Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Author Note: I would like to thank everyone who added this story to their favorites and followers as well as everyone reviewed the last chapter.


"You are even punishing the guardians for what Xanxus did."

Naruto kept her eyes focused on the heavily bandaged bodies of both Levi-A-Than and Lussuria before flickering her eyes to the bandaged Belphegor. Ino and the other members of Team Ten winced before darting their eyes to Timoteo and Iemitsu. Both men showed no emotion, not that it surprised her. To show emotion would mean feeling guilt and their jobs required they didn't have any guilt.

"It is only fair," Timoteo replied with a tone lacking any emotions. His brown eyes held nothing but coldness as he locked his gaze on the guardians who took the offered wristbands from the Cervello women. "They all had some idea of what Xanxus planned to do and helped him with his plans in some way or form. Of course I can't punish them openly so I have to do two underhand tactics when it comes to them…fighting while injured isn't the only punishment."

The whiskered teen narrowed her eyes at him before darting her eyes at the wristband on her partner's wrist. What the hell can he do to make their pain even more agonizing? Fighting while injured was probably painful but what would she do to make their pain even worse? What could make fighting for the ring even worse for the guardians? The only thing that came to mind was…

"Those wristbands aren't ordinary wristbands, are they? You did something to them, didn't you?" Timoteo curled his lips into a slight smile and the whiskered teen grimaced. Did he make it heavier? But Kyoya was walking to his arena with his usual speed so increased weights wasn't what he did. Naruto frowned and rubbed her jaws.

If those wristbands weren't heavier than what could he have requested for those ladies to do to the wristbands? Naruto grimaced and took a seat on the ground as Shikamaru darted his eyes at the screen. The screen revealed the guardians heading to their respective areas of where they fought or in the case of the heavily injured guardians such as Lussuria and Levi-A-Than were being wheeled away from them.

"It is nothing personal," Timoteo commented when the screen revealed Mammon and Chrome standing in the middle of the gym. Naruto narrowed her eyes at the sight of the rings dangling on top of the pole. "But I can't have Xanxus figuring things out, Uzumaki-san, not when he was always the brightest one between my sons."

Naruto grimaced as everyone darted their eyes at her. What the hell does he mean? That was what Shikamaru's eyes told her but the whiskered teen made no comment. There was no way she could tell him of what the Ninth wanted to do or this was just all the ploy. The blonde exhaled and cracked her knuckles.

"Why the hell did they collapse?" Ino yelled. The whiskered teen blinked and jerked her head to stare up at the screen. Blue eyes widened and her heart crashed to the ground at the sight of Kyoya and Lambo crashing to the ground. Even though the whiskered teen could not hear anything, it was clear from the shut eyes of Lambo that the little boy was whimpering in pain.

The whiskered teen glanced at Tsuna. The younger boy gawked and swirled his head at her but Naruto only offered him a small frown. She did not know what the hell happened. The whimper of pain coming out of Lambo told her nothing except for the fact they must have injected something harmful to the guardians.

"They injected them with poison," Shikamaru answered. Naruto blinked and twisted her head around to stare at the pale-faced boy before glancing at the Cervello women and then to Timoteo and Iemitsu. All of them bobbed their heads. Their eyes showed no remorse and logically it made sense. For the punishment of the Varia guardians to be hidden, Tsuna's guardians had to be punished in the same way.

She knew that but it did not stop her blood from boiling with rage at the knowledge of what the Ninth had done. Gokudera, Chrome, Ryohei weren't people she felt close too. They weren't exactly her allies but they weren't her enemies while Yamamoto was probably the closest thing to a friend she had in this place.

Kyoya was her ally and her partner while Lambo was someone she grew way too attached for her liking.

"Yes, all of the guardians were injected with poison," the woman answered. Yells of protest echoed from Tsuna and Basil alongside Choji and Ino while Naruto balled her hands into a fist. Xanxus curled his lips into a smirk, looking almost too pleased at this piece of information. Of course he would be happy, he doesn't care if an ally dies. That was too cold-hearted even for her.

Tsuna clenched his jaws. "Did you say you poisoned them? But they—"

"Sawada, don't bother trying to make sense of their actions," Naruto said, pulling the younger boy back. Everyone swirled their heads at her, eyes growing wide with disbelief and the blonde schooled her expression into a blank one. I can't let him know that I hate their actions affect me. That I'm getting very soft because of my emotions. This was not a side of her that she wanted anyone to see.

