This fanfic has been revived. Someone shot it with a Dying Will Bullet, and the fanfic came back to life in a demand to be finished.

IMPORTANT :A reread is not necessary but there are some sentences that have been changed that will reflect the changed plot. Will notify if there are any other changes. I am still revising the past few chapters, so please be patient with me. Anyway for those jumping into the fray without rereading the changes are:
-The change of names from Kaitou Jyuudaime to Kaitou Yoshi. - PLEASE NOTE THAT THE NAME HAS BEEN CHANGED.
-Mentions of Byakuran and his phantom thief persona
-Some slight characterization changes

Hi guys. Sorry for the update last week, I removed it because in some weird stroke of inspiration that struck me and drove me to finish this uncompleted chapter. I sincerely apologise to the confused readers who have been wondering whether this fanfic is alive or not. The good news is, I managed to find a way to continue this story. I have went back and revised most of the chapters, changing some of the things to make the plot flow smoother while writing a new chapter 10 with a new plot in mind. The revisions will take a while but are relatively minor.

This chapter was stuck at 1k words. When I finished it, it was originally 2k words. Then for no reason, it ballooned to a whopping 7.1k words in the next few days. I initially wrote 4k words as compensation for this week's error but just went overboard. I worked for more than 10 hours on this and the next few chapters. If you can, spot the old and the new one. But most of the writing is new. Please enjoy.

Kaitou Vongola Tenth Chapter 10: The Confrontation

Namimori, Sawada Residence, Tsuna's room, 2:03AM

The brunet sleeping in his bed woke up, staring at the ceiling. The lights were off, and it was a quiet night. Tsuna got up, scratching his head and yawning. Rubbing his eyes, he soon removed his blanket off him, and put his two feet on the floor. Standing up, he noticed Reborn sleeping in the lifting cot attached to the ceiling. The baby was snoring with a bubble enlarging and shrinking from his nose with his eyes open. 'You can never tell if he's sleeping or not with those eyes open.' The teen was surprised, yet had a tint of fear in his reaction. He then headed towards the door, opening it quietly and closed it with as little force as possible.

The sleepy brunet lazily slugged his way in the corridor, and took his own sweet time getting down the stairs. 'What a peaceful, serene night.' He smiled, unable to remember the last time when there was some peace. 'Normally I would be stealing something but with an injured arm, it won't bode well.' Tsuna frowned and turned around to head for the bathroom. The hallways were dark, though Tsuna noticed the moonlight illuminating from the living room while he trudged past it. The rest of the house were probably in bed, except for the teen.

'I wonder how Dino can sleep peacefully when anyone could attack him at any time…wait, there isn't a reason for assassins to come here anyway.' The brunet thought as he twisted the doorknob, switching on the light. Pulling up his spring green pajamas sleeve, there was bandages from his mid forearm all the way to his shoulder. Tsuna started to undress it, revealing a burn injury that stretched from the mid forearm all the way to the shoulder. Tsuna flinched as the injury stung. The teen reached for the medical oil in the cabinet below the sink, applying it on his injury. 'Damn, it's not working.' The flames they had used seemed like it had different properties. 'Maybe Carina might know something about it.' Decided to not think about it anymore, he went back to sleep.

Namimori, Sawada Residence, Tsuna's room, 7:01AM

The brunet snored loudly in his bed, obviously showing the lack of sleep he had lately. His legs was sprawled all over, having kicked off his blanket to the floor. Being the usual Spartan torturing tutor he was, Reborn decided to give the teen a rather shocking wake up call. Electric shocks made its deadly rounds throughout Tsuna's body. The teen flinched and had spasms of pain all over before rolling off his bed. He fell onto the floor, wincing in pain and trembling. His hair was also messed up even more than his usual hairstyle.

"Ah, it seems you woke up." Reborn spoke in a totally nonchalant tone, as if he had done nothing dangerous.

Slowly, the brown eyed teen recovered from the electric shock and got up to meet eye to eye to the baby with a extremely displeased expression.

"What the hell did you do that for?" He said in an exaperated tone.

"It's good that you woke up. Some people don't even open their eyes using this method." The tutor said.

"That's because they die from shock!" Tsuna yelled, terribly annoyed with his tutor's perception of what is killing and what is not killing.

"Tsu-kun! You are going to be late for school!" Nana shouted from the kitchen.

"Alright!" The brunet immediately sprinted for the bathroom.

His hopes for a normal day went down the drain the moment he stepped out of the house. A large group of men in black suits were standing nearby the house.

"Buon giorno, Vongola Tenth." Romario greeted.

