Summary: He didn't want to... but he had to. Leaving behind those he had deemed precious with a heavy heart, he swore to be stronger without them. Those that he left behind were kept in the dark, not knowing why he left. What will happen when they discover the truth behind his disappearance? Loyalty...or betrayal? Post-Future Arc Cover image belongs to Palettesky, not me.

Unbeta'd

Disclaimer: Akira Amano owns Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

Tsuna opened his leaded eyes, blinking several times as his vision slowly came back into focus. He could feel something soft under his head and something covering the lower part of his body to keep him warm. Sluggishly, he lifted his arm, vaguely surprised that it required so much effort to lift his arm even an inch, and brought it in front of his face, watching the light filter through his hand. It didn't surprise nor scare him that his vision took so long to make everything clear; the lack of sleep and food caused his body to respond slower, especially during the past few days.

It was then that he discovered that he was sitting up at a slight angle, one that was comfortable for both sleeping and sitting. When his vision finally cleared, he took in his surroundings, already having a good idea of where he was. The pure white room, faint beeping coming from a machine behind him, and an IV drip attached to his left forearm only provided further evidence of where he was currently: a hospital. But for what reason, he couldn't remember. In his dazed state, his memories of what occurred before he was knocked out were hazy and unclear.

I went out with Reborn… he left for something… then I crashed into… my friends…

My friends!

His half-lidded eyes flew open and he clenched his chest tightly, memories of what had transpired flooding back. For some reason he couldn't bring himself to care that he was assaulted and kidnapped –if his current location indicated anything, it meant that he was rescued and saved. His only thoughts were on his encounter with his friends.

His friends, who he worked so hard to protect by leaving them to join the Mafia, came to Italy for him. He knew why they were here and what they wanted to do –or more precisely, what they wanted him to do. But he refused to go back to Namimori, where his presence would continue to threaten the lives of his friends and family. Tears began to fall from his eyes, obscuring his vision as he feebly wiped them away, doing his best to control the sobs that threatened to escape. He missed being with everyone so much... But he valued their safety more than his happiness and well being.

It was for the best…

… Right?

At this point, the door creaked open; Tsuna paid it no heed until a familiar voice called his name.

"Tsuna." He looked up, tears still falling down the sides of his face, to face his tutor, who jumped up onto the edge of his bed. There was no need for Reborn to ask how his student was doing; one look at his condition was enough.

"R-Reborn..." He struggled to form his question into words but was unable to due to the sobs that racked his body. Reborn watched from underneath the shadow of his fedora as the tears fell onto the bed sheets like rain before answering the unspoken question.

"Ah. They are here too."

"W-why...? Why are they... here?" Reborn hopped onto a nearby chair, one located on the far side of the room that faced his student.

"Why don't you ask them yourself?"

Chocolate-brown eyes opened wide as the door opened again and his Guardians filed in. His tears stopped falling as he took in their slightly-betrayed expressions, which only added to the guilt that he felt from leaving them so abruptly. Gokudera was the first to speak and approached the bed slowly, like an innocent puppy that wasn't sure what it did wrong. "J-Juudaime... Are you ok?" Tsuna knew that that Gokudera wasn't just asking about his physical condition, but also how he felt, his emotional state. When he didn't respond, the bomber asked a different question, obviously hesitant in speaking. "...Why did you leave?"

It was a while before Tsuna trusted his voice to speak, but even then the words refused to come out. "I... I just... wanted to protect you..." he said, barely louder than a soft whisper, hands clenching the sheets tightly.

Hibari's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Who said that I needed protection, herbivore? For assuming such things, I will bite you to death," he growled, slowly taking out his tonfas. Tsuna didn't react from the words, fisting the sheets so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. Gokudera and Yamamoto immediately moved to stand defensively in front of their friend, trying to convince Hibari that he should put the tonfas away while Ryohei tried to restrain him from behind. The Cloud Guardian glared at the figure in the hospital bed, ignoring the two blocking his way and the one attempting to restrain him from behind.

A few tense minutes passed, then Hibari sheathed his tonfas away and headed out the door. "You owe me one herbivore," he said, before shutting the door behind him.

After Hibari left and Tsuna was out of any immediate danger, the Rain and Storm let out a sigh of relief. Chrome stood next to the bed, a worried expression on her face while Ryohei ran over to the other side of the bed and back, hyperactive as usual. They turned their attention to Tsuna, who quickly took the chance to take a deep breath and calm himself, bracing himself for the lecture that was inevitably coming.

