A/N: Tsuna's tragic past OvO okay I don't know how much a four-year-old can do. Sorry for late update Orz.

Warning for gore? Not really, but there is a death scene and some trauma. Kind of dark. A lot of mentions of blood.

What is death?

Is it like sleeping, just that you never wake up?

What is red?

Is it the blood that never stops flowing, and can never be washed off from your hands and mind?

What is pain?

Is it calling to your parents so many times, yet they would never respond?

Can a four-year-old understand all these?

When your parents are brutally murdered in front of you, yes.

I can't breathe.

"Boy, can you hear me?" The man with fedora bent down in front of the cupboard and asked the small, quivering boy inside.

Even though there was no sign of anyone being in the cupboard, instincts gained from years as a hitman told him that the boy he was looking for was right inside the cupboard. He could taste the fear from the presence in the cupboard, and it was amazing the killers did not notice.

What happened? Who is he?

"Tsunayoshi, was it? Sawada Iemitsu and Nana's son?" The voice reached the little boy's ears. The boy hiding inside the cupboard shook, not sure if it was due to hearing his own name or his parents', and knocked something over resulting in a resounding 'crash'.

The man in fedora noticed and confirmed that the boy was inside.

Mum? Dad? Where are you?

"I'm their acquaintance. They asked me to look after you. Don't be afraid, I'm not going to hurt you." The man continued in a soft and gentle voice, as if talking to a small, startled animal. Or at least it was as gentle as he could, he mentally sighed. He was a hitman for god's sake, he kills for a living, not babysits.

"... M- Mum?" The little boy finally spoke, but it was so soft the man nearly missed if not for his well-trained ears.

The man let out a small sigh of relief. At least the boy was speaking now, and that was an improvement right? He wasn't trained for comforting people, for heaven's sake! Now, if someone could tell when would be the right time to open the cupboard door without traumatizing the kid much further?

"... Dad? Wh- where...?"

"Everything's alright. Your mother and father... Well... They... went to heaven. They are okay."

Liar! I saw them… Mum and Dad… They were… They were… there… right there…

"Is it okay if I open the door? I'm not going to hurt you, alright?" The man in fedora said, hiding his own impatience, for he wanted to leave this room that reeked with the stench of blood as soon as possible. He didn't like the smell of blood, even though it was way too familiar for him due to his line of work.

"..."

Hearing no reply from the little boy, the man decided to wait a little while more before opening the door.

"Your parents… They asked me to take care of you. I know what you've seen and heard is really scary, but your parents' last wish is for you to be happy."

… Happy? Mum, Dad, are you happy now? But… Mum was screaming… She sounded like she was in pain… There were a few loud bangs… When I peeked, even though she asked me not to, there was so much… red… Is she happy now? Dad? Where's dad? I can't hear his voice anymore…

"Come on… We have to leave soon. I'll take you to somewhere safe, so don't worry, okay?"

Safe… Are… are my parents there?

The little boy slowly pushed open the cupboard door and peeked at the man wearing a fedora in front of him.

"Who... Who are... you?" The boy asked with a quivering voice, a bit intimidated by the man's aura, but he couldn't sense any ill intent.

"Reborn."

"No!" Tsuna woke up with a jolt and sat up in his bed, perspiration glistening on his face.

It was that dream again, and Tsuna could still feel the fear and adrenaline flowing through his veins even after he had woken up.

"You alright?" Tsuna's bedroom door opened, and a man who was running his hand over his own black spiky hair came in. "Heard you screaming."

"Reborn..." Tsuna called, "I'm fine." He then looked down and saw his hands shaking, and took a few deep breaths to calm himself down.

The man named Reborn raised one of his eyebrow, obviously sceptical, but left it at that. Reborn was wearing comfortable sleeping clothes, a button-up long-sleeve and pants, but Tsuna could still feel his ever-present aura and it was amazing that Reborn could look classy in such casual clothes.

It had been five years since Tsuna started living with Reborn, ever since that incident.

Nightmare was a common recurring event for him, something that he was used to, yet never comfortable with.

Reborn leaned against the doorway, crossing his arms and staring at the slightly panting Tsuna, before walking out of the room. He came back in a few minutes later, whilst carrying a cup of warm milk with honey with him, and passed it to Tsuna.

Tsuna looked up when the cup was handed to him. "Thanks." He grasped it and took a sip.

"The same dream again?" Reborn inquired.

Tsuna nodded, and did not say anything else.

"Perhaps you should see a therapist." Reborn suggested.

Tsuna shook his head. He knew that it wouldn't help.

Tsuna looked up when he realised that Reborn was not returning to his room. Reborn was looking at him, and Tsuna stared right back.

Tsuna knew that Reborn was a hitman. The job of a hitman was to kill. Kill people like his parents.

Reborn never did try to hide the fact after Tsuna got out of shock. Tsuna was told that his father Iemitsu was part of the mafia, too, and it was an enemy famiglia that wanted to kill off the Sawada family.

At first Tsuna didn't want to talk to Reborn, and Reborn didn't actually want to care for him either. Reborn told him explicitly that if he hadn't promised Iemitsu and Nana he would take care of their son he would have thrown Tsuna into the streets already.

