The Cloud That Bites The Skies
Summary: A scary person with a fearsome reputation finds Tsuna and Co on a normal, sunny day, bringing news of an assassination plot on Don Cavallone. Insanity ensues.
"Eh? Fon and Verde? Are you sure you remembered the names right?" Reborn asked much later when Tsuna told him about how their 'war council' had been interrupted for Lambo's report to their guest from the future.
"There's no doubt about it," the young Sawada replied with a sigh, eating his dinner and trying not to think about how complicated and hard things will be, come tomorrow and every day for the rest of Kumo-san's stay in this time. "Those were the names adult Lambo mentioned. Verde, I remember from that time with the invisibility suits and those two stupid assassins, he's one of the Arcobaleno, right? But I don't think I've ever heard of this 'Fon' person before."
"He's one of the Arcobaleno as well, the Arcobaleno of the Red Pacifier. He's also I-Pin's master and possibly the best martial arts master the world has seen so far. He's mastered 107 martial arts, or at least that's how many I know of since the last time I met with him or had any contact with him. That he and Alaudi Kumo would be close ... Well, I guess it's to be expected, as I'm 97% sure they are related somehow," the Yellow Pacifier Arcobaleno said, causing Tsuna to widen his eyes in surprise.
"Eh? Really?! No wonder Kumo-san is so strong then! To be trained by an Arcobaleno, and probably from a young age-"
"You've got it wrong," Reborn interrupted his student, almost sharply. "The Arcobaleno formed when Alaudi Kumo would have been very young. Fon had to leave his family in order not to draw too much attention to them from his enemies and rivals. My guess would be that Alaudi Kumo met with Fon again, if not for the first time ever, only recently in our time. At least judging from the words you told me he said. That reunion was probably rough on them both. It took the Arcobaleno quite some time to open up to each other at all, but once we did, Fon often talked about a sister and a nephew he was really fond of. It may have crushed him to have to abandon his family. It was probably even harder when he got the news that his sister died. I don't think Fon has met with Alaudi Kumo since a long time ago. If they meet again, we might be there to witness it, knowing our luck."
"Yeah, knowing our luck, we'd somehow end up in the middle of a tense family feud, too," Tsuna muttered and Reborn smirked. Seriously, considering their luck and the fact that chaos seemed to follow them all like a lost puppy, it's really more than likely that they'd find themselves dodging stray attacks from the Storm Arcobaleno and 'Alaudi Kumo'. "Speaking of family feuds, the Varia seem to be on good terms with the rest of Vongola again, in Kumo-san's era."
"It's possible there had been a dangerous enemy that had attacked the Vongola famiglia. If that's the case, then all factions of Vongola would unite to save themselves and the famiglia." Reborn pondered this for a moment before shrugging. "It may have just strengthened the already existing bonds and made new ones. Our guest made it sound like those three enemy families were quite desperate to deal some damage to Vongola, or at least the alliance between Vongola and their oldest allies, the Cavallone. It means that Vongola is rather well off. Such desperate actions are not used against a weak opponent."
"But why not target Vongola itself, instead of Dino-san? I mean, I'm glad it's not me, don't get me wrong, but it seems like too complicated of a plan to me to just go for Cavallone if they could simply assassinate the future Vongola boss, who seems to be me, despite me not wanting to be one."
"That's actually a good way of thinking, Dame-Tsuna. Perhaps my training is finally bringing some fruit," Reborn said with a touch of pride, smirking even, before he fell serious again. "You're right that it seems too complicated. It's indeed easier to plot the assassination of a kid away from any competent protectors and immature Ring Guardians who have not yet even discovered their true potential, but it's also a rather well known fact already that Nono sent me to train you for your future position. It's possible that was enough of a deterrent. But with the type of weapons the future has to offer ... It's quite possible that despite my best efforts, an assassin could get in a good shot and take you out. So why go for Dino and not Vongola X?"
"What if the target they are trying to get at are ... " Tsuna hesitated but a prompting glance from Reborn had him finishing his thought. "What if the target they're trying to get at are neither Vongola nor Cavallone? What if it's someone else?"
Reborn actually felt something like dread seep in. "What do you mean? Who could be this enemy?"
The brunet shrugged uneasily. "Someone from the future we've not met yet? Or someone Dino-san's close to that we don't know? Maybe ... " Tsuna bit his lip, hesitating again, and Reborn wondered if his Hyper Intuition was whispering to him possibilities. It is a very strange ability most Vongola bosses possessed. As long as it is related to people, the Vongola Hyper Intuition didn't seem to have any clear limits. "Maybe it's a move against Kumo-san?"
The dread from before solidified. "What makes you say that? We don't actually know if Dino and Alaudi Kumo are on that great terms, despite him being here to stop an assassination plot."
