Hello! Welcome to my first fic in years! I had another account but I felt so disappointed in life, those stories just weren't me anymore. So here I am, years later and hoping to get back into writing. Please let me know how I did; any and all feedback is valued. Thank you!

A/N: I've watched the anime but haven't gotten very far in the manga (Just started) so this might be completely AU from it.

Disclaimer: Not mine. No money. Still broke. But I do love Lambo to bits! Mainly because of how protected he is.

"Stupidera can kiss my ass. Who the hell does he think he is saying I'm not good enough?" Lambo grumbled to himself as he walked through the nearly empty streets of his neighborhood.

The streetlights were just starting to turn on as he continued his walk; the daylight just beginning to dim. Most people were already home getting ready for dinner just as he should be but there was no way he could deal with his family at the moment. No, he should just continue his walk. He didn't really have a destination in mind just as long as it was far from home where his brothers, he shook his head, his supposed brothers were currently at.

It had been five months since Lambo had last seen them face-to-face so it was depressing to know they were wasting time angry instead of together. He knew they had to return to Italy the following day for an important gathering and the last thing he wanted was to part on bad terms but he couldn't help it. Gokudera's words had hurt, damn it.

A few months ago he'd finally turned thirteen which meant he was old enough to go with them, right? He could continue school there and be able to spend time with them just like before. Just like when they were all a close family living together.

When he'd brought it up to them, they gave him the same excuse of being too young, he needed to stay with Mama and blah, blah, blah. After a few minutes of arguing, Gokudera had lost his temper and shouted that Lambo wasn't good enough. That had caused everyone to freeze. Realizing what he'd said, Gokudera tried to apologize but Tsuna had snapped at his right hand man before he could finish. Lambo had grabbed his messenger bag while they were distracted, said he was going for a walk and left the house in a hurry.

He knew he wasn't like them in terms of strength but he hadn't thought they felt like he was a good for nothing. Maybe they'd be better off without him. No, he knew his family loved him as useless as he was. Sure, he wasn't much good to them right now but he'd get there. One day.

He sighed as he stopped at the entrance of his favorite park. Of course he'd end up here without even thinking about it; so many memories with his brothers. He walked to a bench and sat down, pulling his messenger back to his lap before taking another deep breath. Why didn't they want him with them?

He opened his bag and pulled out his digital camera, holding it in his hands as he remembered the day he'd received it.

"But I want to go to Italy!" Ten year old Lambo cried, not bothering to wipe the tears and snot away. His big brother smiled sadly at him. They were all leaving him again, that wasn't fair. With the exception of Tsuna, Yamamoto and Gokudera, all the others were already outside ready to head to the airport. Lambo figured he'd try once more to convince them to take him along.

"I know you do but it's still too soon. In the meantime, I want you to stay and keep doing your job. I want you to go to school and take care of Mama for us. Can I count on you to keep her and I-Pin safe?"

Finally wiping at his eyes, he managed a small nod. "You know you can, Tsuna-nii."

"I know." Tsuna replied before standing up. "Oh, before I forget."

Lambo watched as Tsuna walked to his right hand man and received a small gift bag from him. "We all pitched in and got this custom made for you. I wanted to make sure it was durable and wouldn't break easily." He handed the bag over to Lambo who sniffed then opened it.

A cow print box with a black bow was underneath some black and white tissue paper. Curiously he pulled it out and his eyes widened when he recognized what it was.

"Tsuna-nii, you remembered?"

Gokudera scoffed. "Of course he remembered, you stupid cow. Juudaime wouldn't forget what you asked for your birthday."

"Shut up, Stupidera!"

"Why you-"

"Now, now, he's just excited. Do you like it, Lambo?" Yamamoto interrupted what surely would have been another argument.

Lambo nodded as he took the cow print digital camera from its box. He had been saving for this camera for months and he still wasn't close to having enough. Of course, that might be due to his candy addiction but that was beside the point.

"Can I really have it?"

Gokudera scoffed once more. "Does anybody else like cows as much as you?"

This time Lambo didn't offer a retort; instead he threw himself at his big brother and gave him the tightest hug he could muster.