"Why are you guys here? I didn't ask you to pick me up." Dino said, appearing from the house.

"Boss, no one came to pick you up. We were taking a stroll and we just happened to end up here!" One of his men said cheerfully.

'That's not true! You purposely came here to see Dino!' Tsuna thought in disbelief.

"Good morning Tenth!" The brunet sighed and turned around to see Gokudera. "I also wandered around because I woke up too early and I found myself walking here!" He cheerfully said.

'The Mafia must be infected with this disease of randomly walking around and ending up at a too specific destination. It must be.' The boy decided to not bother anymore lest he loses his sanity. His right hand man tensed up upon noticing the blonde standing at the gate.

"Hello, I believe it's our first time meeting, Smokin' Bomb." Dino greeted.

"That tattoo... you must be Bucking Horse Dino."

"Yo Tsuna and Gokudera! Why are you still here? We'll be late for school if we don't go now." Yamamoto interjected, smiling.

He ushered them away, leaving behind Dino and Reborn.

"So what do you think, Dino?" The infant asked.

"They're just a bunch of kids. The most important part of a Family is trust. If I don't see that, I won't consider them." The blonde answered.

"Then would you like to test them since you're interested?" Reborn asked.

"He rebuilt his family's financial structure after the previous generation screwed it over. His family has the third greatest influence in the alliance." Gokudera said, and Tsuna for once felt impressed for the first time since he met the blonde. "But I don't like him."

"Why?" He asked.

"I don't trust anyone older than me." The bomber said in a displeased tone.

'Are you serious? That's a huge range!' The brown haired boy gaped in shock.

"Tsuna! Have you done your homework?" Yamamoto said, joining the conversation.

Before he could reply, a red shiny car drove up beside them and the car door opened. Then, a rope sprang out and latched onto Tsuna's arm. The brunet found himself being jerked backwards, yanked towards the car. 'What the heck?' The car soon sped off dragging a teenager screaming for his life.

"Tenth!"

"Tsuna!" The baseball fan shouted.

"This is bad." They turned around to see Reborn. "It must have been the Momokyokai Yakuza that operating in Namimori. They are actual Japanese mafia. Middle schoolers don't stand a chance against them. I think we will have to call the police and leave it to Dino to settle this." Reborn suggested.

"I'm not going to leave this to the police. You with me, baseball idiot?" Gokudera said.

"That's right, we can't stand here and do nothing when Tsuna is in danger. I'm with you!" Yamamoto said, and then they both sprinted off.

A minute later, the car drove back again and stopped beside the tutor. Dino stepped out of the car, with Tsuna inside.

"I like them. Despite the fact that they are no match for them, they are set on rescuing Tsuna. Though they lost their composure, they are very trustworthy." The blonde concluded, and the brown haired boy stepped out of the car unharmed.

'Though I'm glad they went that far, I don't want people to get hurt because of me.' The boy thought.

"So why did you do that for?" The brunet demanded, glaring at the home tutor.

"It was to test your Family's trust. I apologise for the aforementioned rough behaviour just now. I have to say, you're lucky that you got people who will go very far to save you without hesitation." The older male supplied. "Besides, the Momokyokai is probably a fake that Reborn made up on the spot for this test. They'll give up and go home when they realise that." Dino assured the boy, who did not feel convinced in the least.

"Well boss, we'll be leaving-" Romario said, but got cut off.

"You're not leaving until you solve the problem you just created." The brown haired boy immediately commanded, and everyone froze. "The Momokyokai yakuza is a actual and real yakuza operating in Namimori. Are you sure you were trained by Reborn? You of all people should know that he will always goes to the extreme without fail. This isn't a joke. Though Gokudera is part of the mafia, Yamamoto is a civilian. Are you going to take responsibility for what happens to them?" Tsuna said, standing his ground for the first time since he met Reborn.

'His personality took a drastic change.' Both the boss and his men were stunned, surprised in the change of demeanour from the boy. Whatever doubts or bad impressions they had of Tsuna previously have completely evaporated into thin air. The cowardly boy that would cower in fear of them the day before had somehow been replaced by this brown haired boy who had a look of determination in his eyes, courageously standing up to a mafia boss who could order his men at any moment to kill him. Reborn just smiled.

"Don't worry. I will take responsibility for this and make sure they will be back safe and sound." Dino said after gathering his thoughts. "Are you coming along? It is the job of a Boss to protect their Family." He asked.

"Obviously I'm coming along but I'm not doing this to protect the Family or whatever you call it. I'm doing this because they're my friends." Tsuna then proceeded to head in the direction where his two friends had went.

