here's the next chapter guys ^^ there's a lot of talk skipped in this, so sorry about that, but i wanted ot get to some more important stuff with natsu, so let me know what you think and please review!

Two days. I've been on strict house arrest for two days. Technically, everyone has. After Byakuran popped up and told us about some game called Choice that we were now going to play, everyone's gotten tense and stayed in the base. Ten years younger Ryohei showed up and somehow saved us from being killed too, but I was getting antsy. I hadn't been allowed out of my room for training or anything since everyone got their box weapons and we'd gotten back to the base. What really sucked though, was that Reborn confiscated mine. Not my foxes, mind you, but the one I'd received from the time machine. No one expected it, seeing as I wasn't a guardian, but I really wanted to know what was inside and had run out of things to do as I waited to be let out. Already, my room was messy and full of papers scattered all over the place. The only outside contact I had was with Irie and Spanner, and that was via a webcam so I could help them with the tech stuff.

Tsuna and the others had gone out earlier today to go look at Haru and Kyoko's homes and had invited me to go too, but I'd declined and instead played a smaller version of this Choice game with Irie. He beat me, obviously, but I had a better idea of the game and silently wondered how Byakuran was going to put it into real life. Needless to say, dinner couldn't come soon enough and I was soon stuffing my face full of food.

"Accompany me just for a little while after dinner." Reborn told us and I wrinkled my nose in distaste before Tsuna remarked a bit about the empty chair where Chrome usually sits, but I noticed I-pin was missing too and smiled a little, knowing that she had gone to help Chrome.

I would've gone, but I got the feeling that I-pin knew how to handle things like this better. Once everyone finished dinner though, we were all led by Reborn to where Giannini was hiding out and I yawned, closing my eyes and missing some of what they said as Giannini went back into the room and I started to pay attention again.

"What is this all about, Reborn?!" Tsuna demanded, looking upset.

I missed what Reborn said before there was a deep rumbling and Tsuna shoved his hands over his ears as I blinked in confusion. I tried to ask what was happening, seeing as I was missing out on something, but I didn't have to wait long before Giannini brought out a motorcycle and making a grin stretch across my face.

"A motorcycle!" I shouted, rushing over and checking it out excitedly. "Oh, please tell me I get one."

I looked up at Giannini who was grinning back smugly. "Of course, Natsu. This motorbike is a model that I admire for it's racing skills. Using new technology, I've modified it. As for fuel, after activating the dying will flame, it's wheel power will increase. I also used the invisibility power from Mammon's chain to hide the dying will from radar."

I stood up quickly and held my hand out, face completely blank. "Keys. Gimme."

Tsuna grabbed my arm and I turned to him in confusion. "N-Natsu! You can't drive this!"

"Why not? I've got a license."

"W-What?!"

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my ten-year-future self's wallet, showing off the ID as Tsuna stared with his mouth gapping open. Turning away from him, I wiggled my fingers a bit at Giannini.

"Keys."

"Always so eager." He chuckled, before handing me a set and pointing to the room behind him. "You're is in there. Fourth one on the right."

I gave him a thumbs up, putting my wallet away and handing him a bag of chips from my pocket, before running off into the room and finding my black and gold trimmed motorcycle waiting for me. Oh, it's been a long time since I rode one of these. I mused, hopping on the bike and driving it into the training room just as Tsuna got his bike to stand up and throw him off. I drove up beside him and leaned against the gas tank of the bike tilting my head curiously at him on the floor.

"Neh, you did it wrong."

"Natsu!" He whined, making me chuckle as he got up and I smiled at him.

"You want me to teach you?"

His eyes lit up and he clasped his hands before him in a begging pose. "Please! C-Can you?!"

I shrugged. "If you want."

He nodded his head rapidly and once I showed him what did what on his bike, he sort of got the hang of it. Once I was sure he wouldn't fall over, I went and did my own little test spin on my motorcycle before Bianchi came in.

"Come on. The welcome back party is about to start."

