Not a crossover. Though I DID get the idea for this from Christine Feehan's Leopard Shifter series. XD

Fon's first instinct when he comes to the territory is to growl. He can sense a major spiritual imbalance in the household and it's all centered on one of the cubs. Not the little snow leopard, but the one that smelled of the female in the house.

He knew without being told that the boy had likely been avoiding the local shifters considering what one of the Elders felt about human/shifter pairings. That man was a total pain to deal with...thankfully he respected the fact Sakura refused to even look at the other shifter males in the den when she started showing signs of having met her mate.

Despite the fact she was from a powerful bloodline and would produce strong cubs.

Fortunately Sakura could still beat the living hell out of any of the males in her age group or those who might risk the ire of the Elders to try and force the issue. They were more afraid of her than they were the Elders at this point, some were even subservient to her!

Fon made sure they caught his scent long before he stepped on the property. He could smell the difference in the mother and cub...the mother was wary, but hopeful, and the cub had more or less retreated behind the safety of his mother's scent. The other cub was wary, but stayed put.

Reborn only noticed the tenseness in their shoulders, but could only guess why.

When the snow leopard cub opened the door to let Fon in, he quickly realized that his ability to act was a lot more generous than he had originally assumed.

No wonder his niece was having absolutely no luck tracking down her mate. And she had looked, repeatedly over the years.

"Ni hao. Reborn called me in to see if I could help," he said politely.

Rather than approach the boy directly, which he knew would almost certainly not end well, he pulled something out of his robes.

It was a small ball made of soft yarn, though the way the two boys perked up had Reborn staring. With a light toss, it landed in the halfway point of the living room and where he was standing.

Tsuna waited for permission before he began to play with it, with Hayato joining his side soon after.

"I didn't know he was that attracted to yarn balls."

Nana let out a light laugh.

"It's not the string that interests him. That's specially grown catnip that's specifically designed to bring out the more playful side in large cats."

"My den has entire greenhouses worth of it. They export it to the other clans, and I thought bringing some would ease the tension," said Fon smiling. "May I?"

Nana nodded, and Fon let Tsuna catch his scent before he approached. The boy tensed, but allowed Fon near him enough to pet his hair.

"I take it the healers couldn't find out what's wrong with him?"

Nana nodded sadly.

"That's not surprising. From what I can sense, it's more of a spiritual imbalance that's been locked that way more than a physical issue. Something is forcibly keeping his leopard dominant while his human side can only act in the background. I can only assume something happened when he was mid-shift, because that's the only explanation I can think of to explain this."

Reborn had a bad feeling about this.

"Would putting a Flame seal on him be among those?"

Fon looked at Reborn sharply.

"That would certainly cause this mess. You know something."

"From what I was told he was Flame Active when he was five, and Iemitsu asked Timoteo to put a Flame Seal on him since he didn't want to drag his family into the mafia. Apparently Tsuna nearly took a chunk out of his arm in the process," said Reborn cautiously. "I highly doubt he's aware his wife is a shifter though... it almost certainly would have been mentioned before I arrived."

Fon looked very pissed off. He wasn't the only one...Nana was positively growling.

"So it was that false lion's fault!" she said furious. She had always suspected, but could never confirm it. And without proof the den Elders would never rescind their banishment.

Fon took a calming breath.

"Iemitsu and Timoteo Vongola will have a lot to answer for in the Shifter's Council if a Flame Seal did this to an innocent cub. To say nothing of what will happen when the Vindice get through with them. I do have one important question for you madam. Did you happen to take your son to the local shrine festival under fox masks around seven or eight years ago?"

Nana blinked, before she realized what he wasn't asking.

"Ah. You know who Tsuna's mate is. He was so worried when the mark presented itself...it's the only reason the den was unable to completely drive us away."

"I highly suspect my niece and your son are mates," confirmed Fon. "She's been very vexed since she has been unable to find him, even if she's happy that it's kept the more traditional members of our family from forcing her into an arranged marriage. It also means I can intercede with the local Elders and hopefully convince them to let you back into town...though you'll have to avoid the shifter-only areas until this is fixed."

Nana looked relieved.

"In the meantime, I can at least start to correct the spiritual imbalance so his leopard isn't the dominant side. Has there been any other effects?"

"He can't speak human anymore. And his eyes have stayed like that for years," said Nana immediately. "He's only been able to use leopard-tongue, so he's been trained to act as though he's mute and carries a whiteboard with markers around."

Fon nodded. It was a wise move and it lowered the risk of people figuring out what he was.

"You said he was Flame Active. Which type?" he asked Reborn.

"Sky. A rather strong one, since he was almost stronger than Federico at the time. With enough training he could easily dwarf most of the other Vongola Skies, save for possibly Xanxus," said Reborn immediately.

"That explains why you brought the Storm child in," said Fon. "It also means he will almost certainly have some form of telepathic ability...that will make it easier to hide what he is until this is fixed."

"Telepath?"

"Shifters with strong Flame abilities, especially Skies, tend to develop secondary psychic abilities. I have a rather strong empathy ability and a minor telekinetic/telepathic one. Considering his inability to speak human, I would almost guarantee he's going to be a telepath with possible empath abilities," said Fon.

With quick, painless jabs using his Chi, Fon hit several spiritual blocks on Tsuna's body. He could sense several old paths waking up and sluggishly moving the way they should have been, and the spiritual imbalance in the household slowly dissipating. It was still there, but it would eventually quit causing such a strong knee-jerk reaction of "rejection" from other shifters.