"Thank you so much, Tsuna-nii!" He'd shouted which had made them all smile.

"I want you to record some special moments to show us the next time we visit, ok?"

And he did. The next three years he'd recorded only the family; especially when his brothers visited. He turned it on and selected a video of the last time they'd been home, the time when they'd all gone to the beach and Gokudera had almost blown up some kids pretending to be sharks.

Lambo laughed at the memory just as he found the video. There was no way his family didn't want him, they put up with way too much to say they didn't. He'd been watching it for a few minutes when he felt somebody approaching. Looking up he watched a few thugs head towards him with suspicious looking grins. This was not good. He quickly turned off the camera and shoved it back in his messenger bag before standing up.

He'd only made it a few steps when one of them called out to him. "Hey kid, that's a nice looking camera."

Ignore them, just walk away. He could take them, probably. But if he got into another fight his brothers would kill him. Or worse, never take him to Italy. The best thing to do was leave and hope they didn't follow.

"The boss is trying to talk to you."

Damn it. He stopped and looked back over his shoulder. "I can't talk, I have to get home or I'll be in trouble."

There were four of them in total. All tall and definitely out of high school; dropouts more than likely. Curse his bad luck for attracting trouble even when his family wasn't around. He tried once more to walk away but a heavy hand landed on his shoulder.

"Trust me; you'll be in bigger trouble if you walk away." The thug muttered in his ear.

Gross. His breath, no, all of him reeked of alcohol and Lambo felt sick to his stomach. Not because he was scared but because he couldn't deal with the stench of alcohol. He'd tried it once, not a very good experience when you're a kid. But that's another story.

"Just leave me alone, I don't want any trouble." How cliché, he sighed. The guys laughed as the one next to him tightened his hold around Lambo's shoulders. He had meaty hands and could probably squeeze him to death if he wasn't careful.

"We just want to see if your little cow has milk, don't we boys?" This was their leader; it was obvious from how he stood among the other three. He was about the same height as Yamamoto but had plenty of more muscle. He had a small scar running over his left eye and he was missing two front teeth. The other two were built about the same: dark hair, a couple of piercings, stupid looking grins on their face and all sporting crew cuts. Man, four against one wasn't fair. There was no way he was going to walk away without some body part broken. He had to play it cool and try to talk his way out.

"You must be quite the imbecile if you have to ask something so stupid." He answered while picking his ear. Okay, so Lambo wasn't one to play it cool. Before he could say anything else, the arm around him pulled away only to pull his bag off then toss it to their leader.

"Hey!"

The arms returned but this time they pulled his own back, he was held in place when he felt the unmistakable end of a blade against his neck. "The boss just wants to see it."

Lambo glared as he watched their boss pull out his camera then toss his bag to the ground. Boy, were they going to pay…

"What do you think, Takayuki?"

Takayuki inspected the camera as if evaluating its worth. When he smirked, Lambo figured the thug must have some idea of just how much he could get for it.

"This will definitely sell for a good amount. This is custom made with real gold used for the crest. Is this some kind of family heirloom?"

They didn't recognize the Vongola Family crest? They must be new to the neighborhood. When Lambo didn't answer, the thug holding him pressed the blade drawing some blood. As if the great Lambo was afraid of a little pain.

"That's none of your business."

"I'll tell you what, I'm feeling generous today so I'll let you go but I'm keeping this." Takayuki said as he turned to walk away.

"Like hell you're keeping it, that's mine and I'm taking it back, asshole." Wow, Lambo surprised himself by how brave he was feeling at the moment. Of course, the jerks were threatening to take something precious from him so he'd definitely fight for it.

"Think about this, kid. Is this thing worth a beating?"

Without hesitation Lambo answered, "It is but I won't get beaten, you better walk away now."

Takayuki sighed sadly before nodding to his men. "Nobu, Seiji, please help Yori teach him some manners since his parents obviously failed to do so. Kids shouldn't talk back to those superior to them."

"It's funny you actually believe you're superior."

There was no way Lambo was going to let them beat him. He was the Lightning Guardian, he was representing the Vongola Famiglia and he was not going to make them look bad. Not anymore.

