Inferiority Complex

by UkesBeTriumphant

Summary:

Tsuna and his family grow more as each year comes, and Tsuna loves this because he is also growing in more ways than he imagined. But sometimes the good things only last for a few good moments. 24-year-old Tsuna is stuck by the ten-year bazooka and is switched with his younger self's body in a surprising turn of events. This story is about his younger self navigating his life with this older body.

[Disclaimer, was meant to be silly but then it turned more serious!]

Chapter 1: No one can stop the Ten-Year-bazooka

Tsuna and his family grow more as each year comes, and Tsuna loves this because he is also growing in more ways than he imagined. But sometimes the good things only last for a few good moments.

"Juudaime, I think you are as tall as you get?" Gokudera said, he sighed once he finished measuring Tsuna. Gokudera rolled up the tape and held out his hand for Tsuna to take while helping him off the stand. Tsuna stepped off and looked at himself in the mirror in Infront of him. He looked over his matured body and its decorations of old and new scars.

"No! I'm still growing! I'm only 24! I have a few more inches left!" Tsuna pleaded, he adjusted himself and put on the overcoat Gokudera offered him. Tsuna was pouting as he looked at Gokudera who kept a neutral face. Sometimes they were glad Tsuna only did this when Reborn was out of the mansion, making a fuss over things that were not within the mafia boss's control. It had been 10 years since they took up this job as the Neo-Vongola 1st generation. Many battles had taken place by them and many parties crashed by them too. Too many good memories that couldn't be tracked by retellings alone. Over the years the family made advancements in medical and warfare-based technologies, even experimenting with flames and their new capabilities such as the flame boxes.

Gokudera came back and listened to Tsuna's question.

"Gokudera, when will the guest be arriving?" Tsuna asked as he composed himself, Gokudera started listing the times guest would arrive and the activities that needed to be completed before the guests all arrived. While Gokudera was rambling, Tsuna took out a notebook and scribbled something, then frowning at what he saw in the notebook.

"Juudaime? Is everything okay?" Gokudera asked while he leaned over and looked at the book too.

Gokudera sighed when he looked at the book. "Juudaime... you have a problem with your inferiority complex-"

"I DO NO!!-"

Thunderous footsteps could be heard in the hall outside of the private room. The locked doors had been slammed open, breaking a few hinges on the massive oak doorway.

"SAWADA! I have all of the things ready! Whenever you want to start we can to the EXTREME!"

without flinching Tsuna greeted his sun guardian with a warm smile.

"Okay, Ryohei," Tsuna said as he waved to him that his message got across, with bloody ears in the end. Ryohei nodded with a grin and raced off back from the direction he came, the steps getting softer the farther he ran off. Tsuna finished buttoning his shirt and looked out his window to the front of the mansion and its large entryway garden. He looked down and saw the valet workers setting up the parking and making cone signals for people to park in between. Tsuna turned and faced Gokudera who waited patiently for him.

"So Gokudera, Shimon is coming too? Right?" Tsuna questioned him. He pulled out his mini tablet and nodded his head.

"Of course, it wouldn't be a party without them, would it? They are at the top of the guest list and the first to be greeted." Gokudera said as he smiled. "Well Juudaime, I must go help with the last details. I will see you later," Gokudera quickly left the room and tried his best to close the doors that were now skewed and no longer private.

Tsuna chuckled at the sight and walked to a desk by the window. Tsuna dropped his notebook on the table and slammed his fist down as he sat.

"I thought I'd be at least 6'ft..." Tsuna whined as he banged his head on the table. In the notebook, it said that Tsuna's height had not grown in 3 months and was staying at the permanent height of 5'8 1/2. Tsuna slammed his head one more time to drown out his anger and sadness. He couldn't help but be caught up in it. He needed to be the best in everything. At this rate, even Reborn will be taller than him.

"Gah!" Tsuna gasped out, he hated the idea of that tween being as tall as he is. Tsuna grumbled and stood up from his chair. He looked around and decided, 'I'll just go see what other people are doing!'

Tsuna grudgingly got up and put on his cape. The emblem on the back had the Tri-ni-settle on it and was adorned with delicate embroidery of sky flames, touching the corners of the black material. It was to supposedly make him look taller from a distance.

'You were a smart man! Primo!' Tsuna sang to himself as he left his office in search of someone to occupy himself with. As he walked down the hallway, he saw one of his brilliant engineering scientists carrying stacks of papers and boxes.

"Gianni!" he greeted the shorter man kindly. "How is the test with the new flame tracking devices?" Tsuna asked. He motioned that he needed help with his load and the man smiled timidly. "Thank you-" he said under his breath in relief,

"W-well! it's going great! I've actually just left to get the final piece!" he enthused happily. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small chip inside a clear, plastic box. He shoved it back in his pocket and got close to Tsuna's face.

"And get this, I've also made a new switch on the Ten-Year-Bazooka!" Gianni said with a wide smile. Tsuna hated that smile, it was devious yet genius all at the same turn.

"Urrg" Tsuna groaned. He had also been making a 'you have got to be kidding me!' face as he was willingly being pulled by Gianni to the lab where all the weapons and defensive trap activations modules were.

~

"We're here!" Gianni yelled as he raced to the other side of the room, the room was filled was gadgets and dirty rags, some blankets and empty bags of chips were laying around, and little sucker sticks were spilling on a desk too.

'I should really let the experienced maids clean this' Tsuna thought to himself as he walked around the piles of trash. almost tripping on some oil spots, he noted the rags trying to contain its puddle but failing and just making a bigger mess. He looked for a 'safe' corner and stood there as he watched Gianni press buttons into a computer, he watched a loud 'hiss' came from the floor, pushing up a giant, purple bazooka in a glass encasing.

"Tada!" Gianni yelled as he waved his hands up at the magenta bazooka, "Look here Vongola! This lets you change how long you want to be 10 years younger or older!" Gianni opened the case and gently held the machine, turning it around and over to show the switch. The small man was jumping with joy to show Tsuna his brilliant craftsmanship. Tsuna just looked at the bazooka, he slowly took one, large, step back so as to not get hit if anything were to happen.

"I've also added another button! Ha-ha! This button lets you choose how long you want to be changed, so far I have 5 minutes and 5 weeks!" Gianni was enthused, he was showing and making proud faces as to told Tsuna about his craftsmanship. The man was fidgeting with the buttons and was clicking settings at random showing him how it let you know what settings it was on.

"Well, that is very impressive Gianni, I have to admit, this is a brilliant tactic!" Tsuna said as he smiled, proud at his technician. Tsuna leaned down and watched as the man pushed the buttons and opened a panel to show the wire work.

"Well, Gianni, I will be needing to take my leave now, the party cant start itself?" Tsuna said as he turned around and walked away, dodging more piles.

From Tsuna's left he heard a loud smash come from the corridor, Tsuna barely looked to his side to see a giant King-Mossca flying at him at incredible speed. Tsuna jumped back and out of the way bumping into Gianni who was putting away the bazooka. The man collided with the Don and was sent sliding from his oily shoes.

"Waah!"

Gianni was pushed and threw the bazooka backward in an attempt to stop himself from crushing it. The bazooka flew in the air and made contact with the wall beside the doorway making a loud crash, some smoke, and sparks could be seen coming from the bazooka. The momentum from the bazooka caused it to spin at random and bumping into metal desks and chairs. Tsuna jumped onto a chair in the middle of the room hoping to miss its wrath.

"Oh..no.." Tsuna whispered as he saw the bazooka slowly stop spinning from the impact. Facing...slowly...towards...him!

"Hiiiiie!" Was the last word? That Tsuna yelled. The big explosion from doors breaking open could be heard from the entire level of the building.

"Will you please be QUIET! I'm trying to sleep for God's sak-" The sleepy Shoichi was cut off by a loud blood-curdling scream, the scream was loud enough to be heard from all over the mansion, many people and close guardians came rushing over to the horrific scream getting ready to fight. As a few guardians arrived at the scene the smoke and dust dissipated slowly, revealing a small, curled figure.

"WHAT WRONG!?" Ryohei yelled as he was one of the first to arrive.

"JUUDAIME!?" Came a second cry from Gokudera.

"Bo-boss?" Came a shy voice behind the two.

The small group could make out a small shape in the dust and smoke. A short figure came wobbling out waving his hands in front of his face and shaking profusely.

"G-guys.." the small squad of guardians saw a 14-year-old Tsuna emerge from the smoke.

"I-I-I.." Tsuna was at a loss for words, all he could do was burst into tears. He was... so short...

"J-Juudaime.. is everything okay?" Gokudera said with caution, he slowly walked over to Tsuna and kneeled down holding his shoulders. Tsuna being 14 and so short again must be such a fear-inducing shock to a person with an inferiority complex.

"EVERYTHING IS NOT OKAY! CANT YOU SEE!?IM SO SHORT AGAIN, LIKE HOW I WAS WHEN I WAS 14!, OH MY GOD, I THINK I MIGHT HAVE A HEART ATTACK!" Tsuna screamed and yelled as he panicked, he was shaking and shivering. Tears were cascading down his face and his breathing was becoming uncontrolled. Gokudera leaned back in shock.

'Was it always this bad?!' he chided to himself, if he knew Tsuna was this afraid he would have made a better effort to help him.

As Tsuna paced around, biting his small hands and scratching his fluffy hair. The tears intensified and became full sobs. Tsuna was becoming paranoid and frightened. The Guardians gathered around and tried comforting Tsuna. He was seething and his face became hot and wet, He threw a chair weakly, 'This stupid weak body!' Tsuna yelled to himself.

"Vongola, are you okay?" Gianni asked as he picked up the now broken bazooka. Timid and scared.

"Gianni, what were the buttons set to?" He asked in a semi-composed voice, one still scary and intimidating. The malice and death that rolled off Tsuna's angered tongue was spine-chilling.

Gianni looked at the magenta time machine and read off what he saw.

"T-ten years younger a-and f-ive.." Gianni couldn't make himself say the last part.

"Five what Gianni?" Tsuna asked as he walked closer to Gianni.

"F-f-ive weeks! But we-we can't be s-sure that... those settings.. are.....accurate" Gianni shouted getting it out and in the open then trailing off quieter near the end,

Tsuna walked backward slowly, he then slumped down, his hands were holding his wet face that was soaked in tears. He rested his body against Gokudera who was supporting him and holding him up.

"I-it's okay boss, I'm sure it'll be okay!" Chrome said in a somewhat positive voice. She couldn't hide the concern from him though, he saw it in all their eyes. The unmatched concern for their dear friend and boss. Tsuna looked down defeated and soothed himself with some deep breaths.

"I have a meeting in three days.." Tsuna said in a voice demeaning of no life.

"Ooh..." the three guardians said. They then looked away, trying not to look in Tsuna's general direction. Feeling the awkward tension, his storm guardian tried helping him stand.

"J-Juudaime, let's get you out of here first, I'm sure the smoke won't be good for your body?" Gokudera said as he ushered Tsuna up and out of the room.

Tsuna took long and slow steps out, everyone could see his soul slowly dripping out of his body as he walked.

[A/N]

*Let's get to it! Updating after so long.. KHR really can't leave my heart. It's a classic!! Well. Im updating the story to be less crack-ficy and more mature.. as you could tell;; Anyway, I've prewritten some more chapters that I plan to release soon! Enjoy the updated story and comment whether you like the change or not? Have a peachy day everyone!*

Chapter 2: The Party Preparations

"Juudaime, why don't you just sleep until the party starts?" Gokudera suggested to Tsuna. He was rubbing his back and comforting his. Tsuna's breathing had calmed down and he only had the hic-ups now as a result.

"Gokudera, if you could please bring me coffee and aspirin, I'm sure I'd feel a little better," Tsuna said with a gracious smile as he sat down slowly on the giant king-sized bed in his room. After he came back from the lab Tsuna was getting headaches and Hyper intuition messages. It was causing his stress as his younger body was having a hard time handling the intense messages and the pain that followed. It was twisting his vision and causing him to see spots at some points.

"Okay, juudaime!" Gokudera said as he then sped off to get the requested coffee and medicine.

"Bossu, I'm sure you will be okay," Chrome said as she made illusions around him to make him seem older, "I'm not as good as Mukuro-sama, but I'm sure that I could hold this up for you?" Chrome said filled with determination. She smiled at him and waved her staff around to solidify his 'older' body.

"Thank you, Chrome," Tsuna said in a tired and pleased voice, he slowly sat up and embraced Chrome in a tight hug. "This will do just fine, I'm sure no one will notice?" He reassured her. She blushed and nodded in understanding.

"Who won't notice what? Da~Me-Tsu~Na~?"

Ever so slowly Tsuna lifted his head over chrome and peeked behind her, towards the door, to see a pubescent Reborn. Reborn still had a round face, that of a child losing his baby fat, but his body was already toned and skinny from several hours of training in an effort to hone his skills back to 100%.

"R-r-Reborn..." Tsuna said in a dark voice, after saying this Chrome decided to vanish and along with Tsuna's illusions, too terrified of the aftermath, she knew reborn could see through her illusions so she left in a rush.

"Tell.no.one." Tsuna pleaded in a desperately scary voice. He marched over to Reborn and stared him down. Reborn smirked while noting Tsuna's puffy eyes and cheeks.

"Hnn? Okay, but I'm going to make you stay that way for the last half of the party. Deal~?" Reborn said in a sly and manipulating voice while smirking like the devil. He did feel bad for Tsuna, maybe 1% of him felt bad, and the other 99% wanted to extort this and have fun with it.

