Greetings, readers:
Thank you for reading this fan-made work...
...
Hundreds upon hundreds of years passed since that ultimate sacrifice. After Giotto's death, eight hundred and twenty-two years before Naruto's birth, the world continued its inexorable rotation.
Now, sixty-eight years before the birth of the Hero of the Prophecy, the era of the ninja emerged with force, gradually replacing the dominion of the ancient samurai. The entire continent was engulfed in the bloody Warring States Period. At the very heart of the Land of Fire stood the imposing Vongola Headquarters: a historic fortress that coordinated the networks of the underworld.
68 B.N. October 14
In one of the classrooms of the palace, a small boy with messy brown hair hurriedly wrote on a wooden board with a piece of chalk.
"Young Sawada," a stern voice sounded behind him.
The boy gave a little jump, freezing in place with a touch of childish fear.
"H-Huh? Y-Yes, sir..." he replied, slowly turning around.
The teacher, an inflexible clan instructor, held a wooden rod as he watched him intently with his arms crossed.
"Let's see if you pay attention to the history of your own bloodline. Tell me... how long did the Second Vongola live?"
Little Tsunayoshi Sawada scratched his head with his pencil, staring desperately at the ceiling as he searched his memory.
"Uh... one hundred and five years?"
"Correct," the instructor nodded, taking a step forward. "And at what age did the First Vongola die?"
"Let's see, let's see... eighty-two years old?"
"Wrong!" the teacher exclaimed, and a loud WHACK immediately rang out as a thick roll of paper struck Tsuna's desk. "He lived for sixty-five years. Pay attention for once!"
"Y-Yes, yes! I'm sorry!" the little boy exclaimed, rubbing the back of his neck, thoroughly disciplined by the strictness of his education.
At that moment, the wooden door to the room opened without warning. A tall man with a stern gaze and an intimidating aura stopped in the doorway.
"Pardon the interruption," the newcomer said in an icy voice. "Young Sawada, the Nono Vongola requires your presence immediately."
The teacher fell silent at once, slightly bowing his head before the imposing figure. It was none other than Visconti, the Ninth Generation's Cloud Guardian, nicknamed Shadow.
"R-Right... I'm coming!" Tsuna said, tangling his own legs as he hurriedly gathered his belongings.
Tsunayoshi ran through the mansion's broad, imposing corridors until he reached the large door of the central office. Timidly, he pushed it open and stepped inside. At the far end of the room, behind a majestic mahogany desk, a middle-aged man with the appearance of a young adult gazed at the horizon through a large window overlooking the main gardens.
"D-Dad...? Were you calling me?" Tsuna asked softly.
The Nono Vongola slowly turned around with a warm smile on his face, though his eyes retained the keen insight of an experienced leader.
"Today's your birthday, isn't it, Tsunayoshi?"
"Yes, Dad... I'm turning six today."
"An excellent age," the Nono remarked, walking toward him. "Tell me, how is your daily training going?"
"V-Very rigorous..." the little boy replied, lowering his head. "The Cloud Guardian makes me train incredibly hard..."
The Vongola boss silently nodded as he noticed the visible bruises peeking out from beneath his son's sleeves. Tsunayoshi had been born with unusually high physical endurance, so Visconti spared neither punishment nor harsh lessons in his efforts to mold the boy's body.
"I understand..." the Nono said gently. "Today, you're going to meet someone very special."
"Who, Dad?"
"You're going to meet a boy your age. From today onward, he'll be with you all the time. Like your shadow... wherever you go."
"Wherever I go?" Tsuna repeated in confusion. "What's his name?"
"Let him introduce himself."
The side door of the office opened. From it emerged a boy with silvery white hair, a furrowed brow, and a displeased expression that revealed his stubborn nature and defiant attitude. He stopped a few steps away from Tsuna and coldly looked him up and down.
"Hello," the white-haired boy said curtly. "I'm Gokudera Hayato, and I just turned six, same as you did last month."
"H-Hello... My name is Tsunayoshi Sawada..."
The Nono approached both boys, placing a hand on Gokudera's shoulder.
"He is a direct descendant of the First Storm Guardian's bloodline," the Famiglia's leader explained. "His bloodline is rooted in the purest origins of our history. From today onward, he will devote himself to accompanying you. He will become your friend and your support."
"A-All the time...?" Tsuna asked, his insecurity clearly evident.
"Yes. All the time," the Nono declared firmly. "Get along with each other."
At first, living together proved to be an absolute disaster.