Ino frowned and narrowed her eyes at her. "How the hell are you so calm? Your boyfriend and your charge are being poisoned and you are talking about it like we are talking about the weather! Do you even feel anything, Naruto?"

The whiskered teen kept her expression blank and balled her hands into a fist. Do you think I'm a psychopath? Do you think what made me the person that I am is my logic? You think it is easy standing here and watching Kyoya in visible pain or even Lambo? She wasn't a monster. Kyoya was precious to her. He was her partner, her ally and her precious friend.

Watching him and Lambo suffered was making her heart break into tiny pieces.

"If I whine, cry and bitch about what happened then will it help Kyoya and Lambo?" Naruto asked. Ino opened and closed her mouth while the whiskered teen clicked her tongue. There was nothing she could do to help either of them. Crying would get her nothing and murdering those pink-haired bitches wouldn't stop the poison from spreading throughout their body.

Shikamaru and Choji reached their hands out to her but the whiskered teen took a step back and twisted her whole body away from them. I ain't crying and I ain't going to whine about what is happening to them. She inhaled and exhaled as her heart raced against her chest. To vocalize the fact she wanted to hurt these people would make everyone believe she had no faith in them.

That she didn't believe in Kyoya and that was anything but true. I believe that he would have enough pride not to let this poison kill him. Blood leaked out of the palm of her and it hit her that she must have dug her nails against the palm of her hand again. Her weakness was showing again and there was no place for her to hide.

"It doesn't mean you have to be a cold-hearted bitch."

"Oh? I remember that there was a rule in the shinobi handbook that says you shouldn't show your emotions," Naruto drawled. Ino took a step back and narrowed her eyes while Shikamaru and Choji exchanged glances. The whiskered teen offered a thin smile and narrowed her eyes at her former classmate. "Acting on our emotions never helped us or do you remember what caused your friendship with Sakura to break?"

Ino clenched her jaws together. "You aren't a shinobi!"

"Only because Iruka-sensei was biased to me," Naruto stated. Shikamaru and Choji bobbed their heads while Ino narrowed her eyes at her like she couldn't believe for a moment that this was really her stance on the matter. The whiskered teen exhaled and cracked her knuckles. "And I might not be a shinobi but right now I'm going to follow the rules that you seem so keen to forget."

Ino clenched her jaws together and balled her hands into a fist while the blond-haired girl stared up at the night sky. What the hell does showing my concern for Kyoya show? It shows my weakness to the whole world. She wanted to charge in there and break those wristbands, but this would be impulsive of her.

It would show everyone of how much her feelings fueled her actions.

"If that was my—"

"Well he isn't your partner and I know him damn well! He hates being restricted," Naruto retorted. Ino closed her mouth and stared at her with wide eyes as Reborn tilted his hat downwards. A little smirk played on his lips and that told her that the toddler understood where the hell she was going to go with these words. I hate the fact I have to defend my behaviour to her. She exhaled. "He won't ever let that poison stop him from achieving his goal."

He was the cloud and the cloud could never sit still. It must always roam freely in the sky and would probably wilter and die the moment that someone tried to cage it.

Kyoya would show them of why they should never try to restrict him.


He is definitely going to be in an even worse mood once he sees the damage.

The rather large hole in the building was an eye sore and spoke volumes of Xanxus strength if you asked her. To cause that much damage by throwing a single kick to a boy and with no chakra to boot shows that he is strong. Naruto grimaced and rubbed her jaws as Ino and the other members of Team Ten blinked and gawked at the sight right in front of them.

The blond-haired girl flickered her eyes to Timoteo and sighed. Nothing about the man's eyes indicated he was impressed by the sight before him and why would it? The man raised Xanxus and probably had seen how that strength of his developed. That might be one of the reasons he has no desire to kill him because it is hard to kill your most useful weapon. The rubbles flew away as Tsuna pushed himself to stand up properly.

But Sawada is doing better than I expected. He might have stumbled but her distant relative only had light bruises despite the rather large show of strength. She inhaled and exhaled before glancing at Iemitsu. The blond-haired man had his hands balled into a fist but his eyes held no emotion. That was not at all strange because showing love and care in this battle was not going to help Tsuna at all.

