AUTHOR'S NOTES: A little earlier this week because that's how my days off fell ^_^

DISCLAIMER: Not mine, belongs to Akira Amano. OCs and storyline are mine ^_^

NEXT UPDATE: Around July 10th

Thanks for reading this far and thank you to those who've given me a review recently, it's encouraging to know that people are reading my stories ^_^

Target 11-02: Unleashing the Storm

Gokudera was bound and gagged and had been tossed carelessly into a corner of what smelled like a warehouse. A blindfold had been put over his eyes when they'd come into the room he'd been kept in earlier that afternoon before they transported him somewhere. Any efforts to try and find out where they were taking him had either been met with silence or a fist driving into his face and so he'd given up trying to figure it out that way. Even though he was the one in immediate danger, worry for Haru niggled at the back of his mind and he continued to try and find a way out of his bonds.

Footsteps drew near to him and a pointed toe landed in the vicinity of his ribs and he couldn't help the sound that escaped him in response. "You may as well stop trying to get out of those ropes; it's not going to happen."

Gokudera recognized Emri's voice from their earlier confrontation and he growled. "Don't worry, she's coming to rescue you like the idiot she is," the girl said.

Gokudera froze at the words and the girl's laughter pealed out. "Of course, the rescue isn't going to work the way she thinks it will and then I'll have three bits of leverage against your Vongola Decimo. If I play the cards right, then I'll have all of the Vongola Rings in my possession inside of a week because your dear Boss is such a soft-hearted idiot. Someone like that shouldn't fancy himself a boss of anyone, much less one of the most influential Famiglia in the mafia. If you have no rings, there is no defense and we'll take this town and every other one around."

Haru had stopped at her house to change into a pair of jeans and the maroon t-shirt she'd borrowed from Gokudera. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail and set the kanzashi into it, all the while trying to figure out how she was going to get around Yamamoto and Chrome to go meet up with whoever had Gokudera alone. She left a note for her father that they'd moved the study group to another house for tonight and that she may or may not be home before morning and that he'd find something for dinner in the fridge. She shoved the new ring that Tsuna's father had given her into the pocket of her jeans and slid the ring Dani had left her onto her finger—it couldn't unlock her box, but she could use it temporarily and it kept the other ring hidden in case something went wrong with the plan and they took her weapons.

Yamamoto and Chrome were waiting in the living room for her when she emerged with her bag and she sighed softly. "Can we even do this?" she asked. "I don't want either of them to be hurt."

"Reborn and Tsuna are tracking Lambo as we speak, theoretically they should be able to find him about the time that we reach the warehouse," Yamamoto said. "I wish Reborn had remembered that tracker earlier."

"They will not easily be able to penetrate my illusions," Chrome said quietly. "Hopefully they haven't changed that training facility too much since your last visit."

The three left the house and presumably went separate ways. Haru caught the bus to the stop she needed to get off at to get to the training facility Dani had trained her at and passed through a grove of trees where she met up with Chrome and Yamamoto who'd made their way there through other means. Chrome used her illusions to take on Haru's appearance and Haru and the Rain Guardian slipped out after Chrome had covered most of the distance between them and the entrance to the warehouse.

Haru and Yamamoto made their way across the grounds and to the side entrance that Haru had rarely used when she would come to the facility to train. She pulled the door open just a bit and was able to slip her hand in to move the chain. "It seems too easy," Yamamoto whispered.

"This facility was used primarily for training, they didn't put a whole lot of effort into the security," Haru replied. "The way they figured it, surprise attacks were good for training."

There was a loud clatter as the chain fell and Haru froze, listening intently inside.

Words in a language she couldn't translate were spoken in rapid succession and the two went through the door and pounced on the two guards that came running around the boxes to the side door. Yamamoto clubbed one out with the hilt of his sword and Haru launched one of her kanzashi dipped in knockout drug at the other carefully avoiding any place that could lead to a bleed out like what had happened that night in the shopping district. The men dropped and Haru made a gesture in one direction with a questioning look and Yamamoto nodded and they split up. She picked up her kanzashi on her way and cleaned it on the man's clothing and capped it, putting it back in her hair.