Namimori, Sawada Residence, Living Room, 12:03PM

The two officers approached the seemingly harmless house. They walked towards the door and rung the door bell. A voice of a young woman could be heard, and the door opened to show a brown haired woman. She had short hair, and she wore an apron over her clothes.

"Hello, how may I help you police officers?" The woman asked.

"We are from the Namimori Police Station and Theft Investigative Squad 2. I am Detective Sanada and this is Detective Inoue." Sanada introduced themselves. "We would like to talk to Sawada Tsunayoshi regarding his help in a police case." He added.

"Oh, I'm sorry officer, but Tsu-kun is still in school." Nana apologized, though surprised at the visit of the two police officers.

"It is fine. May we ask you some questions about him?" Sanada said.

"Sure. Let me put out the laundry and grab some tea for you two." Nana said, inviting the two of them in.

Sakura made herself comfortable, while Sanada glared at everything. He scanned their surroundings. The walls had olive green wallpaper and looked very much like spring. 'This does not even feel like the house of a phantom thief at all…' Sakura thought, sitting in the living room with Sanada. Lambo suddenly came out of nowhere, entertaining himself with giggling and screaming.

"Gahahahah! Lambo-san makes his entrance!" He declared, running into the room and then sees the two unfamiliar visitors.

He approached them with a piece of candy and pulled at Sakura's jeans.

"Hey, do you want a candy?" The afro haired kid showed her a candy, which she was about to reach for.

'What a nice kid.' She thought.

"Bleh! Lambo-san is not going to give you this candy until you agree to become my henchman!" The kid spat his tongue. "But you can have this!" Lambo then pulled out a pink grenade and showed it to her.

'Ah, what a mischievous kid…' Sakura laughed at herself for entertaining the boy's antics. She calmly reached out her hand, and the five year old kid cheerfully placed it on her palm. The item betrayed her expectations; instead of a light plastic fake, a heavy weight dropped onto her hand. The detective then shook it around and her eyes widened in fear. She gave off screeching scream and threw the grenade behind her. It landed on the couch behind them and she nervously trembled.

"What's wrong? It's only a toy grenade." The black haired detective spoke, seeing his partner freaking out for no reason.

"But, S-Sanada, it's a real one!" Sakura insisted, and he cranked his neck to look at the pink grenade.

'A fake toy pink grenade? Are you serious?' Sanada thought, glancing at the afro haired child. He stuck out his tongue and laughed at the woman, who blushed in embarrassment. The black haired male proceeded to return to glaring at his nervous partner who shivered and ignoring the nuisance in the living room. Thankfully, the child chose to ignore them and ran out of the living room. Nana then walked into the room with three cups of tea on a tray and placed it on the coffee table.

Sakura composed herself upon seeing the housewife enter the living room and she gladly sipped her tea. The aroma calmed her down and removed all her anxieties, pushing the memory of a certain grenade to the back of her mind.

"I thought I heard a scream just now. Did something happen?" Nana asked, completely surprised.

"Nothing happened at all, ma'am!" Sakura insisted, flustered.

She could sense her partner sending her dagger glares as she sipped her tea.

"Anyway, Miss Sawada, we would like to ask you some questions." Sanada stated their purpose for being here.

"I will answer them to my very best, police officer." Nana answered calmly.

"Have you noticed any changes in your son's behaviour? For example, around two years ago." Sakura began to ask.

"Eh? Well, he has been no good as usual. His grades are poor and he doesn't do well in physical activities." The brunette pondered seriously. "There are times he would skip school and come home early with some bruises. Other than that, I don't think there's anything that would interest you, officer. We just hired a home tutor lately, so his grades have been improving." She added.

"Is that so? Then do you know if he has any friends?" Sanada asked.

"Before we hired our home tutor, there is none I can think of." The mother said, drinking her tea.

"Are you aware of this phantom thief named Kaitou Yoshi?" The black haired cop began to inquire.

"Ah yes, that thief they are always talking about! I usually watch whenever the news broadcast his heists live. He's so much better than my son." Nana said cheerfully. "Oh no, I don't mean that I support his crimes! I just find his heists to be very entertaining, please forgive me police officers." She immediately rectified her words, not wishing to offend them.

"Do not worry, I am sure whatever you say will be very helpful in allowing us to stop his crimes." The female cop assured her, and noticed a family photo. "Is your son usually with you when you watch those heists? You look very close with him." Sakura asked.

"Some times. He is always upstairs playing videogames though." The brunette recalled. "But he's trying his best and is a good son." She smiled.

'So, there is a alibi. Perhaps this thief is not a one man army. We don't have a search warrant, so we can't search the house.' Sanada thought carefully, sipping his tea.

