Chapter 2: Storm Front

Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

A/N: Just ahead of time, so you readers don't get confused, Giotto and Tsuna will be talking regularly when alone. But, when in company, they will be communicating through thoughts. And one more thing, even if Giotto and Tsuna are talking to each other regularly, only Tsuna can hear him.

"Tsuna and Giotto talking normally"

"Tsuna and Giotto talking through their thoughts"

Giotto tried to compose himself. Alas, his nerves wouldn't let him. This was bound to have happened at some point. But, he just wasn't ready for it. The blond let out a heavy sigh.

"Right. Let's start from the beginning. My name is Giotto Taru—wait, my mistake—Taru Giotto because we're in Japan, otherwise known as Sawada Ieyatsu."

Tsuna nodded his head, motioning for him to continue.

"As you already know, I'm am your ancestor who lived 400 years ago. Why I am here? I'm not quite sure about that yet because I'm supposed to be inside the Vongola rings. But, let's not worry about that for now." Giotto glanced up to see if anyone was listening in on their conversation. When he found no one, he continued.

"I created a vigilant group. Its sole purpose was to protect the weak. But, over the years, when I stepped out of power, it was turned into what my vigilant group was formed to go against. It became a mafia family." Giotto expected a reaction from Tsuna but he was surprised when the brunet looked at him with something akin to sadness.

"My vigilant group's name was Vongola, Italian for 'Clam'. Soon, its name became feared across the globe. Not as the group that I created, but the as group that it had become. After I left as boss, my cousin Ricardo took over. He was the one who turned it into the bloodthirsty family that it is now. Anyways, I left and took up residence in Japan with the rest of my Guardians." For a second, a melancholy look passed across Giotto's face but was soon replaced with a stoic expression.

"For the rest of my life, I lived in Japan. I married and had children. Today, you are one of the three of my direct descendants."

"And I'm guessing that Taiki and Tou-san are the other two?"

"Isn't it kind of obvious?" Giotto teased lightly, flicking his grandson on his forehead.

"Ite Giotto-san, don't do that!" Tsuna held his forehead in mock pain.

"Aww come on, can't I have some fun?" Giotto pouted, crossing his arms.

"Anyways," Tsuna switched back to the original topic, "I have one question."

"I'm listening."

"If I'm the oldest, don't I have the right to claim the title as the Vongola's boss?"

Before Giotto could respond, the door to Tsuna's room burst open.

"Who are you talking to?" Came the immediate question. Reborn was standing on the floor, his black eyes staring at him with slight curiosity. Other than that, his face was completely devoid of any emotion.

"Whatever are you talking about?" Tsuna played innocent, putting on a mask of cluelessness as best he could.

"You know what I mean, now, who are you talking to." The way the baby hitman said it; it was more of a demand than a question.

"I'm sorry but if you have nothing better to say, could you leave my room?" Tsuna forced the words out of his mouth, not wanting to speak anymore than he had to. In his thoughts, he told Giotto.

'You're at fault for this, if I can't get out of this situation, you're doomed.'

'Oh, whatever are you talking about?' Giotto mimicked, teasingly, completely brushing off the threat.

"Hey! I'm talking to you."

"Stop, Reborn, Tsuna does that sometimes, leave him alone." Taiki entered behind Reborn, his eyes glaring down at his new 'tutor'. He went around the hitman and came to a stop at Tsuna's bed where he sat down next to his brother.

"Tsuna," He whined, "Please save me, I just saved you so you owe me!"

Tsuna stared at his brother for a second.

'Just ignore him and see how it goes, I bet he'll be fine.' Giotto smirked, staring down at his second descendent.

'Why would I ever do that?' Tsuna inwardly cried disbelievingly. 'He's my Otouto!'

'And he's also my grandson.' Giotto countered, 'so what?'

Tsuna sighed, sometimes; Giotto could act childish, uncharacteristic considering his age.

"Taiki, you're too old to ask me for something like this. Take care of the problem yourself."

"But I saved you from Reborn, you owe me!"

"Fine, I'll treat you to ice cream."

"Oh! That's fine, can we go tomorrow?" Taiki brightened considerably, his eyes sparkling.

