Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

The writing might seem kind of weird, so just know that if it's like (this) its just a continuation of a sentence or one of my afterthoughts, if its like (this) its the characters own thoughts, "if its like this" its in another language, "if its like this" the word has emphasis.

Word Count: 7470

Part 11: This Too Shall Pass

Yamamoto Takeshi thanked his lucky stars that he had become friends with people like Tsuna and Natsume, Kyoko and Hana, and Hayato. It was because of them and their recent study group that he managed the grades he did and was eligible to actually play in the upcoming game.

When the big day came, Takeshi was pumped, the most excited anyone had ever seen the boy (he was going to do fine; he was going to have fun and hopefully along the way win the game). By the end of it, he was kind of glad his friends hadn't been able to make it (he could feel the looks the other players gave him, as if blaming him, it wasn't his fault, the other team just played better. What did they expect that just because he was good, he could win against anyone?)

He sat in the locker room long after it had emptied out, finally letting himself sit down and cradle his face in his hands. The frustrated tears fell and like many times before he didn't make a sound, his shoulders barely shaking as he cried silently to himself.

He tried.

He always tried.

He tried to be happy. He tried to be a good athlete. He tried to be a good son.

It always seemed like it wasn't enough and he was tired.

Sometimes giving up sounded like a good idea.

And right now, it was what he wanted to do.

Takeshi took in a deep breath, the back of his hand wiping at his eyes. He tilted his head back, closed his eyes and let out the breath slowly. He stayed like that for a while and slowly got up and dressed. He didn't remember if he closed his locker once he left, he just let the brim of his baseball cap shadow his eyes, one hand tightly holding onto the strap of his duffle bag

The sun had already set by the time he made it home and he could feel it in his stomach that he wouldn't be sleeping much tonight.

But that's okay.

He was used to that too.

/ | \

Takeshi wasn't at school Monday, nor did he show up Tuesday.

When Wednesday passed, Tsuna began to feel something prickle. It was like an itch that he needed to scratch, but he didn't know where. He decided that if tomorrow Takeshi still didn't show up, he would head over to his home and check on him.

Thursday came and still no Takeshi.

As he watched his sister slip on her regular shoes, Tsuna sprung the idea on her, "Hey, you don't mind if we stop by Takeshi's house right?"

"I guess? You worried about him?" she asked as she stood up from the bench, readjusting her bag so that it hung at her side.

"A little bit, I just have this weird feeling."

She didn't protest as they went the opposite way, heading towards the market district instead of the residential area. While Takeshi's house wasn't really anywhere near the main plaza or the shopping center, it was on the way seeing as his home doubled as a restaurant.

The pair walked in an almost silence, Natsume humming some tune that Tsuna kind of recognized but couldn't name at the moment. By the time they came to TakeSushi, twenty minutes had passed and Tsuna wondered why the prickling sensation got worse.

They stepped into the restaurant, calling out a greeting to Tsuyoshi-san who was picking up some plates from the tables.

"Tsuyoshi-san, is Takeshi here?"

The older man blinked as he set the dishes in the tub he was carrying around, "I saw him leave this morning; he was dressed in his uniform and everything."

"Uh –"

"Hey pops!"

"-oh."

An awkward silence descended, Tsuna trying not to shuffle about as Tsuyoshi stared down at his only son, whose cheery expression was wiped clean off as he noted the twins. The smile that he tried to give them was more broken looking than anything else, Takeshi's honeyed eyes were unusually piercing as he swept his empty, smiling gaze about the room.

"Hah! Looks like you two beat me here!"

"Totally," Natsume responded, her tone light. It looked as if Tsuyoshi was about to say something as he stood his full height with his hands on his hips. "Ah, guess we won, right?"

That didn't seem like the right thing to say because Takeshi looked like if he had been kicked. A sad, very angry looking kicked puppy.

"Yeah, hah, we'll be going upstairs dad."

Tsuyoshi didn't say anything, instead watching as his son showed his two friends upstairs. A world weary sigh left him and he wondered when his son had gotten so good at lying to him. How could he have not noticed how odd his son had been acting when it was in the way he walked and held himself (as if he barely could, like he was just going through the movements to please everyone else.)

