Disclaimer: I do not own KHR. If I did Tsuna would be a true super uke and smarter, sorry as much as I love and will write about the lovable idiot, Goku and Naruto have made it so too many main characters are idiots.
Summary: What if Tsuna was smart, like genius hacker smart, but decided to hide it behind an average student exterior.
Chapter 21: Out of Time, Need to Pick
"Relax." The blonde raised his "My name is Dino, Dino Cavallone."
"The Bucking Bronco, correct?" Tsuna's voice was still a bit eerie; the affects of being in hyper dying will mode had yet to wear off. "Did Iemitsu send you with the real rings?"
Dino was taken aback by the knowledge the supposedly clueless boy had. He wasn't supposed to even know about the rings, let alone be able to tell the fakes from the real ones. Dino knew he had to speak with Reborn soon.
"Yeah…" He said uncertainly as he reached into his satchel. "It's only the External Adviser's half though, Nono's half is…"
"In the Varia's hands."
"How do…"
Once again Dino was taken aback by the oddity known as Sawada Tsunayoshi. While the fluffy haired boys' voice had regained a semblance of normalcy, no longer sounding toneless, it was still clipped and serious in a way Dino hadn't expected. If anything, Dino expected Tsuna to be more like him.
"I… can feel the flames."
"Nono and Iemitsu… never said anything about that…"
Dino studied the pair of boys in front of him more closely.
Tsuna fit the physical description he'd been given, but his personality was the complete opposite of everything Iemitsu had ever told him. Tsuna was rational and calm under high amounts of stress and had no problem handling himself in a fight. The access to the dying will flames could be excused as being a result of Reborn's training, but he shouldn't be advanced enough yet to access them at will, without a dying will bullet.
Hayato had been described as being rash, but incredibly loyal to Tsuna. He could see the loyalty and the desire for action, but it was tempered by Tsuna's charisma and no nonsense attitude, something that didn't really fit the boys' personality.
"Dino-san?"
Dino snapped out of his musings and gave Tsuna a sheepish smile. This was no time to be assessing his underclassmen (Dino-sempai, lol). Dino walked forward, ring box in hand.
"With these you will be officially known as the heir to Vongola."
Tsuna opened the box and examined the contents carefully. The rings were indeed the real deal.
Having confirmed that, Tsuna took out the ring with half of the Storm symbol and handed it to Hayato without so much as a glance at the ecstatic bomber. Tsuna focused his attention on the only ring to contain a stone. He had the right side part of the ring, with the blue stone being decorated with "Von" and half of the "g."
Tsuna quietly handed Dino back the box as he slipped the ring on his middle finger. It was a little loose, but Tsuna had fairly small hands for a boy. The fact that it wasn't overly big spoke of Primo's own small, but powerful hands.
It wouldn't fit Xanxus too well; Xanxus' hands would be big enough that it would be a tight fit.
"When did Xanxus return?"
Dino jumped when Tsuna suddenly spoke, he had also been in groused by the sight of the two boys placing the rings on their fingers.
"You-"
"Reborn and I have already been over… my surprising amount of knowledge."
Dino just nodded and accepted the answer… for now. He really needed to talk to Reborn and Iemitsu about this.
"Not long ago. When he did… Nono decided to make Xanxus his heir."
What? Tsuna's eye's narrowed. Mafia law says you have to be a blood relative of the previous leader to inherit the position of boss. He looked back down at the ring on his middle finger. I'm almost certain a completed Vongola Sky ring would reject anyone who isn't somehow related to Primo or his nephew, Secondo.
"That's ridiculous! Nono already choose Juudaime as his heir, the rings should prove it!"
"Gokudera-san…" Dino sighed and ran a hand through his blonde hair. "Nono has every right to choose his son, however…" Dino stopped Hayato before he could protest. "Tsuna's father, who is the Vongola External Adviser, also has the right to pick an heir." Both Tsuna and Hayato could see the stress in the young mafia bosses eyes. "This is the first time the Boss and the External adviser have ever disputed the others choice, so it is likely the rings will be split between both heirs until the matter can be resolved."