"But we do," Tsuna said kind of dejectedly. "Remember? He practically told us himself the other day. I mean, it's not like he said the words, but it's obvious Kumo-san gets along well with Dino-san, if he knows his habits that well and if he remembers where Dino-san would be these days ten years later. And he said Dino-san gets him those really good rings, so it's pretty clear that they're on good terms."
'Could Tsuna have detected more with his Hyper Intuition that he still doesn't know how to interpret?' Reborn knew Dino. He knew him well enough to know that no matter how many years may pass, the blond won't change and it's already obvious to him today what the 'relationship' between Dino Cavallone and 'Alaudi Kumo' could one day be. He didn't know 'Alaudi Kumo' as well as he did Dino, but he saw enough of himself from his younger days in the young man to be able to recognize some of his tells and after knowing him this long - almost two whole years at this point - he learned the tells specific to the person himself. The way 'Alaudi Kumo' spoke of Dino made it clear that the potential that could be seen these days seems to have been fulfilled.
"Or maybe they went after Dino-san because of Hibari-san!" Tsuna's sudden exclamation almost startled the Arcobaleno. "Dino-san is one of the few people Hibari-san doesn't mind being around and Kumo-san implied they are even closer in the future, since Hibari-san isn't just 'tolerant' of random people! And since Hibari-san likes fighting so much and seems to be traveling, it wouldn't be surprising if he amassed quite a few enemies that would want revenge, but I'm not sure if Hibari-san actually has any family or that he'd ever get so intimately involved with the Vongola for them to be the target of someone's vengeance, which leaves Dino-san, the only notable figure Hibari-san might 'like'."
"I think you're overthinking this right now, Tsuna," Reborn said as a way of getting the boy off track. It's really none of their business why someone might attack the Cavallone ten years from now. What's important is that it's being handled and if it does, indeed, turn out to be a personal matter, Reborn rather doubts the people they're discussing would be very happy to learn they're prying into private business. "Alaudi Kumo is working hard to keep Dino alive and the conflict silent, not disturbing Namimori, so you must work hard, too, and distract Dino for however long he needs you to."
"But wouldn't Dino-san actually be the safest with Hibari-san around? If they teamed up, I'm pretty sure nothing could get in their way."
"He has his reasons and we don't know enough of the situation going on in the future to make that call. Only he does. Surely you wouldn't endanger such an important operation, right?"
Tsuna deflated but accepted the situation as it was. "I'm going to bed, since I might need all the energy I can get tomorrow to keep Dino-san distracted. You coming?"
"I'll be up in a minute," Reborn assured with a little smile and the Sawada child nodded and left for his room. Reborn waited a few minutes before climbing the stairs as well, but heading in the opposite direction, to the guest room. He wasn't surprised at all to find their time traveling guest sat on the bed, back against the wall, gaze fixed outside on the starry sky. "How's your hunt going?"
"How's your 'distract Hibari Kyoya' plan going?" 'Alaudi Kumo' asked with a snort.
Reborn smirked, entertained as he always was when speaking with this person. "I'm officially starting tomorrow, as far as anyone's concerned."
"My hunt officially started this morning," the other replied in kind. "I found three of them lurking around the hotel he usually uses. Good thing I bought out all of the hotel sweets for the next couple of days so he had to go to the other hotel. Two more were waiting there, but they have already been disposed of as well."
"So, five down, fifteen more to go, at the very least. Sounds like you'll have fun."
"Not really," the black haired man replied with a yawn hidden behind a politely obscuring hand. "The families involved in this stupid stunt aren't known for having strong Flame users and aren't nearly rich or influential enough to hire stronger independent hitman. They've actually sent a proposition to the future you, as well as the other Arcobaleno, but even Skull and Verde turned them down."
"Even Viper?"
"Like I said, not nearly rich enough," the other shrugged. "Not many dare rise against Vongola these days. Not when the Cloud Guardian took over as Head of CEDEF." The smirk on the man's lips was echoed by the Arcobaleno.
"You took over after Baka-mitsu? How did he take it?"
"He was angry, since he had technically officially left Basil as his successor, but unlike Sawada Iemitsu, Basil realized that the role of the External Advisor can only properly be fulfilled by a Cloud. Or rather, the Cloud Guardian, seeing as CEDEF was actually designed with the Guardian of the Cloud Ring in mind, back in Vongola Primo's days. Basil remained the official Head of CEDEF, which was basically in name only, until Sawada Tsunayoshi shut his incompetent father up and declared that, as Vongola Decimo, it was his decision who would be his External Advisor. Sawada Iemitsu tried to prevent it a few times, even resorting to trying to force a Harmonization on me-"
"What!?" Hissed out an enraged Reborn, because that is simply not done. The Vindice didn't even try to capture people who try to force a Harmony on another. They usually either kill them or leave them to be killed if the Harmonization is a failure. He couldn't believe Iemitsu would stoop so low. Only the lowest scum of the earth tried such a despicable thing.
