Whoo! Okay. I think I've gotten back into Natsu's head here and have updated for you awesome reviewers! ^^ Please, please let me know if I made my character out of character so I can go back and try to somehow fix poor Natsu. And also review please and tell em how this chapter is. I think it's actually a bit dull until the ending there.

I woke up way late the next morning…or evening in my case. My whole body was unbelievably sore and I welcomed the shower I took. When I headed downstairs in some of Tsuna's clothes, on the hunt to find Nana so mine could get washed, I was surprised to find Tsuna and Reborn missing from the dinner table.

"Uh, Nana? Where's Tsuna and Reborn?"

She turned to me with a smile, taking the clothes from my arms.

"Oh! Good evening, Natsu. Reborn said that him and Tsuna were going to cheer for the boxing competition and that it was okay for you to sleep in. So I made you dinner."

I looked at the table full of food and my stomach growled loudly, but I really wanted to be there for Yamamoto.

"Actually, Nana, is it okay if I skip dinner tonight? I really should be there with them."

She did something surprising then, placing her hands on her hips and giving me a look.

"Now you listen here, Natsu. You are not leaving this house until you have some food in that stomach. And I'm sure if you hurry, you'll be able to catch up with them, okay?"

She winked at me and I flushed lightly in embarrassment at being scolded before sitting down in my chair and stacking my plate full of food. As I ate, I silently felt happy that I had someone like Nana to take care of me like part of her own family. Believe it or not, I did get lonely sometimes in that empty apartment of mine. Once I finished my fourth helping of food, I quickly got my laundry from the dryer and changed, only to stop when I glanced in the mirror. On my cheek, was a cut that I knew wasn't there before. I brushed it with my fingers and frowned at the unsettled feeling in my stomach. Shaking it off for now, I double checked my weapons and, with a satisfied nod, I hurried down the stairs and towards the door.

"Bye Nana!"

I turned to wave at her, but she handed me a rather large bag and I paused, taking it from her.

"Give this to the others. I'm sure they're hungry and you're welcome to help yourself too."

I nodded with a small smile. "Thank you, Nana."

I hurried out the door then and tucked the bag close to my chest as I hurried across rooftops to the school. As happy as I was for what Nana had done, that feeling in my gut still hadn't gone away and I was really worried about what that entailed. I just hope it's nothing that will happen during Yamamto's trial. The moment I reached the school gates, I shivered, the feeling of eyes watching me from far off giving me chills. I glanced around, but saw nothing so I mentally shrugged, assuming it was probably Mukuro again. Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I headed over to where I assumed the trail was being held at and once I opened the large metal door, my eyes widened at the sight of the damage teat had been done to the school this time. If Hibari was here, he would certainly kill us all. Upon finding Tsuna and the gang huddled around in a circle, I walked over and made my presence known.

"I feel like I've missed something." I said, as all eyes went to me.

"Natsu!" Tsuna shouted while Yamamoto just chuckled.

"You missed our cheer."

"Sorry." I said, reaching into the bag and pulling out an onigiri (rice ball) and handing it over to Yamamoto. "Here. Nana made them. You should have one before you go."

He smiled and took it, ruffling my hair. "Thanks, Natsu!"

I frowned and tried to fix my messed up hair. "Yeah. Welcome."

Something must've happened, because all eyes went to the Cervello and I turned to them as well so I could figure out what they were saying.

"So, rain guardians, please approach the middle of the field. Also, as this time they'll be in danger of being submerged, the watcher seats will be outside of the building. The match will be displayed on the big screen on the wall. Everyone but the two guardians please exit the room quickly."

I wasn't sure what to do, but everyone began filing out of the room one by one, giving Yamamoto words of encouragement, so I did the same.

"Yamamoto."

"Yeah, Natsu?"

"Be safe."

He seemed surprised, seeing how I didn't tell him to try his best or to win like the others had, but smiled all the same.

"Hehe, okay!"

I nodded, accepting his answer and slowly headed to the door as he walked away with his bamboo sword bouncing off his shoulders. Tsuna stood at the door, looking back at him and I messed up his hair to get his attention.

"You should've just told him to be careful, Tsuna."

He blinked at me a few times in apparent shock. "H-How did you know that's what I was thinking?"

I gave a small smile. "Because that's what I was thinking. But he'll be okay, Tsuna. Yamamoto's strong…He plays baseball after all."

Tsuna sweat dropped at that, but I secretly smiled to myself. I had, after all, gotten Tsuna to stop worrying so much. As the metal doors closed behind us, I looked up to the screen and suddenly frowned. Wait a minute. How is this going to work? I can't hear what the stupid monitor is saying. Well this sucks. I huffed and sat down Indian style on the grass outside, taking another onigiri out of the bag and chewing on it angrily as I watched the match begin. At least I can see what's happening.