Having been kicked around since he was kid, he had learned how to defend himself at a very young age. Then with all these years training with the Vongola, he'd only gotten stronger. Of course, he was only thirteen and it was against four big guys; there was only so much he could do. He wasn't Hibari after all.

Yori let him go just as Nobu threw the first punch which Lambo easily dodged by backing away. Seiji threw the same punch which again, was easily dodged. He'd taken personal beatings, eh, lessons from his older brothers, he could do this.

"You're the definition of cowards for taking on a kid, you gorillas!"

Lambo took back his early words when Yori kicked him from behind causing him to stumble which gave Nobu the opportunity to punch him in the face. The phrase seeing stars definitely applied in this situation.

Crying out, Lambo fell to the ground. Even though he tried to get back on his feet, he wasn't fast enough. The kick to his ribs was painful and Lambo felt all the air in his lungs leave him with a gasp.

They began to kick him while he tried to cover his head, not that it did much good. He cried when he felt something snap in his hand. He prayed it was just a broken finger but with the intensity of the pain he highly doubted it was.

How people could hurt a kid without feeling any remorse, he'd never understand. When somebody punched his temple, he knew he'd blacked out for a second or two because he was on his feet the next. He felt as if he'd been hit by a bus. He was being held by the collar of his shirt, wheezing as he tried to make sense of what was going on.

"We were going to let you go but we ain't letting you now." Take..Teka..What was the leader's name again? Lambo could barely see through his left eye which was now swollen shut. The taste of blood from what he figured was a busted lip didn't go unnoticed either.

He had no choice, he had to use his lightning otherwise he'd die without proving to his brothers he was good enough. His horns were in his messenger bag -thank goodness for small miracles- so he just had to get to them. He'd shock them with just enough power to hold them off so he could run away. Just like old times. He'd grab his camera and bag and head on home; easy enough. He shoved his right hand in his pocket, gritted his teeth as he used his probably broken left hand to put the ring on. Using all his strength to punch the guy holding him, Lambo almost passed out from the pain.

Startled, Seiji dropped Lambo who ran straight for his bag which was lying on the ground and pulled out his horns. He knew the others were running after him so he quickly put them on his head and summoned his lightning.

Not too much or I'll kill them. I can't have Tsuna-nii mad at me for murder.

If he hadn't felt like he was going to break in half, he would have laughed at their reaction to lightning appearing out of nowhere and striking them. The voltage wasn't high enough to kill, probably just enough to knock them out. After a few seconds, he couldn't stay up any longer and fell to his knees. He had no more energy.

The others groaned in pain but one of them was already getting up. Damn. The attack had been way too weak.

"What the hell was that? Forget the camera; you're coming with us, kid!"

Takayuki shouted before reaching Lambo and punched him hard against his left temple again. He barely felt the kick to his bruised chest as the other three reached him. Double damn.

"You're going to make us rich, stupid cow."

"Only Hayato-nii can call me that." He mumbled barely holding on to consciousness. They laughed knowing they'd won as one of them pulled off his horns and ring. Now Lambo knew he was not good enough for the Vongola Famiglia.

"Oi!"

Lambo was dropped without a care, landing hard on his aching ribs. He let out a cry not bothering to hold back his tears any more. He was going to die simply from the pain.

Then he realized he'd been dropped and he was sure he'd heard another voice just before that. Trembling, he managed to turn his head to where the loud commotion was coming from and was surprised to see Gokudera taking on the four men by himself.

"Lambo, can you hear me?"

He tensed, not knowing who it was but relaxed when they appeared in front of him. He would have tried to stand but a hand kept him in place. "Stay down, an ambulance is on the way."

Lambo looked up and managed a weak smile as a piece of cloth was placed against his head which he understood is where the blood was coming from. "I was winning, Take-nii." He croaked, it was getting difficult to breathe.

Yamamoto smiled back but Lambo could see the anger behind it. He must look like crap if Yamamoto looked like he wanted to commit murder. "I don't doubt that for a second."

"Shouldn't you… help him?" He asked closing his eyes. His brothers could definitely handle this, he could sleep now.