Natsume could tell that her brother was getting upset – something about the situation wasn't sitting well with her either – though she didn't understand why he was upset. When Takeshi shut the door to his room behind him and turned to look at them, there was this blankness to it that screamed that something was wrong.

"Don't look at me like that."

"Like what?" she asked, she was just trying to figure out what was wrong and why he was like this. She had heard the news that the baseball team had lost their big game on Saturday. "Please don't tell me you're upset over a game."

"Tsume." She heard Tsuna sigh her name out, shaking his head at his sister's bluntness.

"It's not just a game!" Takeshi responded in turn with a little bit of heat coloring his words, "We lost because of me, I can see it in everyone's eyes after the game, and it was my fault that we lost at the only thing I'm good at!"

"Your game is a team sport; you don't lose because of one person."

"What do you even know about playing with other people?" Takeshi spat, stepping forward, not caring at all that he was yelling at the people he could possibly call his only friends. Friends that actually talked to him and not at him, "Last I heard you don't even know what having a friend is like!"

Her eyes flashed and he could feel something in him want to respond to that, he stepped closer and he was sure if Tsuna hadn't wrapped his arms around his sister's waist, she would have jumped at him already.

"Yeah, like you totally do, right Mr. Ace?" she sneered back, quickly losing her temper and struggling against Tsuna's hold. "You can't even tell that people are using you and you let them walk over you like a fucking doormat –"

"Natsume, Takeshi, please, come on let's not –"

"Ha, that's all you can do huh? Just say please and hope nothing bad happens right?"

The temperature in the room seemed to drop and Takeshi noted that Natsume's eyes were purple. There was a split second to realize what he had said and he felt so much regret, his eyes landed on Tsuna whose bangs shadowed his eyes, not letting Takeshi have a read on him.

He inhaled sharply; breathe stuttering as he doubled over as Natsume's fist sunk into his stomach. She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and he realized this was why very few people kept bothering Tsuna.

"You fucking asshole, Takeshi!" her voice was even, but he could feel her hands shaking. "What the hell crawled up your ass and died?"

Hurt, anger, sadness, why was he doing this? They were his friend weren't they, why was he doing this, why couldn't he deal with this himself instead of lashing it out at them.

"Ugh," Natsume made a noise of disgust, pushing him away, turning her back on him and throwing herself onto the bean bag chair he had up against his bed. She was grumbling some words under her breath, but he was too distracted by Tsuna sitting down right in front of him.

"She hits hard," Tsuna noted for him, crossing his legs and letting his elbow rest against his knee, his hand cupping his chin. When Tsuna finally looked at him, Takeshi still couldn't guess what was up with him, but something within him squirmed. "And though she is vulgar about it, she does bring a good point."

"I know you know how people see you Takeshi-kun," the added suffix really got his attention and Takeshi felt worse than he did before. It felt like that one time he had accidentally broken one of the shops windows and had tried to play off that it wasn't his fault when his father had asked him about it, "It hurts you doesn't it? So why do you put up with it?"

Takeshi didn't know how to answer that; he sat up instead, trying to look anywhere but at Tsuna. But he couldn't, because something about the boy before him demanded that he be looked at and listened too.

"I'm here as your friend Takeshi," Tsuna continued on, "And so is Natsume, whatever it is that is bothering or hurting you, you can trust us."

"We understand," Natsume finally piped up, her voice a little gruff, not sparing them a glance, as she lay with her arm over her face. "You're going to either have to fight back or give up, because you can't do this forever."

Takeshi had let people's expectations of him pile up, had let others take advantage of his kindness (of his need to be acknowledged), and it was hitting him now. Some of the gossip flying around from the game seemed to say that 'maybe if Yamamoto-kun had done this' or 'if Yamamoto-kun had done that instead'. For some reason it came down to blaming one person out of a whole team, because Takeshi was the 'yes man' willing to do anything and go above and beyond because if he didn't people wouldn't like him.

"No matter what happens, we're here Takeshi."

Takeshi's only thought at the moment was one thing, 'Kaa-san, I think I get it…'

'…are you proud?'

Intermission 3

Yamamoto Noa.

My father's wife, my mother, and the woman I barely recall.

The most I get when I try to remember her is her always telling me to try my best, to do what was best for me. I remember her smile, the love and warmth I received when she smiled at me.

She was frail; at least that's what my old man said.