"I'm sorry, but did Tsu-kun do something wrong?" Nana curiously asked the question that had been nagging her mind from the beginning until now.

"No, he did not do anything wrong. However, we have been concerned for his personal safety." The female cop said.

"We suspect that the phantom thief Kaitou Yoshi is operating in Namimori. Lately, he has been appearing around your son and he has made two appearances in daylight. No thefts were reported, which is very suspicious. We believe that this Kaitou Yoshi must have been taking advantage of your son." Sanada added.

Nana's eyes widened in disbelief. 'It's almost as if this is the first time she has heard of this.'

"Do not worry, we intend to do our utmost best to capture him and protect the citizens living in Namimori." The brunette's hands relaxed somewhat.

"We suggest that your son be taken into custody for protection whenever the phantom thief announces his heists." Sanada said in a strict tone.

"E-Eh? Is something bad going to happen?" Nana asked in a concerned tone.

"No, we just need to confirm some things with him so we can clear his involvement in this. We'll be taking our leave now." Sanada said, and got up. "We may pay a visit again soon. Please take care, madam." He said, and bowed.

Unknown to the police officers, a certain infant had been watching them the entire time. He quietly watched them leave in their police car, before retreating back into the house.

Momokyokai Yakuza Base of Operations, 11:03AM

'Please be okay.' Tsuna prayed as they ran up the stairs to the Momokyokai's base. They arrived at the office, expecting to see both Gokudera and Yamamoto to be hurt. Instead, they were greeted by the sight of grown men strewn all over the place. The brunet found himself heaving a sigh of relief.

"Where is the Tenth?!" The silver haired male said, gripping a man's collar.

"Do you know where Sawada Tsunayoshi is?" Yamamoto asked politely, though the man he asked winced in pain on the floor.

"We don't know anyone with that name!" The man replied.

"These guys are actually good." Dino said, and the two turned their attention to see Tsuna safe and sound.

"Tenth! You're alright!" The bomber threw the man away and ran towards them.

His victim collided with the wall and fell to the floor. 'This feels very weird.' The boy thought.

"You seem well!" Yamamoto said.

Though he is glad that they were fine, he felt disturbed that they went this far. 'Are friends supposed to go this far to help me? They're too reckless.' Suddenly, more Momokyokai yakuza members showed up from a corresponding room. They had large builds and towered over most of them. They had angry expressions on their faces and looked ready to fight. Unknowingly, Tsuna found himself standing in front of his two friends.

"What are these brats doing here for? You have insulted us." One of them spoke in an intimidating tone.

"Wait, these guys are not at your level. These guys are too tough for you." The blonde stood in front of the three students and blocked their way. He then proceeded to walk forward, whipping out a golden card. "I am sorry for the trouble we've caused. I will offer to pay for all hospitalization fees for your beaten up members and compensation for the furniture. Can we please just leave it at that?" Dino offered in a polite tone.

"We'll have the money, but you won't leave here for disturbing us. Do you know the price for disturbing us is?" The leader angrily said, and then they all took out their weapons.

"Since negotiations have fallen through, then we'll have to settle this the hard way." Dino said, taking out his whip. "Let's go crazy, guys!" His men charged in at that order.

The entire room became a mess. People were punching left and right, hitting each other and knocking each other out. Though their side had the numbers, the Momokyokai did have some level of skill as Dino mentioned. The brunet found himself targeted the most due to his short stature. Many expected a weak opponent out of him and charged at him. To their dismay, Tsuna effectively dodged all their movements.

"Why can't you stay still, brat?!" One of them yelled, and he threw a right punch at him.

The teen then ducked and punched him in the stomach. He panted heavily, and a sudden pain spiked up his arm. Gripping his left arm tightly, he cursed. 'This is bad. I can't fight with this arm still healing from before. It must have reopened the wounds and they just keep on coming with no end in sight!' The gangsters lunged at them.

"You're defending your left arm, aren't you?" This stunned Tsuna, who froze without thinking. "So I hit the jackpot! Die!" They began to attack him from the left to take advantage of his weakness.

"Tenth!" Gokudera rushed in to the rescue, kicking one of the members out of the way.

"We'll protect you." Yamamoto said, covering him from behind and the left.

Somehow, in the midst of the chaos, they managed to find him. 'You guys...' The teen thought, but snapped out of his thoughts to focus on keeping himself alive. In a matter of a few hours, the Momokyokai had been wiped out.

Afterwards, the winning team gathered outside the hideout. The mafia boss' men stood behind him, facing the three teenagers. 'They seem so united as one.' The brown haired boy commented.

