother and the same boy who wanted love.
Maybe, she should just go back home and wait for Tsuna to tell her everything.
She stared into Tsuna's brown eyes and thought about the little boy that so badly wanted to be loved before gulping down the lump that formed. Would he still love her if he knew the truth? Could she even tell him the truth? She should tell him the truth. She licked her lips and stared at her smiling son, who was setting his trap, and then to Satoshi, who was henged into Tora's Owner.
"One day, you'll have to tell him the truth Naru. He's not stupid, Tsuna is going to find out the truth."
Those were Sasuke's words to her before he left for his trip.
He was right, she needed to tell Tsuna the truth and she was going to tell him the truth when the Chunin Exams were over.
She just hoped he would forgive her for lying to him all this time.
Q&A:
Q: Will Reborn be in his adult form or baby form when he meets Tsuna?
A: He'll be in his baby form, which will be quite entertaining when Tsuna finds out the truth between him and Naru.
Q: Did Sasuke knew that Tsuna is Iemitsu's son all along?
A: Sasuke have suspicions but it was in this chapter that his suspicions were proven right.
Q: Will Naru get to meet her distant family as well?
A: Yes.
Q: Did I finally decided on what to do with Tsuna's guardians?
A: Yes, I decided that they'll still be the same people however he will have extra people in his family.
Q: Is Sasuke going to mention Tsuna to his grandfather?
A: No, he's going to avoid it as you can see in this chapter.
Q: Does Sasuke still have his left arm?
A: Yes
~X~
A/N: Please review.