Here's the next chapter! I would've posted this sooner, but i was trying to get some other fanfic stuff out of the way. Hopefully you all like this! Please review and let me know. Oh, and the ending might be a bit OOC, but i don't know Primo's character that well, so sorry... heh... ^^ but it's finally the moment you've all been waiting for and you'll understand what i mean when you get near the end. fair warning though, i skipped a bunch of needless dialogue, so i hope the fluffiness makes up for it.

Byakuran scowled, immediately calling out his white dragon and sending it at the approaching Natsu, only for Shi to jump up and grab it in her jaws as Natsu lit up one of her hands with black flames. Clicking his tongue, Byakuran started preparing a straight up frontal assault, but suddenly Natsu flickered and disappeared. He only had a millisecond to dodge as she suddenly reappeared at his side with a ball of condensed black flames in her hand aimed at his face. And he felt lucky he did, because that ball of flames flew right past his face and exploded into the side of the barrier behind him; blasting a hole the size of a semi-truck into it and leveling a good chunk of the forest behind him. Paling, he was forced to dodge again as she flickered and reappeared behind him, this time with a handful of liquid flames that seemed to give off a heat so intense, he wondered how it hadn't melted her hand right off. Even as the liquid flames dripped off the glove and onto the ground, there was a hissing and a portion of the grass and dirt melted away. There was a deep growl then and Byakuran searched for the source, only to feel a sharp pain in his ankle and find the head of the panther having latched onto it from his shadow.

"W-What is this!?" He shouted in a panic, unable to pull away from the beast as he tried to keep an eye on Natsu as well. "What flame is this?!"

No one could answer him. Most too shocked at this sudden change of events or completely unknowing of the answer. Even Reborn couldn't answer him, having only seen the raw power of this black flame once from Natsu during their training and honestly never wanting to see it again. He had known it was bad the first time he'd seen it, but upon seeing her use it in battle, he knew it was much more than that. The only way he could describe it, was a flame so dark, that it seemed to almost be made of hatred and anger. And along with it, came pure unadulterated power. So Reborn could only hope Tsuna came out of it soon, because he wasn't sure anyone could stop Natsu when she was like this other than possibly him. And it was getting worse. With Byakuran trapped by Shi, that left Natsu open to prepare a much larger attack. One that Reborn knew might just very well kill Byakuran.

"Dame-Tsuna! If you don't do something now, there will be no one left to stop her!" He called out to his student and ever so slowly, Tsuna began to cough and push himself up onto his knees.

"Sawada!"

"Tenth!"

"Tsuna!" The others shouted in surprise, but none of that broke through the trance Natsu was in as she continued to prepare a large scale attack on the trapped Byakuran, who made a painful grimace.

"Ah, I can't believe Tsunayoshi really woke up from your reproachful encouragement, Reborn. You two really make an outstanding team."

Tsuna looked over to see Natsu, more furious than he's ever seen her. To the point where a shiver of fear went up his own spine at seeing the black flames she was using.

"N-Natsu." He breathed out, trying to find the strength to get up, to no avail.

"Unlucky Tsuna." Byakuran scoffed, a hand fisted into the fabric of his pants as he tried to pull his leg out of Shi's mouth. "Not too long ago, you were merely a failure of a student who skipped school. And then an assassin came along and told you, you were a candidate to become boss of a huge mafia group, which threw you into this world. Since then, despite hating conflicts, you've been forced to fight for the title of boss and such. Your biggest misfortune, however is that you came to this generation. If you hadn't been brought here, you wouldn't have had to go through all this. You wouldn't of had to watch you friend fight your battles for you. Don't you curse your own fate?"

"No… That's not… exactly true." Tsuna said, surprising everyone as he forced himself up onto his knees, his body quivering in fear and pain. "Well… the future is scary… and painful… and full of uncertainties. There's been very few times where I've felt happy since coming here… but… I feel as though I understand all that now… It's not about what's good or bad… everything that happens here… is a precious part of my life." He turned towards Natsu, cringing as he got up onto his feet unsteadily. "A-And Natsu… she's always been there for me… She fights hard and trains like crazy… because she knows I don't like fighting… She knows I don't like people getting hurt, that I don't like getting hurt… and she took it upon herself to take that burden for me and...and I wish she could hear me, because I'm sorry, Natsu." He took a step towards her, a hand cradling his injured body. "I didn't mean to make you do that for me."

