AN: So sorry for the late update! I had a lot of trouble with this chapter and it's a lot shorter than usual. So I'm pretty sure it sucks but *shrugs*eh.

Note: Bullying is traumatic, so Tsuna might act weird at some points. Oh, do you want Tsuna and Natsu to have a pet? Like a real animal?

Chapter 12: Eye of the Raging Tempest

Gokudera Hayato was one, very messed up, very unlucky, person concluded Tsuna as he skimmed through the meager-Mafia firewalls were ridiculously difficult to even poke a hole through!-information he had gathered. In all, the information was barely a page long.

The first paragraph contained information about Gokudera's birthday, birthplace, blood type, gender, and basically a bunch of stuff that wasn't exactly important. The next couple chapters described Gokudera's appearance and personality, gathered from short in between encounters. In all nothing was really important, though Tsuna made sure to memorize everything, his OCD kicking in.

The next couple paragraphs were more appreciated. They explained the sheer legendary ammunition that Gokudera toted around, which was apparently enough to blow up an apartment building with plenty left over, when the italian police once arrested him (and promptly lost him less than 24 hours later).

It also went on to describe every pro and con of every type of firepower Gokudera ever used. Which was a lot. Sweatdropping slightly, Tsuna spent a couple minutes memorizing the dynamite, bombs, and basically anything that call blow up, that Gokudera had ever used in his short 14 years of life.

Sighing, Tsuna glanced at the clock of the computer he had been using. It was 11: 49, only 11 minutes until lunch was over. Sighing, Tsuna staggered to his feet and stretched, his legs having fallen asleep during his work.

"The things I do for my brother" mumbled Tsuna as he stumbled out the door. Natsu was surely waiting up there for him, with a scolding born from concern at his lips. Sighing, Tsuna completely missed the pair of onyx black eyes watching him with curiosity.

"Seriously! What took you so long?" complained Natsu as they walked down the stairs, his arms behind his head, the bell having rang, signalling the end of their lunch period.

"There was a lot of details" lied Tsuna smoothly, as he closed his book bag neatly, "I had trouble remembering everything."

"You could have just asked me" grumbled Natsu, sulking slightly. Tsuna stopped and stared at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Ni-san who scored a 59 on the last history test, please tell me how you could you have explained to me the war tactics and weaponry we applied during the attack of pearl harbor in 1941" said Tsuna, matter of fact.

Natsu blinked and pouted. Tsuna rolled his eyes, and he heard the sound of Yamamoto's tinkling laughter behind him. Smiling, fondly, Tsuna listened to Yamamoto encouraging comments.

"Ma ma, don't take it to heart, Natsu. I don't know what Tsuna is talking about either" said Yamamoto cheerfully.

"You two..." muttered Tsuna as they reached their floor, "You guys really need to study, the midterms are just around the corner."

Yamamoto rubbed his head sheepishly while Natsu looked anywhere but at his face. Shaking his head, Tsuna walked down the hallway in search of their next class, with Natsu and Yamamoto following him like naughty puppies on a leash.

"By the way, what did your captain want?" ask Tsuna, remembering the messenger that had been talking with Natsu.

"He wants me to stay after school with the team to practice. The next game is just a week away, and it's against Midori" explained Natsu.

"Midori?" questioned Tsuna, his brow furrowing, "Isn't that the all girl's school on the other side of town? Didn't know they had a basketball team."

"They do" said Natsu, "I heard they're pretty good, any advice?"

Tsuna hummed, "At our age, girls are generally shorter than us. Use that to your advantage I guess. What time does the practice end anyway?"

"Uh.." Natsu scratched his head. "Captain says that it's going until at least 6 or so. Do you want to go home instead? Or do you want to stay, you don't have to watch if you don't want to, I know you don't get basketball at all."

"Of course I'm staying! I got something to do anyway" said Tsuna as they neared their classroom.

"Great!" smiled Natsu before turning to Yamamoto, "What about you? Can you stay after school?"

"Gomen, I promised my dad I'll help at the shop today. How about next time?" apologized Yamamoto. Natsu nodded in understanding.

One of the things that Tsuna never got, no matter how much studying he did, was basketball. So staring at Natsu while his team practiced was utterly boring. Grumbling, Natsu eyed the gym's clock which unfortunately read 4:30. Which meant he would still have to wait a while until Gokudera appeared.

Grimacing at the wait, Tsuna turned his attention back to the practice. The 10 member team was split into two even rows. One row seemed to be shooting while the other row caught the rebound. Then they switched.

Currently he saw one of Natsu's taller teammates attempting shot while Natsu himself was skirting on the outside, ready to get the rebound. Placing his head in his hands, Tsuna catched with detached boredom.

The shot grazed the hoop but failed. Natsu caught the ball in mid bounce and passed it to the next teammate before switching rows. Sighing, Tsuna pulled out his phone. It wasn't anything fancy, certainly not one of those expensive iphones, but rather a red flip phone.

Flip the rectangular cover open, Tsuna saw his screen, a anime picture of someone cosplaying as a pineapple. Ignoring it, Tsuna started fiddling with his phone, trying to find something to stave off boredom.

Giving up,Tsuna pushed himself to his feet before glancing at Natsu who was covered in a thin sheet of sweat and deeply involved in the game. Tsuna considered telling Natsu about him leaving, but decided not to.

He had a game to worry about, and if he told him, Natsu just might ditch practice to follow him. He did it before and he really didn't want Natsu to see a catfight between his twin and a not-really-but-sorta friend. It would just stress Natsu out and possibly injure him. Leaping off the stands that he had been sitting on, Tsuna landed with a cat-like grace, obtained by hours of practice in parkour to escape bullies.

Sending one last glance at Natsu, he strided out the gym door. Almost immediately, sunlight danced across his eyes, blinding him temporarily. Raising an arm to block the light as his eyes adjust to the change of lighting, Tsuna glanced around before conceding to going to the courtyard.

If he was going to be bored to death, might as well show up early. Maybe he could get this over quickly, and hopefully not alert Natsu. He really didn't need his twin's brother complex kicking in.

With his arms behind his head, Tsuna walked to the courtyard, occasionally darting a hand to his book bag, which hung across his chest, to finger his chosen weapon, assuring himself that it was there.

Biting his lips, Tsuna felt a small blossom of fear and doubt erupt in his heart. The weapon was his only chance of gaining some sort of cover from the dynamite, even if it was rather orthodox.

He just prayed it didn't break mid fight and in turn, cause him to lose the fight and his life. He nevered like the thought of being buried anyway, just imagine how claustrophobic the ground would be!

He shuddered at the thought as he approached the gate into the courtyard. It wasn't fancy, just a flat ground of rock surrounded by a wire fence. It was stale, a place devoid of life in which bullies carried their business with one of their unfortunate victims.

He would know. When he had been young, weak, defenseless, a rabbit to the wolves, he had been held in strangle hold against the fence as they beat him to the ground, telling him how worthless he was and how he didn't deserve the brother that he had lived side by side longer than those bastards ever did.

Taking a shaky breath, struggling to contain the rage and rejected fear that course through his brain, as his haunted eyes wandered over the yard before resting on a single figure. Blinking in mild surprise, he immediately tensed while his hand instinctively reached inside his bag.

"Showed up early huh, you coward? Looks like you aren't completely shameless as you didn't just run away" huffed the rough voice of Gokudera Hayato. "Might as well, get this over well."

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