"He's already done. Besides, I think he feels guilty because he warned me not to get involved." Lambo felt a gentle tap on his forehead. "Don't fall asleep, Lambo." Yamamoto told him. Lambo opened his eyes, glared at his brother and groaned. He knew the drill about staying awake until a doctor cleared him but it was such a pain.

"Good because it is his fault." He muttered in return. He was going to close his eyes again when Yamamoto chuckled.

"You'll be okay if you think you have no fault in this."

"I'm injured, Take-nii, leave me alone."

The rushed footsteps stopped abruptly next to him just as he heard the familiar sirens in the distance. "How is he?"

Just because he had saved his life, Lambo did not have to forgive Gokudera for his earlier comment so he figured he'd scare him just a bit more.

"Huh? Who is that?" Lambo asked trying to sound as weak as possible which wasn't that difficult since he was feeling pretty weak and short of breath.

He watched Gokudera tense as he gave Yamamoto a terrified expression.

"Are you the tooth fairy?" Lambo asked causing the Rain Guardian to laugh. Gokudera seemed to know he was being teased and visibly deflated.

"You stupid cow…" Gokudera muttered, running a hand through his hair, mindful of Lambo's injuries. The smoke bomber's phone rang just as the ambulance arrived.

"Wait, I can't leave-"

"Let them take you to the hospital, you'll be fine. I'm going to tell Juudaime what's happened." Gokudera stated, standing up to answer the phone.

"If you're worried about your things, Gokudera has them." Yamamoto smiled knowingly. Lambo relaxed and nodded before wincing. His head hurt and nodding did not help ease his pain.

"That's the least he can do." He coughed which sent another wave of hurt through his body. The paramedics arrived and immediately began to assess his condition. When they felt around his chest, the pain was too much; he cried before promptly passing out, missing the way Gokudera and Yamamoto shouted his name.

Gokudera was going to pay. That was the first thought Lambo had when he began to wake up. There was a beeping sound from somewhere nearby and he knew that could only mean one thing. He was in a hospital. Yea, Stupidera was going to pay dearly.

"Are you awake, Lambo?"

Lambo struggled to open his eyes and was a little surprised when he only managed to open one of them. He raised his hand to his left eye and felt something on it.

"Don't touch that, it's to help your eye heal better."

Oh. He remembered the punch to the face he took and wasn't shocked to know he'd received some serious damage to his eye. He then lifted his left arm which had a cast on it; great, a broken arm. There went his weekend. He looked at Tsuna who looked as if he hadn't slept in a while.

"Tsuna-nii, how long was I out for?"

The question caused Tsuna to sigh. He ran a hand through his hair before he answered. "A few days; you suffered a concussion, have two fractured ribs and a broken wrist. Luckily nothing internal was seriously damaged but your head injury kept you out of it until now."

Was a broken wrist better than the whole arm? Lambo shut his eye, what kind of question was that? Thankfully he couldn't feel too much pain though; they must have him on the good stuff. "That explains why it hurts to breathe."

"Do you want me to call the nurse?"

Lambo slowly shook his head, not wanting to feel more pain than he had to. That's when he processed his brother's words.

"Wait, it's been a few days since then?" Oh no. "But you had that important meeting with those important people! Tsuna-nii, please tell me you just came back from Italy. Please don't let me cause you any more problems."

Normally he would have loved the fact that Tsuna was choosing him over business but he knew how important that meeting was, there was no way Tsuna should be here. Gokudera was right.

"It's fine Lambo, they can wait a few more days."

"I'm really not good for this family!" Lambo cried, ignoring Tsuna's words. He did not want to be responsible for his brothers' trouble.

"Lambo, you need to calm down. You're going to aggravate your ribs and make them hurt more." Tsuna warned as he stood over his youngest guardian. He moved his kid brother's hair away from his eye and sternly said, "Listen to me; you need to stop thinking like that because it's not true."

"But it is, I couldn't even handle those assholes by myself and Gokudera took them out in two minutes!"

Tsuna held back another sigh. "Language, Lambo. Mama wouldn't want to hear you use those words either," The Vongola boss took a seat on the edge of Lambo's bed and laid a hand on his bandaged head. "Gokudera is a 23 year old man; of course he's going to be a little stronger than you. Lambo, you're only thirteen and they were four gorillas attacking you. It makes sense they'd have the advantage. Not all teenagers can be like Kyoya."

