My thanks to Yozz for leaving a review. I edited this chapter since I did indeed misspelled some of the names. So, I would like to thank Miichiya, x-Minri-x and Zialiasis. Guys...thanks for pointing that out. I thought I edited it before but when I thought about it...I actually only edited the upcoming chapter 3. So again, thanks.

Disclaimer: I don't own Reborn series.

Haru tried her best to maintain her calm as she was bound on a chair while a few men in black watched over her. She does not know how it happened but she simply woke up from her sleep to find a man aiming his gun at her face and threatened her if she is to cause any trouble. She had no choice but to follow them.

She does not have any idea why she was suddenly abducted and brought to god knows where.

"Ah, you're finally awake, m'lady," a man spoke as the door opened to reveal a handsome man, probably in his early thirties. "Sorry if we have to abduct you but you see…we learned that in Japan, Gokudera Hayato was married to you."

At the mention of her husband's name, Haru's eyes widened in surprise. The man chuckled. "We are correct then," he said as he studied her face. "We've something to settle with his family."

Haru blinked. Hayato would be in big trouble. Then she looked away as her eyes were clouded with uncertainty. "He will not come for me if that is what you are after."

"Oh?"

"My husband is loyal to the Vongola boss and as of now, he is currently on a mission for him. There is no way you could call him back using me as bait. Besides, me and him did not marry for something personal," she decided to tell them a little bit of the truth, hoping that they would not use her against him. Hayato is dealing with different stuffs lately and she does not want to add another to his problem.

The man smiled at her…with pity? Harue, for the first time, felt like pitying herself as well. She had just said something which is close to truth. Though she wished for something more, she is nothing more than an appendage to the man she married. They share no romantic feelings. She wished it was different.

"I feel sorry for you then," the man murmured close to her ear. "Such a pretty face wasted on the likes of him. If what you say is true, then you are of no value to us," he motioned for his men. "Take care of her if you don't hear from me for a day. I'll still bank on the hope that he might come."

Haru wanted to cry. She's so helpless now. But she also knew that she was never weak. She learned to mature alone. "What do you want from him?" she asked bravely.

The man gave her a cynical smile. "Do you know that in the mafia world…the sin of a father is passed to the son?" he asked. Haru only shook her head. She may be familiar with the Vongola mafia and that of few others but she was never really aware of the workings inside and out of the organization called "mafia". It just shows how little she knew about her husband's world.

"Then you really don't know anything eh?" he asked. "The sin of the father is carried by the son and should the father die, the son will take responsibility. His father…killed the wife of the previous head of this clan before me. And as compensation, we do the same. That is the rule of the mafia. An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth." He moved closer to her once more and tipped her chin. "So you see, signorina, you wasted your life on him."

Though fear is crawling inside her gut, Haru refused to let it show. Instead, she looked the man in the eye and spoke. "Even so, it was the best life I had in five years."

Perhaps he was not expecting her answer to be that way. Perhaps he was waiting for her to quiver in fear because disbelief is clearly written in his eyes as he moved away from her and studied her carefully under those unnerving pair of golden eyes. "Signorina, you sounded…pitiful," he said sympathetically. "You contradict yourself. You say you married for impersonal reasons…and yet…you sounded…" he shook his head.

"We may not have married for the same reason other couples decided to get married…but it does not mean that I don't care about him despite his attitude," she defended. "You can pity me the way you want, Signore, but that is the truth of this matter. Perhaps my husband had not loved me but it does not necessarily mean I wasted my life on him. You don't know anything about him. About me. So you have no right to speak that way."

He actually chuckled. "Impressive. Hayato had won himself a loyal woman," he said and shook his head. "You amuse me, Signorina so I shall spare your life today when I would have changed my mind earlier and had you disposed."

With that he left her still bound to the chair. Haru sighed in relief. Are they going to kill her the same way that woman was killed? Honestly, she does not want to die just yet. All she could do now is to wait for whatever happens to her. What will her husband do when he learned of this?

.

.

.

Upon landing, Gokudera immediately stepped down from the plane where Tsuna and the other guardians were gathered to wait for them. He did not acknowledge them just yet because his eyes focused on his sister who stood beside Reborn. The words of the latter are still ringing in his ears.

Bianchi gave him a worried look. Hayate knew nothing about the Berlussoni family. And she wished she had told him about them if only to prepare her brother for situations like this. But over the years, she forgot about it when no threats ever came to her or to him. She assumed everything was fine. Until Xanxus had relayed the message they managed to intercept albeit accidentally.

"Gokudera-kun," Tsuna greeted the man. It felt suddenly awkward to not see Gokudera coming to him first.

The right-hand man bowed down a little. "I apologize for being impolite, Judaime, but I'd really like to talk to my sister," he said much to everyone's surprise except for Yamato who had come to the conclusion that his friend had learned to love the woman he married.

"You should take a rest first," Reborn suggested. "The talk can wait."

"Lambo," Gokudera called the youngest guardian, ignoring Reborn's suggestion. He gave his sister a meaningful look before giving the Judaime another apologetic look before he walked without a word, making the others only watch with worry for the shift in character. The lightning guardian, looked from one face to another before he followed Gokudera without a word.