"I'm glad I can leave Tsuna to you guys." Dino said with a cheerful smile. "Well, I got to go. I'm quite busy and got a lot of work to do that piled up over the past two days." He said, preparing to leave with his men.

"Dino-san." The brunet said, and the mafia boss stopped to face him. "Thank you so much for your help. We couldn't have gotten out of there without your help." Tsuna then bowed to him, surprisingly them.

'Is this the very boy who had commanded us to help him just now?' The blonde thought, scratching his head and slightly flustered at this sudden gesture. A part of him felt glad that his younger brother had relied on him, while another part wondered about this sudden change in behaviour.

"Don't worry about it! It's what a older brother should do for his little brother. See ya and take care, alright?" He left with his men, leaving Tsuna alone with Yamamoto and Gokudera.

The boy remained quiet for a while. He looked at the two people who risked their lives for his sake. There were light bruises, and part of their uniform had been torn.

"Are you guys alright?" The brunet said.

"This is like nothing to me, Tenth!" Gokudera claimed.

"We're fine. I'm glad that you're fine too, Tsuna." Yamamoto gave a wry smile. "Is your arm alright by the way? Did you get injured?" He asked in a concerned tone.

"Oh right! Tenth, we need to get that treated immediately!" They both approached him and Tsuna backed away from them.

"It's okay! I didn't get this injury from the fight just now, it was some time before." The brown haired boy said in a panicked tone, hiding his left arm behind him. "I'm so sorry for troubling you two. You went that far to protect me just now." He apologised, looking down at his feet.

"W-Why are you apologising for, Tsuna?" Yamamoto said, surprised.

"Yeah, this is a natural thing to do, Tenth!" The bomber said.

"Because of what happened today, we ended up skipping school. Aren't your parents worried, Yamamoto?" The baseball lover stepped back, stunned. Tsuna then turned to Gokudera. "Then you two blatantly went to challenge a actual yakuza just to save me. What if you couldn't handle it? You guys are too reckless!" He berated them.

"It's no big deal, Tenth." The silver haired boy said, grinning.

"It's no big deal? They could have hurt you or worse killed you!" They stopped. "I don't care about this Mafia thing but I don't want people getting hurt because of me." The two of them looked down on their feet.

"Tsuna, what if we were in your place? What would you do?" Yamamoto asked, staring at him with a determined expression.

"Obviously I will help you in any way I can." Tsuna answered without thinking.

"Then Tsuna, you should know by now. That's what friends do." Yamamoto said, stunning the brown haired boy. "If you're upset that we charged in without any regard for our lives, then I'm sorry for having worried you. We won't do something as reckless as that again. I give you my word." The black haired student declared.

"Tenth." Gokudera said. "I should be thanking you gravely for being so concerned for my safety. So please forgive me for this blunder. I will not do it again." He bowed, surprising the brunet.

'Do I really want to continue going on like this? That I'm actually not what I am? It's not worth it to hide anymore if my friends are going to go get themselves hurt on my behalf.' The brunet thought, feeling guilty and looked at them. Their expressions seemed very earnest and determined.

"Thank you." Those were the only words he could bring himself to utter.

Namimori, Sawada Residence, 5:23PM

Tsuna reflected on what happened on his way home. Had he been too harsh on them? 'Anyway, I need to calm down and think about it more rationally later.' A certain infant stood on the stone fence, having been waiting for him this whole time. Seeing said infant made him sigh.

"You owe me an explanation." The home tutor ordered.

"We'll talk inside." Tsuna relented.

"Tsu-kun! The police came earlier today inquiring about you. Are you alright?" Nana asked in a worried tone the moment he opened the door. "Are you getting bullied by Kaitou Yoshi?"

"I-I'm fine and... what?" The brown haired boy answered absent-mindedly before the name she uttered registered itself into his brain and he gaped in shock. "W-W-Wait a minute! What does Kaitou Yoshi have anything to do with a no good person like me?" He said in a surprised tone.

"They said that this Kaitou Yoshi was appearing around you lately and they believe you are being coerced by him to help him in his thefts, Tsu-kun. Are you sure you are okay?"

"Huh? What?" The boy blinked his eyes in disbelief. "Kaa-san, nothing happened. Calm down." He nervously assured her.

"Don't worry, Maman. Tsuna's fine." Reborn reassured, easing her worries slightly.

"Okay. Tsu-kun, if anything's wrong please tell me. I'm always here if you need me." Nana said cheerfully, and went back into the kitchen to cook.

The two of them headed to Tsuna's bedroom, and sat down. Without warning, Reborn pulled his left arm and pulled up the sleeve.