But she was always willing to help anyone, to listen, and from what my pops said, she made people happy. I wanted to do that, that if the day came that I couldn't remember her, I still wanted to pass on what she did – so I listened, I helped, and I tried to make people happy.

When she passed away, it was hard to do that – I was only seven and yet I wanted to do what my mother had always done. The days were long without her presence and my father did try to make up for it, but even he could only do so much when he still felt the pain of having lost his loved one.

I know it worried my father, so I tried to be better, to smile more even though I didn't feel like it. To laugh even though it exhausted me. To help others when all I really wanted to do was walk away.

Along the way it just became a part of me, to push me aside and do it for others.

It was nice, the acknowledgement, the looks, the praises – it filled a part of me that I didn't know needed it.

Along the way it became tiresome, people now expected it of me, no one asked how I was, what I felt.

Which was why I was so happy when I first met Tsuna, how he looked at me and didn't really expect much out of me – though given by how people had treated him before, that was understandable. Then Natsume came along and she was the same and in the few short months that I have known them, they have rarely asked anything of me.

In fact, they showed me (little by little) how to push past others.

When I started to accept Hana (who was blunt and so very forward) and Kyoko (who was compassionate and was willing to listen if I ever asked it of her), I realized this is it.

I had never felt better and then the game came and it all came bearing down at me.

'Hit that home run Yamamoto'

'Make sure to pitch it like this when it's your turn on the mound'

'Swing just so, do this, do that….why didn't you do this, if you would have done that'

I didn't realize that everyone still expected so much out of me and it hurt.

Which is why I will always regret having said what I did, having reacted towards them that way and yet they still put up with me.

They understood, told me to do what was best for me.

Like my mother had once upon a time.

/ | \

He went to school the next day, starting off strong and slowly feeling himself become a pile of nerves. When school ended he dithered between just following the twins home or going to practice, he was kind of happy Hayato wasn't here today, he could already hear the silver haired teen making some mean remark.

"I – ah – I'll see you two later?" he asked as they left the main school building. He clutched his sports bag closer to himself as if it were a lifeline. He kind of hoped they said yes, even after the way he had treated them yesterday, he would actually completely understand if they said no.

Tsuna was kind though, nodding at him and giving him a smile. Natsume huffed, shrugging her shoulders and deferring more or less to Tsuna's judgement – sometimes her brother knew better than she did and this was probably one of those moments (because she still wanted to punch Takeshi in the face).

"Just come over, Mama won't mind."

They waved goodbye and he watched them go, stalling a little as he willed himself to head towards the gym to get dressed. He watched as the small kid showed up, heard Tsuna shriek before taking off, Natsume not too far behind them.

One day he would ask them what game it was that they played and if he could join in.

For now, he settled for just focusing himself on what he was doing.

And he moved on.

Part 12: Curiosity Kills

Friday passed (Takeshi had come over for dinner looking a little more roughed up than usual) and Natsume was glad that Saturday at school had went by so quickly. It was one of those surprise free days Reborn gave them and she took the opportunity to tag along with her mother to the market, where they walked around, bought what was needed and then sat around enjoying a cup of coffee at Café Lounge.

"Hey, Mama, I'm gonna go over there real quick."

Nana sipped her coffee and waved her daughter away with the other, "Go on then."

Not needing to be told twice, Natsume bounded off, the bell of Shiro's Antiques jingling as she pushed the door open and stepped inside the cozy little shop.

"Welcome back."

Instead of standing behind the counter like last time, the white haired man seemed to be dusting around and shifting around some of the trinkets on the short table near the front of the shop.

"Did you come back for something Miss?"

She looked at him, reaching into her pants pocket and withdrawing the small stone he had given her, "This feels like you." The energy that floated about him was exactly like the one she felt in the stone, the very one that was coaxing something more from her and had finally broke the seal (though that actually happened the other day because of Takeshi).

The corner of his lips twitched up, "So you notice that now, that's very good,"he motioned for her to follow him and she did, albeit a little hesitant. "The last time it felt as if you were muffled, something was holding you back, but now you feel more open, more free," he paused, looking over his shoulder and gauging her reactions. "Doesn't it feel nice?"

She stared up at him, wary and yet oddly curious, "Why?"

He walked around the counter, sitting himself on his stool, without much thought a similar stool appeared on her side of the counter, "It is sturdy."