I watched as Girly-Man charged forward and watched as Yamamoto dodged by ducking underneath the swing of his sword. Girly-Man was prepared for that though, and shot what appeared to be bullets out of the side of his sword. I could feel the tension from everyone around me as the bullets exploded, but I knew Yamamoto had gotten out of it. I couldn't make out what they were saying to each other, but I saw Yamamoto's shock when Girly-Man 'disappeared'.

"He's good at using his surroundings." I grumbled with my mouth full, just as Girly-Man popped out from behind a pillar and hit Yamamoto's sword.

What's more, Girly-Man fired even more bullets at Yamamoto and at such a close distance, I was nearly worried for him. I hadn't heard about his training, but it was obvious to me that he had had a great deal of it, just by the way he moved. But it was pretty surprising to find that he had blocked Girly-Man's bullets. I smirked a little to myself.

"He's been training hard, neh, Reborn?"

I glance up at Reborn who nodded. It seemed I possibly interrupted him though, for he continued.

"Well either way, I was the one who spotted his talent. Aren't I great?"

I was really confused now, but turned back to the screen to see even more bullets fired at Yamamoto. He countered it pretty well, but I was starting to get even more worried. I didn't know much about Girly-Man, but even I knew that it could be easy to learn how to counter moves if you'd seen them before. Let's hope Yamamoto has something more up his sleeve other than defenses. I could tell that the others were talking about something behind me, but I didn't want to miss anything important in the match and continued to watch as Yamamoto actually initiated an attack. It was an extremely good attack and might have done a lot of damage to Girly-Man, but I saw what Yamamoto had done and sighed to myself.

"He's too soft."

I saw Tsuna kneel down to be in my sight lines and I raised a brow at him.

"What do you mean, Natsu?"

I pointed at the screen just as Girly-Man came up unscathed. "Not only did Girly-Man back out of the was of the sword, but Yamamoto was using the back of his sword."

"Is that possible?!"

I waved my hand, a bit rude I'm sure, but the match was still going and Tsuna can get the information from Reborn. It's possible Girly-Man has already seen this sword style so he reacted to it accordingly, but if that's so, then Yamamoto is going to have a problem. Not only that, but if Girly-Man noticed that he used the back of his sword, then he's going to have an even bigger problem.

"Girly-Man's got a temper." I muttered, watching as he charged at Yamamoto and cut both their fields of vision. "Yamamoto's already lost the first round."

Just then, Girly-Man found Yamamoto and cut deeply into his shoulder. I grit my teeth and clenched my fists around the fabric of my pants, but I had already knew this was going to happen. To me, it was obvious and not being able to warn Yamamoto about it only had me angry at myself. Something kicked me in the back of my head, and I looked back to see Reborn glaring down at me from Dino's shoulder, causing me to shiver.

"Don't go blaming yourself, Natsu."

I frowned, ignoring Tsuna getting mad at Reborn, and nodded. He was right, after all. Blaming myself wasn't going to change anything, so I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. Yamamoto was okay, after all. He had gotten up and was charging at Girly-Man once more, so there was nothing I needed to worry about…for now.

Water was thrown about on the screen and I noticed Girly-Man taking a chunk out of the pillar and scowled once more. Now Yamamoto was blind in one eye and he had been hit hard. That…That was a paralyzing move. I've seen Fon use it before, but things are only getting worse for Yamamoto.

"Come on, think, Yamamoto." I muttered to myself, knowing that he couldn't hear me. "If he knows all your old moves, then you've got to come up with something new."

I watched as Yamamoto jumped up to the next level, but sighed when I saw Girly-Man attack him from below. You can't think you're safe for an instant in a battle. I thought. That only leads to you being caught unawares. Just then, I noticed a look of surprise cross Yamamoto's face and tilted my head to the side as he began to smile.

"Did he figure something out?" I questioned, when I finally caught what Girly-Man was saying, thanks to a close up.

"Brats! Make sure you have your eyes wide open, because you're about to witness the end of this sword-wielding brat!"

I slowly began to smile, realizing what was going on and stood up, brushing off any dirt on my pants. Tsuna gave me a look and I gave one in return.

"Hm?"

"W-Where are you going? The match isn't over yet, Natsu."

I just gave a smile and turned away with a wave. "Just meeting up with someone, Tsuna. Besides, Yamamoto can handle this match now."

I knew I had only confused Tsuna more, but I was more concerned about this feeling. Someone had been watching me for a while now and I was going to figure out if it actually was Mukuro or not. So I hurried up to the top of an adjacent building facing the school and called out for him.

"Oh Pineapple head!~ I know you can hear me! I got some questions for you!"

A thick mist began to cover the roof and I rolled my eyes at his theatrics only to shiver when his breath ran across my ear.

"Could you not do that? The last time someone came up from behind me, I threw him to the ground. And I'm sure you wouldn't appreciate that."

Mukuro came around in front of me with Ken and Chikusa, and smirked as he laughed.