"If you want." Tsuna smiled back, ignoring the laughs that echoed through his head via Giotto.

"Yatta! I'll be going then, oyasumi!"

Reborn noted the silence that stretched on between the brothers' exchanges. The Tsunayoshi kid would take a while to respond, almost like he was thinking about something before answering. 'How strange.' Reborn thought. 'I'll have to remember this; there's something different about him. And I'm not sure if I like it or not.'

Reluctantly, Reborn followed his new student out the door. He would retire for the night. But that didn't mean he would give up. After all, he swore he heard the crafty brunet say 'Vongola.'

'That was a close one.' Tsuna spoke through his mind. After all, with the sneaky hitman now living in his house, it would be dangerous to talk out loud.

'No kidding.' Giotto breathed out then lay back on the bed with a thump. 'He almost sat on me! Do you know how uncomfortable that is? Not for you of course, you actually sit on me.'

'I'm not a ghost, Giotto-san, so I don't know.' Tsuna replied dryly.

'Yeah yeah, you will be someday.' Giotto joked, staring at the brunet through the side of his eyes.

'Hey! What's that supposed to mean?' Tsuna shouted indignantly, glaring as best as he could.

'Oh my, look at the time, it's time to go to bed little Tsunayoshi!'

'Oi! You're avoiding my question here!'

'Lights off~'

'Wait! I haven't washed up yet!'

'Buonanotte!'

The next day, everything started off strangely.

Tsuna was peacefully eating his breakfast omelet in the kitchen when thumps were heard from Taiki's room. Not a second later, he was running down the stairs in his boxers, shouting something along the lines of "REEEBOOORRN, I WILL DIE!" Or something like that. Whatever it was, Tsuna didn't think he wanted to find out anymore.

As he watched his brother race out the door, Reborn suddenly popped up beside his in a high chair. "Ciaossu."

Tsuna jumped slightly, surprised at the baby's sudden appearance.

"So, what were you talking about last night?"

Tsuna mentally facepalmed. 'So blunt, at least disguise your intentions!' Would this baby ever give up?

"I-I have t-to go t-to s-school now." Tsuna abruptly stood up, placing his plate into the sink and heading out the door in a rush. Yes, he knew it looked suspicious but it was the most he could do for now. Letting Reborn know that he knew about the Vongola and the mafia (at least a little) might not be such a great idea.

'Smooth.' Giotto smirked, appearing beside his descendent on the way to school.'

'Yeah, like you were any help.' Tsuna scowled.

'I'm sorry, I was having my beauty sleep!' Giotto feigned hurt, turning away to dramatize the situation.

'Ghosts can't even sleep!' Tsuna yelled incredulously, his mind almost splitting at the force of the comment.

'Oh yes they can, but it's more like a state of—'

'We're at school now, I'll see you during lunch.' Tsuna interrupted, and sped off through the school gates, making a beeline for the school entrance. His goal: to avoid bullies.

'You could have at least said goodbye!' Giotto shouted after him, cupping his hands around his mouth. Then, he turned around and dodged the kids who were headed to collide with him, although, they'd just go through and not feel anything. It was Giotto who felt uncomfortable about it.

'My little Tsunayoshi is growing up!' The blond faded away, letting fake sobs wrack his body, hoping that his grandson would see. Of course Tsuna had already disappeared.

Tsuna sat at his desk and stared across the classroom to catch sight of his brother. Taiki was wearing a very embarrassed face and it seemed like his uniform had been crudely sewn back up.

'Something to do with what Reborn did to him.' Tsuna pondered, placing his supplies onto his desk. 'That tutor doesn't give me the right vibes, Taiki should be careful.'

With those thoughts, the day went on as normal except that Taiki had been challenged to a kendo match by a senpai name Mochida. For some reason, Tsuna had missed it but in the morning before school started, Taiki had declared his love to his long time crush, Kyoko while she was with her self-declared boyfriend, which happened to be Mochida. The prize of the match was Kyoko as Mochida had so haughtily declared.

In the end, Taiki had won by stripping everything except for his boxers and then had an orange flame burst out of his forehead. And, for some reason, that flame made something in Tsuna's mind click but he wasn't sure what it was.

