Hey everyone, I'm back! Sorry for the wait, I'm a bit of a slow writer so even after about a month I'm only halfway through chapter 2. Even so, I figured you guys have waited long enough so I could at least give you the first chapter to hold you over. Though you might not thank me once you get to the end, sorry bout that. :) I've also been working on making my writing style more efficient so if any of you notice a change that's why. Anyways, I'll have then next chapter up as soon as I finish it and deem it worthy.

Hope you enjoy,

Trouble 1

I don't own Naruto. Not now. Not when I finally post the last chapter of this. There will be no other disclaimer. You have been warned.
~~~~~~~~

SAKURA

I couldn't help but feel on edge during this mission. It was impossible not to when everything was so similar to that one six years ago that changed everything. We were in the same set of woods, we had a four man team, and it was a B-rank mission that could go wrong at any moment. There were just too many similarities between this mission and the one where I lost my teammate.

Shikamaru and Neji didn't see the similarities, I could tell. Of course they were never on the original mission so it's not surprising. But Kiba did. He was just as stressed as I was, glancing around the woods more often than normal along with sticking really close to Akamaru.

"I don't like this," Kiba finally said. Our group had remained silent since we crossed the border, not from some sort of decision, we were just too nervous to talk.

"Neither do I." I glanced around the woods myself. "But it's a simple reconnaissance mission. The sooner we get it done, the sooner you can get back to Ino."

"What are we looking for anyways?" He looked away, obviously trying to take the attention off of his relationship with Ino. Apparently it was supposed to be a secret, but everyone in the entire village already knew about it.

"Tsunade-shishu said that there were several reports of disturbances happening in these woods. She thinks that this could be the result of our captor so she sent us to look for evidence proving such a theory."

"That's all well and good, but why us? We were the ones held captive by him for two weeks. How could she think it was a good idea to send us?"

"We know what to look for." Kiba opened his mouth to comment when Neji held up a hand, indicating the need for silence. We remained quiet as he scanned the area with his byacugan before pointing ahead of us and motioning that there was an armed figure approaching. Kiba and I tensed as we waited for the figure to appear, sure we'd have to fight. When he finally came into view we were a little relieved to find that it wasn't wearing one of the psycho's trench-men coats. Regardless, we didn't drop our guard.

As he got closer, we could make out his features. He was obviously male with his broad shoulders and masculine face. His hair, which rested just above his shoulders, which would have been spikey if not covered with enough dirt to hide its color. The rest of him was in close to the same condition, dirt wise. He was wearing a long, brown coat that looked like it outlived several owners before he took possession of it. The thing was covered in gashes and tears to the point that I was surprised it was still in one piece. Underneath it was simple farmer's cloths that looked just as warn as the coat. They were a dark green color that would make it easy to blend in with the surroundings if need be. A hilt of an old looking sword peaked out from under his jacket as if it were eager to be used.

The man walked like a ninja, his feet barely making a sound on the forest floor as he approached. This alone told us that he'd had some shinobi training at one point, and judging by the confidence in his gait, he probably had a lot of it. When he looked at us, his step hesitated for a moment before resuming his pace.

"What are you doing here?" he asked once he was close enough. He didn't make a move to get closer at this point.

"We should be asking you that question." Neji eyed the man suspiciously.

"No, you shouldn't. This isn't the Land of Fire, Konoha has no authority here." The man glance behind him. "You should leave."

"We have permission to be here."

"Regardless. You should go. It's not safe here for ninjas, especially those with bloodlines such as yourself." Neji looked surprised, but before he could retaliate I stepped forward.

"Wait, you're talking about ribbon-wielding man, aren't you. His organization's still here?"

"It's not an organization. It's a single man with lots of lackeys and a larger-than-life ambition." The man glared, though I doubt it was towards us. "Just leave."

"Who is he?"

"Do you really need to know?" He was starting to sound exasperated now. "He's dangerous, that's good enough."

"No it's not."

"It should be. You were lucky enough to escape the Collector the first time. Doing so again would be impossible."

"How do you know about that?" Kiba snarled, pulling a kunai out of his pouch. The man gave us a tired sigh before speaking again.

"He's careful so that only those that are captured know of him. If you know of him, then you were captured at some point. There were a pair of konoha nins that he took a while ago. They were the only ones to have ever escaped him so if I had to guess, two of you would be those people."

"If that's true, then how do you know of him?" I asked, his story sounding not quite right.

"I'm not under his control if that's what you're asking."

"It's not. I want to know how you know him."

"That's nothing you need to worry about. You should just leave before they find out you're here."

"I'm not leaving without answers. We have a mission to complete."