"That's correct."
All three turned to see Reborn walking toward them, with a horde of black suited men behind him.
"Boss… you should know better than to go anywhere without us." Said one of the older men.
"You worry too much, Romario."
The man identified as Romario just sighed. Tsuna could see that Dino did this sort of thing a lot.
"Tsuna."
Tsuna turned his attention back to the Sun Arcobaleno.
"Reborn… Squalo… how long do you think it'll take them to realize the rings are fake?"
The atmosphere was tense, even as some of Dino's men rustled around to examine and treat the injured member of CEDEF.
Reborn stared down his student. This amount of knowledge shown went well beyond what he may learn from Asami, but he couldn't be bothered by it right now. At the moment they had a bit of a crisis to address.
"I'd wager it'll take them a week, ten days at most." Reborn held in a sigh. "Xanxus will come after the rings, with or without Iemitsu's approval."
"Reborn… how much do you know about Xanxus?"
Tsuna hadn't asked Fuuta, but he was fairly certain that the truth about Xanxus was one of the top five best kept secrets. He hadn't even told any of his Guardians, so as far as he knew, only Nono, Xanxus, Asami, and he were aware of the real situation.
Reborn studied his students face and wasn't quite sure he liked the expression. He answered anyway, it was better for the Tsuna and his Guardians' to know what they were up against.
"Xanxus is Nono's youngest and only living son. He was among the more powerful of the heirs and even managed to become head of the Varia, Vongola's independent assassination squad. He went missing, however, about eight years ago. No one knows why, but many high powered members of the family wish to see Xanxus, who is the son of Nono, to become Decimo over Tsuna, who is related to Primo."
"But…" Tsuna bit his tongue to stop himself from commenting on how Xanxus was not Nono's son. "Why did… my father contest it?" He asked instead.
"Iemitsu, like many others, feel that naming Xanxus the Boss would be a disaster for the Vongola and its allies. Dino and I agree."
"So all we have to do is prove Juudaime is the better candidate?"
Tsuna and Reborn looked at Hayato. While that sounds right in theory, Xanxus is still considered Nono's son and would be given preferential treatment by those who didn't know about the Crib incident. As far as anyone knew, Xanxus was stronger and more qualified than Tsuna could ever be, due to the disparities in their upbringing.
"That… isn't likely." Tsuna finally pushed out, unable to look Reborn in the eye. "Even though Xanxus betrayed the Vongola at one point…" He pointedly ignored Reborn's glare, his Guardians all knew this at least. "…those who don't know the truth, and some that do, still see Secondo's line as preferable to Primo's."
Hayato growled, but a look from Tsuna stopped him before he could start a rant. He knew Tsuna preferred it when he could reign in his temper and think about things more rationally.
"Seven rings, Tsuna." Reborn reminded his student. "You only have five Guardians, if you don't have a sixth by the time Xanxus gets here, things could become even worse for you."
"I know… but Lambo…" Tsuna sent Hayato a look that told him he would explain later. "… is still too young, even with his unique blood line."
"Ah, but Lambo is a Bovino."
"What does… OH!" Tsuna smacked himself in the forehead for forgetting about that little tidbit of information. "The Ten Year Bazooka!"
"Exactly."
"But…" Reborn looked exasperated. "The bazooka only last's five minutes, not even Giannini Sr. could get it to last any longer and Giannini Jr… I won't even go there."
"What about you?"
"Eh!"
"I found the supped up taser you hid under in your mattress."
"Shit…"
"Not really."
Student and teacher stared at each other as Tsuna started to sweat; this was a bad situation to be in. Knowledge plus technological skill tended to lead toward hacker, and a good one at that. Not that he'd actually had to hack into anything to find out about Xanxus.
"I…"
"I won't push, not right now." Tsuna's eyes widened. "Right now we need to focus on securing the other ring half's. Once we do, you're answering all of my questions."