Tsuna clicked his tongue, and a bead of sweat ran down his head. Slowly Tsuna could see Ryohei trying to sneak away from the room. Tsuna realized there was no way for him to evade this, his head was about to burst and he was done with everything today. he needed to save his energy for the party later in the evening.

"Tch. Fine! But reborn~, I'm going to have to reduce the coffee shipment for a whole five weeks?" He couldn't just let Reborn have his way though. He does still have some power as the master of the mansion.

"You wouldn't," Reborn said tilting up his fedora to glare at Tsuna's small body. "You're risking your daily coffees too, Dame-Tsuna?"

"I know, and it's not good for me to drink coffee anyway, it'll stunt my growth at this age," said Tsuna as he pouted and patted his chest lightly. He pulled at his middle school clothes, noting their sweaty nature of them. Ten years ago they must have been training together.

"Ha, still got that inferiority complex huh? I thought I beat that out of you a long time ago?" Reborn stated while smirking, he walked right up to Tsuna's face, catching him in his panic. Reborn already knew what happened down in the lab, he saw it on the cameras from his phone. The poor mental shock that the man experienced, he probably was having some adverse effects too, the hyper intuition was nothing to sneeze at. he remembered when he was training Tsuna in his early 20s to embrace the messages and turn them into words. it took them 3 weeks and several breaks in between.

Tsuna picked at his fingers and nails, "O-oh! No! I-I'm just looking out f-for my younger self you k-know?" Tsuna said backpedaling on his words a few moments ago. He looked down in frustration, he knew Reborn wasn't going to take that answer.

"Yes, YES!" Reborn said as he slammed a giant Leon hammer on Tsuna's head. Tsuna crumbled to the ground and coughed profusely, blood trickling down his nose and out of his ears mixing with his tears and spit, he was gasping for air and holding his chest. Tsuna looked up in confusion at his tutor, he cried out loud in pain once he go some air in his lungs again.

'Oops, forgot he's only 14.. must've blown the wind out of him?'

Reborn chuckled and morphed Leon back into his normal chameleon shape.

"Ryohei~," Reborn said as he looked at the sun guardian halfway to freedom and out the door.

"Y-yes Reborn to the EXTREME?" Ryohei answered in a quieter voice than normal.

"Will you heal and pick up after Tsuna? he seems to be having a hard time at the moment?" Reborn motioned with his feet to a gasping Tsuna who was gripping his head and sobbing on the floor. "I need to go and unpack from my vacation", And with that Reborn walked out of the room and down the hall to his room.

"I'm sorry Sawada to the EXTREME" Ryohei said as he started healing and cleaning up the blood everywhere. He cared for Tsuna and healed his head and body, giving him extra energy and using up his flame for his boss. Tsuna slowly stopped sobbing in pain and was becoming sleepy, Ryohei watched as Tsuna finally was asleep and resting. Ryoheir tucked in the smaller body and got to work cleaning up the small blood stain

~

"Juudaime! I'm back-"

Gokudera's throat swelled shut, he saw Tsuna in bed with dried blood under his nose and ears, and Ryohei cleaning up the blood stain on the carpet. Gokudera panicked.

"DAMN TURF-TOP! What'd ya do this goddamn time!?" Gokudera yelled as he rushed over and cradled his boss's body. The small boy stirred from his sleep and became groggy.

"Um, I wouldn't do that if I were you to the EXTREME," Ryohei said in a loud whispering voice.

"Damn idiot, we got an hour until everyone arrives! And Juudaime is in no state to greet guests!" Gokudera shouted to Ryohei. Tsuna suddenly opened his eyes and saw Gokudera hovering over him, in his bed, while he had on a bloody, sweaty school shirt.

"..." Tsuna in fright punched Gokudera in the face as a somewhat autonomous action. The older male felt the punch hit his jaw and knocked him back, the older touched his lip in shock as it became cracked.

"Don't!-" Tsuna screamed loudly,

"TOUCH ME!" He yelled as he successfully got Gokudera off of him and his bed.

After Tsuna and everyone got into the mansion and became the official residents six years ago, Tsuna became the utmost defensive person when he was in bed. After trying to be assassinated many, many times in his sleep it became a habit to not let anyone or anything into his bed, not even Natsu, some nights were so bad he even had Kyoko sleep in another room. It was because of his hyper-intuitions things never became fatal.

"J-Juudaime.." Gokudera pleaded as he tried holding Tsuna's hand in patience.

"I'm so sorry Gokudera! I'm truly sorry!" Tsuna said as he got out of bed at Gokuderas side.

"I'm f-fine, it's just," Gokudera sighed, "We have an hour to get ready for the party" he weakly smiled, "I wanted to make sure you were ready?"

"S**t," Tsuna said in a panicked voice, then as if the world was ending, Tsuna was getting ready and pushing out his two guardians. "I'll be done in fifteen minutes!" Tsuna shouted as he got into his personal washroom. Tsuna sped showered scrubbing the dried blood from his face and cleaning his body from the sweat. he was still puffy so for the last rinse he drenched himself him cold water, hoping to hide his puffy face.

Exactly fifteen minutes passed and Tsuna was out of the room and in an oversized black tux with an orange tie and white undershirt. Tsuna had rolled the sleeves and cuffed the pants in a stylish manner, making his look more casual than business formal. He 'tried' fixing his hair but it was too long and untamed at this age to do much styling with it.

"Juudaime! You look amazing!" Gokudera said as he rushed to Tsuna's side. He got to work fixing some accenting touches, making the cuffs even, and being helpful enough to pin some awkward parts of the suit and pants.

"Ryohei, Gokudera, hide me from people who pass by until we can get to Chrome," Tsuna said as he got beside Ryohei who had a much larger build and height. Tsuna scanned Ryohei and his build, trying to come up with reasons as to why he was so large.

"Ryohei? Why are you so tall?" Tsuna plainly asked Ryohei as the three walks out the door and down the hallway.

"Well... I forgot to the EXTREME!" He said while laughing.

"Turf top! Don't evade Juudaime's precious question!" Gokudera yelled at Ryohei. He grabbed onto Ryohei's collar and pulled him over to get in his face.

"Guys it's fine, let's just find chrome as fast as possible right now," Tsuna said desperately as he started walking faster.

"Okay," Ryohei and Gokudera said synchronizing with each other.

"Don't copy me turf top!" Gokudera seethed,

"Same to the EXTREME!" Ryohei argued back, although he had a more light-hearted tone compared to the Gokudera.

'Dammit guys,' Tsuna said to himself as he then mentally sighed, 'we're getting nowhere!'

"Oya? Tsunayoshii, is that you? kufufu"

"Run!" Tsuna shouted as he ran past Mukuro with Gokudera and Ryohei.

"Tsunayoshii, you can't hide from me, kufufu" Mukuro whispered to him as the group turned a corner.

"HIEEEE!" Tsuna screamed in a high-pitched tone. 'Dammit, I still have this habit!' Tsuna mentally scolded himself, 'I have to find chrome!' He looked around desperately, she had to be somewhere, she is never not at Mukuro's side.

"Bossu?" A soft voice came from an open door, She peeked out the door and was wearing a formal, sleek indigo dress. she had on a blazer with it to cover her shoulders.

"Chrome! Turn me back into a twenty-four-year-old!" Tsuna shouted as Mukuro appeared in front of him in all of his 14-year-oldness.

"Oya Oya, Tsunayos-"

"I will reduce your paycheck again" Tsuna whispered in a dark and venomous voice, the air got chilled around the small group and no one spoke or even breathed. A very real threat to them all was Tsuna reducing their monthly stipends.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Chrome, let's get to the party already, I'm sure the Shimon family is already here," Tsuna said with a smile to chrome. He composed himself once he knew silence from Mukuro was ensured.

"Y-yes bossu" Chrome obliged, she quickly put an illusion on Tsuna to make him look twenty-four again, once the interaction was done the group left for the dance hall.

Chapter 3: The Conversation

The group was silent, moving slowly to follow the Neo-Primo. Mukuro offered to help Tsuna with some stronger illusions, and Tsuna obliged Mukuro's offer. Tsuna felt as if he became a thicker illusion, feeling less of being in a suit and more in his own body.

The five of them arrived at the ballroom, many common citizens and Mafioso and their families had already arrived early. Tsuna sat on a balcony looking over the room and taking notice some guard posts had been vacant. His guardians were all supposed to be in their positions before he entered the room. Tsuna looked displeased, his eyes becoming narrow in disappointment.

"Gokudera, where are the others? You told them it was tonight didn't you?" Tsuna asked Gokudera, he leaned his ear down to Tsuna's beckoning.

"W-well you see, I um, sent Yamamoto on a mission and Hibari out for an infiltration mission, and Mukuro was supposed to be helping the Japan branch with recruitment..." Gokudera said as he got quieter as he went on.

"...", Tsuna just stared at Gokudera and then looked down at the crowd. They still had about 30 minutes until the party had to get underway. he knew they could get here in that amount of time.

"Dammit Gokudera" Tsuna sighed.

"I'm sorry Juudaime," Gokudera said as he bowed slowly.

"Gokudera, don't bow, I'm sure you forgot too. I hope it wasn't on purpose right?" Tsuna said giving a gentle smile to Gokudera.

"Y-yeah" Gokudera whispered as he stood up straight, "I'll call Yamamoto and Hibari" Gokudera left the balcony and rushed out with his phone, speed dialing Yamamoto.

Tsuna waved Gokudera goodbye and then motioned for his mist guardians to come over "Now Mukuro, Chrome, for the last half of the celebration I need you to make me a double"

"Why bossu?" Chrome asked concerned.

"Well, Reborn said he would stay quiet if I stayed in my fourteen-year-old body for the last half of the celebration" Tsuna explained. "So I need you two to make me a body double" Tsuna sat in his chair and explained his idea to them. He knew he could rely on the two to make a realistic double. they have done it before with great success.

"Hn? Interesting Tsunayoshii, I will do as told, kufufu" was all Mukuro said as he turned into a fine and thin mist. Tsuna waved him goodbye as well, looking at just Chrome and Ryohei.

"Well, let's go and finish getting ready!" Tsuna hummed, he stood from his chair, walking out the door with his head in a high manner. After being announced the Vongola Neo-Primo he had to keep good appearances, no matter how weak he was in front of his most trusted confidantes, he must keep a high aura in front of others.

Tsuna and his Guardians all arrived in a fashionable manner, Tsuna sent them to their social posts on the ballroom floor and got ready to be announced.

Gokudera entered first with Haru arm in arm, then Ryohei with Hana and finally Tsuna was introduced with Kyoko. The Three walked in and were announced overhead. Tsuna waved and greeted the people he passed, giving quick handshakes and hellos while Kyoko did the same with the mafioso's wives. The two finally sat at their head table ensuing in a loud round of clapping and congratulation from everyone. After the opening word was over Tsuna left his table to go mingle with the other dons.

Everyone in the room looked at Tsuna and smiled, lots of dons came up to Tsuna and congratulated him on his ten-year anniversary. A particularly sleazy-looking one came up to him in Italian fashion and kissed his hand.

"Congratulations, Tsunayoshii, on becoming Vongolas Neo-Primo" He had on chains of gold and an eye sore of flashy jewels, and a heavy coat. Tsuna held his smile and did some pleasantries.

"Oh no, Don Roses-de-Mort, I should thank you! You are a huge asset to us in the European Vongola branch!" Tsuna enthuses as they shook hands.

"Well Neo-Primo, I have been getting lots of assaults on my men and businesses as of late... do you know anything, or, anyone that may be behind this?" The Don said in a hushed tone at the ending. Tsuna kept smiling and feigned ignorance.

"I assure you, Don Roses, that my men aren't the cause of your distress," Tsuna said with a reassuring smile to the blingy man.

"Well, I must go speak to others, have a wonderful tenth anniversary." Don Roses bid his goodbyes and left Tsuna on his own.

'I need to find Enma' Tsuna mused to himself. He looked through the maze of guests for a red-haired Don.

'I hope Chrome and Mukuro can keep this up for 2 hours' Tsuna worried. While contemplating with himself and moving through the crowd Tsuna bumped into the very person he was looking for.

"Enma!" Tsuna said as he happily hugged Enma. Enma was shocked and hugged him back both yelling their excited hello's.

"Oh, Tsuna?! It seems you've grown!" Enma said as he slightly looked down at Tsuna. After the two got their high school growth spurts Enma was always the taller one, with a minimum of 5 centimeters on Tsuna.

"I will be taller soon, I have calculated that in two months I will be half an inch taller!" Tsuna exclaimed proudly to Enma.

"I'm still taller though.." Enma said in a deflated voice, "And I thought Reborn 'beat' your inferiority complex out of you?" Enma questioned Tsuna.

"Well, I was taught by the best of the best" Tsuna proudly stated. He grabbed a drink from a passing tray and took a sip of the champagne.

"So you just acted?" Enma said dumbfounded. 'I finally thought you were cured!?' Enma thought to himself. Tsuna squinted his eyes and read Enmas face.

"I don't need to be cured!" Tsuna exclaimed in a louder than hushed tone. The people around the two turned in concern and look on, waiting for Tsuna to explain himself.

The group got quiet, everyone was speechless. Chatter quickly erupted around the corner, many people were shocked or surprised, idle, small gossip arose such as,

"Did he get wounded?", "Is the work catching up?", And "Was he poisoned!?".

Tsuna quickly calmed everyone down and told them, "I am completely fine, it is just an old joke between friends". Of course, everyone took the bait and caught on. The two hugged each other's shoulders to show them nothing was going on.

"Don't scare us like that Neo-Primo!"

