Warnings: OOC!Tsuna, Fail!Sass, and slight mentions of gore.

The pain that you've been feeling,

Can't compare to the joy that's coming.

-Romans 8:18

Two years have passed and summer has come, which means vacation time for every children, -all but one-, on the lowest level of an average house there can be found a boy, humming a tune, or sometimes reading a book, or maybe even meditating, yet no one knows of his existence, hidden since birth and cast away to the darkness by those supposed to love him he has never seen the outside world, all he has is a small window where sun peeks in from time to time, were he to die no one would care, should he go missing no one would look, yet there is no sadness in his gaze, only anticipation and a warmth in those orbs for people he has yet to meet.

Chained like a dog, yet he walks with the grace and pride akin to that of a beast, they will try to break him but never succed, because a beast cannot be tamed by those who try to take away its freedom.

So the day has come russet orbs blik repeatedly –finally- is the first thought a certain brunet has when he opens his eyes, darkness flooding his vision, taking a few moments to adjust he rolls over so he is on his back, and when he thinks its enough he stretches his joints to get rid of the ache that sleeping on the floor leaves on his body. He's gotten used to it, he even takes confort in it, it's like a reminder to himself, saying I am still alive, still here, I have not lost, so even though the ache never goes away he welcomes it with open arms, because it's one of the things that remain a constant in his life, not for much longer though is what he thinks with a little quirk to his lips, in what would seem a small attempt of a smile. Sighing he thinks back to That Day, he still remembers the desperation he felt, when all he saw was precious crimson liquid leaving him, the ache in his neck, the pressure, the pain, and that clarity in which he felt as each batch of skin separated, inch for inch with every movement he made, until he was forced to stay still, waiting for death to come pick him up, and he remembers thinking maybe he had forgotten him too and how the moment he felt his consciousness slip away his intuition rang, loud and clear, desperate like him, in an attempt to keep him awake, to keep him alive.

It reminded him why he had never given up, what kept him breathing each and every day he had to spend in this hell hole, LIVEOURSFIGHTHOMESTAY the words kept ringing in his ears, that's right, he slowly began to regain control of his senses, I still haven't met them, I haven't seen them, I can't leave, not yet, I can't die like this, I want to meet them, I want to live to be happy, no, I won't die, ' , with his resolve strengthened and clear he felt a swirl of heat running through his veins, and as a feeling of peace overwhelmed him he felt excruciating pain for a moment and then it was gone, then the next second he saw a blinding light –warmfiremine- and all he remembers is blackness.

Everything became different that day, and he wears that reminder as a mark etched on the skin of his neck, decorated with wide scars of red and blotches of mangled flesh that fought to come together again, the result of skin once torn apart being brought together once more, but just like a shattered vase which parts have been glued together, the lines in which they were once apart are as clear as day and for everyone to see, it stays as a reminder of how close he came to his demise, forever carved on him he wears it proudly, for it is a sign of a battle fought and won, with his life as the prize, and it marks a new beginning as well as the entrance of a very exuberant 'Uncle'. He stops his reminiscence from the old days and pays attention to the sound of something being dragged around what he remembers as the living room, who knows, he's been here so long they could've made a strip club out of the upper levels and he would not know best.

(The story of how a 7 year old Tsuna came to know what a strip club even is will be left for another time, since the person responsible for said gained knowledge is still reflecting on his actions and currently on a break from sake –or any kind of liquor actually-.)

For the past week or so he has been hearing loud sounds from above, and his intuition has been ringing non-stop, it keeps waking him up at odd hours of the night, but since it's more of a happy tune that oddly reminds him of You are my sunshine, instead of an intense melody like that piano tune that goes 'tun tun tun tuuuun' he is forced to believe that whatever it is that's happening up there means good news to him, if not everybody else. His intuition has learned well to distinguish the feelings it wants to convey, though he chose to do so through songs, but well it could have been worse, who knows what would have happened if it had chose the option of Shakespearean speech, ugh, the shivers. Well, I think this deserves a mental pat in the back for a job well done, -pat pat- good job Minion, good job.

(Tsuna named it that after it became a mouthful saying Intuition every sentence, besides, it was practically his only friend so it was logical that he got a name too, so when he joined the first and last two letters and it read Inion he discovered that it sounded similar to Minion so he decided to roll with it. He still remembers the first time he told his Uncle how he had named it, he got a splash of soup straight to the face. Yep, never giving news again while he's eating, he learned that lesson after he told him he learned where babies came from and got a face full of rice and salmon bits. Not a pleasant experience. At all.)

