Prologue

Sawada Tsunayoshi sat quietly in the park near his home swinging side to side on the swing set as he held back tears. He was not having a good day, first he had woken up late and his siblings had left without him, again.

Then he had been chased by a pack of dogs that ended up getting his lunch, before he was able to drag himself into the school only to get yelled at by the teacher. "Again Sawada, I swear why can't you be like your brother or sister" he had growled out before returning to the board.

As he trudged towards his seat he tripped over a foot and fell flat on his face causing the class to laugh "ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, that's Dame – Tsuna for you, completely useless" a classmate mocked as he looked up and saw the foot that tripped him to be his own sister's.

That had been the breaking point for the poor boy, he grabbed his stuff and ran from the room before fleeing the school. He ran until his legs could carry him no more, when he looked up he found he was near the shopping district he sighed before walking to the park where he was now.

Shivering as the chilled September air whistled he rubbed his eyes and continued swinging side to side. It wasn't until twenty minutes later when he heard a voice "Oh, why are you not in school young one" a man asked.

At the question Tsuna raised his head and looked at the man, he stood at around five-nine to five-ten with salt and peppered black hair a trimmed goatee and deep blue eyes, but the strangest thing was his skin. The man could easily be seen as a foreigner but his Japanese was good without even the hint of an ascent.

Tsuna sniffed again before answering "I ran away from school", at this the man's eyebrow raised "why would you do that" he asked causing Tsuna to blush. He stuttered as he answered "because I'm no good" he answered causing the man to frown "why would you believe you are no good."

At this Tsuna began to cry "because I'm weak and dumb, I can't run more than ten yards without tripping, I constantly get bad grades no matter how hard I study and I'm nothing compared to my little brother and sister" he choked out as he sobbed.

The man's frowned deepened, he knew he was supposed to be recruiting right now but his senses told him this child needed him more than anything. With a sigh to himself he raised his head and rubbed the kids head causing him to stop crying and raise his head and look at the stranger.

The man smiled at him "so what, it doesn't matter if you're weaker than them or not as smart, what matters is your character and heart and I can tell you have those in spades kid" he stated as Tsuna looked up at him stars in his eyes. This man he didn't even know had said he mattered even when everyone else he knew called him worthless and no good.

The man pulled himself from the ground before brushing the dirt from his knees and holding his hand out to Tsuna. "Now why don't we get you home and out of this park" at this Tsuna nodded a smile now donning his face. At this the man took his hand in his and began to walk "so what's your name kid" the man asked

"Sawada Tsunayoshi" he stated which caused the man to stumble and stop walking before he turned to the kid with a surprised look on his face 'oh you've got to be kidding me' the man thought.

Sawada Miku and Sawada Hanzo walked towards their home talking about their Dame older brother "I can't believe he tripped over my foot, I mean there is a limit to how clumsy you can be" Miku said Hanzo nodding. "Even still I didn't expect him to run away like that, maybe he's trying to convince mom to pull him out of school now" he joked making them both laugh.

As they neared their house they saw a black car in front of their gate, turning into the house they saw an elder gentlemen talking with their mother, "I will be here to retrieve him at seven tomorrow, please have his luggage and any other personal effects ready to go by then" he said shaking Nana's hand "Of course Nascosto-san, he will be ready on time" she said with a smile as the man nodded his head and turned to walk away. As he made his way down the walkway he paused to look at the two children at the gate 'must be the siblings' he thought before passing them and getting inside the car.

As Miku and Hanzo watched the car drive away they both had a strange sense of danger, like a wild animal had just walked past them, turned towards them only to decide they were not worth the effort. Turning back towards the house they walked in only to see their mother on the phone, "Yes honey it's wonderful, they said he has talent and they want to nurture it to it's full potential, now he'll have a place to belong" she happily chattered away with the other person on the line, who they assumed to be their father. Shrugging, the two walked upstairs to put their bags away, as they passed Tsuna's room they were shocked to see a pair of suitcases on the floor and another open on the bed.

"Where do you think your going" Miku asked as she walked into the room and looked through the suitcase. Tsuna looked up from his bed, "I'm going to a new school, in Tokyo" he said as he replaced the clothes that Miku had moved around. The two siblings looked in surprise at their older brother, after getting out of her shock Miku smiled cruelly "So mom's finally shipping you off so you'll stop embarrassing the family." Tsuna stopped packing the suitcase, be quickly slammed the top down and closed it before turning to face his sister, "If you must know, they came looking for me, something about my talent for learning Languages" he said 'I can't tell them the real reason, not even mom know's' he thought.

Miku scoffed at the response before turning to leave "ya right, you'll be back in a couple of months crying about how bad everything was" she said as her and Hanzo left the room. The next morning Tsuna kissed his mother goodbye and hugged her, Miku and Hanzo hadn't even bothered to get out of bed. As he put the suitcases in the trunk he gave one last look to his home, they only place he had ever felt safe. Gathering his nerves he climbed into the car and looked out the window as he saw his small hometown speed bye 'so this is it, this is where my old life ends' he thought, as he turned back to face the front he thought of the words that Nascosto-san had told him, "Only you can bring back your line and help us save the Brotherhood", he sighed 'this is a lot of weight to put on a child' he thought as the car drove, towards Tokyo, towards his new home and towards the Assassin Brotherhood.