Reborn later gave Tsuna a photo of his parents for him to keep. While holding the piece of paper in his trembling hand like a lifeline, glancing up and into Reborn's obsidian eyes, Tsuna knew that Reborn wasn't as bad as he seemed to be.

Reborn also told Tsuna that he was supposed to send Tsuna to Nana's distant family after it got safer, but they never exactly talked about it again and it stayed that way. Tsuna got used to living with Reborn, and thought there was no need to move to another place with strangers he had never met previously. Before long, Tsuna became a permanent residence of Reborn's house.

Sometimes Tsuna hated it. Hated how he was dependent on Reborn.

"Do you ever want to get revenge?" Reborn suddenly broke the staring contest and the silence in the room.

"Revenge?" Tsuna tested the word as it rolled off his tongue, savouring it, as if the word never appeared in his dictionary before.

Staring into space, Tsuna remained silent for a seemingly endless amount of time after that.

"So? Are you going to confess as to why you have so many bruises and a broken nose?" Reborn demanded, although he really couldn't care less. However, Tsuna never did get into fights, so it was strange for Reborn to see his skin littered with black and blue.

"They... were hurting people…" Tsuna mumbled, acting every bit like a guilty child who did something wrong in front of his parents, even though Reborn was not acting like a parent at all.

It was at that moment where Reborn realised something. He never actually talked to Tsuna about that incident. He had always believed that if Tsuna didn't want to talk about it, then they didn't need to have a discussion about it, but in the end the trauma Tsuna had would forever haunt him.

Reborn sighed. "You know, I can teach you some self defence skills if you want, so even if you get in a fight in the future at least you won't get injured too badly."

It was as if Reborn just somehow knew that Tsuna wasn't going to stop fighting because he had such a stubborn streak in him. Was Iemitsu like this too? He couldn't remember.

Tsuna raised his head and regarded Reborn. "Alright. Thanks."

"What do you want to learn? Physical combat? Gun? Knife? Just the basics?"

"Gun?" Tsuna repeated after Reborn.

Reborn was a little surprised. "You want to learn how to shoot a gun?" Tsuna never seemed interested in guns or firearms; Reborn observed that he was avoiding them most of the time, in fact.

Gun… Gunshots…

The 'bang's still haunted him in his dreams and resonated in his mind.

Tsuna detested guns.

He detested the smell of gunpowder, loathed the sound of a gunshot, cringed at the sight of a firearm and most of all, despised the fact that his parents were killed by guns.

Tsuna finally answered, "No, please don't teach me how to use a gun."

Drip, drip, drip.

His grip on the hilt of the knife never loosened. He could feel the warmth of the dark, red liquid as it trickled down his right hand and down the blade of his knife, forming a puddle of what seemed like red paint on the floor.

Is this it? Is this what revenge tasted like?

Tsuna detested the colour red, but at the same time, his life was filled with red.

From as early as he could remember, he could only see red.

He followed after his father's footsteps, he became part of the mafia. He followed Reborn's footsteps, he was killing other human beings with an order.

Sawada Tsunayoshi could have had a normal life. He could be happily employed and contented working in a patisserie shop.

But life just didn't seem to work that way. It just so happened that once you get involved in the mafia you are cursed to stay in there forever.

Reborn didn't comment anything when he taught Tsuna the ways of an assassin.

Tsuna didn't know why he became who he is today. Was it really because he wanted revenge?

Maybe.

Revenge. When you have lived you whole life for revenge, on the day you have exacted your revenge, would be the day you realise there is nothing else in your life that has meaning anymore.

Tsuna felt his chest was hollow and empty inside. Perhaps killing people wasn't his cup of tea after all.

Does anyone have a guidebook on what to do after you have finished your revenge? Tsuna had never liked to kill anyway. He didn't like the smell of blood.

Furthermore, he spent his whole life thinking that he shouldn't die. Not after his parents died for him. But after his hands were stained by the blood of so many others…

Maybe he was waiting for his own death. Waiting for someone who could kill him.

Reborn said his parents' last wish was for him to be happy, right? So Tsuna will smile every day, until the day he dies.

The day Arancione first killed, was the day the entire Satana famiglia was annihilated, and Arancione's name rang throughout the underworld overnight.

Boom.

The sound of the explosion brought Tsuna back to the present. His mind had wandered while he waited for the bomb to explode.

Tsuna was hiding in a building where his victim's house was in clear view. Smoke was now billowing out of the window, and panicked voices could be heard.

He had used a bomb disguised as a book on the victim's study table without anyone noticing. When the bomb activates, Tsuna tried to ensure that it had a short fatal range, only killing the target but not the others around him. However mild the bomb was, some books still caught fire and now the house was burning.

Tsuna watched as the fire burned, but his eyes were distant as he stared into space, unable to focus his eyes on the fire itself.

Nothing actually mattered in the end.

A/N: Managed to squeeze in some parental R27 lol. Ah Dad!Reborn is kind of cute xD

Reborn POV for the first part? Haha.

Reborn's inner monologue: What? Why am I stuck with this brat? *shakes little Tsuna off from clinging on his leg, but Tsuna's grip does not budge* What is he doing? Does he think he's a duck imprinting on the first living being he sees? Tell me again why I'm doing this. *shakes harder, then gives up entirely*