AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you for your continued support of "Oncoming Storm". There's still about seven chapters left (including this one) and I hope you will continue to stick with me until the end. As a celebration for myself, I have decided to post the new chapter of the story a couple days early.

Katekyo Hitman REBORN! doesn't belong to me, it belongs to Amano-sensei, I'm just having fun expanding on the storyline in my own way ^_^

The next update will be around September 4th, but there is a chance I may start updating weekly rather than bi-weekly depending on how things go ^_^

Thank you again for your time and reviews (if you've a chance to leave them).

Take care!

~ Yuki

Target 15-02: Stormy Sky

Haru curled in the window seat of her room, legs held tightly against her chest as she rested her chin on her knees and stared out at the night sky. Her hair hung loosely down her back, still damp from her bath and her hazel eyes were unfocused. They'd retreated into Ryohei's hospital room after the doctors had checked on him one more time and declared that they'd be keeping him overnight for observation. She'd stared out the window at the unfamiliar town beyond Ryohei's hospital room and could feel the four gazes of the Vongola Guardians boring into her back as she marshalled her thoughts.

They were all furious with her and probably rightly so, but it didn't make their censure any easier to bear. Tears welled in her eyes and she scrubbed them away irritably. There had been no voice of reason in the arguments that flew around the room after she finally put all the information she'd been holding on the table and she felt as if her skin had been singed from her body. She tightened her arms around her knees again and tried to figure out how exactly she was going to make everything right again with her friends—with her Famiglia.

There was a knock on the doorjamb and Haru glanced up to see Gokudera framed in the doorway. Despite his anger with her, the silver-haired hitman still returned to her house with her and put his travel bag in the guest room she'd finished preparing for him.

"May I enter?" he asked.

She inclined her head, her eyes going back out the window.

"What do I do now, Gokudera?" she asked softly. "They hate me…"

"You can't blame them for being angry, Haru," Gokudera said, entering her sanctuary for the first time, his feet padding silently over the pale pink carpet.

"I just—"

Tears she couldn't stop flooded her eyes and Gokudera finished crossing the distance and settled down next to her pulling her into his arms and letting her tears soak his t-shirt. Her hands came up and clenched in the material and Gokudera rested his chin on her head while she sobbed against him. He wasn't sure where this ability to deal with Haru's tears came from; he'd always been terrible about dealing with girls crying in the past, but this one was different. His fingers gently stroked her hair and he decided that it was probably because they'd been working so closely for the past several weeks and he'd started picking up on how to deal with Haru's various moods.

His anger at Haru's withholding of information had long since dwindled, mostly because he admitted to himself when he'd first joined the Judaime he likely would have done the exact same thing. He wanted more than anything to prove himself worthy of being Judaime's right-hand man and would have gone to any extreme to show it, but over the last couple years of dealing with Tsuna, he'd learned to adjust in a way that wouldn't get the Judaime angry at him all the time. With Haru, she likely felt she had an even harder battle to fight than he had to get Judaime to accept her.

"They don't hate you, Haru," he finally said, "give them a little while to mull everything over and let's get Kyoko back. I think after that, things will calm down and they, especially Judaime and turftop, will actually be able to think clearly enough to realize that you didn't mean to cause problems."

Haru sniffed and drew back, looked up at him with reddened eyes. "Y-you think so?" she asked.

He tucked a loose piece of hair behind her ear and touched his lips to her forehead. "I know so," he said. "Now—"

He was interrupted by an unfamiliar ringtone erupting in the room and Haru scrambled off the window seat and tripped over a bag on the floor catching her phone and hitting the button to accept the call as she fell on the bed with a flump.

"Hello?"

Gokudera stifled a laugh at the scene and rose from the chair, his eyes focusing on a USB drive sitting on her table. He moved across the floor and picked it up. Seeing the initials Y.N. engraved into it, he scowled. He strode towards Haru, coming up just shy of the bed and dangled the drive in front of her, anger stirring again.

Haru's hazel eyes focused on the drive and her eyes flashed up to meet his and she held up a finger pleading for another moment.

She finished the phone call, wishing her father good night and telling him to have a good day and cut the connection. "I forgot I had that," she admitted. "Nakayama-san gave it to me a while back, but other stuff came up and I haven't looked to see what's on it yet. I told you I'd been working with him and the Hanatachi Clan. It's not something I hid purposely, I promise."

"Maybe we should find out what's on this then," Gokudera said. "Where's your computer?"

"Father's study," Haru said. "Father said he'd get me a laptop when I start high school in the spring. I do all my work on the computer in his office for school assignments."

Gokudera offered her a hand and she placed hers in his and he pulled Haru to her feet. They left her room and headed for her father's study and Haru settled in the chair in front of the computer and turned the monitor on, moving the mouse to clear the screen saver. She clicked her name on the user list and put in her password, thinking idly she really needed to change it from 'tsunaXharu4ever'. She waited a moment while everything logged in and then once everything was loaded inserted the drive into the USB port and waited while the computer loaded the driver.