'Alaudi Kumo' only smirked, despite there being a very clear anger in his eyes at the mere thought of that attempt. "He was foolish enough to forget that I've had three Skies, oftentimes even a fourth, courting me and Harmonizing with me for years now. Since no single Sky can actually provide for me all that I need, nor do I have an interest to bind myself to anyone, I wander from Sky to Sky as I see fit. Xanxus provides the most interesting missions and the most brutal training sessions/spars when I need them. Sawada Tsunayoshi allows me to wander as I please and still offers me a place to belong when I feel like returning, keeping me up to speed with anything that might be happening even though I do have my own information network. The times I bother with Byakuran, the fourth Sky, he has interesting information to share with me. And Bucking Horse always welcomes me home and showers me in gifts, sometimes a bit too enthusiastically. I am what one might call a true Cloud. There were some tensions in the beginning, honestly, when Sawada Tsunayoshi was supposed to finally inherit the Vongola, when Bucking Horse finally managed to form a deeper bond with me besides sparring partners, when Xanxus finally let go of his grudge against Sawada Tsunayoshi enough to swear loyalty to Vongola Decimo as long as he gets to play with a certain Cloud from time to time, when all three of them realized they were attempting to court the same Cloud for different reasons. In the end, the Harmonization that took place first was with Sawada Tsunayoshi, but I share a Harmony with all three of them, and to a lesser extent Byakuran because he mostly annoys me. So that Sawada Iemitsu tried to force a Harmonization on me was as laughable as it was pathetic and insulting. He may be a powerful Sky, but I am quite possibly one of the strongest Clouds in history and it took three very powerful Skies to form a true lasting Harmony with me."
"What an idiot."
The Cloud nodded. "After that attempt, Sawada Tsunayoshi all but exiled him from anything Vongola related. After all, if he is willing to go against the External Adviser ... "
"If he's willing to go against the second most powerful figure in the famiglia, what's to say that he won't go against the boss, right? I'm surprised you didn't deal with him yourself and finished it."
"I would have, but the little animal would have been sad and I don't need that weighing down the bond. Xanxus, when he gets surly because the Varia chefs didn't cook his meat right, is bad enough." 'Alaudi Kumo' sighed in exasperation and Reborn was tempted to drag the man out for a drink right this instant.
He's never actually heard of someone juggling three Skies before, but he figures if anyone would be stuck in such a weird situation, it would be this person. "So Tsuna was right. This is somewhat related to you. Do people know that Dino's one of your Skies? Is that actually the binding factor of the future Vongola?"
"Not at all. While it might bear some possibility that Bucking Horse is targeted because of me, it is very unlikely, as the fact that the Varia boss, the Vongola boss and the Cavallone boss might be courting a Cloud together was a drunken rumor no one ever believed, even with proof right in front of their eyes. The reason why Bucking Horse is being targeted doesn't matter. All three families will be dealt with, to the very last member. That's what I am for, Baby." Silver-blue eyes flashed very dangerously. Reborn had never actually felt like he was facing down a predator before, not like this. "The only times I get an approval for a mission of any sort from Sawada Tsunayoshi, it is when an entire famiglia needs to disappear. We've had quite a few such instances since Vongola Decimo took the reins. The streets of Italy were flooded with blood more than once. In any other instance, if I am out in the field, it is because I either got bored and wanted to alleviate said boredom or because I found an interesting mission that may or may not be involved in my own goals and projects. I am quite content, otherwise, to silently run CEDEF and my Foundation, to focus on my research of rings and Boxes and to occasionally spar with the Vongola Guardians, the Varia, Byakuran's Guardians, the Arcobaleno or Bucking Horse himself. I am the aloof Cloud, but I am also possessive and territorial. Someone targeted that which is mine. Nothing will be left of them, not even their name, and yet it will be a message, a lesson for the rest of the mafia world."
'Alaudi Kumo's' eyes stopped flashing and he leaned almost lazily back, against the wall, arms crossed over his chest like he was preparing for a nap. "As for the 'binding factor' of Vongola from my time, it is not something so simple. We've had quite a few trials on our hands that we needed to get through to survive. It made us stronger, more appreciative of each other, more accepting. And seeing as acceptance is what matters the most, we are just fine." With that, the man from the future closed his eyes and stopped paying attention to reborn, signaling the end of their conversation.
Reborn stayed where he was for a few moments longer before sighing and turning to leave, closing the door behind himself.
"You should just lie down and sleep comfortably, you grumpy Skylark."