Gokudera was a deeply stubborn and serious child who, above all, respected only strength and determination. Possessing the prestigious lineage of G, the First Storm Guardian, he had innately inherited the ability to awaken the Storm Release Kekkei Genkai. He trained day and night without rest, with only one goal in mind: to become the next Storm Guardian and serve the future Tenth Vongola with honor, just as his ancestor had done.
However, as the days passed, reality dealt him a devastating blow.
Gokudera secretly observed Tsunayoshi's training sessions and daily life. To his profound disappointment, he discovered that the Nono's son was a complete coward.
In the headquarters' backyard, among the Famiglia's young recruits, Tsunayoshi was the constant target of mockery and contempt.
"Hey, look! There goes 'Clumsy Tsuna'!" a group of older boys laughed, shoving the little boy into the mud as he tried to hold a wooden kunai. "Careful not to trip over your own feet, you good-for-nothing Tsuna!"
"P-Please, s-stop!" Tsuna begged, his eyes filled with tears as he cowered on the ground, showing not the slightest hint of courage or any intention of defending himself.
Hidden behind a stone wall, Gokudera witnessed the scene with his hands clenched inside his pockets, feeling a sharp bitterness in his chest.
"A coward..." Gokudera muttered contemptuously, gritting his teeth until his jaw ached. "He's completely useless..."
His disappointment was so overwhelming that Gokudera decided to distance himself. He stopped following Tsuna "wherever he went," as the Nono had ordered, preferring to isolate himself in the clan's training grounds. He pushed himself to the point of extreme physical exhaustion, honing his technique to its very limits.
"I came here prepared to serve a true leader... a man with the strength and will of a Vongola leader," Gokudera thought night after night, gazing angrily at the sky as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. "That boy isn't a Sawada. Tsunayoshi isn't worthy of becoming the Tenth Vongola... He never will be."
When Tsunayoshi Sawada noticed Gokudera distancing himself and turning his back on him, he did not try to stop him or utter a single word. He simply lowered his head and let him go. At six years old, little Tsuna was already more than accustomed to rejection; he knew that as soon as people discovered how clumsy, insecure, and untalented he was, they would eventually walk away from him.
A few days later, under Visconti's icy supervision, a new stage of Tsuna's rigorous training began. In a lush valley near Vongola Headquarters, the Guardian decided to teach him basic chakra control through the technique of climbing vertical trees without using his hands.
"Chakra must flow steadily and evenly into the soles of your feet, young Tsuna," Visconti explained in a flat, stern voice, without the slightest trace of patience. "If you use too little, you'll slip; if you use too much, the bark will break and send you flying. And for every failure, you'll receive punishment. Now, try it."
The result was a predictable disaster. Tsuna managed to advance barely a couple of steps before losing his balance and falling headfirst to the ground.
THUMP!
"Owww!" Tsuna complained, rubbing his forehead, which was covered in bumps and scrapes.
Every failure was met with a sharp blow from Visconti's staff as a disciplinary measure, forcing him to get back on his feet again and again. Nevertheless, armed with a small kunai, Tsuna patiently marked the maximum height he managed to reach on the tree trunk before falling. Despite the tears and bruises covering his skin, the little boy refused to give up.
Several days passed, and after dozens of failures, a flash of synchronization finally occurred. Tsuna concentrated just the right amount of energy in his feet and, running at a steady pace, managed to climb all the way to the very top of the tallest tree in the valley.
"I... I did it! I made it to the top!" Tsuna exclaimed, bursting with joy as he jumped onto a high branch.
But his overconfidence played a cruel trick on him. The branch was too thin to support his weight after the jump, and it snapped with a sharp crack.
CRACK!
"AAAAAHHHH!" the little boy screamed as he plummeted downward, passing through the leaves before crashing straight into the rushing waters of a powerful river that crossed the lower part of the valley.
Visconti, who at that moment was reclining on the branch of a nearby oak tree while calmly eating an apple, watched as the current carried Tsuna downstream. The imposing Guardian let out a deep sigh and lightly slapped his forehead, suddenly plagued by a headache. Although he was cold and inflexible on the outside, deep down, he felt genuine concern for the safety of his boss Timoteo's only heir.
"Foolish child..." Visconti muttered, putting away the apple and quickly making his way along the riverbank.
However, when he reached the edge of a cliff, he watched in horror as little Tsuna plunged over a thunderous waterfall, disappearing into the foam of the waters below. Visconti placed both hands on his head, grimacing in genuine distress.
"Oh, for the sake of the First Heaven... Please, don't tell me he's dead, or Sawada will have my head..."