It would still take a few days, which meant he had time to visit the local Shifter council and possibly bring his niece in to confirm his suspicions about the mate bond.

At the very least if they weren't mates, then she could still hopefully bond to the boy as his Cloud or Mist Guardian. She had gone Active over a year ago dealing with a particularly stubborn male shifter who came from another den and wouldn't take "get lost" as an answer.

Hibari Sakura (known better to the 'humans' as Hibari Kyouya, since she found it less irritating by hiding her gender... she was not a domestic person and refused to be forced into those classes for something as ridiculous as being a girl) was irritated for all of five minutes when she found out Fon was back.

"What do you want, Elder?" she growled.

"I believe I have found who your mate is. And why they haven't presented themselves before now," said Fon.

She sat up, interested now. At first it had been bored interest and irritation, finding out who her mate was.

Now it was a matter of pride. She was not going to let them just show up and disappear, after all the effort she went to trying to find them.

"Explain."

"I would rather confirm that he is in fact the boy you have been looking for before I bring this up with the local council. Things with him are...complicated. And almost certainly involve the other 'den' I belong to," said Fon. It was clear that whatever the complication was, it had pissed him off. Immensely and almost certainly to violence.

Sakura grabbed her gakuran and tonfas.

"Fair word of warning...the mother and son are leery of other shifters. You'll have to flare your scent before you fully enter the property."

Sakura blinked.

"What."

"You'll understand when you meet them."

She followed the older panther to the outskirts of town. She was already beginning to guess who they were about to see.

Then the scent hit her. Her nose flared, and without even thinking twice about it she shifted into her other form. It had been rather awkward when her cat and human side synced so early, so soon after puberty. Thank the gods for Fon.

A rumbling purr filled the air.

Fon looked rather pleased himself.

"What the hell?" said Reborn.

Tsuna was up in the tree outside. He had caught her scent as well, though he was a bit more cautious. Though he did flare his scent back, which lead to Sakura jumping up to join him on an adjoining branch. She soon settled down for a cat nap. Fon had interrupted hers, and the branch was just perfect for catching the afternoon sun.

"...Do I even want to know?"

"It looks like my suspicions were correct. Which means I'll have a lot more leeway with the locals," explained Fon. "It also means you won't have to look for a Cloud or a wife for your student."

Reborn nodded, clearly not going to ask. That was two headaches he wouldn't have to deal with.

Fon looked at Nana, who was already smiling sadly at the way the two were curling up on the branches. Hayato clearly had no idea how to react.

"If you take a lower branch, she likely won't react much," advised Fon.

With a little nod from the older Storm, Hayato shifted into his leopard form and cautiously took a spot two branches below the others. Sakura didn't even look up from where she was napping.

Hayato was clearly a beta, which meant he would know better than to try and take a higher branch. He was a respectful distance from the two 'Alphas' without being too submissive. If he were younger, he might have gotten away with curling up next to Tsuna.

"Well?" asked Reborn.

"Because my niece is openly bonded to another shifter, I can act on her behalf to hopefully allow you to move back into town. Having the two separated like this isn't good for either of them, and with a little help Tsuna might be able to hide his true nature from the humans. There are special glasses that our kind wear to hide the reflective sheen that comes from shifter blood. As for the Elder that cast you out... I've been wanting a reason to go after him for years," said Fon.

Nana looked relieved.

"I suppose I'll have to get Hayato brushed up on sign language," said Reborn. "We can claim he's Tsuna's interpreter, since it's unlikely anyone would know how to read sign, and it's a hassle to carry the board everywhere. It should be simple enough to arrange for them to be in all the same classes."

"How good is Tsuna with cubs?" asked Fon to Nana.

"He hasn't interacted with them since we moved out here, though he tends to leave the young of the animals he hunts alone. All the prey around here know he won't go after those with only one parent, so they don't bother to react when he's hunting."

"You're kidding," said Reborn.

"Where did you think we got the meat?" said Nana smiling. "Tsuna does most of the hunting, and I grow a small garden. The local scavengers tend to hang around the cliff whenever they know it's one of his hunting days because we throw the leftovers over the side of it for them to eat. Animals are more empathetic than humans after all."

Fon considered that.

"Would you rather move back into your old home, or would you be content with staying out here with permission from the council to be allowed back into the city and your son in the school?"

"After finding out it was Iemitsu's fault we were banished in the first place, I have doubts I could stand that home. Besides, it would be hard to explain Tsuna's habit of bringing home meat and dealing with the complaints about stray dogs or cats coming for the leftovers."

Fon nodded. They had adjusted to life away from humans. If they weren't inclined to move back into a home where they would have to hide their true selves, it would be easier to just argue for rights to be in the shifter territory outside of the days when it was open for all.

Besides, it meant Tsuna could let his leopard side out freely when he wasn't at school or trying to socialize in town. He knew his niece preferred the peace and quiet as opposed to the crowding of humanity. She barely tolerated her den as it was.

She was very much a classic Cloud.

"Do you mind if I leave her here?"

"So long as she doesn't start a major fight, she's free to visit whenever she likes," said Nana easily. She was Tsuna's mate and it was ridiculous to stand on formalities.

Sakura seemed very pleased with the way dinner was conducted, if the way she eagerly ripped into the deer shank (which was only cooked until it was safe for human consumption and still very bloody...Reborn was the only one in the house who ate his meat medium-well, rather than a very bloody rare) and seemed to almost cuddle next to Tsuna. He was only a little bit neater about it than she was. He had to stare a bit at the growling pile of large cats in the living room.