"H-Hey! What was that for?" Bandages from his elbow to his shoulder could be seen.

Some of them oozed red.

"You have a lot of things to explain to me, Tsuna." Tsuna gulped. "Did you honestly think you could fool me with a mere double?" The tutor said, taking out a first-aid kit.

"Well, I guess they don't call you the world's greatest hitman for nothing." The brunet resigned to his fate. "It is as you say, I haven't been honest with you lately. Yes, I'm not as no-good as they all say." He shook off his arm from his tutor's hold.

"Wait. Give me your arm." Reborn demanded.

"W-What are you going to do about it?" Receiving no answer, the boy reluctantly let the infant have his arm.

Reborn checked the teen's injuries. 'This burn is not done by normal flames. It must have been Storm Flames. This matches the description of the injuries Kaitou Yoshi had.' The baby ripped it off, rewarded with a yelp from his student. Yellow flames appeared from a cotton bud he held, alarming the boy.

"W-W-What are you doing?!" Tsuna jolted, trying to pull his arm away. "Are you trying to burn me?!" A tint of panic could be sensed in his shrill voice.

"It seems that you are still Dame-Tsuna at heart if you can react like that naturally." The infant commented, continuing to light the flames. "Do you want that treated or not? Your mother might be interested to know how you got these injuries." That instantly made the patient stop squirming and sit still.

The brunet composed himself, surprised at the lack of heat coming from the flames. It seemed almost like a gentle wind, brushing against his wound. Upon closer inspection, there were sparkles hidden among the flames. The limping pain that had plagued him the past few days faded, leaving behind a healed arm. He stared in wonder, and checked it properly. The burn had disappeared right in front of him. 'Not even Carina could get this treated right.'

"What did you just use?" Tsuna asked.

"Sun Dying Will Flames. They have healing properties which is why it healed the injuries. The reason why the burn did not heal was due to the Storm Flame's attribute which is destruction. You will learn more later on." Reborn explained, and then proceeded to sit across him after keeping his fist aid kit. "Anyway, back to business. Was it your intention to fool me from the start?" He enquired his student, who snapped out from his reverie.

"Not really, I do this no-good act all the time. I just had the feeling that if you knew what I was capable of, you would make me do more than necessary. That's not what I wanted." The brown haired teen blurted, hugging his knees. "I honestly thought that you were going to go away and give up if I kept showing myself to be a good-for-nothing person." He admitted sheepishly.

"Sorry to disappoint, I'm not that easy to chase away. If my mission is to make you a great boss, I will do whatever it takes. Don't underestimate me." The home tutor declared. "I want to ask though, why did you become a phantom thief? It is quite a random choice to make if you ask me." The baby asked with great curiosity.

"There was no special reason. I became a phantom thief to escape my mundane life. A cage where society had locked me in. Everyone thought that I was just a useless kid and would never change, and I still am in some way. I couldn't express myself because that's what society wanted. They wanted me to stay the way I am." Tsuna did not know why, but he felt compelled to continue speaking for some reason and words continue to pour out of the floodgates he had in place. "But in the end, it's not a job I would really want to do for the rest of my life. Heck, as you said, I only did it because someone randomly approached me and said the silly cowardly me that I should challenge myself for once and see how it goes. I didn't really think it through when I started and I just ended up continuing it to challenge myself." He confided in his home tutor.

The baby did not reply, slowly taking in what his student had said.

"That doesn't mean I'm going to resign to becoming a mafia boss. I just want to lie low and think about what I really want to do." Tsuna immediately corrected himself, realizing what he had just said.

"I see. How did you get these injuries? I doubt the job scope of a phantom thief involved anything related to combat." Reborn said.

"You know what happened, don't you? So why do you ask?" Tsuna said in a irate tone, but saw that the baby would not take 'no' as an answer and sighed. "The only reason I can garner is that they still believe I stole something from the Vongola Family. You know, what happened last year in Italy." He finally relented.

"Right. May I safely assume that you stole that intentionally?" Reborn concluded, not convinced.

"I swear, I didn't do it. Someone impersonated me for that crime. Didn't I go to the trouble of returning the case back to you?" The brunet defended, in an frustrated tone.

Memories of Italy began to surface from the depths of his mind, which the boy gladly pushed back. It was not pleasant.

"At any rate, it seems you have been noticed by the police. Two police officers came by today to find you. They were asking your mother about you." The infant decided to change the topic. "What do you intend to do? I'm surprised you still haven't been caught since Kaitou Yoshi is so short." His student gave him an annoyed look.