"That really was a surprise.."

"Please don't die so soon Neo-Primo! You've yet to accept my proposal!"

'Dear god, I want this to be over!' Tsuna pleaded in his head, Tsuna and Enma stuck together for the majority of the night. While the two mafia dons mingled, Tsuna was spotted reborn in a corner with a whiskey on the rocks. Tsuna saw as Reborn held up 5 fingers, and held them up for a few seconds. Tsuna looked away to greet someone and make small talk. When he tried looking for him again he saw only 4 fingers. Tsuna was very confused by his actions and it wasn't until he saw Reborn holding up 3 fingers did he get it. Every finger was a period of 5 minutes that Tsuna had until he had to be in his 14-year-old body again. Tsunua panicked and grabbed Lambo from a crowd of younger ladies. Tsuna pulled him in and made a snappy deal. Lambo makes a distraction for him to leave with Enma and Lambo gets to take his credit card to his favorite designer shop. Lambo jumped into action and was making a scene with some of the other ladies. He jumped onto a table and invited a lady up to dance with him. Everyone turned their attention to the commotion and Tsuna ran for the doors hoping to not be spotted with Enma.

"Thanks, Lambo" Tsuna mouthed to the fifteen-year-old Lambo. Lambo and him made eye contact and he smiled and nodded.

"Yare, yare, I always have to save big-brother Tsuna," Lambo said in a laid-back tone of voice. He danced with the ladies for about 10 minutes before dismissing himself from the party as well, off to find Tsuna and take his part of the deal for the next day. Lambo walked through the empty halls and found Tsuna and Enma sitting on a lounge couch in an isolated corner.

Tsuna stood and hugged his youngest guardian, rubbing his head and making Lambo fussy.

"Hey! I put work into this style today!" Lambo brooded. He fixed his hair and held out his hand, expecting his 'present'.

Tsuna pulled out a wallet from his pocket. He tapped it to his chin in thought. "Well, Lambo... did you safely put the bazooka back in its chest in the vault, underground as I messaged you to?" Tsuna said looking at Lambo dead in the eye. Lambo shifted in his stance and retracted his hand ever so slowly.

"W-well, I've only gotten to putting it in the vault, the great Lambo was too busy to finish you see, I had to get ready for the party too!"

"Oh ho? And where is the vault?" Tsuna asked, very sickly sweet in a tone of voice.

"With Gian-"

Before Lambo could finish he was smacked on the head with a fist hard with anger. Lambo groaned at the punishment and held his head in pain.

"Would you kindly finish what I asked you to do?"

Lambo, without a word, left the room and raced down to the hall to the mechanic's lab.

"Well, Enma? Should we do some catching up?" Tsuna said to a frozen Enma.

"Wha-what happened to your sweet and loving self?" Enma asked in a depressed and overwhelmed voice.

"I adapted" was all Tsuna said as he left the hall, pulling Enma with him to his private sitting room.

As our two left in the corner of the room was a smiling twelve-year-old, the kid had a gun, a fedora, and a horrible prank set in mind.

Tsuna and Enma enjoyed their time together, complaining and talking about their lives and families.

"Hah.. you have no idea how bad Adelheid is right now! She just found out she's pregnant! I've been under so much stress.." Enma complained to his partner in crime.

"Have you seen Ryohei and Hana!? They are already planning on having a baby, a dog.. and a mansion paid for by Vongola" Tsuna said in a dead tone.

"Sounds rough, but how are they?" Enma asked putting on a very serious face.

"They don't suspect a thing, in one month's time we will make sure that the Roses de Mort are finally taken care of," Tsuna said sadly. He crossed his legs and grabbed his drink from the party.

"They have been great allies to us in many fights, but Vongola doesn't want people who extort others and solicit illegal substances as allies of our families" Tsuna sighed in disappointment.

"Well, I promise in one month's time, the Roses will be no more" Enma said in a sad voice too.

Silence enveloped the room.

"Dame-Tsuna~, your three hours are up," said a pubescent Reborn who was leaning on a large window frame.

"Wait! No, not now!" Tsuna yelled as he tried to grab Reborn but was already poofed back to how he was meant to look, a small 14-year-old boy in a suit too large for him and a high-pitched voice.

"T-Tsuna?" Enma asked as he looked at a fourteen-year-old Tsuna huddled on the floor. The teen was holding his jacket up and was obviously flustered.

"Nooo! Why! Why can't you just fix meee!" Tsuna whined to Reborn, grabbing his clothes and shaking him.

"Because now I'm taller than you" Reborn stated looking down at Tsuna's horrified face.

"Nooooo!" Tsuna yelled in defeat as he beat his hands on the floor, "Life isn't fair!"

"Tsuna, I think you're overreacting?" Enma said as he patted Tsuna's back, "I'm sure the effects aren't too long right?" Enma tried comforting him.

Tsuna sniffled and leaned into the embrace of his best friend. Tsuna went on to explain the happenings of earlier in the day, explaining the bazooka and what Gianni was doing. He also explained the paranoia he felt and the assault Reborn had done to him.

"Can you actually live like this and not go insane?" Enma asked in a very, very concerned and sad voice. Tsuna paused, he looked up from his spot on the floor and stood, brushing off the dust,

"So far, I've gone 7 hours!" Tsuna said happily. He held out his hand, offering it for Enma to take. He accepted the offer and stood too. He looked at the boy who was definitely not in his right mind anymore.

"You're doomed" Reborn simply said to a sparkling Tsuna.

[Cant wait to show you guys the next part!]

Chapter 4: The Night Sky

Enma and Reborn watched in silence as they saw Tsuna go around the library pulling out books and random papers. The two were seated on a plush couch and enjoying the view as Tsuna scurried around looking for books and talking to himself. They both thoroughly believed Tsuna had met his breaking point and was going through the 7 stages of grief for his body.

"Dame-Tsuna? What is this for?" Reborn asked as he watched Tsuna flip through the pages of a book.

"Meditation!" Tsuna said excitedly, "I read before that if you are in a deep trance you can contact your other selves!" Tsuna enthusiastically said as he dropped his papers and book on a table. Reborn hummed in fact understanding and sipped his tea. Reborn placed his cup on the table and sat back to watch the emotional show. Enma was becoming stressed for his best friend. He personally wouldn't know what he would do if he had gotten his body switched with his 14-year-old self. Enma held his drink with both of his hands looking at its liquid contents, working up the courage to speak.

"Tsuna, I don't think this is necess-"

"It's totally necessary!" Tsuna interrupted Enma, "If I can't contact my other self who knows what will happen to my body? I know for sure Reborn of the past is already torturing me!?"

"He is correct" Reborn mentioned, petting Leon and smirking. Enma shook his head and tried staying positive.

"I think you'll be fine Tsuna" Enma reassured Tsuna by waving his hands in the air. Tsuna stopped and thought for a moment, looking at his book. Tsuna looked over and saw Enmas concerned face and he couldn't help but feel guilt rise into his throat. He squeezed the book in frustration at his current situation.

"Enma.. I just.." Tsuna was gripping the book and doing his best to keep his composure, it must have been this body at its teenage hormones, but he was having such a difficult time navigating all these feelings again. The feeling of being lesser, weaker, more emotional...

Reborn opened his mouth as if to speak but shut it as Enma stood and rushed over to Tsuna who was weeping into the book he was holding. Enma called out to Tsuna and held his shoulders, trying to make him look up. His heart stirred as he saw Tsuna's larger eyes full of big tears. His lips were pursed shut and he had such a determined yet sad look on his face.

"I! Enma I CANT DO THIS AGAIN!" Tsuna finally admitted, "I DON'T WANT-I DON'T WANT TO BE DAME-TSUNA AGAIN!" He whaled into his friend's chest. He banged his head on Enmas chest and finally admitted what this was all about. The inadequacy he felt, the shame of being a lame kid, and the bullying he endured before he met Reborn. Enma slowly embraced Tsuna and shed a tear with him too. Enma went through the same wave of emotions while younger too. He remembers the pressure from others to do better and to protect them. But he knew the love they had for him was greater than his anxiety.

The two broke the embrace and Tsuna dried his face off with the hem of his white dress shirt. His eyes were amusingly puffy and very red. Enma chuckled at Tsuna and pointed it out. Tsuna started laughing too, and the two kept laughing over the small things and stood in a soft silence.

"Tsuna, I need to head back to the party, I completely understand if you don't want to go, but my offer is there if you want it?" Enma grabbed his dress coat from the couch and walked to the door.

Tsuna stood and waved goodbye to him.

"I have to go and check up on Adelheid and Shitt P," Enma said as he left Reborn and Tsuna in the room.

"See you later," Tsuna said, waving his hand goodbye to the closing door.

"Did you get this idea from Byakuran?" Reborn asked Tsuna while walking over to him, He knelt down and picked up the book from the floor. He handed it to Tsuna and followed him to the desk that had all his collected material.

"Yeah, I thought back to when Byakuran was explaining his method of collecting his flames and meeting his alternate selves. although.."

"You don't think this body has enough flames to go to the past?"

"huh?.. Yeah," Tsuna admitted, holding his chest. He felt the exhaust of the body and the tiny well of flames within himself. They must have just finished having a battle for his body to feel so depleted.

"..." Reborn took off his fedora and fixed his hair, "If you needed... I'm sure you could just meet him in a neutral zone between the mind. like how Mukuro communicates with Chrome?"

Tsuna looked over in amazement, Reborn had offered him valuable information. Tsuna impulsively hugged him and thanked him. Reborn toughed out the hug and just stood still.

Tsuna began looking through the books and writing down words he needed to say in order to get into a deep state of travel.

"Your spelling is wrong here, here, and over here," Reborn pointed out to Tsuna his spelling errors in Latin and Greek.

"Oh... It's fine! I just need to get the saying right!" Tsuna chirped to Reborn.

"Fine, be morphed into your younger self forever," Reborn muttered under his breath, leaving the room silently.

Tsuna looked up from his writing, "What did you say Reborn?" Tsuna asked. He turned around and saw that Reborn had left,

"I still don't get how he does that.." Tsuna said to himself as he set up the Latin words around him in a circle, and sat like a Buddhist praying.

"Okay... let's start!"

~Two hours of meditation~

In the praying position, Tsuna woke up from a high-pitched cracking sound.

"Hieeee!" Tsuna yelled out of bodily instinct, he sat up scared, and looked around. 'Dammit...I need to fix this habit,' Tsuna scolded himself.

"Okay, now where are the dimensions?" Tsuna wondered out loud. He stood up properly and walked around, the room was dark and hollow, the sound didn't echo, it only flattened out with each step he took. While he walked he was failing to even hear the steps of his feet the deeper he went.

out of the corner of his eye, he spotted his body.

"My body!" Tsuna yelled happily, he ran up to it and hugged and rubbed his face on it, "Oh how I missed you, and your height, your power!" He exclaimed happily to the void. The larger body's hand moved and tried pushing him off.

"E-excuse.. can you please stop?" His body said,

"Dammit that's right, past me is still in this body" Tsuna cursed himself.

"H-how did you get my body!?" The bigger Tsuna yelled at the smaller one.

"Don't yell! You'll hurt my voice" Tsuna said looking and checking up on his body.

"Are you properly eating and drinking 2 glasses of milk? Are you feeling sick? Did you hurt yourself? Can you feel your flames?"

Tsuna drowned on and on about his body and how the past Tsuna felt. The latter was feeling crushed by all the information being shoved into his brain. The larger body sat up and listened as the smaller bodies' rant came to a close and a silence opened, assumably for him to talk now.

"You know...I like this" The older body spoke. He rubbed his neck sheepishly.

"Although Reborn didn't! He smacked me and made me do ten laps around town with 100-pound weights strapped to my back.." Past Tsuna said making a pained face, as if he could still feel the pain in his body. Future Tsuna willed himself into HYPER DYING WILL MODE and punched past Tsuna in the face, Making the counterpart tumble over with a bloody nose and stinging lip.

"HOW DARE YOU LET REBORN DO THAT! DON'T EVER LET HIM HURT MY BODY!" Tsuna yelled at his past self.

the older body had tears welling in his eyes. He held a now terrified expression and his nose to stop the bleeding.

"We-well it's kinda hard when you just grew like ten years!" Past Tsuna yelled from the black and ice-cold floor, "And I can't even do my dying will mode normally anymore!" Past Tsuna shouted. he slammed his fist on the floor and tried standing up.

"That is no excuse!" Tsuna yelled as he punched past Tsuna again once he stood, "You must take care of my hard-earned work! I worked for ten years for this body! Now don't ruin it for me!" Tsuna yelled while punching himself more. His anger and frustration still lingered, his hatred for his own self back then was nothing compared to the developed nature the older Tsuna felt over the years as his responsibilities grew. This past Tsuna was naive with youth, he knew nothing of the trouble this useless body caused him.

"You're hurting yourself now!?" Past Tsuna yelled his face swollen and tear streaked. His eyes were puffy his face was cut open from the impacts, dried and caked with blood.

"This is in our minds... I will punish you and teach you properly how to take care of yourself!" Tsuna yelled, he then started laughing evil-like and smirked when done.

"Now start doing pushups," Tsuna said in the deepest voice he could muster in his fourteen-year-old body.

~After dream~

Past Tsuna woke up in a sweat, his older body still with him. He felt his face and rubbed his face, feeling for the cuts are swollen bruises, not believing that was all inside of his head.

"If I don't do as future me says I'm going to do that hell every day!" Tsuna yelled holding and rubbing his head in anger.

'Oh no!' Tsuna thought as he stopped his action.