"But Tsuna-nii, that's not an excuse. I couldn't hold my own at all. I'm sure even I-Pin could have done a better job."

Tsuna was about to say something else when a cough made them turn to the door. Gokudera was standing there looking just as guilty as he had back at the park. "Juudaime, can I talk to Lambo, please?"

Lambo looked like he wanted to protest but Tsuna smiled and nodded. "Hear him out for me, okay? You'll see it was just a misunderstanding."

And with that, Tsuna walked out of the room leaving Lambo feeling extremely awkward as Gokudera made his way to the side of the bed.

"Lambo-"

"It's your fault this happened."

Gokudera froze. He looked ashamed and the hurt was unmistakable but Lambo tried not to care. If Gokudera hadn't said those things, he wouldn't have gone out and none of this would have happened.

"I know."

Well, that was surprising. "You do?"

Gokudera rubbed the back of his neck as he nervously sat down on the now empty chair. "Lambo, more than anyone you should know how easy it is to say something you don't actually mean."

At Lambo's confused stare, Gokudera knew he had to use another approach. "Remember that one time you told I-Pin she looked like an oversized takoyaki in her party dress?"

"I didn't mean it like that, it just slipped out and you know it." Lambo explained.

"Yes, I know that. But what was it that you were trying to say?"

"That she looked very nice and since I like oversized takoyaki I used that an as example."

The Storm Guardian nodded. "As bad as an example that is, that's what happened to me. It was more or less a misunderstanding because what I was trying to say was that you aren't ready to deal with the family business; you aren't good enough yet but I only voiced part of it. I know you're training and I know you're going to be as strong if not more so than us. But not just yet. I don't want you to think you're not good enough for this family because you are. You're one of us and you'll catch up before you know it."

Lambo looked at his lap; he knew he wasn't good now. "What if I never get there?" He whispered.

"You will." And Gokudera said it with such confidence that Lambo had no reason not to believe him. "You're our kid brother after all."

That was exactly what he wanted to hear. "Speaking of being our kid brother," Gokudera cleared his throat in obvious discomfort. He really wasn't one to offer words of comfort to anyone aside from his boss. "When Hibari interrogated those bastards they said you'd been allowed to leave but didn't because of that stupid camera. "

"It's not stupid..."

"Why didn't you just walk away? You know we would have bought you another one."

"Because my family is in there and there was no way I was going to hand you over without putting up a fight."

Gokudera blinked then laughed. "Hope it was worth it but if you ever pull such a stupid stunt again I will beat you to a pulp myself. You got that, you stupid cow?"

This was what he wanted, to feel like he was good enough for them to need him. He may not be strong but he obviously had something they cared for. He shouldn't have walked away. He never would again. "Ha-Hayato-nii, I'm sorry!" He wailed, trying to ignore the constricting feeling in his chest.

Gokudera panicked at the sight, not realizing this was the first time Lambo used his first name. Quickly standing up trying to comfort the crying cow, he began to pet Lambo's head. "Ah, don't cry stupid! You're going to be in a lot of pain once the painkillers wear off."

"Tsuna, Gokudera made Lambo cry again." Yamamoto laughed from the doorway.

"I'll kill you, you baseball freak!"

Through his tears and pain, Lambo figured he had time to get strong enough before heading off to Italy with his brothers. Until then, he'd enjoy their visits to the max and continue to record these special moments. But hopefully there would be no more misunderstandings that led to beatings which left him looking like broken takoyaki.

So had it been worth it? Yes, it had.

2nd A/N: This is my first time entering into this fandom so I'm extremely nervous. I haven't written anything in who knows how long so I feel a bit rusty but I have to get on this horse again. I'm really serious about writing more and even opened a tumblr since I've notice many here get inspiration from there. Um, I'm still learning how to use it but I hope to get the hang of it soon. I'm not asking for followers because my page (blog?) is so simple and embarrassing but if you can offer some advice, I'd truly appreciate it.

Anywho, this is unbeta'd so mistakes are probably running wild. Please let me know if I severely messed up on something so I can fix it. Thank you!