"Fufufu. That wouldn't work on me, Natsu, but you know that already, don't you?"

"Yeah, well…I wanted to ask you something, Pineapple head."

His eye twitched at the name, but he kept his cool composure. "And why should I answer any questions of yours?"

I lifted up the bag Nana had given me. "I have food."

The tick mark on his head grew bigger, annoyance evident in his voice. "That may work on getting information out of you, but I am not easily bribed by food."

There was a low growl and we both turned to see Ken with a light flush on his face.

"S-Shut up! I haven't eaten! Who cares?!"

I smiled a little and tossed him the bag. "Take it."

"I don't need your help! I can get my on food!"

I blinked, returning to my blank expression and holding my hand out. "Then give it back."

"No! Uh…Finders keepers! Byon!"

I turned back to Mukuro with a slight smirk. "You were saying?"

He frowned. "The actions of these idiots does not mean I will answer your questions."

"Then what do you want? If it's information, I don't have much of anything to give you. I can't even give you a good fight, since Hibari practically killed me yesterday." I mumbled.

He laughed once more. "Fufufu. It was an interesting battle."

I frowned at him. "Says you. You've probably been watching me for the past week for all I know. Especially today. That's called stalking, Pineapple head."

His eye twitched once more. "I have not been watching you, nor stalking you, for that matter. I've only checked up on you during the battles. And I would appreciate it if you did not keep calling me that ridiculous name."

I slowly began to smirk. "Why thanks, Pineapple head. That's what I wanted to know."

I turned to walk away, but I knew I wouldn't get away from him that easily. Sure enough, he appeared directly in front of me with an angry look.

"You can be quite the pest, Natsu."

"Oh? How's that?"

He slowly began to smirk. "You got your answers out of me. And in a cunning way, I might add."

I raised a brow, not used to hearing compliments from someone like Mukuro.

"Thanks, but why do I feel like there's something more you're trying to tell me?"

"Fufufu, that's because there is. You've gotten your answers, but I still have yet to receive anything in return."

I sighed, knowing that he wouldn't just let me go now. "What do you want?"

He smirked. "Something only you could give me."

Now, I was confused. Something only I can give him? What do I have that no one else does? He noticed my confusion and brushed a cold finger along the cut on my cheek, making me wince.

"Your flames are of a very mysterious property and I would like to have a sample of them."

I frowned. "Some of my flames for a simple answer that I had to drag out of you? That's not exactly fair."

He smirked, probably having expected this. "Fufufu. That's why, in return for your flames, I will tell you about who has been watching over you and how he's connected to that cut on your cheek."

I scrunched up my brows. How could he know about this person? Does he know them personally? And what would this person have to do with the cut on my cheek? I was at Tsuna's house the whole night, so there's no way him or Reborn wouldn't have known about it. Coming to a decision, I nodded.

"Okay. I'll let you have a little bit of my flame."

He chuckled once more and held out a small container he fashioned out of his mist flames. "Fufufu, just put your hand in here with the flame and I will tell you what you want to hear."

I ignited my hands with a black and gold colored flame and placed it in the box, allowing Mukuro's mist flames to pull my flame off my hand. It was a tiring process and I was breathing a bit heavier than I expected, having felt his mist flames pulling even more flame from me. He was the one to pull the box away from me and I sighed, just glad it was over. There was just something about my flames being taken that made me feel as though I was losing a part of myself. Shaking my head to clear up some of the fogginess, I glanced up at Mukuro as he tucked the box away.

"Now tell me about this person, Pineapple head."

He rolled his eyes at the nickname, but began explaining. "He has been following you for the past few days. Before that, I did not sense him."

"So you have been stalking me."

He frowned and ignored my attempt at a joke. "Late last night, while the Vongola brat was downstairs with his companions, my mist detected him coming in through the window of the room you were in. He was the one who cut you and was most likely going to kill you should the baby have not felt something off. By the time him and the brat came in to check on you, the man was already gone."

I frowned. Why didn't Reborn and Tsuna tell me? It would be nice to know that there was someone coming after me, but how did I not notice this guy for so long? Surely, if he's been following me for the past few days, I should've noticed him. Looking at Mukuro once more, I questioned him further.

"Do you know who he is?"

"Fufu, still trying to get answers from me, Natsu?"

"It would be nice to know who was trying to kill me and why no one told me about it until now."

Mukuro started to walk off, but turned around to tell me one last thing. "I do not know who he is, but I look forward to seeing when the two of you should meet. Fufu, it should be quite the battle."

With that, he disappeared into the mist with Ken and Chikusa-who hadn't said a word this whole time, I'm sure-leaving me with more questions rather than answers. So some persona out to kill me has been following me around the past few days without my knowledge, yet Reborn and Tsuna have decided to keep this hidden from me. I scowled, looking up at the night sky after having returned to the school gates, rubbing my aching stomach. Things aren't looking good.