Summary: Daemon Spade has finally been defeated, and Tsuna has gained yet another ally with the Shimon family. The inheritance ceremony has gone on as planned, and though Tsuna is now the official heir, there are still doubts that he was the right choice. The Varia are running wild, and the Ninth hopes that by bringing them to his side, Tsuna may gain the support he needs. So the Ninth charges Tsuna with bringing them back under control, but how will Tsuna deal with a disillusioned and embittered Xanxus? Eventual X27 and perhaps some 8059 and D18 as well. We shall see.

Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn or any of its characters.

"speaking" thinking

a/n: A short chapter, but I hope it's a good one. Thanks once again to everyone who has reviewed thus far. skepsis66, akatsukixhinata101, AlyAJay, Orange-y27, bluedot, TripOverFlatSurfaces, Bleach-ed-Na-tsu, Nekokratik, tenzaichigo, Taira-keimei, EmInArEvOl, Ilta Kimon, aoelemontune at gmail dot com, you guys rock! Expect the next chapter within two weeks. I will try to get it finished sooner, but I want to make sure I post quality material.

A Family United Chapter Four: A Truth Revealed

It had been a long, trying first week at Vongola HQ for Tsuna. Mostly Tsuna had just spent time with his family getting to know his way around HQ. The mansion was ridiculously huge, and (according to Lambo) very haunted. There had been countless wrong turns taken, and Tsuna was constantly having to ask for directions. On the up side, he had plenty of chances to practice his Italian.

Tsuna spent most of his time working with Nono. He was being taught the ins and outs of the day-to-day which, as far as Tsuna could see, involved nothing but massive amounts of paperwork. It was like school all over again, but worse! True, no one graded anything, but he would be the boss. He couldn't mess anything up. It was even worse than all the tests he had been so grateful to leave behind.

Even as Tsuna negotiated the agonies of paperwork and learned the layout of HQ with his friends, Xanxus was always lurking in the back of his mind. Tsuna kept wondering what he could do. He knew the alcohol addiction was the first problem that needed to be addressed, but how to go about getting Xanxus some help. He was vaguely aware of support groups, but the idea of Xanxus at a support group was, to say the least, totally out to the question. It was only late in the week, just a few days before his scheduled meeting with Xanxus on Friday, that Tsuna happened upon the idea of individual counseling for Xanxus.

It took some doing, but Tsuna finally found a psychologist who counseled people with addiction problems and who was willing to endure Tsuna's conditions. The counselor had agreed to be picked up at his house, blindfolded for his entire trip, still blindfolded while he counseled the patient and for the trip back to his house. The kind counselor had signed consent forms, confidentiality agreements and a statements releasing the Vongola organization from any liability should he be injured somehow by the patient. All of these he signed in triplicate. It would seem that the man was as ready as he could be to meet his patient.

So, Tsuna arrived outside the Varia HQ that Friday with his right and left hand men as well as a middle-aged man sporting well-polished loafers, a brown suit and a fashionable burlap sack tied around his head. Tsuna first restrained a sober and now much more deadly Xanxus to his chair with the Zero Point Breakthrough. Then he brought in the counselor and did his best to put a positive spin on the whole situation. After he finished his introductions, Tsuna attempted a weak smile, patted the counselor awkwardly on the back before saying, "Well, uh, I'll just leave you to it. I want this to be private, but if you need anything, sir, just shout. I will be at the end of the hall."

"No, brat, I want you to stay. You need to hear this."

"I... uh... okay, Xanxus." Xanxus then went proceeded to give the counselor a detailed description of exactly how he would murder all of the counselor's loved ones and everyone they ever came in contact with. In less than two minutes, the man was running for the door.

Jumping up after the terrified counselor, Tsuna did not even have time to shout a warning before the man ran smack into a wall, blacked out and crumpled to the floor. After Yamamoto had dragged the unconscious man away, Tsuna turned back to Xanxus. "Just what was that all about?" He asked, "That man was trying to help you."

Xanxus just snorted before asking, "What's wrong, brat? Therapy session didn't go how you planned it? Oh JesusfuckingChrist! Don't tell me you're crying."

As a matter of fact, Tsuna was crying. Xanxus looked on, disgusted, as tears leaked down the little brat's face. The boy had that same wretched look on his face that Nono had right before he sealed Xanxus for ten years. However, on closer inspection, there was something else in that look too, something Xanxus had not thought to see from the pathetic Decimo wannabe brat. Was that...anger?

"Xanxus, you are the only person I have ever wanted to hit."

"You've punched the shit out of many people the way I remember it."

"But I never wanted to. I only did it to protect my family. But you, right now, you I want to hit. You have people who look up to you, who care about you, but you can only think about yourself. You are their boss, you have a responsibility to them."

"Why the fuck do you care, brat?"

"Because I looked up to you too! Because I wanted to be like you!"

"Stupid fucking kid, you're the big boss. That means you get to fucking look down on me, just like the old bastard Nono before you."

"No, Xanxus, you're wrong. I've looked up to you, always have. You were so strong. You had so much power, so much drive. If I had half the anger and passion you had, if I had your rage flames, I would use them on my enemies. With that kind of anger driving me, I would always be able to keep my family safe. But try as I might, I cannot find rage inside of me. But you, you have that rage. You have that power, and what do you use it for? To torture your fellow Varia members, that's what! You were not given that power to destroy your friends and those who love you. You were given it to protect them!"

"Why the fuck should I care about any of those assholes? None of those fucking pieces of trash cares anything for me. That old bastard lied to me. I could never have been the Boss. I was always doomed to take orders from those other fucking legitimate sons of his, his real sons. Yet he never even fucking told me. What the fuck kind of love do you think that is? That old geezer fucked me over big time. It's only fair I return the favo-"

Xanxus' rampage was cut short when Tsuna's fist collided with his face. The attack was so sudden and so violent, Xanxus just sat in stunned silence as Tsuna railed against him. "Your father has been trying to keep you safe. Even now he wants desperately for you to be happy, just to live. Reborn told me it was impossible, getting you back to your work as the Varia Boss and getting you to accept me as Vongola Decimo. He told me I would have to kill you."

"So just fucking kill me brat. Get it over with already, dammit!"

"No, I will not. I am your Boss. I am responsible for your well being. I cannot just kill you. That would be wrong. I am going to protect you, just as I will protect all of my family."

"Stupid kid, it would be so much easier to kill me."

"What is easier is almost never right. You want to talk about easier? I know it has been easier for you tell yourself the rings rejected you because of your bastard blood. If that's true, then it's not your fault after all. But you know the truth. Somewhere in your heart of hearts you have always known. You may not be Nono's child, but you are descended from Secondo. You have his flames. You are heir to his power just as I am heir to Primo's. You are just as legitimate a candidate for Vongola Boss as I am. It is not your blood the rings rejected; it is you. The sooner you face up to that, the sooner you can move on and the sooner you can change."

"You lying fucking piece of shit."

"Call me whatever you want, but you are the one who has been lying-to yourself."

Tsuna might have said more, but the look of total devastation on Xanxus' face was more than he could bare. He quickly left Xanxus' quarters without even a reminder that he would be back next week. Like week before, Tsuna made the car ride home in silence, and the moment he found his way to his room, he let the heartbreak overwhelm him.