The party was okay. I mostly sat back and watched everyone getting excited about Ryohei and Basil-who'd joined us earlier apparently-and once it was over, I took a walk around the base, Reborn saying that I could leave my room now, but my box was to stay with him. I didn't know why. I suppose he knew what was in it or something and figured I'd do something stupid with it, but that didn't make much sense to me either. Suddenly, there was a huge rumble and I saw smoke coming from up ahead. Tsuna?! I ran towards it, finding Tsuna inside holding something back, dying will flames flying everywhere and a large hole where his door used to be.

"Tsuna!"

The others joined me, but my eyes spotted an open box on the floor and my eyes widened.

"It's his box! His box weapon! Tsuna, what did you do?!"

"Get back! It's dangerous!" He shouted, just as the box animal twisted and got out of his grip.

He fought the beast as it attacked them, but the animal was too strong. I spotted Gokudera makign to open his box weapon, but I stopped him.

"You can't. You're flames could hurt it."

"What else do you expect me to do?! I can't stand watching the Tenth get hurt anymore! You should be doing something too!"

Basil stepped forward though, before I could answer. "I'll calm it down. Everyone, please stand back."

Basil rushed in and opened his box, a dolphin coming out and attacking Tsuna's box weapon, making it cry out.

"That monster's in pain." Gokudera said, surprised, but I got the feeling that Tsuna's box weapon wasn't going to be effected much by the dolphin and I clicked my tongue in annoyance before running past everyone and slamming a fireball into the box animal's chin.

It gave a yelp of pain and turned towards me as I stared it down and Tsuna slid down the wall. Slowly, I reached down and picked up the empty box on the floor, unable to hear Gokudera's outrage as he and the others shouted at me, questioning my sanity, no doubt.

"Oi. I'll bet you're pissed, right?" I questioned the animal as it charged at me and I managed to grab it's jaws with my flame covered hands. "Ngh, very pissed, I see."

I struggled to hold it in place, the empty box tumbling to the floor as I planted my feet firmly and looked right at the animal.

"You're not a monster. You just became one because he was scared, right?"

The pressure let up a bit and I knew I was getting somewhere, though I had to hurry because the intense sky flames were slowly eating through the flames on my hands.

"I'll help him. I'll make sure he doesn't do this again."

The pressure let up some more and I pet the animal and slowly reached towards the empty box, the animal starting to snarl at me when it saw me.

"Hey now. I'm not going to force you to go back. I wouldn't like being stuck in this tiny thing either."

It's eyes shifted to mine and I stared back evenly, not afraid of it like the others, but understanding. It was a lot like Tsuna, really. It saw through the heart and when it saw fear, it became afraid too.

"You're just afraid." I told it quietly, brushing the sky flames on it's head as the large flames behind it diminished slowly and it pressed it's head further into my hand. "So trust me."

It was smaller now, almost taking shape into something, before it looked up at me and bobbed it's head once, slipping back into the box. I let out a relieved sigh, smiling fondly down at the box in my hand as it grew warm to the touch, and I turned to Tsuna as the others rushed towards him to check on him.

"I was just trying to put my flame in the normal way, but…suddenly that thing just came out."

I went over and quickly punched him on the head, making him yelp and look up at me with teary eyes.

"Natsu! What was that for?!"

I held up his box in my hand with a stern look on my face. "These are not just weapons, they're your companions and you should treat them as such."

"B-But that thing just attacked me!"

"Then you should think about who's fault that is and fix it, because it's not his fault."
I tossed the box to him and he caught it shakily as I turned away and walked out of the room, slightly miffed. Box weapons are an extension of ourselves and our flames. If you feed it fear it will only be afraid and will act out accordingly. I had just made it to the empty hole where the door used to be, only to nearly run into the large white head of a horse.

"Um, hello."

The horse snorted and pressed it's large head into my chest as I scratched it behind the ears and backed up along with it as Dino rode it into the room.

"Natsu is right. That was Tsuna's fault just now. That wasn't the true form of your box weapon." He told Tsuna as I sighed. "If you open your box like that again, you might ruin it for good."

I rolled my eyes before moving past the horse and out of the room. I was tired and frustrated and I really just wanted to train and find out what was in my box weapon. Do something other than sit in my room and read or play games. Even just a good old run through the base would help, but I knew the moment I started any sort of training, Reborn would scold me and shut me back up in my room. So, I just returned to my room and slept.