He watched the match of course. But only from the sidelines, after all, Mochida was one of his bullies who would often lead the pack. After the fight, he went to class ahead of the rush. For a few minutes, he had time to himself, which he took gratefully. He used the time to gaze out of the window and stare outside. That was soon ended when one more person slid into the room.

Tsuna let his gaze drop from the window and glance cautiously at the newcomer. For a second, his eyes widened by a miniscule but almost as soon as they did, they had gone to their normal size.

They boy was Yamamoto Takeshi, the famous baseball star.

Tsuna shifted his eyes back out the window and completely ignored Yamamoto. He wouldn't talk; no one would want to talk to Dame-Tsuna. But, as he sat, he could feel eyes boring holes through his back. Mostly out of curiosity, Tsuna directed his attention over to where Yamamoto was without giving away a hint to what he was doing. Although the baseball star's seat was behind Tsuna's he could at least focus on the spot.

No one made a move, and no one made a sound. Yamamoto's eyes remained fixed on Tsuna's back and Tsuna didn't do anything about it until the classroom door slid open and more students filed in.

Yamamoto's attention switched over to the incoming students, now ignoring the brunet. Immediately, the kids crowed around Yamamoto's desk to ask why he had left. After a few seconds of laughing and apologies, the conversation moved to baseball.

Tsuna kept an ear trained on the talk mostly out of inquisitiveness. With a start, he heard Yamamoto say that his swings were off and his pitches weren't at his normal level. Yamamoto didn't show it but Tsuna could practically feel the sadness radiating off of his form. His "friends" didn't notice and just chatted away, telling the baseball star to just quit if his skills were dropping.

After a while, the crowd slowly disappeared and Yamamoto was left alone to bathe in his own misery. Tsuna could feel pity growing up inside of him. Yamamoto had never looked down on him but he never attempted to speak to him either. Erasing the thoughts, he pushed to feelings down. Class was starting. And Giotto wasn't going to be happy if he failed another test.

The next day rolled in without many events. That is, if you overlooked the new transfer student who declared Taiki to a death match over the seat of the Vongola Juudaime.

When class began, the teacher called for "Gokudera-san" to come in. When the doors were pushed open, a silver-haired, emerald-eyed, delinquent came strolling in. His hands were shoved in his pockets and his eyes were glaring at everyone in the room. Finally, his eyes settled on Tsuna but then shifted to Taiki as if he couldn't tell who was who.

"Would you like to introduce yourself?" The teacher asked cautiously.

"Tch. Gokudera Hayato."

"Anything else?"

"No."

"Alright then, you may go sit over there next to Akira-san. Akira-san, please raise your hand?"

The student raised his hand and Gokudera ambled over to the seat next to him. But, before reaching his destination, he stopped at Tsuna's desk—which was closer to the front than Taiki's and kicked his desk.

"Which one are you?" Came the question in a fierce growl.

"T-Tsuna." The brunet squeaked, ducking his head to avoid eye contact.

"Tch." The transfer student continued on until he made it to Taiki's desk. "Meet me behind the school after school ends. We have something to settle." With that, he stalked off and plopped himself down in his seat, now deaf to the world.

Curious, Tsuna snuck a look at his brother only to catch a glimpse of a shocked face. That's when he decided; he would follow Taiki just to make sure he didn't die. After all, that Gokudera kid seemed dangerous at first glance.

"You're pathetic, if someone like you is a candidate for the Vongola boss, then the famed Vongola is going to meet its end."

Tsuna arrived just in time to hear Gokudera's scathing words about his brother and Giotto's precious family.

"Wh-what are you talking about? Of course I can become boss, I bet I can fight just as well as you can!"

Tsuna felt his heart sink, Taiki just fell for the bait.

Gokudera let a scowl mar his face. "Oh really? Then show me, I Gokudera Hayato, the one who is destined to become Vongola Tenth!"

His green eyes flashed as he pulled out two sticks of dynamite from under his jacket. The sticks were already lit so he threw them at Taiki without hesitation.

They landed right beside Tsuna's twin, fizzing. "Eep!" Taiki jumped and scrambled away, trying to get as far away from the bombs as he could.