As the day wore on, Minion kept buzzing in the forefront of his mind, and it kept getting louder and louder with each hour that came past, until it went completely still and everything was quiet, that was when he heard the tell-tale sound of the door being open, and the loud footsteps that followed coming down the creaky stairs identified the person that now came into light as Iemitsu Sawada. When the man stopped at the last step he seemed to be observing everything that came into view and when his gaze fell on one slim brunet his features made a 180 degree change and all you could see in his previously calm and considerating gaze was disgust, hate and a little bit of smug satisfaction if you looked deep enough, Tsuna didn't know what Iemitsu was so joyed about but he guessed he was about to find out. And find out he did.

"You're leaving" Well, hello to you too, seriously, no manners, where have all the gentleman gone, probably to a strip club, his mind supplied. Okay, leaving aside his wayward mind and rocking humour, Tsuna tried to listen to whatever the blond was saying, but he seemed so excited to be kicking him out that all he could save from the blabbering was the general idea of the situation, that consisted in 'we're moving somewhere else' 'we don't want you to come with us' 'therefore we're throwing you out on the street' and don't let us forget the 'and I hope you die' now with his piece said Iemitsu walked out right where he came in from -no duh, what's he gonna do? Levitate through the wall? Dumb-dumb- I almost regret the day I learned how to sass… but then no, it was the best day ever, so I'll just have to deal with random sassy commentaries courtesy of myself and a singing Minion.

Coming back to the world outside Tsunas disturbingly sassy mindscape everything Iemitsu just said finally sinked in, and a weight seemed to have lifted from the young childs' chest, for a moment his breathing seemed to have stopped only to come back full force, all of his feleings came tumbling down, -shock.happiness.pain.grief.joy.sadness.anticipation.hurt.fear.resignation.melancholy- his knees were trembling, soft tremors rocked his body minutely and his mind was a jumbled mess –more so than usual- his previously silent Minion came back louder than ever blaring finallyourshomesearchfree in an incessant repeat sequency. Finally falling to his knees Tsuna let the first tear drop, and just as if a dam had been broken others followed, one.two.three.four gulps of air, sobs wracked his body, shivers crawled up his spine as he heaved one big breath after the other, the collar on his neck a prescence that grounded him and the sound of the chains hitting the floor continuously assaulting his ears, he continued to stay curled up like bundle of flesh on the floor until all that was left of him was a pile of mush spent from all the crying, his limbs felt heavy and his mind was hazy, his eyes were bloodshot and puffy and his throat felt sore, the coppery taste of blood assaulted his tongue so he got up.

Gathering some water in his trembling hands he brought it up to his lips and took a sip, taking it all the way down his throat just so he could spit it out again along with the crimson liquid staining the cement floors. Deciding that it was enough for now, Tsuna began to think, he was going to be free, finally free after so long, so what did he do now? Pack.

With that thought in mind Tsuna took out a small satchel bag -he had found it carelessly thrown behind a cabinet around a year ago- put it on the floor near the bundle of sheets that was his bed in the corner and went to the far corner of the basement, he kneeled and touched around the bricks until he felt one that was loose, having located the one he needed he pulled at the corners until the brick fell off, he put it a little sideways and began digging in the hole that was now there, he felt something thin brush his finger and pushed more of his hand inside it, patting the place where he felt something he found what he was looking for and grabbed it between his thimb and index finger, easily pulling it out, he placed it in front of him and started to put the brick back into the hole, having finished he stood up and brushed the dirt and small pieces of brick that collected in his pants, considering his clothes to be clean enough he picked up the small rectangular piece of plastic and went back to where the satchel was, once there he cleaned the small thing and it revealed a credit card his Uncle had given him when he turned 6, he said he would need it someday, for when he got out of here, and now it was finally time to use it, he opened the bag and placed the card on the zipped pocket inside, then he went to a cabinet that was across the room and took out the books that were guarded there, once they were all out he reached for the sleek compact device that was on the very back of the furniture, once he had it it was placed above the cabinet and he began filling the empty space with the books once again, finished with that he took the device and some cables and put it on the satchel as well, it was a small computer that Uncle had brought as a gift along with the credit card, he said that there were things he needed to learn on his own, and that it would do him good to explore a little bit, he did as told and fell in love with the internet, so many things, so many information, it was all there for him to see, and once Uncle had said that he was enough well versed in exploring the web he thaught him other things, such as how to make a fake identity, how to create an untraceable bank account, and how to hack into websites as well, he said that it would all come in handy and he didn't doubt it, after all the proof was happening right now.