"I heard. This is the first time it happened. However, this is my problem and I'll solve it myself." The brunet maintained. "Could you give me some time to solve this?" He requested.

"I won't pry any further but if something happens to you, I will intervene. I've been assigned to tutor you and I will see to it that I succeed. You have a week to settle this." The home tutor said.

"A week? Are you crazy!?" Tsuna immediately protested, berating his home tutor. "What do you take us phantom thieves for? Instant noodles? Do I look like I can magically brainwash the police to forget that Kaitou Yoshi exists or forget all the heists I've done? Is that how you think of phantom thieves? Mind you, all the tricks and heists I pulled off in public view took up a lot of planning! Yes, you're training me to be a mafia boss, but currently I am just a ordinary no good middle school student. Furthermore, I am only backed up by a group of people that you can count on one hand and I have very limited resources to work with. Even then, it takes time to slowly ease suspicion slowly in its natural order as possible. You have to give me at least a month to settle this." He ranted in an exasperated tone.

"Fine. One month. If you don't get this done by the end of the month, I will have to take action." Reborn acquiesced to his request, finding his explanation reasonable. "As for the Vongola phantom thieves, I'll handle it."

"That's unexpected. I thought you wouldn't really care if they were targeting someone else." Tsuna said, confused.

"They were wasting resources and they attacked a civilian. It's more than enough to stop them with a wave of an order." Reborn explained. "I can't have them acting recklessly for no reason as well."

"Sorry for troubling you. " His student apologised.

"No, it's convenient. I have always hated those thieves anyway, and now I have something to blackmail you over now." Tsuna flinched upon hearing that. "Jokes aside, please make sure you cut off your ties properly. Although I agreed to give you one month to settle it, tutoring you will continue as per normal. I am interested to see what you can actually do, so no more of those feigning you have been showing me for the past two months. Now if you would excuse me, I have dinner to eat." Reborn added, and then left the room.

'That went better than expected. At least he didn't shoot me.' The brown haired boy heaved a sigh of relief. Tsuna found it strange that he didn't ask to continue his phantom thieving. Why? He didn't feel like negotiating with his home tutor with continuing it. He placed his hand over his eyes, pondering why he had went and told Reborn why he became a phantom thief. It felt awkward, confiding in someone else for the first time especially when said person is not normal by any means. He didn't think anyone would understand other than his comrades.

Who in their right mind would believe that a no-good person would be capable of tricking the police and flying off buildings? 'Why did I tell him? Did I expect him to understand? Ever since he entered my life, it became a total disaster.' He then shook his head and rebuked himself. 'There was no special reason. I became a phantom thief was a way to escape my mundane life.' Tsuna thought of what he just said to his home tutor. He wanted to deny it, but it was true. 'It was really just a form of escape from the harsh reality that endured through my life, wasn't it?' Though reluctant, the boy smiled, finally having the weight off his shoulders.

Namimori Police Station 7:34PM

After returning from the Sawada Residence, Detective Sanada got back to typing his report and submitted it to his direct superior. Sakura accompanied him, and they watched their superior read the report.

"So you are saying that you suspect this middle schooler named Sawada Tsunayoshi is the phantom thief Yoshi?" Sanada and Sakura nodded. "Well, although he made two suspicious appearances in daylight with no thefts reported, this isn't enough to take him into custody." He said, unconvinced.

"However, you cannot ignore the fact that the thief has made two appearances near this boy for no reason. Although we can't take him into custody, we can watch him to see whether he will appear once more." Sanada said confidently.

"We could also send someone to watch over him when Kaitou Yoshi stages a heist to confirm his alibi. One person will be more than enough for this given our lack of manpower." Sakura added.

"I will approve of this, but if nothing comes up out of this, you'll bear the blame." Their superior said, keeping the files.

"Yes sir." The two of them said in unison and left the office.

"Will you be watching him?" Sakura asked.

"Do not worry. I will handle it." Sanada said, and then left.

Nearby, a cleaner who had been cleaning the corridor overheard the conversation. His cap masked his eyes somewhat, and he meekly mopped the floor as the detectives walked past him.

"Interesting. So this boy will be the key to drawing Kaitou Yoshi out. Alright then, the game starts now." He muttered, before disappearing from the police station with none the wiser.

Abandoned Bar, Unknown, 10:36PM

The brown haired boy had dressed up in his costume, and stared at the mirror. Time had flown very fast. He never really thought much about wearing his costume. The moment he put it on, it felt like second nature to him to behave as another person completely. It had been a guard to hide his cowardice, and it gave him courage to break free from society's shackles. No one could look in and judge his true worth immediately, giving him the freedom to spread his wings and to the things he never thought he would be capable of.