Byakuran laughed a bit. "You sure have an odd way of perceiving things. But I want you to think very carefully. If you die, perhaps I'll get an opening on your friend over there."

"No!" Gokudera shouted, trying to shoot though the barrier to no avail as Byakuran laughed.

"A mini white dragon through his heart should be enough."

"A-Ah! Wait!" Tsuna said, but he just smirked.

"Don't wanna."

He threw the white dragon and Tsuna cringed, but there was no pain and he wearily opened his eyes to see Natsu covering him with a pained grimace as some blood slipped down her chin.

"N-Natsu?!"

She growled deeply, turning away from Tsuna and facing Byakuran once more as he kicked at Shi in a vain attempt to escape before Natsu could do anything. Shi's grip was beginning to slip, but Natsu held her hand laced with black flames towards the shadow at her feet with a deadly smirk at him as his eyes widened in fear.

"Burn." She breathed out, but Tsuna grabbed her arm the last second and she jolted; her flames shooting into her shadow closer to her right foot.

That being said, the abrupt burst of flames that would've completely engulfed Byakuran from his own shadow, only managed to get part of his right side and he screamed in pain as he tried to pat out the flames licking at his body. Natsu frowned at Tsuna though and pulled her arm out of his grip, stalking towards Byakuran again, with her hand preparing another fire ball, only for Tsuna to cling to her to try and stop her.

"Stop, Natsu! That's enough! Please stop!" He shouted, and she finally turned to him with a heated glare, only for him to shout his next words. "I'm sorry!"

She paused as he clenched his eyes shut and went on.

"I'm sorry I treated you different! I'm sorry that I upset you and scared you! I'm sorry you take all of these burdens for me! And I-I'm okay! I'm alive, so you don't need to do this for me! I-I don't want you to keep fighting my battles for me! I-I just want you to fight beside me! Because I like you, Natsu! And I don't want you to get hurt for me anymore!" He lowered his voice as he looked back at her seriously. "Nothing that has happened since I came to the future has been pointless. The bitter things, the painful things, the fun things. It's because of everyone that I'm here right now. You especially. All of the things that I've found since coming here… The skills and the weapons. None of it would have done any good if I'd been alone. It's because everyone was here that I was able to achieve them. And you've helped me so much without me ever asking you to."

The black flames around Natsu began to waver, turning a lighter grey every second as Shi wandered over and brushed up against her leg with a rumbling purr of agreement to Tsuna's words.

He turned to Byakuran then though, taking Natsu's hand in his and gripping it tightly as he stared down the man. "Would you call that unlucky? I wouldn't. The time I've spent here with everyone is a treasure to me. My flames were born because of this world you've taken over. These are everyone's flames!" His gloves began to glow and his dying will flame reappeared on his forehead. "The fact that you've hurt all those innocent people… the fact that you hurt Natsu… I'll make you regret it."

The warmth of Tsuna's flames calmed me immensely. My flames were snuffed out and returned to their grey-orange color and my breathing relaxed; though I knew it wouldn't last. Byakuran's mini white dragon had punctured my right lung and the adrenaline rush I'd had, allowed me to push past any pain I may have been going through. But now it was coming back and I knew I wouldn't last much longer before I collapsed. Not to mention that stupid dragon still lodged in my back is wrapped in Sky flames. I winced, unnoticed by Tsuna and I planned on keeping it that way. He shouldn't have to worry about me when he's in the middle of a fight. Just then though, I spotted a gleam out of the corner of my eye and stared in surprise as Tsuna's Vongola ring began to glow and a crest formed before a floating man appeared. I stared in surprise, having not expected something like this to happen and I focused on the older Tsuna look-a-like as he hovered in front of Tsuna like a ghost.