The Guardians began speaking, trying to convince Tsuna that he should return to Namimori with them. Even though they understood the reasons behind Tsuna's actions, they full-heartedly didn't agree with them. It didn't seem fair to have their friend carry such a heavy burden –his and theirs combined– after all they had been through together. Tsuna didn't move or say anything, ignoring his Guardians as they explained that they were here for him, that he didn't have to carry the burden alone.

Thirty minutes passed since the Guardians first arrived but no progress has been made. Tsuna simply refused to listen and continued to tune out all of their worries and concerns, set on his resolve to protect his friends from the dark underworld. Instead, he stared out the window at the blue, cloudless, lonely sky; disregarding everything that his friends were saying. One by one, they all fell silent, convinced that words –at least, not words alone– will convince the brunet to stop what he was doing for them. Frustration built from the lack of response from their friend as they pondered what they would have to do to convince Tsuna; the last thing they wanted to do was to drag the brunet back to Namimori against his will, only to have the same thing repeat over again.

Finally Yamamoto snapped and strode over to stand right above Tsuna, an impatient and annoyed look on his face. Before anyone in the room could react, he lifted one hand and swung it down–

*SMACK*

–right across Tsuna's face, forcefully turning it sideways. A painful welt began to form on the brunet's cheek as he slowly lifted a hand to caress his injury gently, a flash of pain crossing his shocked face. By this time, everyone had snapped out of their shock.

The usually calm and composed Rain Guardian lost his temper.

Before Gokudera could start shouting and cursing Yamamoto for injuring Juudaime, Yamamoto spoke, his tone far from his usual optimistic, cheerful self. "Stop being so selfish! You know that you can't carry this burden alone!" He had the brunet's full attention now and Tsuna's eyes widened at the accusation, turning to face the Rain Guardian in disbelief. "After all we've been through together, how can you just push us away like that?!"

"I-I… I…" His composure broke; he desperately tried to prevent the tears that formed from falling down, but to no avail. "I just wanted to protect you! You all are in danger because of me! Without me, you would be leading normal lives! Ones that didn't involve the Mafia or Vongola in any way! So why… why…" Tears streamed down, streaks down his face as Tsuna sobbed in anger and anguish.

"Because that's what the Family does." Everyone turned to face the new speaker: Gokudera Hayato. The Storm Guardian cleared his throat softly before continuing in a calm tone. "Guardians are there to support the boss when he needs it, no matter what the time or reason. After all, the boss can't handle everything by himself. That's why the Sky has six Guardians; with even one of them missing, the Family would be weaker and more vulnerable." He walked to Tsuna's side and knelt down to Tsuna's eye level, gently taking the brunet's hand in his own. "Besides… you are a very important friend to us… Tsuna."

There was silence after Gokudera's mini-speech, until…

"Oi Octopus-head! That's some extremely cool stuff you said!" Gokudera stood up and turned to face the boxer with a glare.

"Of course it was! How dare you doubt the Right-Hand Man?!"

"Haha! But you know what surprised me the most?" Yamamoto interrupted, causing the bomber and boxer to turn and face him. "It was when Gokudera called Tsuna by his name!" This caused Gokudera to break out into an uncharacteristic blush and fumble for words. Everyone else broke into laughter until they were interrupted by a quiet sob.

"B-Boss?! Are you ok?" Everyone crowded around the brunet, hovering over the prone form worriedly, only to find that the brunet was laughing. Tsuna laughed, tears of joy rather than sorrow falling onto the sheets for the first time in a while.

"J-Juudaime?" Gokudera asked hesitantly, concerned about his friend. Everyone crowded around the brunet, waiting anxiously for his reply. After Tsuna finally stopped laughing and caught his breath, he lifted his head and turned to face his friends. Everyone gasped at the bright smile that he had on his features, one hasn't been seen for over a month.

"Everyone… Thank you."

"Gokudera and Yamamoto haven't been in class for a while… almost a week has passed since we last saw them."

"Chrome too… I also heard that Kyoko's brother has been absent as well."

"Don't forget about Hibari. No one has been bitten to death for a while… let alone seen him around town."

"That's strange? Isn't he really attached to Namimori? Where did everyone go?"

"I don't know… but I heard that everyone came back a few days ago."

"Really?!"

"Yeah! Someone spotted them… with Dame-Tsuna."

"What?! Dame-Tsuna is back too?!"