It would send a message that he wasn't a good leader nor a good father for not having faith in his own child. I wonder if I ever had a child, if I would behave like him. She would rather not know. Tsuna had been forced upon the job while she needed to think of a full-proof plan that would ensure the freedom of her child and get her the money that she needed.

"I'm surprised you aren't thinking of just killing the old coot," The Kyuubi commented from inside of her mind. Naruto shut her eyes tightly as the impact of both Tsuna and Xanxus flames caused a blinding light to flare up in the air. "Killing always seemed to be your answer for those bugs."

Naruto grimaced and took in a deep breath as the other school wall exploded and crumbled into tiny pieces from Xanxus's flame. Her blue eyes took in the upturned ground before glancing at the screen, which showed Kyoya clenching his jaws together and forcing himself to move. He is going to be fine. Her partner was anything but weak.

"If I killed the old man then Sawada will take over and he will find a way to make me do all of his work," Naruto retorted. Her blue eyes fixated on the brown-haired boy who was now stuck to the side of the wall, orange eyes having a calmness in them that came from the bullet that Reborn shot him. This side of him was what she wished she could see instead of the crybaby. "Besides killing Timoteo is way too risky."

The Kyuubi hummed. "What about destroying the Vongola Familigia? You seem to be thinking of infinite ways of destroying Konoha."

The whiskered teen smiled wearily and closed her eyes as Reborn explained the destructive properties of the Flame of Wrath to everyone. It would be easy for her to think of destroying the Mafia Familigia but it was irrational. Everyone in Konoha hurt me in some way or form, the only exception is Hinata-chan and Teuchi-ojisan. They could suffer but not everyone in the Vongola Familigia hurt her.

She only wanted to find a way to hurt Timoteo and maybe Iemitsu to some extent because of what they wanted to do.

"I will be putting hundreds of people without jobs because of pettiness," Naruto answered. She rubbed her jaws together and darted her eyes to Basil before moving her gaze to Reborn and Shamal. Her lips curled into a grimace and the whiskered teen looked up at the evening sky. "And I don't really feel like running away, not when they could have eyes everywhere and I don't want to live my whole life on the edge because of my desire to give my future child freedom."

Her mind was dead silent and the whiskered teen stared at the hateful eyes of Xanxus. I wonder what kind of man he is when he is truly angered. There were certain people who grew irrational when angered while there were certain people who were still rational when angered. Those were the people to fear during a battle because they wouldn't slip up.

"What about just being a puppet and have Xanxus make all the decision?" The Kyuubi suggested. Naruto raised a single eyebrow and flickered her eyes at the beam of dying flames being directed at Tsuna. The idea was tempting and there was nothing illogical about the plan but there were certain factors that needed to be considered.

There were just certain things that she couldn't risk, things that made her not want the job for either her or her child.

"Xanxus is hungry for power and even if I'm only the figurehead, he will probably want his child to take over," Naruto licked her dried lips and rubbed her knuckles as the wind blew her hair to the back. She inhaled and exhaled as her shoulders refused to budge from their raised position. "He will probably drug me and get me pregnant…guys like Xanxus are guys that I refuse to ever be alone with."

The Kyuubi rolled his eyes. "You want children and if you are anything like your mother then you will probably have a kink on it."

Naruto coughed and kept her expression blank as the people around her twisted their heads to look at her. After a couple of seconds, they turned away from her and the whiskered teen pulled her expression. That was way too much information for her. Not the kind of information she wanted to know about her biological parents.

"I might want children but I want my children to be the strongest children in the world," she replied. Naruto closed her eyes and licked her dried lips before flickering her eyes to the screen that showed Lambo crumbled up on the ground with tiny whimper coming out of his mouth. "The strongest children comes from families born out of love because I can train them to be strong physically but I don't know how to teach them how to be emotionally-stable. If I don't have any fondness for Xanxus then my goal won't be achieved."

There was nothing about her words that indicated anything else. This was rational and logical if you asked her because she was probably strong when it came to her physical strength but her emotional stability was probably the worst out there. There was also the fact she wanted to look at her child and see the face of someone she had fondness for.

Someone that she could potentially love.