She eyed him, poking at the stool seat before sitting herself down. She tried to get a good read on him, like Reborn had been teaching them – trying to pick and figure out his intentions. All she got was genuine curiosity.

The smile he gave her told her he knew what she was doing.

"You ask me why and I will answer you honestly," Kawahira said, his hands folding against the top of the counter, "I was curious and very much intrigued on how someone your age could be sealed and yet be walking around as if it wasn't effecting them."

"How can you –"

"-tell?" Kawahira finished for her, he didn't even wait for her nod, "The very reason why others would either look down or disturb you, something felt off as if it were missing and some would go about trying to fix it in improper ways."

The people of this era never realized exactly what sealing did. Humans, though they didn't realize it, were sensitive to one another and when a sealing was done on a human, it felt empty and wrong and they would often go about trying to fix it in all the wrong ways.

"Tell me child, what do you know of flames?"

"….they are a manifestation of our willpower."

Kawahira nodded, "They are a reflection of your soul, it is your very essence, your very being, they do manifest under willpower. If this is a touch personal, there is no need for you to answer, but how did yours first come into being?"

With humans it was always sudden when their flames appeared, usually the power lay dormant until a stressful situation awakened them fully. Judging by the closed off look that crossed the girl's face, it wasn't a good one and she wasn't about to tell him.

"I wanted to protect someone I love."

Well she at least said something, he honestly wasn't expecting an answer and also -

How sweet.

"Indulge an old man," he said, giving her a kind smile, "Would you be at all interested in learning how to truly use your flames."

She looked at him, really look at him and tried her best to gauge his true intentions and wasn't that just amusing? "I'm learning now from a home tutor, but," she finally said and Kawahira would have let it go (but he would have kept a close eye because she could be useful later on). "It doesn't really help me a lot, his methods I mean." Tsuna on the other hand seemed to flourish under Reborn's flame sessions, while she struggled to take to them.

"A Mist usually never needs the help, all they need is a good mind and a strong will."

She had trouble calling up her flames and trying to shape them as Reborn sometimes asked of her, it was exhausting on the days they would do and often than not Tsuna would end up carrying her halfway home.

"As I said, if you are interested, I would not mind guiding you along."

Natsume looked at the man, could sense his pure intent even though she did feel a weird vibe from it. It wasn't that weird old man vibe; it was more as if something was off about him. Could she really look at this and turn it away, she could use the help.

Setting down the stone between them she held out her hand to him and he took hers.

"I will be a good student, I promise."

/ | \

Tsuna didn't know how to feel about the child that stood out on the main street facing his house. Reborn was one thing, this kid well –

"Lambo-san will finally do it!"

At least he seemed to be his age; instead of being whatever Reborn was (demon child comes to mind, but that's not right either). Tsuna watched a little stumped as the kid pulled a pink rope out of his hair and tossed the end that held a metal hook over the wall of his house.

He kind of wished Natsume was with him to witness this, but she had went off somewhere as soon as school let out. Hell even Hayato would have been nice to have, at least Hayato would have straight up questioned what the hell was going on, instead of the approach Tsuna was doing (which was nothing).

It was just curious to see the kid that seemed to barely pass his knees wiggle his way up and hop over the wall, a loud cry accompanying his journey once he fell over the other side and into the nicely kept bushes that his mother spent every other day taking care of.

The brunet slowly made his way into the front yard, pushing open the short gate, making it loud and obvious that someone had come in. The kid froze halfway across the lawn before scurrying off towards the tree that was in front of his room.

"You do know I can see you?"

"Impossible! Lambo-san is the best – eep!" the little boy – Lambo – made a high pitched sound, his hands coming up to cover his mouth as he ceased his climbing attempts. The small kid's wide green eyes were on Tsuna and really how was he supposed to react to this? "You never saw Lambo!" and he dug into his hair and pulled out a round pink ball that he threw against the floor and covered the area around them in smoke.

Coughing lightly, Tsuna waved his hand in front of his face to dispel some of the smoke and caught the tail end of Lambo's figure scuttling up the tree. Tsuna's mouth hung open, wondering whether he should make another comment or just forget everything.

He honestly felt that if he tried to forget about the kid he would regret it, so he just put it aside and went inside, greeting both his mother and Reborn. He toed off his shoes and made his way upstairs, intent on getting out of his uniform and noted that Reborn followed him up.