Tsuna was nervous, but didn't experience any of the bone chilling terror he had earlier that week when he'd first admitted to having a mafia connection.
If I beat Xanxus. And Tsuna was fairly confident he could, even without the dirt he had on the older man. It won't matter if the whole world knows who I am, not even the Vendici can exploit a confirmed mafia heir for his hacking skills.
In many ways, allowing Xanxus to play his game could end up working in Tsuna's favor. He'd have to run it by his Guardians, as some of them may want to resolve this without having to fight, but it was actually better for a mafia heir to secure his position by defeating his opponents.
Tsuna looked back at Reborn and sighed. As much as he hated to admit it, Lambo was and his bloodline would make for an ideal Lightning Guardian.
"If I can extend it to at least, at least…" He stressed. "… 10 minutes and I can confirm that Lambo of the future is a suitable fighter, I'll give him the ring."
"Good, we can test it now."
Tsuna jerked his head up, not having realized the four other presences in all the chaos. Not far off were Nana and the kids.
"Fine." Tsuna replied stiffly.
The sooner they got this over with, the better.
"Hey, stupid cow!" Tsuna sighed, but didn't correct Hayato. He couldn't get mad at the bomber for getting in little jabs at the boy that caused him hell. "Get over here!"
"Lambo-san doesn't want too!"
The two started glaring at each other and Hayato started stalking over to get the cow boy.
"Lambo." Lambo perked up at the sound of Tsuna's voice. "Can you come here for a minute?"
Lambo looked between Tsuna and the now frozen Hayato. After a moment he stuck his tongue out at Hayato, ignoring the bomber's indignant squawk, and ran up to Tsuna.
Nana looked worried, but listen to Reborn when he told her to go home, saying Lambo and Tsuna would both return shortly.
"Lambo-san is here!"
"Lambo…" Tsuna sighed as he looked into those big green eyes. "Do you have a Ten Year Bazooka?"
Lambo smiled and reached into his afro and produced said pink bazooka. Tsuna had been half hoping the boy wouldn't have it.
"Lambo-san is great with the bazooka! It doesn't go boom, but Lambo's enemies are always defeated when Lambo-san get back!"
Another point in favor of using Lambo that made Tsuna's heart sink. Lambo may already be a trained Mafioso, but the boy was still only five, far too young.
"Can you demonstrate for me? Use it on yourself so I can meet the future Lambo?"
Hayato came to stand next to his boss, glaring at Lambo as if daring him to refuse. There was no need for it, however, as Lambo immediately became excited and pointed the bazooka at himself.
"Ok!"
*Bang…Poof*
Standing in front of the group of Mafioso was no longer an afro haired child, but a handsome, smooth haired teen. Tsuna noticed a slight reddening on his Storm Guardian's cheeks.
Damn… Lambo look good.
Adult Lambo appeared to have been in a casual situation, being dressed in a semi messy cow-print button-up dress shirt and black slacks. His face was board and uninterested, but perked up slightly at the sight of Tsuna.
"Oh! If it isn't young Vongola." Lambo smiled at the bewildered look on their faces. "This is the first time my younger self has used the bazooka with you guys. Heh, it sure brings me back to my cry baby days."
"Oy, Ahoshi." Adult Lambo looked at Reborn. "How are you in a fight?"
"Yare, yare…" Lambo sighed. "This is when you picked me to be Lightning Guardian, isn't it?"
"Yes."
"I become Lightning Guardian." Was all he said before Adult Lambo was engulfed in pink smoke, leaving young Lambo behind.
*Sigh* "Lambo…"
"Tsuna-nii?"
"Here."
Tsuna grudgingly handed Lambo the Lightning Vongola Half Ring.
(A.N. Time to give out the rings and talk to the Guardians. Hehe… Reborn's getting close to the truth, but will he figure it out or will something else happen first. Hmm… I guess you'll just have to read and find out. Ja ne.)