"Rule one! No rubbing head in anger, it'll make my neck shrink so then I'll be less tall"

This rule popped into his mind as he anxiously bit his nails.

"Rule fifty-two! No biting nails, it is bad for my nails and health!"

"Dang it!" He said, this time yelling.

"Rule number two! No yelling, it'll hurt my voice,"

"Get.out.of.my.head!" Tsuna cried as he punched his head.

"And last rule, don't physically self-harm this body, it'll make me shorter in some way.."

"What can I do then!?" Tsuna said sitting in his bed, his head resting on his knees that he curled up to his chest.

"Dammit Lambo" Tsuna cursed.

"Oh yeah, and early on could you please teach Lambo to be more careful with the ten-year-bazooka? That would be a big deal to me" Future Tsuna smiled, showing a radiant and shiny smile in the dark, black void of nothing.

"Wait, how do I tell Mama?" Past Tsuna said holding his head in realization, then horror emerged onto his face.

Future Tsuna smacked past Tsuna, "Don't make that face you'll ruin my skin!" He shouted at his past self.

"Then what do I do?"

"You do nothing for five weeks, but make sure to do 100 pushups a day, fly around Namimori once in hyper mode, eat three, three-course meals a day, drink 6 glasses of water, and do homework, and if anyone asks where you are, tell them your sick, and that you have ebola-"

"What's ebola?" Past Tsuna asked tilting his head.

"Don't interrupt me!... anyway, say you have Ebola, I'm sure Gokudera will get the hint.. if he's smart enough at the time?" older Tsuna fretted,

The older body of the two simply stared in total confusion at what was unfolding in front of him. "So past me, what has been going on as of late?"He held out his hand and offered to help the younger up from the floor. "Give me something to work with"

Tsuna stood and looked down at.. himself.."Uhh, we um.. just finished defeating the person that was hurting everyone in Namimori" Tsuna mumbled.

"WHICH ONE!?" Future Tsuna shouted proceeding to hit his past self's head. The taller yelped and panicked.

"ah! Roku-Rokudo Mukuro!" Past Tsuna confessed, holding his head in fear, he was backing away from his shorter self.

"I'm f***ed." the shorter body muttered. The short body held his head desperately trying to remember what happened ten years ago. he retraced his battles, starting from his most memorable one being his battle against the Shimon family. He definitely knew it was before that battle because his body was still weak, flabby, and skinny. His flames had no heart to them and his body seemed unfamiliar with the growing flames inside of him, the biggest indicator being that the ring was nowhere on his body at the current moment. no matter how hard Tsuna tried looking for his Vongola ring, or even for Natsu, said everything he needed to know about the time period.

This was the time when he needed to battle Varia for control of the half-rings. This was the first battle that was involving himself as the Vongola 'Decimo' candidate. Tsuna held his hand to his mouth in thought. He even tapped his foot anxiously while trying to come up with a game plan on how to not interfere too much with the past.

"FROM NOW ON, EVERY SINGLE NIGHT, YOU WILL TRAIN WITH ME!" Tsuna ended up yelling. He made a triumphant stance and pointed to his older body, which backed away a considerable distance. The older body paused and gave a strained look at the other.

Past Tsuna groaned, "Every night? Even Sunday?".

"Every.single.night." Future Tsuna said venom and poison flowed out of his mouth as if he held it in for this moment for years. "And you can't skip, it's impossible-" Tsuna smiled at his Older bodied-self.

"We'll have. so. much. fun" future Tsuna said in a sing-song voice, waving his finger to his made-up tune.

Tsuna felt his flames being siphoned from his form. The smaller body came close to the older one and spotted the ring on his hand. Before his form could leave, he made sure to slip his Neo-Vongola gear off of his older body's hand, which he clutched in his hands, making it dissipate into nothingness as well.

"I'll be taking this for security measures," future Tsuna said, turning into a pile of fog. Leaving only a confused Tsuna who looked at his empty hand. He rubbed where the rings were and felt immediately naked without them. Tsuna kept touching his fingers, feeling almost sad and that a part of him was now gone, he dawned a sad face and felt suddenly lonely. He looked around, almost waiting for something to show up. Soon his body began to fade as well, starting from his feet and becoming particles up to his head. He looked around one more time in the empty space, for some reason hoping to see something come after him.

Tsuna looked up from his huddled form on his bed, coming out of his thoughts. He only heard a loud bang and saw as his door was thrashed open.

"Get up dame-Tsuna!" Shouted an infant barging into his room. "Run ten laps around Namimori again!"

"NOOOOOOO!"

[Poor past Tsuna in future Tsuna's body, I wanted to make it how the counterpart felt in the body of the other, it always made me wonder whenever I read a TYL fic]

Chapter 5: Experiencing Tsuna's Future Body

"Run more Dame-Tsuna!" Reborn yelled in his squeaky infant voice.

"I can't!" Tsuna yelled back, stopping his run and letting his hands fall to his knees. "I can't go..on"

"Fine, then do the other 4 laps around Namimori in your new mode"

"But-"

"Iemitsu is coming home too, so get ready"

Tsuna felt empty inside, his dad was coming home, his friends were getting into some shady business and all he wanted was a day rest from all this chaos.

..........

Tsuna woke up bright and early one morning and already felt dead inside of what the day is going to be like.

"My tuna-fish! Daddy is home!" Tsuna's dad called to him outside of his door, then without even knocking Tsunas's dad broke open his door and smiled happily at him. Then the horror on his face set in.

"NANA!" Iemitsu yelled in concern. Tsuna got up groggily still forgetting he was in his future-selfs body.

"Good morning Dad," Tsuna said walking past his dad and down the hallway. by the time he was in the bathroom, he already remembered the grand and great mistake he just did. Tsuna almost screamed bloody murder had it not been for the calming sensation that took over his senses. his body felt cold and relaxed, he walked to the mirror and saw his eyes swiftly change from his brown ones to red, fiery orange.

"Well this is something new," Reborn said wearing a rubber duck outfit while he scrubbed himself in the tub,

"gah! The tub this time!" Tsuna yelled, he almost fell backward had it not been for his long arms that caught him on the edge of the sink. tsuna thanked the heavens and hefted himself back up when suddenly a loud shout was heard on the other side of the door.

"Open up! Intruder! Come out!"

"Waah! Reborn what do I do!?" Tsuna freaked out, he went to open the shower curtain and was introduced to nobody but an empty duck suit. 'DAMMIT REBORN!!!!!!' Tsuna screamed to himself.

Tsuna screamed as he saw the door get smashed open by an angry-looking Iemitsu and a scared-looking Nana.

"Mom!" Tsuna's yelled, he completely regretted this and slapped his mouth shut quickly.

"Oh! dear! This is one of Tsuna's cousins remember! He came back from America!" Nana said happily, "Since Tsuna has gone on a camping trip with his friends he is staying in Tsuna's room!"

Nana looked very happily at her husband with such joy he trusted her and settled down.

"Nana," Iemitsu sighed, "You need to tell me these things, what if I hurt my poor nephew?" he said laughing loudly. He held out his hand and looked expectingly at Tsuna. Tsuna jumped slightly and moved to shake his father's hand. Tsuna grimaced and fought back the feeling to smack his hand away. He needed to go with this impromptu lie that Reborn probably set up for him.

"So what brought you back, umm.."

"Oh uhh, Y-Yoshii.." Tsuna said sweating beads trying to figure out a name.

"Well, Yoshii! What brought you to visit your uncle and auntie?" Iemitsu asked.

"Oh, um, I just need a break?" Tsuna said shrugging. He gulped to himself and watched the two adults process this.

"Well you must be hungry Yoshii, I'm glad Reborn told me you were coming on such short notice," Nana said giggling at her husband's side as she soon went downstairs to cook up breakfast for everyone.

Tsuna waited and watched as Iemistu too left for the downstairs. Tsuna released a heavy breath and sat on the closed toilet seat. He held his head tightly and felt like weeping. How could he make such blatant lies straight to his parent's faces!? Well, he didn't feel all that bad about lying to his father but his mother was a different story.

"Lies make the world go round"

Tsuna felt a spike at the side of his shoulder and somehow felt the need to swat it. So he did.

"Gyahh! Reborn!" Tsuna said frightened beyond belief as he saw a baby hold tightly onto his hand.

"So future Tsuna has trained himself well I see," Reborn remarked looking at Tsuna's face.

'Very mature looking too?' he noted. Tsuna's eyes finally became a mature shape and his face filled in, becoming less childlike and more adult-looking. his hair looked the same length but more kept and styled to have a semi-part near the bangs. Reborn became agitated that his pupil became such a fine young man.

"Ow ow ow! Please let go!" Tsuna begged for mercy as he felt his hand be twisted around to his back.

"Eh?" It dawned on him like a bullet, it didn't hurt as bad as when he had his original body.

'THANK YOU FUTURE ME!' Tsuna cried tears of happiness inside his head.

"Anyway dame-Tsuna, go downstairs and eat, you have a long day today," Reborn remarked, he lept down from the sink counter and walked out of the room, leaving Tsuna alone in his future foreign body.

Tsuna took the time to sit and think about what was going on. His future self has his body and he switched to his.

'What do I even call him? Wait... does this mean I am actually a mafia boss!?' Tsuna stood up in a rush and examined his body again as Reborn did the first day he got the body. He flung off his shirt and threw it on the toilet, he rubbed his shoulders and stared at the long burns that ran up his long arms, leaving twisting and gnarled marks.

'If I'm supposed to take care of his body maybe I should invest in some burn cream?'

The burns didn't hurt, nor did they seem new, Tsuna sighed and turned around to put his shirt back on again, he had to borrow some of his dad's old shirts, but even then, they were a size too big. Tsuna faced away from the mirror, however, something was bothering him. It felt as if a certain itch he couldn't feel, he knew it was there, he could TELL it was important.

Tsuna peered over his shoulder and caught sight of a horrendous scar taking up the entirety of his back. The healed skin was pale white and had long marks like lighting along with them.

The form of an 'X' was on his back.

'Reborn, is this why you were quiet?'

---

"Tsuna, we need to inspect your body."

"REBORN! WHY AM I LIKE THIS!?" Tsuna screamed bloody murder.

Tsuna ran his larger hands over his face, body, hair, and everything. The one object on his that caught Reborn and his eyes was a luxurious-looking ring, a chain had connected the two rings to each other and had the Vongola symbol etched into it with a sky-blue orb atop its larger counterpart.

"R-Reborn, what do I do?! this isn't my body, or is it? I feel like it is, but I also feel like I'm not meant to have this?!"

"Tsuna, calm down..." Reborn leaped onto Tsunas bed from his hanging hammock, Reborn tugged on his hand and inspected the ring.

His hand felt a tingle and coming after it was an intense shock. Reborn retracted his hand and pushed Tsunas's hand away.

"Tsuna..."

"Yes, Reborn?" Tsuna answered, he knew panicking would only make the situation worse, he was in his home and safe, he became calmer and was starting to understand and take in what was happening.

"Take off these clothes, we need to inspect the body"

"EHH?!" Tsuna screamed, he held his arms close to his body and refused. Reborn morphed Leon into a large hammer and scared Tsuna into complying. Once the clothes were removed and Tsuna was in his boxers, embarrassed and flushed red, he did a quick spin for reborn.

"There! Can I put the clothes back on?!"

Reborn paused, more like frozen in place at that moment.

"Turn around, there is something on your back," Reborn forcefully pushed Tsuna around and made him make a yelping sound. Under Reborns fedora a deep frown set its place on his tiny face. Tsuna felt a chill go up to his spine as he felt Reborn touch his back.

"Reborn, is something wrong with this body?" Tsuna asked in fear, he was biting his nails in concern and anticipation. "Nope, just a big mole" Reborn responded.

"HIEEEE A MOLE?!" Tsuna yelped,

Reborn had a look of seldom, he hid it well of course.

"Get some sleep," Reborn had a frustrated look, he was clueless as to what was going on and he didn't like the spontaneity of the situation. "Get lots of rest, we're going to test this body and see its capabilities," Reborn put on a smirk to make Tsuna less concerned about the body, but not to calm his concerns about the hell he is going to put him through this Saturday.

"Okay, I'm not very excited to know how we're going to do that... but, okay..." Tsuna inspected the arms once more before a large white tank top was dropped on his lap.

"The suit is important, we don't want to ruin it, I'm going to send it away to be inspected." Reborn grabbed the folded suit and gently put it in a small suitcase.

"Tsuna, one more thing, Maman wanted me to let you know Iemitsu is coming back in a few days."

Tsuna's eyes shot open from his rest and he sprang up in terror,

"He's alive!?"

---

Tsuna walked downstairs with a passive face. He looked over and saw his family, if his body has to look like this in the future to keep them safe, Tsuna is willing to do anything for his family.

Chapter 6: The Half Rings

"Voiiiii!" A long-haired man screamed. He had a small blond boy pinned under him.

"Why'd you come to Japan?" The man seethed

The young boy kicked the man away and dawned a curved weapon that looked like a boomerang.

"I have no reason to tell thee" The boy sprinted away and jumped from one building to the other, exchanging sword blows with the man.

The man got a good kick in, making the boy have to cling to the edge of a building. A piece of paper escaped the boy's pocket, close to flying away, the boy reached out and grabbed the paper. it was a photo, one of a young Tsuna, with his mother.

"I must get this go Sawada-dono-"

---

"So Yoshii, what's gotten you needing a break?" Iemistu asked, shoveling food into his mouth.

