Pioggia Eterna

Yamamoto sensed the sniper the second before he pulled the trigger. His target was undeniably, the future Vongola Boss's head. The swordsman briefly contemplated his options. It would take too long to take out his transforming bat; the bullet would already be lodged into Tsuna's brain. Seeing no other alternative, he simply stepped in front of him. The bullet struck the Rain Guardian in the chest, dangerously close to his heart.

Tsuna and Gokudera's conversation was cut short as Yamamoto staggered backward, running into Tsuna.

"Oi! Baseball-freak! Watch where you're-!!" Gokudera stopped short as Yamamoto fell to his knees, one hand clutching his chest.

"Yamamoto!? What's wrong?!" Tsuna asked worriedly. He gasped as he saw the red stain spreading across his friend's shirt.

"G-Gokudera," Yamamoto snapped, struggling to remain upright. "Sniper."

Immediately, Gokudera understood what was going on. Quickly, he told Tsuna to help him grab Yamamoto. The three darted into a nearby alley.

"Shit. We need help." Gokudera muttered vehemently. Yamamoto was quickly loosing consciousness. "Tenth, talk to him. Keep him awake." Gokudera frowned at the fact that he had just given his boss an order. The silver haired teen then flipped out his phone and called his sister.

Yamamoto laughed, barely feeling the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. He felt extremely light headed. Tsuna was next to him as he sat, propped up against the wall. For some reason the brunette looked quite alarmed, repeating the words Stay with me over and over again. Of course he would stay with him, he was his best friend.

A sudden searing pain was like a douse of cold water. Yamamoto grit his teeth, his face twisting at the throbbing pain. The swordsman forced himself to focus, and began thinking a lot more clearly then he had been a few seconds ago. He looked down at his chest. Tsuna was pressing Gokudera's jacket against it, trying to stem the flow of blood. The thin article of clothing was already soaked. Looking up, he saw Gokudera on the phone, probably to get help.

Turning to his friend beside him, Yamamoto noticed that Tsuna's eyes were filled with tears. The injured teen stretched his arm out and placed it over his friend's shoulders.

"I-it's okay, Tsuna. I'll s-stay with you. I p-promise," Yamamoto's blue tinged lips curved up into a smile comfortingly, although he broke into shivers every few words.

"Yamamoto...," Tsuna gazed at his friend, gratitude shining in his watery eyes. The brunette pressed closer to his friend and became ensnared in a hug. Tsuna ignored the blood that was getting all over his clothes. With an increasing amount of effort, Yamamoto grinned.

The swordsman began shivering even more because of blood loss and shock. Tsuna was warm, so Yamamoto pulled him closer and rested his head on his shoulder.

"I-I'm so t-tired," The rain guardian's eyelids began to droop. Tsuna and Gokudera both loudly protested.

"Bastard! Don't you DARE fall asleep!" Gokudera snarled, physically restraining himself from shaking Yamamoto.

"NO! You PROMISED you'd stay with me!!! YOU PROMISED!!!" Tsuna yelled, desperate at keeping his sinking friend awake. But they were fighting a loosing battle, and soon the rain guardian's eyes closed as he slipped into unconsciousness.

"Shit! Wake him up! Do SOMETHING!" Tsuna was nearly in hysterics as Yamamoto slumped back against the wall.

"Tenth, calm down," Gokudera had forced himself to be calm for his Boss's sake. "Help should be arriving any minute. I'll keep pressure on the wound. Try and wake him up." Tsuna began to gently shake his unconscious friend's shoulder.

" Yamamoto....," he coaxed gently, shaking the rain guardian a bit harder. The injured teen was frighteningly pale, and starting to feel cold to touch. Beside him Gokudera growled and slipped off his shirt and began to press it on Yamamoto's chest, tossing the soaking jacket behind him.

Suddenly, a car screeched to a stop beside the alley. Tsuna and Gokudera immediately pressed closer to Yamamoto. Quickly, the car swung open revealing the Boss of the Cavallone Family.

"Dino-san! Thank god!" Tsuna sighed in relief. Gokudera also relaxed a bit. Romario and a few other of Dino's subordinates exited the vehicle and rushed toward the three boys. Romario began emergency field treatment at once. As the skilled man worked, Dino quickly relayed the situation to Gokudera and Tsuna.

"We immediately located the sniper, captured him, and brought him in for questioning. Soon we'll know who hired him," Dino smiled reassuringly. "But don't worry about it to much, we'll take care of it for you."

"Dino-san...," Tsuna was so glad that he had someone as nice as Dino as an adopted older brother.