The next morning, we all ate breakfast together before all of us went to find out what sort of training we'd be doing now that Dino was here.

"Alright, let's get started. From today on, you'll be undergoing serious training to learn how to use you new box weapons." He started off. "As Reborn's number one pupil, I'll be in charge of pairing up everyone with their tutor for training sessions. Is everyone with me?"

I yawned, not really much of a morning person and proceeded to pull out a handful of suckers, proceeding to pass them out to those who wanted them as I ignored whatever was going on with Reborn and his fairy outfit. Something was thrown at me then and I quickly brought up a couple of fingers to catch the kunai centimeters from my face, frowning over at Reborn.

"Pay attention, Natsu."

"Hn." I grunted, tossing the weapon back and looking over at Dino as he spoke to Chrome.

"You have to make up your mind. You're a Vongola guardian as well as a member of Mukuro's group. Can we count on you as one of our allies in the fight against the Millefiore?"

I glanced at her to see her response and felt my mouth twitch up in a smile as she stood a little straighter.

"I… I want to become a stronger person. Then, I want to return to the past to be with the people most important to me."

I was glad that she was coming out of her shell and gave a small nod as I turned to Dino again.

"Alright. We're counting on you. Also, Lambo needs to have some serious training as well. If we want to defeat Byakuran, we need the power of all the guardians."

I gave Lambo a glance, seeing him rolling around on the floor playing with an imaginary rocket and silently hoped that he'd be okay.

"I asked Tsuna of this era to tell me what he knew about the Vongola boxes, although he did keep sending me back to the future Natsu."

I nodded briefly, knowing that the future me had some extensive research on all boxes-not just the Vongola ones-piled up in files on her computer.

"After that I thought about different ways to train each one of you for the best results. I already started my training with Hibari earlier."

Tsuna shouted something beside me, but I kept my gaze trained on Dino.

"He's still a difficult person to deal with, just like usual. So, Sawada Tsunayoshi! Ready for the details of your training?… You'll train alone until you can open your box the right way."

A good decision, I think. No one but himself can help with figuring out how to open it.

"You have to make sure you and your box weapon are in harmony unless you want more trouble like last time. The user has to always make sure to keep their box at their side, no matter what." He smirked. "Just now, that was your hint, though what Natsu told you yesterday is a good hint as well." He then turned to the next person. "Next is Gokudera Hayato. Your job is to look after the two people who don't know how to use their boxes yet: Lambo and Sasagawa Ryohei."

I let out a short scoff from my nose, knowing that he was probably going to have the roughest time, and I leaned over to peer at him from beside Tsuna.

"I can lend you some suckers for Lambo, if you want."

"I don't need your help, Freaky-head!" He shouted back and I shrugged.

His loss. Of course, with a few words from Tsuna, he was bright and cheerful again, only for it to get replaced with anger by Ryohei and Lambo's unexcited enthusiasm.

"Next is Chrome Dokuro." Dino continued. "To strengthen your box weapon in half the time as usual, we'll use the program that the Arcobaleno Mammon left behind for strengthening illusions. with the remaining time, we'll work on raising the strength of your hand-to-hand combat abilities. Those two over there will help you out."

Dino tossed a thumb over his shoulder where Bianchi and I-pin were waving.

"And then there's Yamamoto Takeshi… I'll pass on you. Standby for now."

I blinked in confusion, but assumed he had a good reason, and sure enough, he did.

"If I taught you anything useless, that guy would probably kill me… Your abilities of understanding the situation around you are second to none. This time when you get your training, Yamamoto Takeshi, you'll become something really special."

So Yamamoto has his own tutor who's on his way then. I wonder if it's Girly-Man. I nearly smiled thinking about the angry, white-haired sword-wielder, but Dino turned to me and I stopped.

"And then there's you, Natsu Tachibana. You're not a guardian."

I felt my hand twitch, but controlled my emotions despite the anger and hurt feeling welling up in me.

"No. I'm not."