"Oh, uhmm"

"He's taking his gap year" Reborn chimed in. He exchanged glances with Iemitsu that look of great importance. Tsuna only looked on and couldn't read the mood.

Tsuna ate his food and noticed that everyone was staring at him.

"You are definitely Tsuna's cousin" Bianchi commented.

Tsuna gulped, "uhh.. It's from ma-Nana's side!" He quickly spat out, he recovered and felt himself sit tall, with a strong sense of truth.

Both Reborn and Iemistu excused themselves at the same time. Reborn grabbed onto Tsuna and pulled him out of the kitchen following the two to the front door.

As the three walked away reborn sighed and began to talk once they were alone.

"This is Tsuna from the futures body," He was on Tsuna's shoulder and sat politely, filling in Iemitsu with the happenings of yesterday.

Iemitsu scanned the body, it made Tsuna squirm under his father's gaze.

"Is this from the Bolvino family?" Iemitsu asked,

"Indeed, I inspected his body and confirmed it is Tsuna 10 years from the future. Vongola must have been experimenting with the technology and future Tsuna must have been caught in the crossfire"

"Uhmm, why are we telling my dad this!?" Tuna yelped, the body felt weird in the presence of Iemistu, giving him only negative thoughts to think about.

"Because your father is a part of Cedef, a special group connected to Vongola"

"..." Tsuna gapped at the idea of his dad secretly being in the Vongola this whole time.

"I- I need to go-!" He yelled, reborn hopped off, and watched as Tsuna ran away, up into his room. The two men watched the adult body run up the stairs and slam the door shut.

Iemistu looked down at Reborn and rubbed his neck in exhaustion. 

A few minutes later he came down in some presentable streetwear. His father's pants albeit large, still fit with a tight belt. He then dawned on a simple white shirt. He felt like a high schooler wearing what he had on. He came down the stairs and noticed Gokudera and Yamamoto. He awkwardly bowed, pretending not to know them.

"Dame-Tsuna, I already filled them in" Tsuna felt a kick to his head and tumbled into the wall. He caught himself on the side table and thanked once again his older self's reflexes.

"And tuck in your shirt, you look sloppy," his father commented, coming over and tucking in his clothes for him.

"Dad! What are you doing!?" Tsuna yelped, he was helpless as his dad fixed his look. His dad stepped away and admired his handy work.

"Better," both Reborn and Iemistu said together.

"YOU LOOK SO COOL JUUDAIME!" Gokudera admired, he ran up and admired Tsuna's 'new' body. Yamamoto jumped in to get a better look at him as well. 

"Very mature looking haha!"

Tsuna rubbed the back of his head, he was defiantly taller than the two boys but not by a weird amount. He would have to say he was only a few inches taller than Yamamoto? Tsuna's eyes were about to the top of his head. 

"T-thanks, I'm sure future me would appreciate that," Tsuna slouched a bit and gathered his thoughts, he shook it off and pushed him and his friends to the door. 

From around the corner, Iemitsu looked on with a pleased look; waving the three goodbyes, Tsuna still couldn't face his father and ushered the two out the door.

"Come on you two, you'll be late!"

The three rushed out the door and onto the street. Tsuna sighed as they walked away from the house. the three walked in silence for a moment before Gokudera spoke up

"What's the matter juudaime?"

"..." Tsuna bit his lip before explaining his situation with his father, "My dad is back after being missing for 2 years, my mother always told me that my dad was a traffic director that traveled the world. I mean, he even sent us postcards from the weirdest places like Spain and Antarctica!?" Tsuna rubbed his face in shame for believing those lies all along. Tsuna huffed and continued his rant. 

 "I mean.. Look at me too! It's weird! I've switched bodies with my 'older self', not to mention this means I've become a mafia boss! I don't want to be one!" He confided, he slowed down, and hid his face in his hands. it was so infuriating to him. A few bitter tears stung his eyes while he hid them from the two younger boys. Gokudera hovered worried about Tsuna, he looked over to Yamamoto and gave him a look to help him comfort him.

"Hey! We don't have to go to school Tsuna! What if we went and hung out somewhere!" Yamamoto seemed relaxed in the situation and adapted fast to the circumstances. He looked happy nonetheless just to be hanging out with them.

"Yeah! I agree with baseball-nerd!" Gokudera chimed in. He put on a smile and tried to get Tsuna to drop his hands. 

"Wait! We can't! What about school?!" Tsuna blurted out, "I mean, I can't go like this but what about you two?"

"It's fine, It's only Sunday! It's just extra classes anyway" Gokudera mentioned, he seemed all for the idea of skipping classes anyway. The two boys chatted away trying to justify not going to class while also filling in the space to distract Tsuna from his thoughts. 

'I'm glad to have these two, they always seem to know how I'm really feeling' Tsuna mused to himself. Tsuna smiled and watched on as the two began an argument about where to go, he loved these two more than himself and wished nothing more than for them to live a peaceful life away from danger. even if it was with his dying will, he wanted the two to be safe. 

Tsuna felt a gentle sensation fill his chest it swelled from his lungs and spread to his chest and heart, even going into his head and hands. He felt warm, hot even... Like he was burning, like his blood was boiling and burning inside himself. 

"J-juudaime, h-how'd you do that!?" Screamed Gokudera, he huddled closer to Tsuna in a panic. 

Tsuna looked down and saw his hands ablaze, burning a bright red and orange color. He screamed and flung his arms around trying to put out the flame. he didn't have his gloves and he knew that he didn't get shot from reborn.

From the side of the two panicking and yelling, Yamamoto took a photo with his phone.

"Haha, look! Tsuna looks super cool!" He said, the two calmed for a second and looked at the photo. Tsuna's eyes had become slated and turned a gentle orange. His head was aflame with a small fire. Tsuna couldn't believe what he was seeing, he was in-

"Hyper dying will mode, with no bullet, this body is not something to scoff at" Reborn chirped, he was in a crow outfit and had two other crows on his head and shoulder. The three stood In awe as they heard what Reborn said. His future self was capable of something that Reborn said was nearly impossible. Reborn shook off the birds, shed his disguise, and hopped onto Tsunsa's shoulder.

A silence came and was broken by Yamamoto, "I'm gonna invite everyone-" he pulled out his phone and was nearly assaulted by Gokudeda who vehemently disagreed.

-

"I told you not to invite everyone.." Gokudera grumbled.

Haru, Kyoko, I-pin, Fuuta, and Lambo came to join the class skipping,

Tsuna felt awkward standing next to Kyoko. He felt calm and relaxed by her, normally he was a weird mess. She was shorter than him now and he was able to see her in a different light. 

The group of 8 came to a nice area in their downtown district and sat down for some drinks. Tsuna sat and was watching as Kyoko gave him a drink.

"Here you go, Yoshii," she said kindly.

"Oh! Uhh yeah, thank you.." He felt like his stomach did a flip only to realize she got drinks for everyone.  Kyoko took her seat next to Tsuna and had some of her drink. She was looking over at Tsuna, she scooted over and prodded him. 

"Can I confide in you?" She asked,

Tsuna became flushed and nodded,

"I was worried about Tsuna, he went to this dangerous place. But he came back safely, I was worried that he would change and become scary.."

"Ah, you mean kokuyo?" He responded,

"Yes, I'm sure he must have told you? I didn't know he had a cousin coming from overseas... You two must get along well?"

"Ahh yeah.. He uh told me before he left to go... Camping."

"I see..." She looked at her drink and then back at him, "When he came back, he was his usual self! It felt nice and relieved my anxiety!" she gave a thoughtful smile and scooted back to her original place at the table.

'D-did.. Was that a compliment??' Tsuna yelped to himself.

Kyoko quickly veered her head towards a tall building behind the group, "did you hear that?" She said. As if on cue a large explosion came from the upper floor of the large building. Coming from the sky was a boy. Hurdling towards Tsuna.

Tsuna's body caught the boy with a grunt, surprising both the fallen and the catcher. they both fell and were met with concrete ground.

"Juudaime!" "Tsuna!"Gokudera and Yamamoto came running up, they both checked on Tsuna, even though in the situation he was the unharmed one.

"Art thou.. Lord Tsunayoshii?" The boy called out, Tsuna was taken aback. Was this boy looking for him?

"What's he doing here?" Reborn muttered, reborn came out with a coffee in hand. 

Up on top of one of the buildings, a loud shout came,

"VOIIII! WHATS THIS!? OUTSIDE TRASH MEDLING IN VONGOLA BUISNESS?!" the shouting man swung his sword and slashed the air in front of him, "ILL SLASH YOU TRASH TO PIECES!"

Tsuna yelped and crawled backward, Gokudera and Yamamoto stood in front of him, guarding him against the stranger.

Crowds of people ran past, pushing their way through the attack and dragging Kyoko and the others to safety with them. She looked back and stared at Tsuna, then went with the crowd-carrying I-pin.

"Lord Sawada, I apologize, it seems I was followed," said the boy dazed, he stood and held out his hand for Tsuna to take. He took the offer and stood, noticing a blue flame atop the boy's head,

"A dying will flame!?" He shouted,

"I've just met thee, and yet I've dragged thee into such compromised situations already.."

"Uhmm, I'm sorry but wh-"

"Please, come!" Cried out the boy, he grabbed onto Tsuna's hand and dragged him away from the destruction. 

"Please! I must tell thee something of great importance!" The boy grabbed Tsuna's shoulders and looked at his with all the intent he could muster.

"W-wait-"

A shadow covered them and then appeared the long-haired attacker. He stood tall, with a sour frown on his face.

"Let's quit this game of tag," the man swung his sword, cutting the boys back and flinging him into a building's front windows.

Chapter 7: The Boy Named Basil

Tsuna flinched as the man tried to approach him, but he stepped back and cowered away, Tsuna looked in horror as the boy lay limp in the glass, red-stained the boy and the glass now around his body. Tsuna felt the blood droplet dry on his face, his lips now chapped from breathing so quickly. his body tensed and surged with adrenaline, he almost felt sick from how fast everything was happening. 

"HEY! What's your relationship to this runt!?" The man screamed, he waved his sword in Tsuna's face, swinging the excess blood of the weapon on his shocked face. He quivered in fright and excitement, his body was reacting against his own will. It felt like he was ready to leap at the man and attack him, but Tsuna's own mind was so against the fact that he just sat in terror and shook profusely.

Tsuna covered his ears and closed his eyes tight in fear, hoping to block out the voices in his head screaming to 'live', 'fight', 'attack him'. the voices made him nauseous, they weren't his thoughts, but a choir of older voices colliding together in an anthem to spur him to movement.

'but...I can't-'

"If you don't respond I'll slash your innards open!" Came the holler of his attacker,

From above, the man could sense the presence of bombs. He swiftly leaped back and dodged the massive explosions. From the smock stood a battle-ready Gokudera and Yamamoto. The two stood impatiently, waiting for the chance to begin the battle with this unknown enemy.

Tsuna opened his eyes and shouted in excitement to see them, "Gokudera! Yamamoto!" he stood up quickly and watched as Gokudera lit a cigarette, 

"Lay a hand on that person and I won't let you live." A puff of smoke came from Gokudera's mouth.

Yamamoto chuckled with a serious expression, his katana resting over his shoulder, "Yeah, something like that, I'll be your opponent."

'The katana was definitely reborn doing!' Tsuna fretted.

The man gave an irritated smile, "You guys are also related in this in some way huh!?.. I don't get it, but ill tell you something I do know!"

The long-haired swordsman slowed his movement and looked at the two young boys. He smiled and then dropped it into a serious frown, he spoke with truth. 

".. If you go against me, you'll die."

The two shifted their stances, almost hesitant, looking for the right moment to move.

"Right back at you old man," Gokudera said in defiance. 

The injured boy spattered out to them, "PLEASE DONT! He isn't a man thou can win against!" The boy curled in pain on the glass, Tsuna ran over to the boy and tried to lift him up. 'This is really bad! Where's reborn when he's needed?!' he cried in his mind. The glass attached to the boy also embedded itself into his arms, staining the white sleeves he had on, it burned his flesh and almost made him drop the boy. 

"Looks like he has a sword... He'll be my opponent" Yamamoto stated.

Gokudera nodded and covered his back as Yamamoto ran in.

"Don't regret this boy!" The man shouted,

The two exchanged a blow and pushed Yamamoto back.

"You have no skill to speak of!"

"What makes you say that!?" Yamamoto pushed the man pack and was assaulted again with a heavy blow.

"It's too light!"

The man used his sword to launch mini-missiles at him, this caused Yamamoto to get thrown into an explosion, severely injuring him. The smoke dissipated and Tsuna saw Yamamoto laying by unconscious, several cuts and gashes present on his face and exposed arms. A small puddle of blood and saliva began to form by his mouth on the ground. 

Tsuna tried to reach out and stammered, "Ya-yamamo..to.." He let his body go in dismay and just held the now awake boy. 

Gokudera tried to run in but was caught.

"Too slow." the man snickered. 

Gokuderas bombs he had ready were cut at the top, distracting him from the assault of the man. A swift downward kick was aimed at his head, bashing him, and causing him to collide with the ground. a loud crack was heard and Tsuna couldn't help but cry out. 

"G-gokudera!" he cried out in shock. He was sweating, his throat went dry. He was scared, more scared than when he went against Mukuro. He gasped for air trying to understand what was happening. He looked around with tears in his eyes.

'wheres Reborn... Bianchi- but Gokudera, no Yamamoto-' he was frozen still. 

 That man slowly approached him, kicking stones aside at the wounded on the ground. he slowly walked to Tsuna who was kneeling on the ground in the glass with the waining boy in his arms. The man got closer and closer until he was only a couple of feet away from him. 