"We can depart immediately," Romario spoke as he finished, picking Yamamoto. Tsuna stared at his best friends limp form. The rain guardian's shirt had been discarded, showing a layer of bandages over his abnormally pale chest. Just seeing his Yamamoto like that, felt wrong. The cheerful black teen, who always smiled and calmed people down or cheered him up, wasn't even conscious to smile. Now he was damaged heavily, blood already beginning to seep through his bandages.

"Tsuna, we have to hurry and get to a hospital," Dino's voice broke through his thoughts. Tsuna quickly nodded, feeling ashamed for postponing their departure.

Tsuna and Gokudera were ushered into the backseat of the car. Romario stretched Yamamoto across their laps before getting in himself. As soon as the door shut, they drove off. Tsuna looked down at his friend's head, that lay in his lap. Gently, Tsuna wiped away the blood trickling from the corner of his lips.

The car hit a large bump. Tsuna bounced in his seat, flinching as he hit his head on the side of the car. He looked back down at Yamamoto and found that his friend's face had contorted in pain. Hoping to somehow calm him down or ease the pain, Tsuna ran his fingers through his rain guardian's short spiky hair. It was surprisingly soft and as he continued to stroke the soft black hair, the swordsman's expression lightened.

Within a few more minutes, the had arrived and they rushed Yamamoto into the emergency room.

Tsuna stared at the floor of the waiting room. He tried to ignore the fact that one of his best friends was going through surgery to remove a bullet in his chest that he'd been the cause of. Gokudera tried, with very little progress, to cheer the brunette up.

"Tenth, I'm so glad that you are uninjured," The silver haired teen smiled pleasantly at his boss. Tsuna sighed, he was the one who was supposed to be injured. Sensing that his plan didn't work, Gokudera tried a different approach.

"It was the baseball-freak's decision, Tenth." Tsuna froze at the words, guilt welling up inside him. Gokudera sighed this time, put his game face on, and continued.

"If I had known, I would have done the same thing." The storm guardian was serious. Tsuna retaliated at his words.

"I don't want you to get hurt for me!!"

"It's our job as guardians," Gokudera replied. Tsuna stood in front of him and grabbed his collar.

"WHAT IF HE DIED!?!" The brunette shouted, his face pained.

"That's probably what Yamamoto was thinking." Realization dawned on Tsuna's face. He didn't want any of his friends to get injured or die. The thought was terrifying. Yamamoto probably felt the same way. The swordsman cherished his friends and, like Gokudera, was very protective of him. It all made sense.

Tsuna let his hands fall to his sides, suddenly feeling very tired.

"I'm sorry, Gokudera-kun," he mumbled quietly.

"It's fine, Tenth."

The two sat down once more and continued their wait in silence.

After what felt like an eternity, the doctor finally left the surgical room. Gokudera and Tsuna both stood up, anticipating his verdict.

"His life is no longer in danger."

The two boys sighed in relief. They then thanked the doctor and left. They were both very tired and decided that they would come visit their injured friend later.

Yamamoto slowly opened his eyes against the bright sunlight that show through the window. He slowly began to regain his senses. The sickly smell of antiseptics, and the unfamiliar bed he felt he was lying in suggested that he was in a hospital. The swordsman then began to remember what had happened. He felt a smaller hand grasping his right one so he slowly turned his head. Tsuna sat in a chair, his head propped against his empty hand, sleeping. The rain guardian smiled behind his oxygen mask.

"Tsuna..." Yamamoto's voice was like a trigger, as the moment his name was spoken, the brunette's face slipped off of his hand and the boy toppled forward and landed roughly on the swordsman's injured chest. Tsuna immediately woke up.

"Huh...?Aah!! Yamamoto!! Your awake!" Said teen was currently restraining himself from gasping in pain. "Yamamoto, what's wrong?"

"Um...y-you're-."

"OH MY GOSH!! I'M ON YOUR WOUND!! I'M SO SORRY!!" Tsuna instantly began to panic. While freaking out, he accidently unhooked the wire connecting Yamamoto to the machine monitoring his heart rate. The steady beeps broke off into a flatline. Both boys froze. Then, Yamamoto beamed and burst out laughing.

"The machine...HAHAHAHA.... says I'm dead... HAHAHAHAHA!!" Yamamoto commented cheerfully, barely able to stop laughing long enough to say it. Tsuna found himself laughing as well. The two teens sat there laughing for another three minutes until a very unhappy nurse came in to see why her patient's heart had stopped beating.