"The only boy you seem to love is that lover of yours," The Kyuubi observed. Naruto stared down at her hands and darted her eyes to the screen that returned to Kyoya, who had now pushed himself up onto his feet. "Do you truly believe that if he doesn't want kids then you can find someone else you can love as much as you love him?"

Naruto stared at her feet before looking back at the screen. Love? Was she in love with Kyoya? She didn't know. There wasn't a book that could tell her whether or not the feelings she carried for her partner was love. The emotion was not something she ever witness growing up, not when love seemed to be directed at other children.

She was definitely more affectionate to him and only he could bring out those ugly emotions inside of her.

"I can find someone that I can tolerate," Naruto answered. She licked her dried lips and darted her eyes at Timoteo and Iemitsu before glancing at Shikamaru and the other members of Team Ten. Love wasn't completely important but there was a need to find someone she could tolerate having children with. "I'm not going to make or trick Kyoya into having a child with me in the future. Who knows maybe I will find Itachi or even Sasuke…I can tolerate them."

The Kyuubi snorted. "If that partner of yours knows that you are planning to have a backup then I can only imagine how much he is going to torture you."

"He will understand," Naruto dismissed. She rubbed her neck and took in a deep breath as her eyes scanned the area. There was a rather large hole in the beginning of the building as stream waffled through the area between Xanxus and Tsuna. "Kyoya knows that I always have a plan in case my original plan doesn't work. He knows that I won't try to chain him down to me even if I have this selfish desire to have him to myself."

Despite what Tsuna and the others believed, she was never greedy enough to keep the one thing she wanted. I can't give up money but if I want Kyoya to remain the person he is then I'm willing to give him up. She wanted all those things she saw in the future. The nice house, a partner that still wanted her even after ten years and that little child who looked like Kyoya but had her eyes.

She wanted everything but being greedy for that kind of happiness would never get her anywhere.

"Have you ever thought if he knew what you saw then he will try to make it a reality sooner then later?" The Kyuubi mused. Naruto blinked and blinked as the fox offered her a little scowl. Naruto froze and felt her throat drying up at what the fox was implying with his words. "With the way you two are with each other, I wouldn't be surprised by the time you graduate high school, you have his spawn in you."

Naruto shook her head and looked at her feet before looking at Tsuna. The words spewing out of his mouth seemed to be muffled against her ears as her mind tried to wrap her head around what the Kyuubi implied. Did he really believe they will be reckless enough to bring a child before they have jobs? Then again, it was a possibility.

She didn't know how the Kyoya and her of the parallel universe got together. For all she knew her future self had been dense when it came to his feelings and refused to acknowledge them until it became apparent. I mean if I haven't saw the future then I wouldn't have accepted his words about me being his favorite animal and I know I forget reason when I'm with him. She licked her lips and exhaled.

"I won't know what Kyoya thinks about the whole thing until the fight is over," Naruto finally said. She knew she should have defended the idea of Kyoya being hormonal but well there was no denying it. He was as hormonal as she was. In fact, she was probably the one that instigated things because she didn't know how to show her affection. "But I will use the jutsu that the teacher taught us by the time we start having sex."

The Kyuubi snorted. "Say that after tonight when you tell him because I'm a 100% sure after your little stunt in his office that he has no plans of letting you go back home. If you are anything like your mother's clan then you two are going to go at it like bunnies."

Naruto only flushed a bright shade of red at that comment.

"I don't need to know that and we are not that hormonal!"


"Hibari-sama! How did he destroy the pole with poison running through his veins?"

Naruto curled her lips into a smirk as Basil directed everyone's attention to the television screen. Gasps echoed throughout the area as the screen revealed Kyoya standing right in front of Belphegor with eyes showing no emotion. But if you look at the posture of Kyoya then you know he is irritated at the fact that the boy dodged his attack. He was going to have fun with this kind of opponent.

"Do you really believe Kyoya is going to let a little poison affect him?" Naruto asked. The members of Team Ten, Iemitsu and the others blinked as they twisted their heads to stare at her with wide eyes. She kept her eyes fixated on the black-hair blowing in the wind before glancing at the others. "Kyoya hates being chained down and being poisoned like that is not only chaining him down but it also hurt his pride."

In the eyes of her partner, Kyoya would see the fact he had been injected with poison as a weakness. He is definitely going to take out his anger later on one of his poor subordinates. The whiskered teen sighed and leaned against the wall before closing her eyes. If they ended up ending their relationship then Kusakabe was going to go through hell.