Gokudera leaned over the back of the chair as Haru opened the drive and extracted the information from it, creating a new folder and putting a different pass code on it so that it wasn't easy access. She ejected the drive from the computer and then opened the folder she'd moved the information to and opened the first document.

Gokudera dragged another chair into the room and settled beside Haru as they began to scroll through the information provided. After nearly three hours and the clock on the wall tolling midnight, Haru rubbed her temples. "I can't make heads or tails of this anymore and we've got school tomorrow. I'll show it to Akai next time and see if she can help."

The meeting the next day after school was uncomfortable at best. Haru walked into Take Sushi and immediately felt like she was about three inches tall and there was a boot hovering just above her. She shrank behind Gokudera instinctively and the hand he had wrapped around hers squeezed reassuringly.

"Back off," Gokudera stated flatly. "She's still learning how to handle all of this and everyone makes miscalculations to start. You make mistakes and you learn from them. We have some more information for you. She got a thumb drive from Nakayama and it had some interesting observations about the known members of the Trabuchet."

The air in the room shifted and Haru felt almost like she could breathe again and she and Gokudera settled at the table. Reborn walked across the table from his perch and put a small hand on Haru's head and she met his dark gaze with hers. "Have you learned how dangerous it is to keep secrets like that from the Famiglia now, Haru?" he asked.

"Y-yes," Haru stuttered.

"Good," Reborn said and moved back to his perch next to Tsuna. "Tsuna."

"The Trabuchet have demanded the remainder of the Vongola Rings in exchange for Kyoko-chan's safe return," Tsuna announced. "If we give them the rings, she will be returned unharmed, but the second we make any move against them—they will kill Kyoko-chan."

Haru's breath caught.

The smile that twisted Tsuna's face was anything but humorous. "I can see why my future self decided to destroy the rings. They seem to bring more trouble than they're worth."

"So—we're just going to hand over the rings?" Gokudera demanded.

"We have no other choice," Tsuna stated. "I won't risk Kyoko-chan's life for some hunks of metal. I'm going to find Mukuro and get his ring first then Hibari-san."

After his announcement Tsuna rose and left the building, not even giving the meeting a chance to conclude. Haru was silent and she could tell by the looks on the Guardians' faces they were not okay with Tsuna's decision.

"Maybe we should talk to the Hanatachi Clan," she finally ventured, holding her breath as her voice resounded in the silence.

"How will that help us?" Ryohei demanded, the Vongola Sun Guardian had been released from the hospital early in the morning and while he hadn't made it to school had shown up for the meeting.

"They have many people with a lot more experience than all of us combined who may be able to accomplish an extraction from the enemy," Haru said. "Their Dying Will Flames may not match all of yours, but they know how to do this type of thing."

"What will it cost though?" Yamamoto inquired.

"We won't know until we ask," Haru said. "You don't want to let the Trabuchet keep the rings and Judaime won't move against them until Kyoko-chan's rescued. We have from now until Judaime claims the rings from Mukuro and Hibari-san to nail down where Kyoko is and rescue her without them realizing what's happening."

Yamamoto turned his attention to Ryohei who was watching them with an oddly solemn expression on his face. "It comes down to whether or not you want to risk this as well, senpai. Kyoko is your sister."

Ryohei looked surprised and cocked his head. "I want to find the guy who hit me and show him what a real extreme right looks like," he said. "I can't get a rematch if we don't get Kyoko out."

"I will go meet up with them now," Haru said quietly.

"I'll go with her and let you know what we find out as soon as we know what's going on," Gokudera added.

"You'll have to keep this from Tsuna, you know," Reborn commented idly.

The tenth generation Vongola all jumped—they hadn't realized that Reborn hadn't left with Tsuna.

"Do you think it's a bad idea?" Haru asked, biting her lip.

Reborn's enigmatic smile made an appearance. "It's time for my nap," he announced and in an instant he was asleep.

"Let's get moving," Gokudera said.

Haru nodded and the two left the sushi restaurant.

"I thought you might be headed our way."

Haru glanced up and smiled at Akai who materialized from the crowd less than half a block away from Take Sushi. "Madame Cho has convened a Council Meeting and says that I can let you and Gokudera join us," she said.

Gokudera stared at the woman in shock, but Haru just nodded and began talking quietly with her. Gokudera shook his head hard wondering how the hell Akai had gotten the drop on him like that. He followed, grumbling up a storm until Haru glanced over her shoulder at him and then he drew up straight and stopped his complaints. He reached out and automatically caught her hand as they moved through the crowd at the market. They reached a familiar section and Haru stopped.

"Is something wrong?" Akai asked, she'd gone a couple steps ahead of them.

"Um…" Haru glanced at Gokudera and then back at Akai in question.

"Oh, don't worry about that, Madame Cho's cleared him since he's usually here with you," she said.

Gokudera took a moment to realize what exactly the exchange meant and his eyes widened as the two girls led him to what appeared to be a blind alley and Akai approached the wall and hit a hidden button. The entrance ground aside and they made their descent into the Underground.