I was actually a bit scared. Ghosts were not my favorite things in the world. You can't hit them o-or touch them or anything, but they can do all sorts of stuff to you. I shivered, silently wondering if Tsuna was possessed or haunted or something for this ghost to show up. That being said, I did not expect the ghost to spot me and I froze on the spot warily, but the ghost just smiled at me and my expression slowly went from that of fear to complete and utter confusion. A… nice ghost? I kept my gaze on him though, cautious and reading his lips as he spoke to Tsuna.

"Now, Decimo, I shall remove those shackles. The current form of the Vongola ring is only temporary. In order to preserve strict succession of the Vongola ring, it was divided into two between the boss and the outside adviser for protection."

I remembered how the rings were cut in half for the Varia battles, but my focus didn't waver from the ghost in front of us.

"However, in order to sustain the division, there was a need to restrain the highest output of flames, unlike the Mare rings and the pacifiers of the Arcobaleno in the same Trinisette. There is no need for that anymore. For I know that you'll understand both the true meaning of the ring and my will."

Tsuna's ring began to glow, sky flames pouring from it before it's form changed. I stared at it in surprise, but jumped when I noticed the ghost had moved behind Tsuna and draped an arm around his shoulders.

"Decimo, give that mare boy what he deserves." He said, before letting Tsuna go and suddenly turning to me as I stiffened and took a hesitant step back.

The ghost seemed amused by this and smiled happily, before reaching a hand out towards me. I flinched, expecting a cold feeling as his hand went through me, but instead, I felt that same warmth from Tsuna's flames as his hand landed on my head and slowly ruffled my hair; making me open my eyes and look at him in shocked confusion as he chuckled.

"You are very much like her." He said, though not explaining who she was. "Keep an eye on the Decimo and don't be afraid to ask for his help."

He disappeared then and I stared in shock, waving my hand through the air that he'd been in in confusion, before suddenly feeling Tsuna's flames and watching as Byakuran was hit in the back and launched into the air by Tsuna's X-Burner. I blinked, not realizing when he'd moved while I'd been distracted by the ghost, and watched as Byakuran went to retaliate, only to be stopped by Tsuna's lion cub changing into a cape shield of some sort. I watched as the lion changed again and Tsuna shot a spiraling ball of flame at Byakuran, who stopped it with his White Applause, but I caught sight of the damage on his hands and knew that Tsuna finally had the upper hand. It was then that I felt a burning in my chest and coughed into my hand, pain blooming from the action as blood smeared over my hand; my cambio forma having dissipated when Tsuna had calmed me.

I cringed, only for the ground to shake as I spotted Byakuran in a crater from where Tsuna had thrown him, pitch black claw-like wings sprouting from his back as he once again went on the offensive. I watched the battle with pride at how much Tsuna had grown, before I felt another flame and turned with furrowed brows towards Yuni. Much like Tsuna's Sky flames, hers were very calming and peaceful as well. But last I checked she wasn't supposed to be using her flames, so… I didn't understand what was going on and as I looked around for a possible answer from the others, I couldn't figure out which person to look at because they were all shouting at once. Even after that, I had a hard time trying to figure out where I should be looking, because everyone was doing something and I was having a difficult time sorting everything in my head as my breathing grew more ragged.

Tsuna had knocked Byakuran to the ground and was fighting him. Yuni was doing something with her flames that I doubted I should interfere with. And there was a rumble coming from the barrier around us. It was then that Yuni's flames died down and I slowly started making my way towards her, wondering if there was anything I could do to help, but upon meeting my worried and confused gaze, she smiled softly and told me to take care of Tsuna; though I wasn't sure if she said anything or just mouthed it before her flames roared up again. There was an even bigger rumble from outside than before and someone jumped through the barrier. I realized then that it was Gamma and he joined Yuni, so I assumed that everything was fine; not hearing Tsuna or the others shouting at me to do something. I only realized something was wrong when it was too late and Yuni and Gamma disappeared; dropping a number of Arcobaleno pacifiers to the ground.