"If anyone would know what is going through Hibari's mind then it would be you," Reborn commented. Naruto tilted her head and raised a single eyebrow at the hitman as Xanxus stared at the screen with alarm. "Hibari would have never pursued a relationship with you if he wasn't certain that you knew him better than everyone in this town."

The whiskered teen pressed her lips into a very thin line as black eyes gleamed with amusement and understanding. I thought we were being very discreet in our relationship. That look in Reborn's eyes told her that he knew about her relationship with Kyoya from the very beginning and the knowledge made her grimace.

"When did you figure it out?" Reborn curled his lips into a smile as everyone flickered their eyes between them. Shikamaru and Choji leaned their bodies forward, eyes burning with curious while Ino frowned. "Kyoya and I made certain our outside behavior was still very much professional so how did you learn about the change?"

What gave us away? It was not that big deal if you asked her but she needed to be cautious when it came to her next relationship. It was nice when no one focused on her relationship with someone or when they had no idea of her status. People focused on their work and not trying to figure out how her relationship with Kyoya worked or whether there were any feelings involved.

"The two of you were very discreet but his subordinates likes to gossip whenever they were alone," Reborn observed. Naruto's eyebrows twitched while Shikamaru and the other members of Team Ten gawked at the piece of information. I'm going to demand that I teach Kusakabe and the other members of his committee about gossiping about our relationship. She clenched her jaws together. "They still can't believe that you stayed with him for this long, considering how he doesn't do the typical boyfriend things."

Ino raised a single eyebrow at this piece of information while Naruto flickered her eyes to Kyoya. Her partner dashed straight to Belphegor, who dangled the storm ring in his hand and the whiskered teen curled her lips into a smile as Belphegor jumped back, ring dropping from his hand. It was just a second but her eyes caught sight of Kyoya tossing the ring upwards to the opened hole in the school, where Gokudera should be.

"If Kyoya does typical romantic things then he wouldn't be Kyoya," Naruto finally said with a shrug. If she wanted the typical romantic things in a relationship then they would never have lasted this long. Someone like Ino would have hated being in a relationship with her partner, but she enjoyed the way their relationship worked. "And thank you for informing me on who I need to teach a lesson about the importance of minding their own business."

Should I just break their arms or maybe I should break their legs? Cutting off their tongues might be good. She hummed and crossed her legs together as Ino continued to glance at the screen that showed a whimpering Lambo. Naruto knew it was concerning and if it was not for the fact that Kyoya was now cured of the poison then she wouldn't be worried.

"As much as I love gossiping about your relationship and how weird it is to know you of all people got a boyfriend before me," Naruto rolled her eyes while Ino stared at the screen with chattering teeth. "I want to know why your boyfriend is more focused on fighting Belphegor then helping the others get the rings they need to get rid of the poison."

Naruto only offered a little sigh and pinched her nose. She missed it, didn't she? Of course, her childhood classmate would miss such a tiny detail. The girl was probably frantic about Gokudera and maybe even Lambo. Despite the fact that Ino had been a bitch to her during their childhood, the whiskered teen would admit that the girl could be kind to children.

She also has the best knowledge when it comes to poison. Naruto rubbed her jaws and stared at the screen that showed the Varia Lightning guardian sweating and whimpering from the pain that came from the poison. When it came to taijutsu, she had the best scores when it came to females but Ino reigned when it came to poison and a few more feminine arts.

"Kyoya already did what he had to do to get what he wants," Naruto answered. Ino blinked and furrowed her eyebrows together into a single line while Shikamaru, Choji and Basil exchanged glances between them. The whiskered teen curled her lips into a smile when the screen revealed an explosion going off in the rooftops.

Smoke disappeared as the poles crashed and a silver-haired figure picking up the ring. Kyoya really does know the layout of the school really well for him to pick Gokudera to do the job for him. If it had been up to her then she would have picked Yamamoto but then again she was the picky one in their relationship. Then again, she would have gone to Lambo first because he was the youngest one.

There was also the fact that his body wouldn't be able to handle the effect of the poison.