When he opened the door to his room he stepped in, Reborn not too far behind, though before the tutor could say anything a shrieking laugh came through the window and there in all his glory stood the kid on his windowsill.

"I'm going to kill you Reborn!"

"What?"

"Prepare yourself!"

Tsuna ducked to the side leaving Reborn open to any assault the kid would throw at him. He settled himself against the front side of his bed, peering over the curve of the board that rose up at the foot of his bed to see what the other kid was doing.

A gun.

He had a gun and was aiming it at Reborn who didn't seem to really care at all that he was being threatened.

"I heard a rumor that Nezu has been fired and arrested due to fraud."

"Ah….yeah….is that why they called him out of class today?" Tsuna's attention was split between the two; he noted how the other child was getting infuriated, finally jumping into his room and throwing himself at Reborn, only for the hitman to step aside. Lambo sailed past him, rolling to a stop in the hallway.

"Reborn!"

Said kid sighed and drew Leon, who transformed into a gun, the muzzle resting against Lambo's forehead, "I thought I told you to leave me alone." Lambo glared at Reborn, tears welling at the corners of his eyes from what Tsuna could see.

"I can't go back until you are dead!"

Leon shape shifted once more and Reborn swatted at the kid, sending him in Tsuna's direction.

"Give up; you'll never be as good as me."

Tsuna caught Lambo before he hit the ground, cradling the sniffling child in his arms. The teen shot Reborn a disapproving frown, who only blinked at him

"Ah, come on don't cry," Tsuna said, trying to sound comforting as he set the kid down and held onto his hands. How many times had Natsume done this for him, when he would start crying after getting hurt? How many times had Mama done it for him as well? That actually gave him an idea, "Hey, hey, you wanna meet someone amazing?"

The kid – Lambo – hiccupped, rubbing at his eyes with one of his hands that he tugged away from Tsuna's hold. "Lambo-san h-has a job to do."

Tsuna pursed his lips, "What job is it?"

"To kill Reborn…."

Really who gave a kid an objective like that? Reborn was a monster, he wasn't the average five year old and Tsuna would bet most if not all of his allowance that Reborn was much more than he appeared. He of course would never ask, because one it was rude and two he kindofsortof respected Reborn (and was also kindofsortof terrified of him.)

"How about you put that on hold then? Let's go meet that amazing person instead."

Lambo tried to deny it, to struggle out of his hold, but Tsuna had a grip and he would never let go (he had played around with Natsume of all people; he had learned how to hang on when she wanted him to let go). He brought the struggling child downstairs, leaving his room with a light tsk'ing sound from Reborn.

"Hey Mama."

"Yes Tsu-kun?"

"You wanna meet someone?"

His mother looked up from her where she sat on the couch, a new crossword puzzle book in her lap. She seemed surprised to see him with a kid in his arms, but she smiled up at him nonetheless.

"And where did this handsome young boy come from?"

How was he supposed to say 'oh he was sent here to kill Reborn and by the way I think he may be related to the Mafia just because of that', he couldn't….that was too blunt. At least if his sister were here she would have probably done it, but they were trying to find a way to bring it up without it seeming so bad.

(Honestly it would be so much better of Iemitsu did one of his surprise trips and showed up, so they could bring it up and then dump it on their father to explain it, but their luck wasn't so great.)

"Lambo-san came to k- I mean p-play with Reborn!"

"Oh how cute, I've always told Reborn he should go out and play with others his age," Tsuna didn't know if his mother truly meant that and he was actually kind of curious to know. Maybe he would ask Reborn about it later.

"Is your family picking you up later, Lambo-kun?"

"Nope!"

That made Nana's smile drop, her brows rising and mouth pulling into a line, "My, my that won't do." Tsuna honestly hadn't known that, so he was a little taken back by that. Seriously what was wrong with these people? "Leave him here with me Tsunayoshi; I'm going to make a call."

He handed the kid over, who wrapped his arms around his mother's neck and gave her a big, charming smile. "Mama is so pretty!" which made Nana giggle as she turned and headed toward her room, leaving Tsuna to stand in the living room.

"Lambo of the Bovino, supposedly one of the heirs but he has been disowned due to his inability to show proper etiquette and proved he is incapable of following orders."