"Those two weren't even worth speaking of," the man said aloud. He lifted his sword to strike Tsuna but was stopped by the young boy again. He rolled out of Tsuna's grasp and guarded him from the blow.

"Deciding to spit it all out!?" the man screamed. he forced his arm down hard onto the boy.

"I refuse to!" he screamed back.

The man became enraged, "This will be your grave!" he hollered in the boy's face.

The two engaged in a short battle once more.

Off in a corner, Tsuna notices Reborn in a bush costume, "R-reborn!" he choked out. He scrambled to stand and run over to the baby. he felt out of breath even though he did nothing. He couldn't speak straight, the terror was almost killing him and the voices didn't help anything.  

"Re-reborn! What- what have you be-en doing!?" he screamed at the baby; his voice cracking as he cried and held his mentor.

"I have my reasons Tsuna, take these-" Reborn threw him his gloves that he got from fighting Mukuro at Kakuyo.

"N-no! I Can't-"

"With this new body, you can! Go be of use!" Reborn pulled and loaded his gun and shot Tsuna between his watery eyes, sending Tsuna off with a quick death. Tsuna dropped to the floor, crumbling down and letting Reborn go. He watched on for movement in Tsuna, who usually comes out after a couple of seconds. Reborn looked up and saw the boy being slashed across the chest by the man. blood sprayed into the air and the boy had dropped once more to the ground.

"You stray dog.." a sword came up and was cleaned by the man. "I'll just ask the other kid for answers-" he looked over to Reborn and Tsuna, marching his way over in annoyance. 

A few more seconds passed and caused Reborn to become slightly concerned. This has never happened before, He jumped down and went up to the older body of his student. A bright light shone from Tsuna's chest and slowly came out a hyper-dying will Tsuna. Composed and looking calm, Reborn stepped back, shocked.

He looked at Leon and made sure he used the right bullet. Before he could look up Tsuna was already in the middle of the fight, gripping the man's arm that had a sword attached. 

"..!"

"Reborn. I will defeat you like my life depends on it." That was all Tsuna said. He looked the man in the eyes, with a calm stare, still in just his boxers as normal. His exposed arms showed his numerous scars and the arrangement of his old battles on the current body. The man took no time in noticing the Flame atop his head and its color. The man then winced at the strength of the gloved hands that crinkled his arm.

"Your flame, those symbols on your gloves.."

"..." Tsuna stood still only gripping his arm harder.

"So you're the one from Japan that I've heard of.. to get in contact with you.." The man muttered that last part of his comment. A wide grin grew on his face in excitement. 

"NOW YOU HAVE TO TELL WHAT YOU'RE PLANNING" The man backed away in a single jump, releasing himself from the young adult.

"If you don't tell me, ILL JUST HAVE YOU SPIT IT OUT EVEN IF YOU DIE!"

Tsuna threw a flame-engulfed punch at the man with ferocity making soft waves in the air. The attacker stood his ground and grunted. The two exchanged fists, sparring for what little time the bullet could muster in him. Tsunas' older body held better than the long-haired man. At one point, Tsuna had the man held in a still point. The two were equally competent. The one thing that kept Tsuna from beating him was experience. No matter how much intuition Tsuna had it would only take time to tell he didn't know how to fight. He was only throwing punches at wild, hoping to land and do damage.

The man smirked and went to make a stab motion, jabbing Tsuna in the chest. Tsuna didn't have time to fully back away before the weapon lodged its tip in his upper chest. The wound was shallow but still created a problem within Tsuna. He lost concentration and fell to the ground weakly.

"You're still just a weakling!"

As the man went for a finishing blow a large smoke screen came and camouflaged the two. Tsuna could feel himself being dragged out of the smoke by the boy.

The two continued to run until they were a good distance away.

"A-are you okay!?" Tsuna tiredly asked. He kneeled down with the boy and looked over his slashed chest.

"My name is-...Basil" he coughed out, "I was tasked by my master to deliver this to thee"

The boy pulled out a small silver box with intricate engravings, showing a clam shell as the lock and centerpiece. 

"Ehh... What... What are these?" Tsuna asked, he hovered his hands over the box. The boy, Basil, opened the box and presented him with 7 rings, all seeming to be halves.

"For me? Wait! Who's your master!?"

"Lord Reborn knows what this is for!" Basil tried shoving the box into Tsuna's hand in a rush, but he was reluctant to grab hold of it. 

"You know Reborn?!"

"Please! Take this and run Lord Tsuna!" The boy finally got Tsuna to grip the precious box. 

"Lord Reborn is unable to battle for thee's own reaso-"

"VOIIII!" A large slab of destroyed building was thrown aside by the man, he was atop some rubble looking down on them.

"So that's what this is about? Since it's this big of an incident.."

The man hopped down from the pile and walked toward the two shocked boys.

"After slicing you guys up, I'm going to have to take those back!"

"Hieeee!" Tsuna screamed, he held onto the box tightly. Having no clue as to why this box had any importance.

"Don't hand over the box Lord Tsuna!" commanded Basil who stood once again to protect him.

Behind the man, a voice could be heard, "You're just like usual, Superbi Squalo."

'That voice!?' Tsuna thought happily,

"Isn't it embarrassing, Squalo, to be so rough on a couple of... Kids?" Dino looked at Tsuna, he knew it was Tsuna but he had a different aura to him.

'No matter' Dino thought.

"The bucking bronco.." Squalo seethed.

"If you don't stop this disgraceful act, I'll be your new opponent," Dino said cooly, whip in hand and ready to be of use. Dino's men came up behind him and stood guard.

"..." The man stood silent, thinking,

"Voii... Bucking Bronco, I have no qualms with killing you right here, but if I fight people from allied families the higher-ups are going to get fussy.."

The man lowered his hands and walked slowly to the side, "So I guess for today ill.."

"NOT GO HOME KINDLY!"

Tsuna felt his hair being pulled, he grunted as he felt his head being pulled back and exposing his neck. Basil tried leaping up to grab Tsuna but was kicked by Squalo into some rubble. Tsuna screamed out as he felt his scalp being pulled every which way by the man. Tsuna felt the tears come out again as he felt the sword come into contact with his neck. In the past couple of months, his life has been in endless danger, and not by his own will. His memories flashed before his eyes. From his kaleidoscope sight, he saw Gokudera and Yamamoto being tended to by Dinos men. They looked panicky and were yelling for others, Tsuna couldn't help but think the worst happened, it didn't mean anything anymore, he lost the two only true friends he had.

Tsuna went limp in Squalos hold and gave in-

'Don't give up!'

'Fight.'

'Live with you dying will'!

Tsuna ignored the voices and closed his eyes, waiting for a sword to slit his throat.

"Dame-Tsuna, are you really going to let this man end you?"

Tsuna looked up and met his eyes with Reborn who was standing a great distance away. Tsuna realized his mistake, he bitterly smiled and looked away from Reborn, how foolish he was to give in. If Reborn could read his mind he probably would have been Sparta-kicked before he even finished his thoughts. Tsuna looked at the man with defiance and let his instincts take over one last time. As if his body went into a separate mode, he became calm and collected.

The man raised his sword and swung it down with no remorse.

"Don't do it!!" Dino screamed in terror, he sprinted from his spot over to the two.

Tsuna glared at the man in anger, using his gloved hands he grabbed the sword with one hand, the fabric was sliced and cawed open his palm drawing crimson onto the blade. Tsuna dropped the box from his other hand and punched the man in the face. He swung with his body and Squalo was engulfed in hard flames, thrown into the air with the momentum and crashing into a building's mental door. The door was crunched under the force Squalo was thrown by, upon impact, Squalos nose gushed blood and he choked out a gasp.

"...!" Dino came to a complete halt in shock.

All witnesses stood still. They all watched on as Tsuna rose from his kneeling position and flared his flame from his head and hands. He was standing tall and magnificent, giving off an aura of unrelenting dying will and power. The onlookers stopped their actions and became immersed in the display of total dominance Tsuna's flame gave off and commanded them, leaving them speechless. The gloves became tight and burned a ferocious hard flame. Tsuna looked at the man and glowered in his direction.

"You dare touch the Vongola Decimo?" He said aloud in a deeper voice, unlike the one he had been using before.

Tsuna was confused. What did he just say? Has his voice always been this deep? Was it meant to be this deep? There was no way he was a mafia boss! He was only 14... But what about his future self? Could he have conquered everyone and defied even his own set will?

"Hehe, you're not so weak after all!"

Squalo regained himself and cleared his nose of blood. The man sprinted forward and punched Tsuna in the gut, making him bend over. The man got ready and took advantage of the situation and swung his sword down. Tsuna saw past his intentions and stopped his sword. With an iron grip, he twisted the sword out and pushed him away. The two exchanged blows to the face over and over again, each taking the hit and not backing down. Tsuna flames singed the man's coat and burned his cloak, the man threw it off and revealed his mental appendage. Tsuna went to grab the man's hands, he pulled away and pointed his sworded hand at Tsuna, the one made of metal was holding the sword. His arm made a metal 'clack' sound, opened and reversed itself, showing a barrel. In shock, Tsuna backed away and was shot with a bullet from Squalo's arm.

"TSUNA!" Dino cried out, he charged down and created a distraction with the rubble, making a large and unnavigable smoke screen.

Dino rushed in and tackled Tsuna, hoisting him upon his shoulders. Tsuna coughed and let his body go, Tsuna's sky flames licked at Dino's skin and scalded him, leaving small welts to be dealt with later. Tsuna's flames dissipated as he lost consciousness. Dino felt his coat get hot with blood, he looked over and winced as he saw the chest wound on Tsuna still bleeding. Dino hurried over to Basil as well and laid the two together, tending to Tsuna's chest wound still bleeding. Dino was praying that Tsuna wouldn't die from blood loss just then.

Through the mist of the rubble, Sqaulo appeared above the small huddle on a pile of concrete destruction, holding his jacket and the box in tote.

"Voiii! Though I'm leaving a fun play toy, I'll be taking these!" Squalo held up the small silver box above his head in triumph. The man spared no time and sped off leaving no chance to continue the battle. Dino cussed and tried to follow pursuit.

"Don't go after him, Dino," Reborn commanded. Reborn appeared from behind the rubble and grabbed onto the two injured bodies.

"It will be no good to continue this battle with Tsuna in this state" Reborn looked at Dino and saw the confusion on his face. Dino was about to open his mouth and question him when Tsuna muttered something in a half-woke daze.

Tsuna looked at Reborn, and slurred to him, "No one... Touches a Vongola don...without.." Reborn slowly widened his eyes, and a sparkle of amazement appeared. Reborn stood still as Tsuna sat up from his laid position and acknowledged Dino with a nod. The two mafioso saw no consciousness in his eyes, he was in a state of being similar to an autopilot.

Tsuna, from where he sat, slowly pulled Reborn into a hug, Reborn did not resist the slow advance. Tsuna slowly curled Into the small baby, holding onto him tightly once the two came into contact. Tsuna held him tightly, so as to elude that he may try and escape.

"Without..permission" he rasped out. Tsuna buried his head into Reborn and his fedora. A warm hug ensued between the two, Reborn noticed Tsuna passed out and hugged him back not minding the blood dripping down his face from his student.

A sweet moment passed before Reborn pushed him off without a care. Reborn handed Basil off to Dino, took out a rag, cleaned his face, and started dragging Tsuna away.

Dino scratched his cheek in embarrassment.

"You never hugged me like that!" he shouted to the back of Reborn.

"Not a word from you Dino," Reborn spoke harshly. Dino sighed and lifted Basil following Reborn out of the destruction.

"Is this Tsuna?" Dino asked, he nudged Tsuna with his foot as the two carried on.

Reborn stopped and peered at the older body of his pupil. He took notice of more stab scars near his stomach and heart. Reborn glared at the obviously aged scars. The flushed raised skin was aggravated, leading reborn to assume they were a more recent addition.

"Mhm, this is Tsuna's body, ten years into the future, the process didn't complete so only the body switched; not the spirit"

Dino passed off Basil to one of his men, another helping Gokudera and Yamamoto walk over to the two.

"I'll fill you in at the hospital" Reborn mentioned to Dino,

Reborn looked over as the two boys started running over at the sight of Tsuna, they winced and dawned frustrated and sad faces. Reborn look at the teens and scolded them.

"You two..."

They both stopped and looked over Tsuna and the damage he suffered, Gokudera fell to his knees and shuffled over to Tsuna, trying to grab him.

"The level you're fighting at now is nothing but a bother... go home."

Yamamoto lowered his head and Gokudera stood, understanding Reborn's warning. Reborn watched as the two walked away, he could hear one of the two curses as they walked away.

'They probably sense it already..'

Reborn turned and patted Tsuna's sweaty locks. 'After being defeated in such a one-sided match, there's no way they both aren't pissed off,'

Dino peered at Reborn who was still looking at Tsuna, he sighed and followed his men out of the crumbled city, hearing sirens in this distance.

"Let's hurry up men! We can't let the police see us!"

Chapter 8: Inner Monologue

Tsuna appeared back in the open space where he met with his future self. The young boy still had the body of his counterpart. He sighed and stood up to walk about. As he walked a door appeared in the distance, he waltzed closer and went to open it.

"Please respect my privacy" a voice came from behind him. Tsuna spun and saw his younger body yet future self.

"I thought I told you not to screw up my body?" The younger-looking Tsuna said as a genuine question. 

"I-i had to do it to save my friends!?" He cowardly knelt into a ball covering his head waiting for a painful impact.