"When did Gokudera-kun get up?" Ino tilted her head and scratched her head as everyone exchanged glances with each other. From where Naruto sat, she could see Xanxus' shoulders tensing up as his eyes took in the sight before him. He thought that Kyoya wouldn't have the time or the brains to do this because of how eager he is to fight. She chuckled. "You seemed to act like you know everything so how did Gokudera-kun—"

"—Hibari tossed the Storm Ring to Gokudera when he charged at Belphegor for a second time, didn't he Naruto?" Shikamaru asked. The blonde curled her lips into a thin smile and bobbed her head. Kyoya knows he can't fight Belphegor and get Lambo the help that he needs, which is why he tossed the ring to Gokudera. In a way, her partner was predictable when she thought of his personality.

The whiskered teen closed her eyes and hummed. "Kyoya might give off the impression that he only thinks with his fist but he knows the importance of working together when necessary."

"He learnt his lesson from what happened with Mukuro," Reborn commented. Don't remind me of what that Pineapple Head did to us. She would forever hate Mukuro for what he did to them alongside the damn fact that he threatened to tell her whereabouts to the Akatsuki. The whiskered teen scowled and then bobbed her head at him.

It was difficult for someone not to change from the experience of getting their ass handed to them. It was humiliating for him to be defeated by something that was not real and it was even worse when that person tried to take control of his body. If we didn't need him right now and if we didn't have this deal then I would murder Mukuro. She poked her tongue against her cheek.

"Mukuro humiliated him, did the one thing Kyoya can never forgive and that made him realize he can't always be hot-headed," Naruto observed. She kept her tone cold and impersonal as the memories of what happened in Kokuyo Land flashed before her mind. They were locked up like animals and had Mukuro mocking them with their weakness alongside the way he tried to control them.

He failed to control her because of the Kyuubi.

Shikamaru regarded her for the longest time and the whiskered teen darted her eyes to Tsuna. Orange eyes showed nothing but calmness and determination and that brought smile on her lips. Whatever nerves that her distant relative had was gone, replaced with a confidence and a resolve that she had never seen on him before.

"Even if we can relax about the guardians, do you think that Tsuna will actually have a chance against Xanxus?" Choji asked. Naruto hummed while Timoteo and Iemitsu exchanged glances. I can always tell them that the results has already been predetermined. She could do that but that kind of information didn't really answer the main question that her childhood classmate asked. "His opponent has more experienced then him."

She took a deep breath and focused her eyes on the screen that showed Gokudera injecting the cure for the poison to Levi-A-Than. Such a naïve fool. Her classmate should have let that man die instead of giving him the same cure. Who cared about the fact that the man was heavily injured? He would have tried to kill Lambo and Gokudera if the situation was different.

"Sawada has a chance," Naruto answered, rubbing the back of her neck. Choji and Shikamaru blinked while Ino raised her eyebrows at her. The whiskered teen slid her hands into the pocket of her pants and exhaled. "His determination increased exponentially when he knew that Gokudera went to help Lambo and that determination might help him win."

Ino blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Now that he knows that Gokudera and Lambo are fine, he knows that the others will follow suit because Gokudera will do what he can to ease his worries," Naruto explained. The whiskered teen let out a small yawn and closed her eyes. She didn't need to open her eyes to know that everyone was gawking at her complete lack of care. "He is now more focused on winning the match because he isn't worried anymore."

Shikamaru regarded her. "And how do you know that?"

"Because Sawada is a weirdo who worries about others first then worrying about himself first," Naruto replied. She allowed another yawn to escape her lips and allowed one eyelid to peak open to stare lazily at the older male. "I don't understand people like him who cares about others first instead of worrying about themselves first."

Shikamaru snorted and stared at her with weary eyes.

"I think you do understand, Naruto or you wouldn't have been working this hard for them."

Naruto snorted.

"Don't act like you know me, Shikamaru."


Author Note: So Shikamaru thinks that Naruto understands Tsuna while the Kyuubi offers suggestions to Naruto on what to do. The guardians have been cured and Naruto thinks that Tsuna has a chance of winning. The next chapter will show the aftermath of the fight because the fight is mostly going to follow canon. Here are a couple of questions:

Question 1: Are you surprised by Naruto's explanation to the Kyuubi of why she had no plans of running?

Question 2: What do you think of the interaction between the Kyuubi and Naruto in this chapter?

Please do tell me of your thoughts on this chapter.