"Reborn?"

"The Mafia doesn't care how old you are, if you're brought up in it there are expectations one must meet," Reborn hopped onto the arm of the couch and Tsuna looked down at him. "Soon you'll have to start meeting those expectations too."

"But he's barely a kid…"

Reborn shrugged, "Doesn't matter."

"That's…harsh."

"The world is harsh Tsuna; you just have to learn to rise above it."

/ | \

The weekend passed, they turned fourteen and apparently Reborn turned one (which was ridiculous because he was almost as big as Lambo). October was nearly over when a few more people showed up in their lives (some trying to kill Tsuna, others trying to say what a bad influence he was).

Bianchi was one such person, trying to get rid of both Tsuna and Natsume for taking Reborn away from her – which was absolutely ridiculous, the girl was seventeen and Reborn was a baby. The other was a little assassin from China, I-pin who accidentally mistook her brother for one of her targets.

Then there was the unfortunate incident of meeting one Miura Haru that ended with Natsume getting (accidentally) shouldered in the jaw by the rather exuberant girl (who was so chipper and active in the morning, really there was something wrong there).

Their lessons with Reborn continued on (they could actually run a mile without flagging halfway, she was actually trying out for the volleyball team for the next season, while Ryohei was trying to drag Tsuna into the boxing club) and they didn't know if they should be lucky or feel cursed.

In as little as four months Reborn had whipped them into shape and they were starting to accept that yeah this well spoken baby was actually one hell of a tutor. Nana noticed it as well, noting how Tsuna didn't have as much trouble doing his homework like he used too and was actually starting to grow into his own person.

Recently Natsume had gotten into the habit of disappearing, though Nana didn't worry. She would only be gone for an hour or two and would reappear seeming much more collected. Nana could understand the need to just want to get away from all the noise (her house had gotten so lively recently and it was wonderful) for a while, as long as it didn't become a daily occurrence.

Rumors of a Yakuza coming over from Fujikawaguchiko had been cropping up recently whenever Nana headed to the markets, though she wasn't too worried (Namimori always had a way of dealing with things like that).

By that time it was December and school was a week away from letting out and everyone seemed to be looking forward to it.

Natsume was coming back from another lesson with Kawahira and was oddly surprised to find two strange men standing guard just outside the gate of her home. She honestly wasn't going to say anything, already assuming that this was another of Reborn's schemes, when one of them men actually stopped her.

"Sawada's only," the blond man said, blocking the entrance so that she wouldn't go through.

Natsume looked up, giving the blond man a tight smile and a nod, "Cool," she drew the word out, "Lucky me that I'm a Sawada then."

The other man shook his head at his partner's, opening the gate and holding it out for her, "Go on in little lady, don't mind Gerardo."

"Eh, she's the other one?"

She gave the named Gerardo a dirty look, she could kind of understand what he was saying, and "Yes I am," she looked at the one holding the gate open for her and gave him what should pass as a pleasant smile, "Thank you….ah?"

"Leonardo."

"If you'll excuse me, Leonardo and Gerardo," and she went on in, calling to her mother in greeting before she bounded upstairs to her brother's room. She knocked on the door, opening it when she heard Tsuna's grunt and was already talking as she walked in, "Why are there weird men outside?"

She took in the other occupant in the room, "Why is there a grown man in your room, Tsuna?" She got ushered in by her brother and was promptly tugged down beside him as he introduced the blond man.

"This is Dino-san, Natsume, he's Reborn's old student."

"Ah, hello~" she greeted, "So there is a chance we will survive Reborn then."

Dino actually laughed at that, his head falling back as he did so, Reborn on the other hand merely tugged down his fedora and shook his head (children, he made sure they would survive anything.)

"It's a pleasure to meet you Natsume," Dino said, leaning back in one of the chairs from downstairs, "I was just telling Tsuna how he didn't seem like Boss type material."

Natsume blinked at that, side eyeing Tsuna when she saw him shake his head out of the corner of her eye, "Please don't do that again, Dino-san, I actually was thinking that you came all the way from Italy to make fun of me."

"What?"

"Natsume will fight you," Reborn piped up from beside her, "Doesn't really care who you are, pick on her family and she'll get you."

Said girl turned to look down at Reborn, looking a little lost and very confused, "I don't do that…"

"You punched Yamamoto because he called your brother no good."