The younger body sighed and sat in front of him, reaching out his hand and rubbing Tsuna's hair. "I am sorry for my actions before," The younger said with guilt. "I let my anger take control, I should not have treated you so harshly,"

The older spirit stood and held out his hand. 

"You forgive me for hurting this body?" the younger muttered.

"Of course, but I'm mad you didn't even use the gloves properly!" He motioned, and he pointed at the soft gloves on his hands.

The younger spirit cried and whimpered, soon sniffles came with him, the older had no right to be angry, he gently let go and crouched down.

"I'm sorry you had to fight that battle..." Older Tsuna said. He leaned in and hugged his older body.

.
.

"I remember that encounter with Squalo.. he still hasn't apologized!" older Tsuna said in an effort to lift the mood. "It was scary.." Came a sniffle from the other. Tsuna looked over and took pity, he knew the situation changed, he knew it wasn't as he remembered, he only sighed and pulled the other in for comfort. 

".. I didn't know what to do, I just had to rely on my body's reflexes... I couldn't do anything..it felt as if..it... Felt as if I was useless without it. I relied on the dying will and not my own strength.." A loud cry came out after the loud outburst and the crocodile tears didn't seem to end.

The older of the two frowned. From his memory, he remembered from his experience that this was the first real defeat he and his friends felt. It was devastating to Yamamoto out of the three of them, he took it the hardest.

"Uhmm, next time you see Yamamoto, can you tell him that what he did was brave and that you're grateful for what he did?"

"Hu-huh? Yeah..yeah, I can do that?" Tsuna was wiping his snot and tears on the cuffs of his shirt.

"Good.." Tsuna let go of the sniffling boy and stood.

"Listen, Tsuna," The older one spoke, "I won't bother you anymore, this is going to be difficult for you to hear but I can't help you with this battle you're going to face. This is a moment that will shape the very person you are going to become. It will be hard, arduous, and even make you give up at times." He turned his back on the sad counterpart and started walking away, a fine mist coming from his footsteps.  

"I will say this.."

The younger of the two perked up and stood to see him off.

"Your family loves you. Adores you even... for all the sacrifices they do for you; you need to do even more for them..." The older turned and showed his sad and determined face as if reminiscing on regrets. "And forget about that stuff I told you... it doesn't mean anything right now. Use that body to its maximum to protect the ones you love. Use it to fight the good battle and kick Xanxus' a** for me!" He pushed out his hand to show a small sky flame on his finger.

With the final word of encouragement, his body finally disappeared and left the sad and teary boy alone in his own mind. The flame flickered and stood where its master once was. Tsuna saw it shrink and raced over to it, he reached and tried to grasp it, but the flame became blurry and shook with his breath. he was running after it and was chasing it, hoping it wouldn't go out. As he ran he heard faint voices surround him.

'is-h-'

'No.. he is f-'

'But wa- abou- cant we-'

'Look!-'

Tsuna kept running when suddenly the flame stopped moving, it was but a flicker when he finally grabbed it, the flame crawled up his arm and engulfed his body, the warmth was so vivid he felt like his body was actually wrapped in the flame-like a blanket. He closed his eyes and embraced the feeling, knowing that this had to have meant something between the two parties. 

'A form of acceptance in a way?' he thought to himself. 

A bright light shone and illuminated a small hole in front of him, it quickly filled his whole vision abruptly causing him to take notice he was in a bed with a mask on his face, giving him air. He went to sit up but was met with a stabbing pain in his arm and chest. he looked down and saw an IV in his arm, he heard muffles around him and tried hard to focus on the faces. 

"Re-rebor-" 

Tsuna couldn't finish his question because his mouth was caked in foul, dry matter.

Like a light being flicked on he widened his eyes and took in his position. 

"Tsuna!" Cried out Dino from his side. Tsuna felt a warm embrace from the other man. He looked around and saw the boy next to him. Tsuna reached up slowly and removed the mask from his face,

"water-" he asked, holding out his hand gently to Dino. Reborn jumped up and handed Tsuna a small glass. Tsuna took the glass and slowly sipped it, clearing his mouth from the cotton feel. 

"Dame-Tsuna, next time I'm only giving you three hours to wake up" Reborn bopped Tsuna on the head and took away the empty glass. Tsuna weakly chuckled and tried sitting up again, being successful the second time.

Tsuna looked around the room and saw Basil next to him in an even worse condition. 

"Is that...basil?" He asked,

Reborn looked over and nodded at the boy, "He must have been fighting for a few days straight, he has yet to wake up"

"Who.. is he?" Tsuna rubbed his arms shyly, "Is he a member of the Vongola family?"

Dino sat back in his chair beside Tsuna, "No, he is not a part of Vongola, but I can tell you one thing.." Dino patted Tsuna's leg, "He is definitely on our side"

"Wait!" Tsuna spoke loudly, "I'm confused, I thought I heard Dino say that the man attacking us was Vongola. And now basil is not Vongola but not my enemy either?" Tsuna held his head in confusion. 

"but I uhm! Done need allies..or enemies!" he stammered out, he still didn't want to be a mafia boss and if he had the chance to change it he would. 

"You can't say that anymore Tsuna-"

"Why-" he interrupted,

Reborn jumped down and looked out of a window at the people walking in and out, "Because Tsuna..."

"The rings have already started to move."

Chapter 9: Chapter 9: The History of the Rings

A day had passed since Reborn and Dino had talked with Tsuna, they had to leave because of some problems with the video footage some people took of the fight. Tsuna sipped his water and waited for Reborn and Dino to visit him again. 

a delicate knock came from the door, "Mr. Sawada, You have some visitors?"

"Let them in," 

Tsuna finished his water and sat up straighter in his bed. He watched as Dino and Reborn came in together, Dino dismissed the nurse and the two sat next to his bed. 

"How are the stiches Tsuna?" Dino asked, he scanned over Tsuna's body and couldn't get used to the sight of his body being covered in scars. 

"Well.." Tsuna held up his shirt, "I've already healed a good portion, I don't think this one will scar as bad?" Tsuna pouted and felt bad, his future self left this precious body in his care yet it's already getting more scars.

Reborn lept onto his lap and took out a magnifying glass to examine the skin, "Interesting.."

Tsuna sat patiently waiting for Reborn to fill his curiosity, he made eye contact with Dino and then looked at the bulge in his coat pocket. Dino looked down surprised and pulled out a shiny box, similar to the ones Tsuna fought for yesterday. 

"Aren't those the rings the long-haired guy stole yesterday?" Tsuna mentioned with concern.

Reborn interrupted and commented while still examining his scars and stitches, "Yes they are, and the proper name Dame-Tsuna is the half-Vongola rings. They're a treasure of the Vongola family that is supposed to be stored in a selected place until three years later."

Reborn removed the magnifying glass and proceeded to proding Tsuna's muscles and injuries, checking that they have indeed healed and scared over at an accelerated state. 

"Are the rings-OW!- pricy?" Tsuna asked while feeling like he was being stabbed, Tsuna looked down and saw Rebron making pricks in his skin and counting how fast it took till they scabbed. 

"What the hell Reborn!?" Tsuna yelled, 

Reborn ignored Tsuna's yell and continued, "Yes, They are so valuable that you cannot put a price tag on them.. buts that's not all... 45 seconds-" Reborn noted. Tsuna sighed and bared the pain, which didn't hurt so bad after all. He sighed and listened as Reborn continued his explanation of the rings. 

"In the long Vongola history, it is not known how much blood has been shed for the rings.."

"WHAT?!.."

Tsuna fretted and thought for a moment, "Well.. guess it is a good thing the guy took them after all?" Tsuna smiled and was pleased it was no longer his concern...

"Wait... Dino.." Tsuna whispered.

"Yup! I got it right here, haha!" Dino laughed and showed Tsuna a better look at the box. 

"EHH!?"

"Stop moving, im trying to fix a stitch they messed up" Reborn scolded. Tsuna looked down and saw Reborn with a long curved needle. 

"HIEEE! Reborn stop!" Tsuna yelped, he picked up Reborn and quickly set him on the chair next to him. "Please don't, I think the doctors did a wonderful job!" Tsuna exhaled in relief and pulled down his shirt. 

"I'm guessing the ones the man had were fakes then?" Tsuna didn't know why he wasn't as shocked...

'I guess I just had a hunch they were fakes..' Tsuna thought to himself.

"A certain someone asked me to give these to you" Dino leaned over and gave Tsuna the box. 

"NO WAY! I WON'T TAKE THOSE HORRIFIC RINGS! WHY ME ANYWAY?!" Tsuna shouted, denying the box and pushing away Dino's hands. 

"Because Dame-Tsuna, they belong to Vongola, and my job is to make you the tenth-generation boss of Vongola!" Tsuna felt a hard smack on his head, he held his head in pain and stared at the green mallet hammer Leon. 

"This again.." He squeezed his eyes shut in denial, escaping to his own thoughts on why this was happening.. 

'I can't believe they were fakes! I did all that fighting.. for... fakes..' Tsuna slowly looked at Basil, who still lay unconscious next to him. He saw the boy's face covered in even more bandages than he was. Tsuna calmed down and understood what future Tsuna said about this being a serious battle. the ones he cared about would fight for him and in turn, he 'Needed to fight even harder in turn'.

"...Reborn?" Tsuna asked, he dipped his head and asked with caution, "Was basil a decoy?"

Reborn looked at Basil, "Yeah.. basil himself probably wasn't told about that. That person probably figured that this would happen."

Dino continued off of Reborn, "It must have been a very difficult decision for him to make,"

A long silence ensured, being disrupted by another knock on the door, "Mr. Sawada" A doctor came in with a pleased-looking smile. "After looking at your medical charts and how well you have healed, we have decided to discharge you. some nurses will be by later to give you the papers and your medicine for the next few weeks."

"That's good to hear," Tsuna said happily, 

Dino and Reborn stood and let Tsuna be with the doctor, "We'll see you soon, yeah?" Dino said giving his farewells and exiting the door with Reborn in tow. The two walked down the hall and continued their conversation. 

"He came with me to Japan, although I'm sure you and Tsuna already saw him this morning?"

"We did, same old as he always is.." Reborn responded. He adjusted his fedora.

'He did come in the end.. by giving his son the Vongola rings at this time must mean..'

Reborn stopped and pulled out his phone sending off a message, he sighed as he sent it. He hoped that it wasn't the case, he flipped his phone shut and followed after Dino.

'Something terrible is happening..'

.

.

Tsuna was packing up the clothes that Reborn had brought for him, his body still ached and his headache grew with every step he took out the door. The bag was packed and he was ready to leave. Tsuna walked around the room making sure he didn't leave anything, as he walked he went over to Basil and looked over his face. it was solemn and slack, definitely the face of someone in pain and tired. He felt weird but something compelled him to reach his hand over the boy. he rested his hand on the boy's forehead, feeling the coolness of his body. Tsuna muttered an apology and walked out the door to a nurse's station to sign the paper and leave.

'I guess this is a hospital funded by Vongola?' he noticed as the staff only called him 'Mr. Sawada' and bowed as he walked past. 

.

.

Tsuna arrived home and was greeted by an Iemitsu in his underwear holding a past out Lambo and a giddy Fuuta. 

"D-Dad!" Tsuna called out embarrassed, he covered his eyes and walked in. "Wait a minute.. is that alcohol I smell?!"

"Only a little!" Fuuta slurred, "Papa said that it's like water but makes you calmer!" Fuuta slumped into Tsuna's arms as he was lifted into the air. "Dad!?" Tsuna scolded the older man who also appeared drunk. Fuuta grabbed Tsuna's cheeks and exclaimed "I'm so glad brother Tsuna's cousin is safe!" he yelled in his ear. Tsuna held in his pained voice and only winced from the noise, he saw his father standing and staring at him with a goofy smile.

"Don't worry tuna fish! your Papa is completely sonb..sober!" he leaned onto Tsuna's shoulder pulling him into the house and into a side hug. Bianchii came around the corner with I-pin in her arms.

"Maman went out to buy food because he ate everything in the house already."

"Whaat!?" Tsuna whipped around and shook his father. "WHYYYY!?" he grabbed Lambo from his father's arms and double-held the two children, racing upstairs to put them down. 

'What an embarrassing father!? And such a s**tty one too!' Tsuna huffed in his mind and tried putting the children to bed. After a few minutes Tsuna drug himself to his room too and passed out on his bed. 

Chapter 10: The Half-Ring Owners

Tsuna lay asleep in his bed, scrunched up uncomfortably because of his long body. The early morning was peeking through his curtains shining on his face peacefully. Tsuna slowly opened his eyes. From where he lay he saw the sun just creeping over the hills over yonder. Tsuna sat up and checked his arms and hands, only seeing small and faint nicks on his skin as leftovers from his battle two days ago. He flipped his legs over and off the bed, resting and settling himself on the edge.

 

"He wasn't lying.." He muttered, he almost felt sad. The Tsuna from the future really didn't come and harass him, he left him alone like he said he would. Tsuna held out his hand and looked at the now small scab, it was the wound he got from holding the sword in his hand. Tsuna looked around the room and didn't see Reborn in his hammock. Tsuna stood from his bed and proceeded to stretch, following the rules of his past self loosely. Even if he wasn't there to harass him he couldn't help but feel guilty for not taking care of 'himself'.

Loud stomping caught Tsuna's attention, who turned to his door and saw it swing open, a recovered Iemitsu was holding up tackle gear and some fishing rods. 

"TSUNA! wanna go catch breakfast?!" The man held a big smile on his face and waited for a response. 