Tsuna caught sight of Reborn who was lounging around in a tree. Not a sign of worry could be seen, his face didn't betray any emotion of any sort. But, that all changed when Reborn slowly turned his head to stare at Tsuna dead in the eyes.

Tsuna let out an involuntary shiver.

Gokudera looked up from his position down below.

"Ciaossu, Gokudera Hayato, you arrived earlier than expected."

"Re-Reborn-san!" Gokudera stopped in his tracks and bowed respectfully.

"Hmm, this is the first time we've met right?" Reborn asked, ignoring the mad screams of his student.

"Hai! You're not kidding about me becoming a candidate for successor if I kill this Sawada brat right?"

"What?" Taiki cried, fuming. "What is he talking about Reborn?"

"Yep, that's right, now continue please so I can watch the show." Reborn smirked. He gently picked Leon from his hat and let him shape shift into his favorite gun. He held up the newly transformed Leon and with aim only belonging to the greatest hitman alive, he shot Taiki right in the forehead with a red bullet.

"Now, Baka-Taiki, fight with your Dying Will."

Tsuna watched as his twin fell to the ground with a thump. He lay there for a few seconds before launching himself back up. The only difference was that he seemingly…erupted… from his clothes, shredding them to bits.

"REEEBOOOORN! I WILL DEFEAT GOKUDERA HAYATO WITH MY DYING WILL!" Taiki hollered, standing up with an orange flame billowing atop his forehead. He charged, fists raised.

Tsuna had to cover his mouth to stifle his laughter. So that's why he was running around in his boxers this morning, it was Reborn's doing.

"D*mn it!" Gokudera cursed and pulled out more dynamite. Lit, he threw them at the incoming target with dead-on precision. They scattered around him to halt his movements, effectively stopping him until he thought of something to counter.

"Defuse!" Taiki cried, pinching the fuse with his fingers without a sign of pain. He did the same to the others, ending their short lives with one small pinch.

"Wh-what?" Gokudera shouted disbelievingly, but he rapidly covered that up with another scowl. "Double Bombs!"

This time, Gokudera threw twice as much dynamite at Taiki. Tsuna held in his breath, wondering if he should step in. But, an intense glare that he felt on his back froze him in place.

But, just like last time, Taiki pinched the lit fuses out of existence and continued onward.

A vein pulsed in the bomber's forehead. "Th-that's it! Triple Bomb!"

Triple the amount of bombs came flying at Taiki this time. But, the load seemed too much for the bomber as one slipped out of his grasp, falling to the ground with a thud that seemed to echo for what felt like hours.

"Sh-sh*t!" Gokudera, in his haste to do something about the fallen dynamite, dropped all the rest, each sparking and ready to blow. 'I'm doomed!'

Just as Taiki declared, he would defeat Gokudera Hayato. And, in Dying Will mode, that was the only goal floating in his mind. The rest of his thoughts had magically wandered away until it was time to use them once again. And so, he didn't register the danger the bomber was in. Not even the danger he was in as he neared the dynamite.

Casting a glance to Reborn, Tsuna noted the unhappy look the hitman sported. A deep frown was rooted in place and he was slowly fingering Leon. All in all, it didn't look like he was ready or willing to interfere.

He hoped that Giotto would forgive him. With that, Tsuna dove into the fray, ready to get blasted to pieces at the expense of saving his brother and possibly the one who had started the whole mess.

'That's it, if I get hurt, Taiki owes me an ice cream.'

Ite: Japanses for ow, or ouch

Ototou: Japanese for little brother or younger brother

Yatta: Japanese for yay

Oyasumi: short for good night (formally it would be oyasuminasai if I'm not mistaken)

Buonanotte: good night in Italian

Now, I have I question for all you readers out there. Is Giotto's last name Taru? I've seen in the manga say it was Taru but I'm not really sure. And one more question, was Vongola really created 400 years ago? Because for me, 150-200 years makes more sense. Now, I changed things up a bit with Gokudera's fight, there are minor changes but they are necessary, so I hope you don't mind.

Special thanks to all those people who took the time to review, favorite, and/or follow. Readers, reviewers, thank you.