She narrowed her eyes at the small baby, who wasn't looking at her, but ended up shaking her head and sighing, "Do you want me to punch him or something?" She gestured toward Dino, who only shook his head, holding his hands up in defense.

"Hey I didn't come here to fight anyone! I just came to see my fellow kohai, I was just teasing him."

She pressed her lips in a firm line and shook her head, she honestly felt like laughing, this was ridiculous, "You always want us to fight someone, Reborn."

"To test yourselves."

Natsume rolled her eyes, "Hibari is not a person anyone should be fighting." They had walked into that a couple weeks ago when Reborn suggested a meeting place for all of them outside of the Sawada home. Who knew that the little punk would instead be setting them up to fight the President of the Disciplinary Committee.

"Oh he does that to you too?" Dino asked, leaning forward honey colored eyes gleaming. The blond reached into his jacket, looking oddly suspicious, "Does he also do this!" A yelp escaped Tsuna who was expecting a gun not a turtle being shoved in his face, while Natsume tilted her head to the side (she was immune thanks to Emi who liked to pop out at random times and enjoyed laying down on her face while she was trying to sleep).

"That's a turtle, is this like that rubber chicken gag?"

Dino shook his head, placing his pet on the short table in front of them, "Well I got one of you at least."

mew.

"Emi~" the change in Natsume's tone was obvious and the little black cat that filled her arms was the receptor of such a loving tone.

"She only does that to her, she doesn't love me anymore," Tsuna whined jokingly as he rested his chin against the table top, petting the top of the turtle's head with his pointer finger.

"She's cute that's why."

Reborn sighed, already knowing where this was going.

"I'm cute too."

"Pfft, boi you ugly, what'chu talkin' bout."

Dino watched in fascination as the timid kid that had been before him earlier tugged at his sister's hair in playful annoyance. "We're twins Natsume that means you're ugly too."

Natsume heaved an exasperated sigh, letting Emi curl up in the crook of her right elbow as she smacked Tsuna's hand away, "You're going to embarrass yourself in front of your senpai."

"Stop bickering you two, you have company."

Reborn was as always ignored when it came to this so he just settled back, having learned better than to get between the two (they teamed up and went to town on him once, he had never seen Sky flames resonate so deeply with another and that part of Namimori's forest would never be the same).

It didn't take long for Natsume to have triumphed over Tsuna (this time around), Dino was trying not to wince and laugh at the kid's misfortune as the girl was able to have Tsuna pinned face down. Originally he was just going to test the kid, but seeing them like this, he knew they had a chance to grow and become more.

He shared a look with Reborn, who only stared back at him.

They were in good hands and as long as they remembered the good times, they would be alright.

Part 13: We Bare Ourselves

School was out, Dino was going around Japan visiting places and sending them pictures on the phone he had left behind.

It was a nice night and the twins for once decided to take their mother out to eat – only them, no Lambo, no I-pin, no Bianchi, no one trying to crash on the small outing, just the three of them.

They had gone to Namimori Diner for dinner – Tsuna enjoyed his salisbury steak that he ordered, Nana rolled her eyes at her youngest as she dug into her own plate of loco moco which Matsumoto-baasan made just for her, while her eldest seemed to have skipped out on the idea of dinner and had gotten a plate of chocolate chip pancakes and instead of the usual eggs and sausage, she asked for the spicy chicken strips they had (she probably wanted them as leftovers to have for tomorrow or to eat for much, much later in the night).

Why her eldest loved spicy food, she would never understand – especially when she was sniffling more than halfway when the spiciness got to her.

They were tucked into one of the far corners of the Diner and Nana recalled dates with Iemitsu, when they would sit close by each other, sharing menu's as they tried to decide what they would have. Teasing laughter and often times wondering hands (mostly just on her thighs, or curling around her hip to pull her closer), it made her heart ache for her husband, to share a meal with him, to hear his voice.

"Mama?"

Nana looked up, blinking slowly and looking at her eldest, "hmm?"

"You look sad."

Nana smiled; having a feeling it looked more watery than anything else. She sniffled a little, her hand coming up and her thumb wiping away at the tears that wanted to fall.

"Just thinking about your papa."