"..." Tsuna could only look on in confusion at his father, "I uhh... I still need to rest, the doctor said so.." Tsuna stood still, rubbing his arm as if to insinuate he still hurt a bit. 

"All right then," His dad turned around and gently closed his door, and walked away. His dad was completely civil about it, it shocked him truly. Tsuna leaned his head back and refreshed his face, opening his curtains he noticed a pile of homework on his desk. It must have been his work for the past few days he missed from school, Tsuna proceeded to ignore it and walked to his door. Before he could twist the handle, a whizzing noise shot by his head, a flaming arrow with a piece of paper attached to it read.

 

"You will complete this work before you leave this room"

-Reborn

 

Tsuna swallowed the lump in his throat, he looked behind himself and saw that his window was open.. the sun was now halfway up passed the view. Scared for his life, he sat down and started trying to do his homework. Maybe it was Reborn being kind or Gokudera being thoughtful but atop the stack of papers was a small notebook with notes from the classes he missed. Tsuna smiled and held the book dearly to his heart. 

"Your family loves you. Adores you even... for all the sacrifices they do for you; you need to do even more for them..."

Tsuna bit his lip and slowly sat down at his small desk, the homework wasn't even too difficult, it just was time-consuming..which Tsuna supposed he had at the moment. Tsuna sat in silence and listened to Namimori as it woke up, it was a quiet Tuesday morning all things considered from his past experiences. Tsuna got to work and completed his late work at a steady pace. Paper after paper he slowly completed the pile thanks to the notes he had to look at. The sun was completely above the horizon line at the moment and he looked up to be blinded by the orange and blue sky. Tsuna pushed himself away from the desk and stretched himself out, letting the sun kiss his face gently, he smiled and enjoyed the peace. 

 

A soft click pulled Tsuna from his daze and he looked down and out his window, he saw his father return with some fish in a bucket and greeted Lambo who ran out to him. Tsuna refused to smile at the moment, he refused to feel heartbroken because he wished this was what it was like for him growing up, he refused to feel jealous of Lambo as he watched him get thrown into the air. thrown in the air high..like really high...

"..."

Tsuna yelled as he met eyes with Lambo from his 2nd story bedroom window,

"LAMBO!?" Tsuna yelled.

He threw on a pair of clothes that were on his chair and raced down, he was buttoning up his black and orange short-sleeved shirt and fastened the belt of his skinny jeans. While Tsuna and his friends were shopping yesterday he was able to buy some clothes with money his father slipped into his pocket, he patted himself down and noticed he had on a necklace, he stopped at the door and grabbed onto the accessory.

Iemitsu caught Lambo one more time and held him, he looked over at Tsuna and held a thumbs up, "The ring really adds to the style!" His father complimented him. 

Tsuna blushed a bit and rubbed his neck, unsure of how to react. He looked down and inspected the ring he had around his neck. He looked at it and noticed the familiar half-blue orb on it, he kept thinking about where he saw it.. where had he seen it before... 

"THIS RING-"

"The ring?" his father responded,

"ITS THAT HORRIFIC HALF-VONGOLA RING!?" He screamed as was holding the ring in one hand and holding his head with the other. A splitting migraine attacked his head causing him to wince, he tried looking around and he could feel someone was watching him. When he looked up he spotted Reborn in his window holding a cup of coffee. 

"Tsuna?" his dad questioned, "Is something wrong Tuna-fish?" 

"NO!" he answered by yelling at the man, he ran back into the house and up the stairs to his bedroom.

"IT WAS YOU!" Tsuna shouted at Reborn from his doorway.

"Nope." Reborn deadpanned, he sipped his coffee in peace at the rising sun. 

"Then who put this around my neck?!" Tsuna questioned, he stomped up to Reborn and leaned down to his level on his desk. 

"I'm assuming he hasn't told you anything yet?" Reborn finished his cup and set it down gently, 

"Him?.. Wait this has nothing to do with me! Don't involve me in this mess," he lifted his ring up and showed it to Reborn. 

Reborn looked up at Tsuna with a look of mild annoyance, "What are you saying Dame-Tsuna? This has everything to do with you... That Vongola ring is proof of the next boss of Vongola."

Reborn turned around and let the notion hit Tsuna, who didn't look too hot. Tsuna fumbled backward and sat down on his bed in disbelief.. well, he had somewhat of an idea that he was in the mafia.. just not the boss of the largest and most dangerous family in the world...

"This.. this has to be some joke?" Tsuna muttered, he held his head again and kept wincing at the pain. He must be dehydrated or something.. The pain kept getting worse, it was starting to travel down his neck, almost paralyzing his shoulders and soon spine. 

"That ring is probably too soon for you to have.. but it's an urgent matter so we can't wait any longer...That ring is proof of the rightful heir of Vongola, the one who wields the immense power of the Vongola family"

Reborn paused and chose his words carefully, "The Varia is after the other half of the rings.."

"V-Varia?" Tsuna asked weakly, half listening. 

Reborn with his back turned, went on to explain the Varia, the man who Tsuna fought Sunday, Superbi Squalo, and the squad he was associated with. Reborn explained to Tsuna how the group was meant to be a loyal, independent assassination team for the Vongola family. Highly accomplished and how the group worked in the shadows of the family, he also started explaining their downfall after a certain someone came into leadership of the group. Reborn paused for a second to see if Tsuna was going to interrupt him or not, but when he turned to look at him, he was shocked.

Reborn noticed the pain his student was in, Reborn tried taking out Leon but saw his student wavering to stay awake instead. Reborn leaped over to Tsuna's side and patted his legs. 

"Reh...Rehboorn-" Tsuna slurred, his eyes looked hazy and his breaths became slowed, Reborn looked up at Tsuna's falling head and saw a slow trickle of blood come out of one of Tsuna's nostrils. Reborn saw as the Young man's hands gave out and he tumbled forward and sprawled on the floor. Reborn reached down and felt for a pulse in Tsuna's wrist. His pulse was still strong and didn't feel concerned at that time. Reborn felt the presence of Tsuna's friends walking up the stairs, he heard the soft footsteps stop and a hitched breath come out. 

 

Reborn looked up and saw Gokudera and Yamamoto in the doorway.

 

'what terrible timing..' Reborn cursed.

"Ju-juudaime?" Gokudera ask with hesitance, Yamamoto slowly followed Gokudera into the room and looked at the passed-out Tsuna on the floor. The two rushed to the grown body and tried lifting up the adult. The body felt well toned and was heavier than they thought by looks alone. The muscle density felt like lead in their arms and was a bit of a hassle to lift the unconscious person to his bed. 

"No wonder Tsuna could keep up with that guy?" Yamamoto wheezed out as they laid him on the bed. Tsuna's face was painted with smeared blood, and half his right cheek was chalky with it. Gokudera ran to the bathroom to grab a washcloth while Yamamoto was unbuttoning Tsuna's shirt to cool him off. The body, while they lifted him, was sweaty and burning to the touch. 

"Don't be shocked" Reborn warned the Two teens as they finally got a good look at Tsuna's damaged body, they saw where the fresh wounds were and felt great anguish at the old ones, the arms were wrapped in burns, and his torso, tattooed with scars and bullet wounds from the unknown past.

 

Gokudera and Yamamoto were silent as they tended to Tsuna who slowly breathed faster and was cooling down. A couple of minutes passed and Tsuna was mumbling as he awoke from his fever.

"Tsuna!" Yamamoto shouted jumping up first at the first sign of consciousness in Tsuna, Gokudera jumped to his side too, grabbing his hand that rested on his side. 

"Dame-Tsuna," Reborn called out, "What was that?"

"Reborn.." 

Tsuna lifted his arm and covered his eyes, sensitive to the light. Tsuna hoisted himself up from his laying position and noticed his two friends by his side. 

"You guys?" He said in confusion, "Why are you two here? its... Tuesday?" Tsuna said after a moment to recollect his surroundings. 

"Answer me Tsuna," Reborn said in a serious voice to Tsuna, 

"Ah.." he exhaled, "I just got this terrible headache.. it wasn't that bad this morning, but it just... kept getting worse, it was traveling down my head to my shoulders and spine.."

Tsuna rubbed his hands together softly, "It just got too painful to handle near the end. I tried my best to keep listening but it wouldn't go away.."

The four stayed silent until Gokudera gave a guess as to why he fainted, "Could it have something to do with these rings we got?"

Tsuna slowly looked up in despair... His friend both wielded the half rings as well. Holding up the shiny metal rings and letting Tsuna see them both. 

"Oh God.." Tsuna choked out, he held his mouth as he felt something come up to his throat. His mouth slowly filled with saliva, he tried holding it down as he listened to Gokudera explain how the two woke up to find the rings on their necks, but he couldn't hold it anymore. He scrambled out of bed and only made it halfway out the door before he let himself fall to the floor. His friends were right by his side and held him as he let out the content of his lunch from yesterday and just acid go. 

 

..That's right, he didn't get dinner or even breakfast yet, and his lunch from yesterday was all he ate too since his fight Sunday. 

 

Tsuna kept retching in his hallway and then kept going some more till his anxiety faltered and his throat was burned. Tsuna gripped Gokudera's hand that held his own, he used it to try and stand. The two teens helped Tsuna as he walked over to the bathroom, Gokudera asked Yamamoto to stay and help clean up the bile while he helped Tsuna wash up. 

 

As Tsuna and his friends came back to the room, cleaned and changed, Reborn looked at the 'three' teens. 

Reborn recapped for the two new ones and told them about what he already told Tsuna, who was sitting at his floor table with a hot cup of black coffee. Tsuna could only guess as to why this was the only thing that settled his stomach at that moment, as he was never one to drink 'black' coffee.

"Wait a minute!" Tsuna commented, "What will happen if they find out the rings they stole were fakes?"

"Then they will come to get the new ones" Reborn answered honestly. 

"Then that means if we have these-" Tsuna lifted up his half ring from his neck, "We'll be killed?!" he panicked, almost slamming down his cup. 

"We'll definitely be killed next time!" he shouted, Gokudera gripped Tsuna's shoulder in reassurance, 

"As long as I live I will gladly serve you, Juudaime!" He said with a twinkle in his eye, giving a happy thumbs up.

"NO! That's the exact opposite of what I want Gokudera?!" Tsuna cried out. 

"Don't worry dame-Tsuna, the fake rings were made very well, it will probably take thema bout ten days to figure out that they are fakes."

"I don't like that probability, Reborn" Tsuna fretted, He rubbed his temple and pinched between his eyebrows to try and contain his new migraine, this time it came from not wanting to hear what his mentor had to say to him. 

"Do you plan on wasting the precious time Basil gave us then, Dame-Tsuna?" 

"Wha- No?!" he retorted,

"Then you will train for the next ten days, vigorously," Reborn said in a matter-of-fact tone, 

Tsuna looked to his left and right and saw determined faces on his friends, they both looked ready to train and fight by Tsuna's side. Something in Tsuna gave in, he didn't know why he was so weak to his friend's determined looks anymore, he just leaned back on his hands and sighed. 

"Wait.." Yamamoto commented, "There are only three rings?"

"No," Reborn said, "You were in fact chosen to hold one of the Seven Rings of Vongola,"

"Seven?" Tsuna questioned,

"There is a total of seven rings and they serve a purpose when seven people of the family bear them" Reborn lifted up his fedora to look them each in the eyes. "The six rings, other than Tsuna's; were delivered to six other people who have been deemed worthy of protecting the next boss of Vongla, You-" Reborn pointed his finger at Tsuna, "Tsunayoshii Sawada, The soon to be Decimo of the Vongola family."

The two boys next to Tsuna were in awe at the short speech Reborn gave to them. 

"Crazy~" Yamamoto laughed out loud,

"Shoosh you stupid baseball nerd!" Gokudera hissed,

Tsuna looked at Reborn and mindlessly copied the words he spoke next like they had been burned into his memory. 

"Protect the rings that are identifying proof, you are the Vongola tenth generation."

 

The four paused.

 

 

What?

 

 

Hah?

 

 

"Juudaime.."

"Tsuna.." His two friends said in surprise, Tsuna could only blink in de ja-vu, he didn't know where the words came from, he didn't hear them before surly...

"Hnn?" Reborn uttered. 

Tsuna panicked and stood, chugging the rest of his coffee and pulling his friends up from the floor, "Let's go you two! it's not good to skip school!" Tsuna grabbed an over jacket and pulled the two teens out of his room and out the front door. The only thing Tsuna could do was run away from the situation and tackle it at another time. 

Reborn watched from the seat on the window sill as the three were running out the door and onto the street. A gentle knock came from the door frame and a stoic Iemitsu let himself in. 

"My son sure has a bright future ahead of him, I'm sure you see it too old friend."

"Yeah, I've been the one taking care of him for a year and a half..."

The two watched the boys disappear behind a corner and continued on, 

"I appreciate this, Reborn,"

".. You aren't going to tell Tsuna about everything yet?" Reborn asked,

Iemitsu grunted and stretched his shoulders.

"Im prepared at any time to tell him but, you know just as well, it won't come out smoothly no matter how I phrase it."

Reborn didn't nod or disagree, he only kept looking out the window. He too knew very well how volatile Tsuna became after getting this new body, his temperament almost seemed to fluctuate and his emotions cooled. But that didn't stop Tsuna from feeling the adverse effects of this new body's immense power and its new struggles. 

"Well!" Iemitsu clapped his hands together loudly, "Just go along with it, I've done my part of distributing the rings" Iemitsu turned and called out to his beautiful wife downstairs,

"Nana! wanna go on that breakfast date we talked about?" He shouted to her from the stairway.