Tsuna landed there and I took a hesitant step back at the angry, devastated look on his face as I realized that this was my fault. Because of my disability, because I couldn't hear anything, I didn't know that I should've done something. I couldn't hear anyone telling me to stop them, or separate them or anything. And guilt welled up within me as Tsuna let out a harsh amount of Sky flames, making me cringe at the heat that was no longer the kind warmth it usually was, but an intense fire, much like my black flames.

"Who do you think it was that killed Yuni?" Tsuna said as I flinched, but he turned to Byakuran. "Because you made this world the way it is… Yuni… died! I won't forgive you, Byakuran!"

My mind went into overdrive at his words. Won't forgive him? I-If he won't forgive him for this, then what about me? Isn't this my fault? I saw Byakuran preparing something and I quickly scooped up the Arcobaleno pacifiers and moved them away from Tsuna and him, knowing that things were going to get rather crazy. Sure enough, Tsuna defeated Byakuran with his X-Burner and destroyed the barrier around us as well as the ground in front and behind him; where the pacifiers had been. I myself though stumbled and fell to my knees as I struggled to catch my breath; the pain in my body finally catching up with me. My lung filled with blood and I dropped the pacifiers as I coughed violently; marking the ground with red.

I spotted a commotion out of the corner of my eyes and wanted to protest against the abuse the Varia were doing against Kikyo, but I couldn't breathe very well and my vision was soon blotted out by a bright light from the pacifiers scattered before me. I was surprised to see the Arcobaleno appear and even more so to catch Fon's eye as he sighed.

"You seemed to have gotten yourself into trouble again, Natsu."

I smiled a little, despite the pain. "Y-Yeah… sorry."

Tsuna rushed over then and I winced as he looked me over in worry. "A-Ah! Are you okay, Natsu?!"

I turned my gaze to the ground as I cringed upon taking a breath. "S-Sorry."

He touched my shoulder softly and I turned to see what he had to say, but what he did say, surprised me.

"You don't need to be sorry. It wasn't your fault." He said seriously, before smiling. "Really. You've done everything I could ever ask for and more."

Colonnello walked over towards us then and grinned. "Are you two together yet, kora?"

Tsuna and I both turned a bright cherry red as Fon and the others chuckled—Gokudera being the only displeased one—and Reborn hopped off Tsuna's head and landed before us with a mischievous smirk.

"You did say you liked her, Tsuna. Take responsibility."

"Eh?!" He looked between me and Reborn in a panic. "But… I mean, I do, but… Responsibility for what?!"

I missed whatever it was Reborn responded with as everything spun and I grew lightheaded, only then realizing that I was hardly breathing at all now and that my lung had collapsed. Of course, once I started to slip unconscious and Tsuna kept me from falling over into the dirt, all I could think about was what Tsuna had said before.

"Because I like you, Natsu!"

He… likes me?…

Vongola Primo happily wandered the halls of the main headquarters, poking his head into a room every once in a while in search of someone. It wasn't until he reached a small quiet study near Alaude's section of the building that he spotted the person he was looking for and he quietly snuck over to the woman and placed his hands on her shoulders with a grin.

"Boo!"

She jumped and turned to him with a frown, obviously not pleased. "You're lucky I'm injured, otherwise, I'd of kicked you for that."

Primo simply grinned and leaned over her shoulders, slightly glad that she'd twisted her ankle the last mission she was on, otherwise he'd have a very painful bruise.

"It's fun trying to scare you." He hummed. "You don't normally jump like that though. Something on your mind?"

She turned away from him and back to her book. "No. Just thinking of how I can maximize flame emissions through an accessory like your rings."

He let out a hum, before snatching away her book as her face flushed and she scrambled to try and get it back. He couldn't help but chuckle though as he realized why she'd jumped before.

"Ghosts? Of all things, you're afraid of ghosts?"

She turned a darker shade of red and glanced away in embarrassment; flinching when he reached a hand out towards her, but he only pat her head and smiled.

"How cute."