Tsuna scooted closer to her, almost burrowing into her side as he leaned his head against her shoulder. There was a tension that had risen with the mention of their father and she wondered what brought that on, she waited though, knowing that they were just trying to find the right words.

It was Natsume who breathed out, shoulders sagging with an invisible weight, hands curling around the mug of hot chocolate. She felt cold and anxious, her mother deserved to know, but how, was she really about to ruin a good night out with her?

"Mama you won't be disappointed in us will you?"

It was Tsuna who spoke, his arms circling around her and hugging her middle, he was slightly shaking and she wondered what could be up.

Had another incident like with those men happened again, her breath hitched and the twins could feel her still, brown eyes widening in worry.

"No, no, not like that…." Natsume assured, scooting closer to Nana and reaching for her hands. Nana noted how clammy her daughter's hands were and she wondered what it could possibly be. "Mama you know about the Mafia?"

She had known about The Company, the syndicate that tried to take over Hawai'i but ultimately failed when they all ended turning against one another. From recent talks with Zack and the others, it was slowly starting up again, though more uniformed, and with the intent to better the standing of Hawai'i and its people.

Really her cousins were small time criminals in their own right, but she knew them, she almost understood why they did it.

So why were her children asking her about it?

"Eh, a little," she sounded breathless, her hold on Tsuna and Natsume tightening. "Why?"

"I – We – may be involved," Tsuna answered, meeting Natsume's gaze. They felt terrible, so sick, but it had to be done, it was unfair for their mother to be left around in the dark – not when they were meeting well established Mafia Bosses and coming across the shadier nature of the world. "It's why Reborn came, to make sure we can protect ourselves against them."

They had discussed it with the tutor and though he hadn't been happy about it, he respected what the twins were trying to do.

"Who?" Nana managed out in Japanese, the odd feeling she got around Reborn and Iemitsu, could that be it? Was that the answer to her unasked questions, why Iemitsu was always gone, why his phone calls and letters were becoming less and less?

"Papa and Timoteo-jiisan sent him."

Nana nodded her head, though she didn't realize she had.

"I see."

What could she do now? There was no way of taking her children away, not when they were growing and actually smiling and laughing with others. Reborn was helping in protect her children and though she wouldn't be able to look at him the same, she would eventually be thankful for his hand in tutoring - training her kids.

Iemitsu….she would have to speak with him, face to face and demand why he hadn't been honest with her.

And Timoteo, his supposed boss, well, she didn't care much for him. Not when the last time he was around her children had changed in a way that she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Thank you for your honesty, my loves."

The joyful atmosphere had been zapped away, replaced by a heavy, morose one. It wasn't much sadness that Nana felt, but disappointment.

She had wanted the best for her children and yet they were being 'secretly' tutored to withstand a dark world that she had only glimpsed when she was with her cousins. Now her children were being brought down into it, because honestly if there was no fear of them being found out they wouldn't have sent Reborn.

They left, bidding Matsumoto goodbye and headed home, where they all bid each other goodnight. They had gone to their own rooms to let that evening sink in by morning Nana found that her children had made their way into her room.

Her lids were heavy; she would admit that she had cried and it would be obvious that she had. She decided that spending the day lounging around, with what she considered her most precious was better than pacing her home and trying to distract herself with whatever menial task was at hand.

For now she would enjoy the peace and when the waves rose and threatened to crash her home, she would try her best to stand tall and strong, just as she had so long ago.

Author Note:

I had made a note of Fujikawaguchiko, were I said the Yakuza was from - I'm talking about the Momokyokai Yakuza that Reborn set Tsuna and the others to fight in the manga. So Fujikawaguchiko from what I had gathered and what I am remembering since I lost my notes, is within the same region I had chosen to set Namimori in, just a different Prefecture - if I read and understood correctly Fujikawaguchiko is where they grow peaches, hence the Momokyokai's name 'Peach Association'.

If this chapter seems to bounce around a lot, my bad. Yamamoto's 'attempted suicide' scene was obviously replaced and though maybe some people won't agree with his reaction, I am going to be honest, I have responded and reacted similarly to friends/family so that scene is pulling on some feelings for me.

Natsume's reaction may seem different (can we all agree that she would have beat up anyone else?) and that's probably more because of Tsuna not wanting his friend to be hurt.

Any questions, concerns, comments please let me know!

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed and favorited/followed this story, you guys are great!

Sorugao