Peripeteia

Tsuna blinked blearily. The sun shone through slits in the blinds into his eyes, and marked the congested room with lines of light and shadow.

His clothes and other necessities were messily crammed into an overflowing duffle bag, and paper lay scattered on the ground illegible; shredded, burned, and soaked.

He yawned and began wiping the sleep from his doe-like eyes. An extraneous briefcase was discarded next to him, holding his job.

A lazy gaze was directed towards the case. The information was so heavily protected that it a challenge to find. He does specialize in stealing, but stealing information wasn't the same as actual items.

In short, Tsuna was a thief. But in his defense, living on the street does cause one to have tendencies leaning towards the kleptomania.

Considering he can be clumsy... and extremely unlucky... and is definitely not the brightest, it's pretty amazing that he can even manage being a thief.

Tsuna was proud to say that he had become a bit famous in the underground world for his skills. Although, the fact that people were able to link some of his crimes together still got him rather annoyed. He would often be asked to steal precious items from rivals or museums to technology from governments.

It was pretty good money. The entertaining challenges were added bonuses. He could do without all the paranoia though.

This time he was different. He was not only asked to steal information, but he was asked by the mafia.

Not just any mafia family, but one that was actually influential in the world: the Cavalone Famiglia.

Tsuna didn't know much about the mafia inside, but he knew enough to know who was noteworthy and who wasn't. The Cavallone wanted the information to bring down another famiglia. The Tormentare Famiglia, along with having no taste they were barbarous. But they hid it well under a false front.

The information Tsuna had dug up was actually evidence to be used against them.

Essentially, blackmail.

Throughout the process of gathering the information, Tsuna couldn't help but wonder what the Tormentare had done to get on the wrong side of the Cavallone, who were known for there diplomatic ways (and a boss who would make a great financial adviser, but that's besides the point).

The small teen dragged himself out of his temporary bed, and got ready for the day. A quick shower and breakfast later, Tsuna then started his task of cleaning the compact apartment. Each window, chair, floor, counter, and even the walls were swept and scrubbed clean of all residue.

The intangible papers were further destroyed to make sure that not a letter was left legible when tossed. And Tsuna went over his apartment once more to ensure every inch was clean of as much evidence of life as possible.

When he was finished, the apartment looked immaculate... but empty.

Tsuna had wiped the place down to the best of his ability, making sure not to leave a corner uncleaned. His suitcase was now neatly settled by the closed door.

With a bag strewn across his shoulder and brief case in hand, honey eyes scanned the simple apartment one last time before stepping out into the sun.

Only a check for rent was left as evidence of a previous tenant.

Tsuna stopped in front of a locker: D27. He twisted the dial on a lock (he couldn't help but note how a child with a stethoscope would be able to crack it) to the combination 29-10-26.

The medium-sized compartment opened. A sly grin appeared on a brunet's face as he saw the item he had requested in exchange, an orange cube.

Pocketing the small cube, Tsuna placed the case in the locker. He shut the door and reset the dial to zero.

Outside the building, Tsuna walked down the semi-crowded street.

He watched as a limousine pulled in front of the building he just left. He leaned against brick wall, and waited with his eyes shadowed over.

They're attracting a lot of attention...

A blonde male stepped out with several others, smiling and laughing. Tsuna shook his head, Dino Cavallone really defied the public image for a mafia boss.

"Boss," started a black-haired man, "you shouldn't be so care free. Trusting a man we've never met. This could easily be a trap."

Dino grinned wider and threw an arm around the other male. "You worry too much Romario. I can tell he's a trustworthy guy!" The men surrounding their boss sighed in defeat.

Tsuna used his hair to hide a sweat drop. He hasn't even meet me, let alone know what kind of person I am!

The group disappeared inside. Tsuna stood up straight and walked away making his way into the crowd that gathered around the scene. At least he made sure this time that the intended had actually arrived. There was one time when he had worked for an idiot who couldn't read a map for his life; it caused a riot, but everything turned out okay... for the most part.

On the next street, Tsuna slid into the drivers' seat of a black sedan. Tsuna pulled out the box as well as sliding on a ring.

A box weapon, huh? Might as well give it a go.

A flame manifested itself on the ring and he pressed it against the small cube. He watched as his sky flames were absorbed and the box opened.

In a mass of orange flames, a lion cub appeared and circled affectionately around his neck. A soft "Gao~!" left the cub's mouth. Tsuna understood the meaning of the growl as a greeting.

He lifted his right hand, Tsuna scratched behind the cub's ear.

"Nice to meet you too...," Tsuna felt a small smile form on his lips, "Natsu."

Natsu rubbed himself against Tsuna's cheek, showing that he liked his new name.

"I'm glad I was able to get the information for the Cavolone Don, and get you."

An agreeing "Gao...," rang out.

That same night, when Tsuna was playing with his new sky cub in a hotel he received a call that would lead to events that would irreversibly change his life.

Of course, he choose to ignore the forewarning feeling in his stomach and answered the hotel phone.

"How would you like to do a job for us?"

"... ." Tsuna opened his mouth to talk, but decided against it. Us? Who was this? The fact that he was found was bad enough, but letting them be able to get ahold of a recording of his voice? This is one reason paranoia was in his job description.

"I'm assuming you're still there."

If he knows where I'm staying, it's only logical he'd know what I'd look like, Tsuna reasoned. Might as well get this over with.

Tsuna's voice was calm, "It depends on the job... and who you are."

The man over the phone chuckled softly.

"The Vongola."

(A/N) Honestly, I'm still working on a plot/ background and I don't know if I'm going to continue. If I do continue with this story, I would like to give Tsuna a nickname that he's known by. I wanted to give him a name that wasn't completely random and completely cheesy. So far I'm thinking about Babyface (Tsuna's freaking adorable), 27 (I know, not very creative using his number XD) Bambi (compare his normal eyes and Bambi's, yes the deer). I would love to here other opinions/ suggestions. Thank you for reading!