Dino smiled a bit. "I actually wasn't sure what part you'd play in all of this, but Reborn assured me that you'd need training too, so he's in charge of you."

I stiffened, sending a wary eye towards where the baby was, only to find him missing. He then proceeded to land on my shoulder and I jumped slightly at his sudden appearance, feeling more than a little tense to have the best hitman in the world teaching me.

"That's all for the guardian's training explanations! You can choose wherever you want for your training places. Basil is here to give support to all of you, as well as work on his own training."

Reborn tugged on a strand of my hair roughly and I frowned over at him as he pointed at the door and spoke.

"Go to training room three. Run."

I sighed, but nodded, taking off and silently feeling glad that I was able to train again. Once at the room, I was a little out of breath, but nothing too bad-the room being all the way on the other side of the base-and Reborn jumped from off my shoulder and landed in front of me, holding out the familiar red and black box from the time machine.

"Do you know why I took this?"

"I assumed you didn't want me opening it so soon." I replied, suddenly wondering how Tsuna was doing with his box weapon.

"You're right." He said, eyeing me seriously. "I didn't want you opening it, because I wanted to talk to you first."

"About what?" I asked, very confused.

"Do 500 sit-ups." He demanded, tucking the box away. "I'll talk as you train."

I nodded begrudgingly and started doing the exercises he wanted me to, as he sat himself up on my knees so I could see him.

"You're smart. A deep thinker and I am glad you are around Tsuna because I believe you are a good influence on him as he gets closer to becoming a future boss, but there are things I see in you that need to be discussed." He told me and I listened silently, eyes serious as he frowned at me from under his fedora, darkly. "You are not a guardian."

I gave him a look, a little lost. "I know."

"However…" He continued. "You are worth much more than that to Tsuna and that is something I believe you don't understand."

"How could I be worth more than a guardian?" I questioned.

"Cunning, strength, caring, courage, and understanding." He listed off. "These are traits that every guardian must have and while they are moving slowly along that path, you are already there. Not only that, but you are a close friend to Tsuna and by not being a guardian, you are able to provide him with more of the things he needs to become a better boss."

I thought that over for a moment, understanding what he was saying but still feeling a little unsure about it all.

"There is one other thing I wanted to speak with you about, however." He said, drawing my full attention back to him as I finished up my sit-ups and he pointed a finger at my hand. "Create a flame."

I hesitated, but did as he asked, covering my hand in the orange-grey flame that was familiar to me now.

"Now kept it that way…" He said and then went on. "…and tell me about the man you fought in the forest a while back without telling us."

I frowned, my brows stitching together in anger towards the man who's attacked me back then; not seeing the change in my flames as I spoke.

"He called himself Lance and claimed to have been hired by the man who killed my mother and father." I growled out, steadily getting angrier. "He'd been following me lately and I confronted him and got rid of him, as you saw. I'm not going to let them get away with it, Reborn. They killed my parents."

He frowned at me, but I couldn't understand why. I was telling him what happened, who attacked me and what they were after. What I was after. He stayed silent though and pointed to my hand. I looked at it, only to pulled back in slight fear. My orange-grey flames were now pitch black and flickering violently as though my hand itself was on fire. I'd never seen them react that way and a worry gnawed at my stomach at seeing them this way now. I put them out quickly, looking at my hand in shock and back at Reborn.

"I-I don't-"

"They reacted that way because of what you were talking about." He explained. "I've questioned the color of your flames before. Orange is the color of sky flames, but the grey was something unnatural. And for it to combine with it and cause explosive properties, I was right to look into it. You can't use those flames, Natsu."

"But how can I not? You said yourself just now, they're mixed!"

"You can use your normal flames, but the black flames are forbidden." He said, hopping down from off my legs and staring at me firmly. "Any flame born of hatred and vengeance cannot be good. So don't use them. Not with your ring, your weapons, or your boxes. Do you understand?"

I frowned, but nodded, knowing that he was right about the flames. They gave me a bad feeling when I used them, but at the same time, they seemed to burn a desire within me to know more about them. I would listen to him for now though. Because now wasn't the time to mess around with a flame that had unknown properties. Now was the time to train. To train, and to help Tsuna.