And since all of his belongings consisted of those two things he decided to put some of the warmer clothes he had in the satchel as well, they were all hand-me-downs from Giotto so they were quite big on him, but they were warm and kept him cozy in the winter so that was all that mattered, he went to a cabinet on the left of the bathroom and took out a pair of pants that he could tie so it would fit him, a long-sleeved shirt and a denim jacket, he also took a scarf and hid it in the bag, he put on some sandals and went to sit. He grabbed a hair brush along the way and started brushing his hair, he had long chestnut colored hair, he had never cut it since he was born so now it reached down to his knees, Uncle had once offered to cut it for him but he refused, he liked his hair, it was a part of him, and he liked the weight of his hair flowing from side to side whenever he moved, he finished brushing his locks and braided it to one side, he picked the ribbon that was beside the bowl of food and quickly tied it to the end of the braid so it wouldn't come apart. He hugged the bag close to his chest and waited, what felt like hours passed and finally footsteps sounded through the basement, Tsuna felt someone pull roughly on the chain and it made the spiked collar pierce his skin once more, holding back a gasp he hissed in pain beneath his breath, and looked up to the person responsible, and of course it was Iemitsu, he was standing there with a huge grin, looking like the cat that got the canary, he gave on last sharp pull to the chains and stepped back to watch as the blood dripped down the newly made holes in his neck, he hummed in satisfaction at the view it presented him and he stepped forward once more, Tsuna didn't move, it would only make it worse, he stayed quiet while Iemitsu grabbed the collar and bit back another gasp at the throbbing feeling in his neck, it was only made worse by the blond man rough-handling him like a doll, a click was heard and soon after he felt the collar being taken away, the trickling of blood was starting to form a puddle on the ground beneath him, but he couldn't do anything as he was harshly pulled up to his feet with just enough time to grab his bag before being dragged up the stairs, this was it, this was the moment he had been waiting for so long, he steeled himself as he was hauled out the basement door, he barely had time to notice how empty it looked, no furniture, no decorations, no nothing, they really were moving, it didn't matter though as he was hurled down the pavement with enough force to take his breath away –and it's definitely not in the romantic sense he had read about before- but in the 'I feel like I'm going to puke out a lung if I don't get my dose of O2' kind of sentiment.

He heard footsteps getting further away and they stopped, then the sound of a door being shut reached his ears, a car was ignited and he barely had enough sense of mind through his hazy vision to roll away from a pair of screeching tires that were heading his way, he remained laid on the street for a while more until his vision was no longer blurred, he touched his neck with his right hand and it came back stained in crimson. He searched through the small belongings he had until he found the scarf he had packed before, he took it out and began to roll it around his neck as if it was a bandage, the stark color black would hide well the red that seeped through the fabric.

Now that he was more assured that he would not bleed out any moment soon he took a moment to observe everything around him, all he could see was darkness, a few lamp posts down the street and the surrounding houses, then he looked up at the sky and drew in a sharp breath, it was the first time he had seen the sky, he had seen pictures before on the internet of course, but the little window in the basement did not allow her to look outside, so this was his first time seing the wide expanse of nothing up there, spattered with small lights –stars, he remembers, they are called stars- he has never seen something so beautiful, and just the sight of it makes it all the more real. He really is free, there are no chains to drag him down, no locks to keep him caged, he can walk as far as he wants, he can see all that he wishes to, he can finally start living.

The thought makes him giddy, but he needs to get away, to get out of this town –Namimori- he will need to find somewhere to sleep in tonight, Minion started buzzing, it said to go down the path to the left, so that way he went.

He walked for around two hours being directed by Minion until it told him to stop, and as he looked up he came across a sign that read Welcome to Kokuyo Land.

And as he took his first step into town, a chapter of his life ended. But with each ending comes a new beginning.

Well, here it is! I hope you liked this new chapter, I tried to make it longer than the last one and I succeeded, thank to the Lord of nuggets.

Anyways, I want to know what you guys think about this chapter, if you think I should make some changes, or what you think will happen next in the story.

Also, I'm very sorry about my fail at sass v_v

In this story Tsuna will obviously be OOC!, what with his background story and everything. But he won't be weak, or depressed, I intend to make my Tsuna as a strong-willed character that takes on life as it comes, and welcomes everyone with open arms since he understands the harships of life and knows that there is a story behind each person.

I would also appreciate very much if you told me what you think of my writing style, because sometimes I think that it's a little weird so I would like to hear your opinions too.

Thank you very much for reading!

Until the next chapter.