Now that it was going to be the last time he could wear it, he felt a pang of nostalgia. This outfit had been with him for two years. It felt strange that his time with the outfit had came to an abrupt halt, rather than him ending it on his own terms. Tsuna then leapt out the window, quietly making his way to the hideout where his comrades were. The moon shone brightly today, lighting up his path in the deserted streets.

"You sounded really urgent when you asked for us. So, what's up?" The Undertaker asked as the thief entered the bar.

Sitting at the bar stools were Charlie, Carina and Akiyama. They all wore their disguises.

"Yes, I have something very important to say." Kaitou Yoshi began, sitting on the bar stool. "I'm retiring." He said.

"He found out?" Akiyama asked, and Tsuna nodded. "Looks like my plan wasn't foolproof enough."

"Aww, that's sad. You're one of the fun ones around." Charlie said, pouting. "Can't you convince him?"

"Alright. Is there anyone in this room willing to volunteer yourself as a tribute and try to approach a baby who carries guns?" Kaitou Yoshi said in a sarcastic tone, and all of them immediately shook their heads.

"Yoshi, I disguised as you for around 48 hours. My answer will be no and nothing will change it. I would rather flee the country than face that baby." Akiyama expressed his refusal.

"You know what, never mind." The man slowly inched away from the phantom thief, shuddering at the potential disaster that preposition entailed.

"Yeah. Get my point? If you all won't, then obviously I couldn't stand a chance against him." The brunet sighed.

Silence permeated the entire bar.

"So, still want to buy my coffin?" The Undertaker broke the silence.

"No!" The thief refused, and they all laughed.

"Tell us how you really feel about it." Carina said.

"To be honest, I have been thinking of retiring and stopping this. I don't see myself continuing this for the long term. But I just feel a bit disappointed. I didn't even get another chance to stage my last heist." Tsuna admitted. "Then there's also another problem. The police is onto me. I need to divert their attention away from me. My demonic home tutor has mercifully gave me one month to cut my ties and settle this. If anything bad happens, he will intervene."

"Why are you worrying so much? Who do you think we are? Although we figured that it was going to happen sooner or later with those reckless actions of yours." Charlie said in a reassuring tone. "This guy is taking over your spot he said." His arm swung around and pulled the younger boy towards him.

"Only because I'm the closest one matching your abilities." Akiyama said, annoyed by the pull. "I'm also sure it's easier to fool the world than to fool the world's strongest hitman. All we can do now is let you go as you please. Just go about your everyday life as usual. We'll somehow manage it. We do have one of the best informants around. We won't let your home tutor intervene to that extent. This is the least we can do for all your amazing heists." He added, and the Undertaker snorted with pride.

"Of course. Thanks." He said, grateful.

"You should go live a normal life. You spent what, two years of your teenage years in phantom thieving. That's not what normal people do." Carina commented.

"Excuse me Carina, but I don't think I can even be counted as normal now." The brown haired boy pointed, and they burst into laughter.

"Although it has been a short time, it was indeed a pleasure working with you." They shook hands. "It's really too short." The boy shrugged, and then turned to his peer.

"Akiyama?" Tsuna said.

"What is it?"

"I just wanted to say thank you." The red haired boy looked at him with a bewildered expression. "For challenging me to challenge myself." Akiyama got off the stool.

"And I would like to thank you, for the amazing performance you have given us." He then bowed in true phantom thief fashion, reminiscent of Kaitou Yoshi's mannerisms.

"Are you sure you can keep up? Your acting skills still need practice." The brown haired boy taunted in a cheerful tone.

"Of course. Challenge accepted, Mister Sawada Tsunayoshi. Shall I escort you out, sir?"

"There is no need. Kaitou Yoshi shall now make his exit." Tsuna declared, and threw a smoke bomb.

Once the smoke disappeared, he was nowhere to be seen.

End of Chapter 10

I hope you have enjoyed reading this long overdue chapter. I am sorry it took 3 years and I am even more sorry for thinking that this fanfic could not be finished.

Please review, I would like to hear how you think of the new plot. Reviews still remain my biggest source of motivation, though this chapter has been motivated by pure force of trying to make it up to you all who have been dangling off the abrupt end. I need to hear your feedback no matter what. Anything.

I can't believe how old this fanfic is, really, especially since KHR! ended and I lost my interest in it. I really thought I couldn't finish it and gave up in the past two years, especially the revised version that I was planning to write.

Once again, thank you for reading Kaitou Vongola Tenth for these past 5 years. Thank you so much for your support.