"Yeah…"

"Why did he come back? He should have stayed wherever he was. Then he wouldn't be a burden for everyone."

"I know right? I mean, all he does is cling to Gokudera-sama and Yamamoto-sama. What a loser."

Tsuna stood in front of the door to his classroom, staring nervously at the ground in front of him. He could hear the gossip about the reappearance of him and his friends. After he was sufficiently healed, which took about a week, everyone returned to Namimori. His mom was ecstatic that his "vacation" was over and cooked up a grand feast for everyone to enjoy upon their return.

That was Friday night. It is now Monday morning. Tsuna felt nervous about returning to school; who wouldn't be after disappearing mysteriously for over a month? As he listened to the chatter coming from inside the classroom, he began to wonder why he even came back in the first place. Even the walk to school was nerve-racking; everybody they passed stared at him in disbelief before returning to their conversations with group of friends, obviously to start ridiculous rumors about the reason for his disappearance and return.

But the last remark really shook his resolve. It kept echoing in his mind, constantly reminding him of what a burden he was to the people around him, how useless he was… and still is.

What a loser. What a loser. What a loser. What a loser…

Why did he bother coming back when all he would do was endanger the lives of the people around him?

A hand on his shoulder jolted him out of his depressing thoughts and caused him to turn his gaze away from the floor in front of him. He turned around, surprised to see that Chrome was the one who put her hand on his shoulder. "Boss…"

Tsuna blinked, before glancing around him. "E-eh?" Gokudera and Yamamoto were nowhere to be found and if the open classroom door was anything to go by, they were currently in the classroom. A familiar voice could be heard from inside, causing Tsuna's eyes to widen in shock. Without any more hesitation, he rushed inside, with Chrome following close behind.

Gokudera was holding a student's shirt by the collar –most likely the one that made the last remark– with a glare that had the student trembling in fear. Yamamoto stood nearby, not moving to stop his friend. If anything, his glare was even scarier than Gokudera's. Tsuna watched as Gokudera hoisted the student up higher so that the student was dangling in his grip, feet dragging on the ground. "I said, take back what you said about Juudaime," he growled in an annoyed tone. The student shuddered, glancing pleadingly at Yamamoto, whose gaze had hardened considerably in the past few minutes, before turning back to meet the murderous gaze of the bomber.

"W-why should I? Everyone knows it's true!" Angered, the Storm shoved the student back into his seat and raised a fist, ready to teach the student a lessson he will never forget, only for it to be stopped a firm grip. Gokudera spun around, ready to give the person who stopped him a piece of his mind, only to find that it was Tsuna, his bangs covering his expression.

"Juudai–"

". . . Thank you." Gokudera stared at the brunet, wondering if he heard wrong. Tsuna was never liked violence, so why was he thanking him now? Tsuna looked into the bomber's eyes, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes.

"… I get it now. You guys are my friends, and will stick with me till the end… so thank you."

~ Omake ~

"You knew this would happen, kora?" Reborn removed the Leon-binoculars from his face, turning to face Colonnello with an innocent expression.

"What do you mean?" he asked with a small hand wave, before resuming his observation of the events occurring at the school next door.

"I mean, this seemed so well set up kora! As if you knew how Tsuna would react after they got back from the future and planned this whole event so that he would become closer with his Guardians."

"Friends."

"Eh?" Reborn turned to face Colonnello.

"Friends. Tsuna considered them his friends, and that's why he worked so hard to protect them. He never considered them as his Guardians." He tilted his fedora back, turning to face Colonnello with a smirk. "But through this experience, he realized that the friendship isn't just one way. They will follow him through everything. They will stand up for him when no one else will. They will give him their unwavering support." He lifted Leon, who transformed into a hang-glider.

"Well… I have to give my report to the Ninth now." And with that, Reborn jumped off the rooftop and flew away, ignoring Colonnello's protests.

A/N: … I have no excuse for why this took so long… to be honest the majority was written a long time ago but it didn't want to end correctly… so the ending might be a bit abrupt… sorry about that ^^;

;) I'll leave it up to you guys whether Reborn actually planned the whole thing or not.

And thank you for staying with me throughout this whole thing! I'm sorry again that it took so long but I was able to finish it thanks to everyone's support! Please check out my profile for other stories if you are interested. There are also links to other places you can find me and info on what I'm up to (please check out my drawings if you are curious ^^)

Ciao ciao~

Pikachu

Published 15 September 2015