…
Downstream, in a peaceful clearing surrounded by ancient forests, two children were training.
One of them had tan skin, expressive brown eyes, and short, dark, bowl-cut hair. He wore a simple training robe. Beside him, with a much stiffer demeanor, stood a fair-skinned boy with jet-black eyes filled with piercing intensity and a figure dominated by a prominent, wild mane of spiky black hair with a bluish tint. Both wore the traditional clothing of their respective clans during the Warring States Period, keeping their identities secret while sharing an unusual friendship on the riverbank.
"Hey, Madara..." the short-haired boy suddenly said, pointing toward the water.
"What is it now, Hashirama?" the spiky-haired boy replied irritably, trying to relax.
"Look over there... Isn't that a child floating in the water?"
"Huh?"
They both ran toward the riverbank and, grabbing little Tsuna by his clothes, dragged him out of the water until they had brought him to safety beneath a tree not far from the riverbank.
"Good grief... Where could this kid have come from? And which clan does he belong to?" Hashirama asked, observing Tsuna's unusual clothing.
"He isn't wearing a fan, a symbol, or any recognizable clan markings on his robe," Madara assessed with a distant, analytical gaze. "He's just a disoriented little brat."
At that moment, Tsuna coughed, expelling some water, and slowly opened his eyes. When he regained consciousness and saw two strangers staring intently at him, the little boy let out a high-pitched, comical squeal.
"Eeeek! P-Please, don't hurt me!" Tsuna screamed, hunching his shoulders and waving his arms clumsily.
Hashirama couldn't contain himself and burst into loud, uninhibited laughter.
"HAHAHAHAHA! What a hilarious reaction! Relax, we won't hurt you, kid!"
Madara, on the other hand, shot him a sidelong glance filled with poorly concealed contempt, crossing his arms arrogantly at the pathetic display of fear from the newcomer.
Tsuna noticed Hashirama's laughter and, above all, Madara's icy, contemptuous gaze—the same superior look he was so accustomed to seeing at Vongola Headquarters—and lowered his head. His eyes filled with tears, and his lips began to tremble.
Noticing the change in the boy's mood, Hashirama's laughter abruptly stopped. With natural, immediate empathy, he crouched beside him and gave him a few affectionate pats on the back.
"Hey, hey, take it easy... Don't cry. We really didn't mean to scare you. Everything's fine, okay?"
"Sniff... Y-Yes..." Tsuna sobbed, wiping his eyes with his damp sleeve. "Thank you for everything. I think you saved me... My name is... my name is Tsunayoshi Sawada."
Both Hashirama and Madara took a small step backward, surprised. In this bloody era of clan warfare, revealing one's surname to a stranger was a reckless act that could cost someone their life. However, upon hearing the name "Sawada," they exchanged a confused glance.
Sawada...? I've never heard of a clan by that name on this continent, Madara thought. Hashirama felt the same way.
"Well, Tsunayoshi... Are you okay?" Hashirama asked kindly. "Where do you come from, and how did you end up floating in the river?"
"I-I was training in the tree-climbing technique with my teacher... but the branch broke, and I fell. The current dragged me away before I could get out."
"And you don't know how to swim?" Madara asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I-I don't know how to swim!" Tsuna admitted, utterly embarrassed.
Hashirama and Madara looked at each other again, this time disheartened by the apparent incompetence of the newcomer. In the middle of an era of war, it was almost unheard of for a six-year-old child to be unable to swim or save himself from a river. They couldn't understand how Tsunayoshi, who had the makings of a ninja, had managed to survive until now. To them, his very existence seemed like a miracle.
"Good grief..." Hashirama sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, if you want, we can teach you how to swim."
"Y-You're going to teach me how to swim?" Tsuna asked, his eyes widening.
"Of course! And if you work hard, we can even teach you the technique for walking on the surface of the water," Hashirama added with a broad smile.
"I-I don't think I can..." Tsuna murmured, lowering his gaze sadly once more. "It's just that... I'm useless."
"Huh? Useless? Why would you say something so stupid?" Madara questioned sternly.
"Because everyone tells me that... At home, they call me 'Clumsy Tsuna' or 'Good-for-Nothing.' Nobody believes I'm good for anything..."
An uncomfortable silence settled over the riverbank. Hashirama felt deep compassion upon seeing the genuine pain in Tsuna's eyes, while Madara, despite maintaining his stern demeanor, slightly relaxed his frown at the little boy's frankness.
"Well, they're wrong," Hashirama declared firmly, taking him by the shoulders. "You're not useless at all. We'll teach you, and you'll see that you can do it! Trust us!"