Gokudera was still fighting against his bonds now that the people in the warehouse had moved away from him. He froze as a footstep hit near his head and the blindfold was pulled off. His eyes went wide as he stared at Haru's familiar features and she put a finger to her lips and reached for the gag next.

"What the hell are you doing here, stupid woman?" Gokudera demanded as soon as his mouth was free, though he did manage to keep his voice down.

"Rescuing you," Haru whispered and pulled the knife out of her bag. "Stay still."

She sliced through the ropes and Gokudera barely managed to stifle a groan as circulation was restored. He dragged himself up to a kneeling position and glanced at her. "Is there anything else to this plan of yours?" he asked softly.

Haru couldn't help but smile at the doubt in his voice and pulled a bag out of her backpack and handed it over to Gokudera. "There's a care package from Yamamoto in there, he talked your landlady into letting him in."

Gokudera scowled, but pulled out the items and couldn't help but smile a bit at the array of dynamite, a pack of cigarettes, and a lighter—and jeans, how had the baseball idiot known he would need pants? He'd put those on later.

It wasn't Sistema CAI, but it would do for now. He put the items into place, ignoring how odd it probably looked in combination with his boxers and t-shirt, slung the bag over his shoulder, and put a cigarette in his mouth, but didn't light it yet as the smoke would probably give them away—even though he really could do with a good drag of a cigarette; it'd been far too long. "What's the next step?"

"You'll see," she said. "Follow my lead."

Haru slipped her hand into her backpack and extracted a flash bomb, gesturing to Gokudera to follow her.

Yamamoto moved around the other side of the warehouse as Chrome, disguised as Haru with her illusions, stepped into the middle of the floor.

Emri smirked at the view below through the one way window installed in the upper portion of the warehouse as her agent moved to meet her. This was turning out better than she thought it would. She'd known that if they even got wind of her message to Haru, they wouldn't let the rookie step foot into the battle alone. Chrome Dokuro she'd figured would be the most likely ally and while the girl wasn't the formal Mist Guardian for the Vongola Decimo anymore, she still possessed a powerful Mist Ring that Emri's superiors wouldn't mind having. If they caught Chrome, the chances of getting closer to the Vongola Mist Ring increased substantially, Mukuro Rokudo had a decidedly soft spot for the woman he used to touch the outside world when he was bound in Vindicare.

However, the presence of the Vongola Rain Guardian was a bonus she couldn't say no to. Her eyes went to the screens and she noted that the Vongola Storm Guardian had been freed from his bonds by Haru, which meant…

She activated her communicator and her order crackled through the system.

"It's not Haru, go."

Boxes piled against the wall burst outward and several men moved in to attack.

"Fuck," Gokudera hissed.

"Guard your eyes."

Haru grabbed Gokudera's hand and yanked him after her before she threw the flash bomb at the feet of the first men approaching them—she closed her own eyes to lessen the effect, her feet already moving towards her destination. She had a specific place in mind.

Yamamoto activated his Vongola Gear and met the men coming at him head on.

The woman Chrome had come to meet leveled a gun at her and the Vongola Co-Mist Guardian let her retractable trident drop from her sleeve and slammed the butt into the ground activating her illusions only in the immediate vicinity so as not to throw off her companions.

Gokudera lit several pieces of dynamite as they made their way across the floor and flung it at the men that came at them and pandemonium broke loose.

Haru charged several of her smaller pins and tossed them at the ground to catch some of the enemy in an electric shock at the lighting exploded from them. They reached the panel that Haru remembered and she yanked the cover off. "Gokudera, can you figure this out?" she asked him.

Gokudera threw a couple flash bombs and turned his back before they went off and went over it. "You have to have rings to activate it," he said grimly. "They took all mine."

Haru pulled off the ring that she wore and handed it to him. "It's just lightning, but…"

"I'll see what I can do," Gokudera said and slid the ring onto his pinky and inserted it in the appropriate slot.