Yamamoto sighed as Reborn gave a comment. "In all these years, I can count only one moment when he defied Tsuna. That would be during the game of choice. And now, after many years, he defied you again. Only this time…not for the sake of the tenth…but for the sake of his wife."

"He was ready to start anew with her, I think," Yamamoto shared his opinion in behalf of Gokudera. "I mean…you see…he always worked so hard for the tenth that he often forgot to inform her about his whereabouts or to tell her about his missions. He must have realized that he was neglecting her and he was excited to go home last night…" he did not continue. What he said is enough for the others to understand what he is trying to say.

Bianchi sighed but deep inside, she could not help but worry for Hayato and feel afraid for Haru. Her brother had matured.

.

.

.

"G-Gokudera-kun?" Lambo asked uncertainly at the silver-haired who was so quiet as he stood by the windowsill, his one hand held a glass of wine to calm his nerves. Lambo noted that it was the first time he had ever seen the right-hand man with a pensive look. And since he practically grew up with him and Haru in one roof, he thought he is starting to understand the man.

"Haru was kidnapped," he started as a way of explanation. This time, he turned to the young man. "And it involved something my father did before."

"B-But – "

Noticing the crack in his voice, Gokudera walked towards the boy and sat at the couch beside him, his one hand patted his head. "Don't you start crying on me, you stupid cow," he growled in his usual manner but his eyes were not of annoyance. They were plain serious. "I will take her back. I promise that. And when that happens, the three of us will go back to Japan together and eat her food."

Though warned not to cry, Lambo still felt the tears welling up in his eyes. Often times, Gokudera chided him for being such a crybaby but Lambo could not do anything against it. After all, he was indeed a crybaby. "Lambo will come with you."

He shook his head. He had a reason why he took Lambo with him back here. If it involved anything about family business his father had done before, he could not risk anyone getting hurt – not Haru, not Lambo and definitely not any of his friends. Though he knew Lambo can probably take care of himself, he still wanted to take some precautionary actions. He still does not know the strength of the enemy.

"I'll take care of this. After all, a son will carry the father's burden."

He raised his head when he felt Bianchi enter his room. They were not in the Vongola mansion. Gokudera decided to spend the night at the place where he first grew up, where he spent his first few years as a boy before he decided to run away after learning that the woman who played piano was his mother.

"The Berlussoni family was the one who took Harue. Reborn talked to Xanxus and asked if they knew where they were hiding Harue but they don't," Bianchi went straight to the point. "They only managed to intercept that call through sheer accident."

"What has he done?" he asked, wanting to know.

Bianchi looked away. "A son will carry the father's burden huh? Even if it was not his to begin with?" she asked then sat down. "A woman…she happened to be the wife of the previous leader of the Berlussoni family…you were still a baby then so you don't know anything about it. Father never told me the root of the feud between the two families. All he ever said was that…a woman was killed in a shootout. She was taken hostage and was gunned down without mercy."

Hayato tasted bile in his mouth as he felt disgusted. Noticing it, Bianchi shook her head. "Don't jump into conclusions…the husband of that woman…he had vowed to avenge her death. But the truth is…Father was not the one who killed her. He only claimed the blame as he was the leader of the group. That is what it meant for being a leader. You take responsibility for your men's actions even though it was wrong."

"And that is exactly what Father has done?" he asked, not wanting to think that they might do the same thing to his wife.

"Yes. Though the man who killed her was severely punished for his transgression. Father never wanted to take anyone as hostage back then and it was too late to turn back when he realized that one of his men had actually taken a hostage. The other side had already arrived and before a transaction began, the shootout started when the husband noticed his wife bound on that chair."

"If they wanted revenge…why wait until now?"

'I don't know. Perhaps they waited for a chance…to probably do the same thing…whatever happens, you have to save Haru, Hayato."

He nodded. "Damn right."

He turned to Lambo who was attentive for the whole time as he listened intently. "Lambo, you stay here and protect my sister…got that?"

"Y-Yes…" he answered regretfully. He wanted to go with him. He always wanted to watch the man fight but he would never admit that to him. He does not know but there is something about his character that Lambo had always respected. Perhaps because Gokudera, despite his show of annoyance, had always looked after him when they were growing up.

"You might want to go to that place," Bianchi handed the address. "That was where she was killed."

.

.

.

The current head of the Berlussoni family raised his brow when a motorcycle parked outside the warehouse. He does not remember leaving any message to Hayato to come to this certain place and he doubted if the man even knew about this place. So when the man took his helmet off, he was surprised to actually see him there, his green eyes flashing fury.

He turned to one of his men. "Would you look at that…how he managed to find this place so quickly is something I wanted to know," he said. "Go take the woman."

"Signore, I believe that Hayato Gokudera is different from his father. I've heard rumors that he is a powerful man, and that he, along with other guardians of the Vongola family, have actually some…uhm…secret weapons at their disposal."

"I don't remember asking for your opinion. You have to remember that we are doing this to honor the death of our previous leader. And if you talk about weapons, then we have the best," he said. "That woman would be our weapon against him though it sounded too bad to actually hurt her. I happen to like her courage."

"What will we do to her?"

"Kill her…" he ordered. "In front of him…"

.

.

.