They made their way through the noisy crowds hidden in the Underground and to the Broken Butterfly. Kenta waved at them when they came in and gestured towards the back and Haru and Gokudera followed Akai to the now familiar council room.

When they entered most of the Grand Council was masked as usual and Madame Cho was in her usual face paint and kimono and smiled at them. "Welcome," she said.

Gokudera glanced around and noted that Nakayama wasn't present and frowned a bit; usually his classmate was in attendance. "Nakayama-san won't be here today," Madame Cho said. "He sends his regrets. Please, be seated."

They settled in chairs and the first part of the meeting may as well have been in Greek to the two Vongola because they didn't understand a word of what they were talking about, though Haru gathered it had something to do with the Hanatachi Clan. Haru and Gokudera listened, but decided to occupy themselves with tic-tac-toe and a written conversation about the things they needed to ask the Hanatachi clan. Gokudera glanced nervously at his watch and then at Haru.

There was a throat clearing and the junior high school students straightened and noticed that the Hanatachi Grand Council was watching them expectantly. "I assume you've come here looking for assistance to find Sasagawa Kyoko-san so that you may safely reclaim the rings and other…equipment…the Trabuchet have taken from you?" Madame Cho said calmly.

"Yes," Haru said. "We feel it is unwise at this time to allow someone like the Trabuchet to acquire all of the Vongola Rings and that is what they are demanding for Kyoko's safe release."

"And naturally Vongola Decimo is willing to give the rings up for Sasagawa Kyoko-san?" Madame Cho said.

Haru nodded.

"It doesn't surprise me," Kashiwa rumbled. "The future Vongola is still soft…"

Haru felt Gokudera stiffen beside her at the perceived insult to Tsuna and she reached out automatically and put a hand on his arm, catching his attention and shaking her head.

"So what is it you would ask of the Hanatachi Clan, Haru?" Madame Cho said. "Please be clear and then we will discuss payment."

"Of course," Haru said. "We request the help of the Hanatachi Clan in safely extracting Sasagawa Kyoko-chan from the hold of the Trabuchet, preferably before Judaime returns from getting the Mist and Cloud rings from his outer guardians. The information we have is minimal at best…"

"Then it is good you have such a capable oneesan isn't it?" Madame Cho smiled.

Haru blinked and Akai rose from her seat and moved to the computer and slipped a USB drive into it. "Last night I did a bit of…exploring on those locations you told me about from our last meeting," Akai told her, "and I think I may have found where they're holding her."

The lights went down in the room at a touch on the control pad next to Madame Cho's hand and the projector flashed onto the white wall. "Here is what we're looking at…" Akai began. "It looks like a fairly normal place in a neighborhood about four blocks from your Judaime's house. That's about where normal ends. Once you get through the gate there is a pretty advanced security system and they're holding her at the uppermost level of the house in the back corner. There is no easy way to get around and scale the house and pull her through the window. It would appear we have to actually pass through the entirety of the residence until we reach the room they're holding her in."

"And the moment we go in they'll know we're there and be able to get to Kyoko and kill her before we can rescue her," Gokudera said grimly. "You said 'no easy way' to get to the back corner. Does that mean there is a difficult way?"

"You read between my words, good," Akai said. "There is another way to get back there, but that means going through the house that's behind the one they're holed up in and that one is also well secured, but they don't have armed guards patrolling outside under the cover of the privacy walls. If we come in through there and scale the wall and take out the guards as they come around, we should be able to make it to the back of the house. The window in the room that Sasagawa-san is in will be secured, so I'm not sure we can latch a grappling hook onto it. It is also likely to be alarmed, so we have to find a way to circumvent the alarm systems in both houses in order to do it."

"Who does the house behind that one belong to?" Haru asked.

"From what we can ascertain it's a small time crime family," Akai said, and the display on the screen shifted to the layout of a different house. "We don't actually have to go near the house to get through, but while they do not have armed patrols, they do have a few guard dogs. Haru and I can probably take the dogs out with our blow guns without causing them any undue harm, but we still have to worry about the cameras…"

"Are they in any way allied with the Trabuchet from what we know of the owners of the house?" Haru inquired thoughtfully.

"Not that we know of," Akai said. "Why?"

"The Vongola shouldn't owe any small time famiglia anything," Gokudera scowled, picking up on Haru's train of thought.

"What does it hurt to try and make some allies?" Haru asked Gokudera. "Can we set up a meeting with them?"

"We probably could," Akai answered, "but it will likely be timed a little too late to save your friend and keep Vongola Decimo from turning over the other three Vongola Rings. These types of things take time, Haru, it's not something we can snap our fingers and make happen."

"Ah, I see," Haru said and glanced at the Council Member in the Tengu mask. "Do you think you can use your mist flames to make an illusion that will cover us so that we can get through without rousing up the other group? I don't want to make an enemy out of someone we don't have to…"

"If you're looking for real illusions like Mukuro-san or Dokuro-san can do, I'm afraid I'm not that strong, but I might be able to whip up something else," she replied.