Lightning chased its way over the walls crackling to life and Haru and Gokudera were flung back. Gokudera quickly rolled aside. "Are you okay, Haru?" he asked.

"You're heavy," she mumbled and hauled herself to her feet, "but I'm fine."

Gokudera got to his feet as well and the two headed towards the sound of fighting. "Sounds like the baseball idiot," he said.

"Yamamoto and Chrome came with me," Haru said. "They wouldn't let me come on my own."

"If he had I would have fucking punched him out," Gokudera growled and then glared down at her. "Were you seriously going to come on your own?"

"They said that if I didn't they'd hurt you and Lambo," Haru said.

"Lambo?" Gokudera repeated.

"Yeah, someone caught him in the market today when he did his usual escape routine from Kyoko-chan," Haru said. "I'll tell you more about it, once we get out of this place. If we get out of this place…"

"Oh we will," Gokudera said grimly and they came into view of Yamamoto fighting.

Gokudera waded into the fight and Haru found herself yanked back against a heavy chest and something with a point was pressed to her throat. "I suggest you stop now," a silky, accented voice said.

Gokudera and Yamamoto froze and the person who'd grabbed Haru dug the point into her throat just enough to draw some blood. "If you want to save this girl, surrender your weapons."

The next comment was directed at her. "Don't struggle too much, child, you'll slit your own throat and I'll have to extract the dry cleaning bill from these gentlemen."

Haru stopped struggling. "Now, put down your weapons nice and easy and the Vongola Rain Ring if you please."

The items were thrown on the ground and one of the men that were still moving from the attacks moved forward and claimed the ring and kicked the other weapons out of reach. They only needed one thing.

"Very good," the man who captured her purred and the knife was lifted from her neck and she was flung at the boys.

The three tumbled to the ground in a pile of arms and legs.

Finally, Haru caught sight of the man who'd caught her and her eyes narrowed as she recognized the third man that had invaded her family's home. "Take them out," he ordered the men and they closed in.

Sudden darkness enclosed the entire area and when the darkness faded they stared into the mismatched gaze of the Vongola Mist Guardian who stood amidst a pile of bodies. "Mukuro," Gokudera hissed.

Haru could have buried herself in the skin of whichever boy was behind her when that malevolent red gaze focused on her and she shuddered. "Leave her alone," Gokudera growled.

"Somehow I fail to be intimidated by a man in his boxers," Mukuro smirked. "Chrome, they're over here. You're lucky dear Chrome decided to let me know what was happening here."

"You bastard…"

"Kufufufu."

The image of the Mist Guardian suddenly shattered and Chrome emerged from between splintered boxes. "Are you okay?" she asked softly.

"Where did Mukuro go?" Yamamoto frowned.

"He wasn't here," Chrome admitted and moved forward to first help Haru up then offer her hands to the other two boys.

Yamamoto accepted but Gokudera spat on the ground and got to his feet himself. "Real Illusion?" Haru asked.

Chrome nodded. "They got away with the Rain Ring though, I didn't have enough time to get to that and keep those men from getting to you," she said regretfully. "Boss will be disappointed in me."

"Somehow or another, I don't think so," Haru said gently.

"This isn't good," Reborn said grimly a few hours later. "They now have the Storm, Lightning, and Rain rings in their possession."

They'd regrouped at Tsuna's house after stopping over at Gokudera's so the demolitionist could get proper clothing on beyond the jeans Yamamoto had put in the care package he hadn't had time to put on while they were fighting with the Trabuchet. Haru had turned about fifty shades of red once things calmed down enough and she realized Gokudera was in his underwear and had abruptly turned her back and ordered him to put his pants on before they did anything else.

Lambo was secured in Tsuna's bed. According to Reborn's report, the men who were guarding Lambo were only there for show and had easily been taken out by Judaime. He was sleeping peacefully and they hadn't done anything to overtly harm the boy—just taken both his 10-year-bazooka and the Vongola Lightning Ring.

"What are they planning to do with the rings though?" Yamamoto asked.

"That's what we need to find out," Reborn said grimly. "And we need to stick close to Ryohei or they may find a way to get the Sun Ring as well."