Over the next few hours, the riverside clearing became an improvised training ground. With infinite patience and overwhelming empathy, Hashirama explained to Tsuna how to mold chakra diffusely into the soles of his feet, allowing him to float on the water without breaking its surface tension.
Tsuna failed again and again in the shallow part of the river, sinking up to his knees and swallowing water repeatedly. But whenever he was about to give up, Hashirama offered him words of encouragement:
"You're almost there, Tsuna! Just adjust the flow a little more gently! You can do it!"
Even Madara, who watched from the riverbank with his arms crossed, couldn't help intervening when he noticed the boy's chakra control errors.
"You're concentrating too much chakra in your heels, idiot," Madara remarked in a dry but precise tone. "Distribute it toward your toes and keep your ankles firm. If you don't, the current will throw off your balance."
Following Madara's corrections and motivated by Hashirama's warmth, Tsuna took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and took a firm step onto the current.
To his utter astonishment, his foot didn't sink. He took a second step, then a third... and suddenly found himself standing in the middle of the river, gently balancing on the crystal-clear water.
"I did it! Look, I'm doing it! I'm walking on water!" Tsuna shouted with a radiant smile, the first genuine smile he had shown in months.
"That's it! I told you, Tsuna!" Hashirama cheered, jumping up and down on the riverbank.
"Hmph... Not bad for a good-for-nothing," Madara admitted, a subtle hint of approval crossing his face.
However, the celebration was interrupted when an overwhelming presence made itself felt in the crown of a distant tree.
Hidden among the foliage, Visconti, the Cloud Guardian, had silently witnessed the entire process. Seeing that the Sawada heir was safe and had managed to master water-walking chakra control in just a few hours thanks to the influence of those two unfamiliar boys, the imposing warrior nodded to himself in approval.
With a fluid movement, Visconti descended from the heights, landing some distance from the riverbank with absolute elegance.
Instantly, Madara and Hashirama adopted defensive stances, reaching for their kunai holsters and instinctively positioning themselves between the stranger and Tsuna. Visconti's presence radiated the authority and danger of a seasoned warrior.
"Easy, boys," Visconti said calmly, raising one hand while maintaining his distance. "I have no hostile intentions toward you."
He then directed his gaze toward the little boy who was still standing on the river.
"Young Sawada... It's time to go home."
"M-Master Visconti!" Tsuna exclaimed, hurrying out of the water.
For a moment, Tsuna hesitated. He looked toward the stern Visconti, uncertain whether the man would reprimand him for making these new friends. Then Tsuna resolutely turned his attention to the two boys who had offered him companionship and respect, as well as his first enjoyable lesson. Summoning a courage he had never before shown in Visconti's presence, Tsuna stopped at the riverbank, turned around, and performed a deep, impeccable bow of respect toward Hashirama and Madara.
"Hashirama! Madara! Thank you so much for everything!" Tsuna exclaimed, his voice firm and his eyes shining. "I promise I'll train hard and come back to see you very soon!"
Hashirama returned his farewell with a thumbs-up and a broad smile, while Madara gave him a slight nod.
As they walked back toward the Vongola clan through the dense forest, Visconti glanced sideways at little Tsunayoshi, who was walking beside him with noticeably greater confidence and determination.
"Interesting..." the Cloud Guardian murmured to himself as he gazed toward the horizon. He learned the water-walking technique in a matter of hours... Perhaps those friendships are exactly what he needs to awaken the Gravina within him.
…
"Hello, I'm Wissumi Wizaki. Here begins the second arc of the fanfiction. This time, Tsunayoshi Sawada, the future Tenth Vongola, takes the spotlight as the protagonist. Just so you know, when I first came up with the idea for a Katekyō Hitman Reborn and Naruto crossover, I planned to start it right here with Tsunayoshi Sawada. But later, I started thinking that if I could expand the story more, use the Tri-ni-set more, and give a more creative explanation, I should use Giotto as an example. You have to set good references, you have to use creativity. Well, I don't regret it. I apologize to those who wanted Giotto's arc to be longer, but honestly, my heart wasn't really in it. I prefer this part because I feel more motivated, more creative, and I understand characters like Madara and Hashirama better. Anyway, I'm gifting you this chapter because I'm in a good mood and I have quite a bit of material built up, but I doubt I'll give you another chapter this week. I don't know, maybe at the end of this week, and if not, well, I'll see if I release the next chapter on Monday of next week. Well, that's all. I wish you a very good read!"
...
Happy reading! Bye-bye!
— Wissumi Wizaki
Until the next chapter!