"Forget the mission! Get out of here before it's too late!"

"Not without answers."

"Damn it! Why are all you Konoha nins so damn stubborn! Why can't you just—" Out of the corner of my eye I caught Neji spin around toward his left. Kiba immediately threw a handful of kunai in that direction before bothering to ask what it was. This proved to be a mistake. I could see a flash of fear on Neji's face just before a little boy appeared running towards the man.

"Tou-san! Tou-san!" the boy shouted, not even noticing the knives heading in a collision course with himself. But before any of us could call out a warning or do anything the man shot forward, unsheathing his blade as he did so. In a split second he was in front of the boy, knocking away the blades with one swipe of his katana.

"Ryuu, are you alright? You're not hurt, are you?" The boy shook his head nervously as the man knelt beside him, spinning him around to see if there was any damage. Finding nothing he turned to Kiba, anger clearly written on his face. "Watch were you throw those things, damn it! He could have been injured!"

"How was I supposed to know!? You kept shouting about how dangerous it is yet you bring your kid?"

"I didn't, he was supposed to stay at the house." He put away his sword and turned to talk to the boy. "You know it's too dangerous to be out here by yourself, don't you?" The boy nodded solemnly. "Then why'd you leave?"

"Kaa-san n-needed flowers," the boy named Ryyu stammered, shaking like a leaf after the whole ordeal.

"You should have waited for me."

"B-but tou-san..."

"Don't but tou-san me. Get back home right this instant!"

"B-but the bad men are h-here." The man froze at these words.

"Where?" He pointed towards the left making the man nod in response.

"Go home Ryuu. I'll take care of them. Dat- oh never mind. Just go."

"B-But they're there too."

"Oh for pete's sake," the man said, mostly to himself before turning towards us. "Are you leaving anytime soon?"

"Not until…" He never gave me a chance to finish. Instead, he cut me off and started speaking himself.

"Fine, then watch Ryuu for me."

"But…" He patted his son's head before darting off and ignoring me yet again. "Hey, get back here!"

Just as he disappeared from view Ryuu tore off after him but before he could get far I caught up to the child. Scooping him into my arms, I held him close as he tried to break free. I might not know either of them, but there was no way I was going to let that little boy run into danger after his father trusted us with his safety.

"Let me go! My tou-san needs me!"

"No, he doesn't, he can take care of himself I'm sure," I assured the boy but he wasn't believing me.

"Yes he does! He can't see them, he needs my help!"

"He'll be fine, little one," I told him again before getting an idea. "You see that man over there? The guy with the long hair?" He turned around to look at Neji, staring at him for a long moment before talking.

"That's a guy?"

"Yes, he is." I tried not to chuckle as I continued. "He can see a very, very long ways. So if your tou-san is in any danger he'll see it and we'll go and help."

"You will?"

"Of course, we're ninja so saving people is what we do. Ok?"

"I guess." I could tell he was studying me despite the fact that his own hair was covering his eyes. I turned around and started back towards the rest of the group. Now that he had stopped fighting me I could get a good look at him. His hair was similar to his fathers but shorter; it was trying to be spikey despite the dried mud weighing it down. He looked about four years old, though with his clothes three sizes too big it was hard to tell.

"Let's take a break, you guys." I placed Ryuu on the ground where he just stood there as if he didn't know what to do.

"We just took one," Kiba complained as I sent him a glare.

"You're point? We found what we're looking for so-"

"No we didn't! All we found was some paranoid hermit that is giving us more questions than answers."

"Once he comes back, he'll give us some answers," Shikamaru pointed out as he sprawled out on the ground. "After watching the boy, he'll owe us at least as much."

Kiba grumbled as he sat down, leaning against one of the trees with Akamaru by his side. The rest of us followed suit as we waited for Ryuu's father to return. The boy himself sat relatively still with his knees pulled close to his chest and his face buried in them. Despite his face being hidden I had the distinct impression that he was studying each of us somehow. I thought it was ridiculous until Neji came to sit next to me. He silently offered me a ration bar before opening up one for himself. As he ate he began speaking to me in hushed tones, probably so Ryuu couldn't hear him.

"The boys using chakra."

"How?"

"He's channeling it into his eyes, I'm not sure what he's doing from there but, if I had to guess I would say he has some sort of dojutsu." I was silent for a moment before whispering back to him.

"Is he dangerous?"

"As far as I can see, no. Whatever he's using, it's eating up a lot of chakra. As a child he wouldn't be able to keep it up for two awful long."

"How long?"

"I'm not sure, his chakra is cloaked for some reason. I can't see it like I should, that's why I didn't pick him up until he was almost in sight. I wouldn't have sensed him at all if it weren't for my byacugan. That goes double for his father."

"Something doesn't seem right here," I said after a moment of thought. "I'll go talk to the boy." I got to my feet and went over to him. Before I even sat down his head popped up and looked right at me.

"Hungry?" I asked, holding out the uneaten ration bar. He glanced at it wearily before slowly taking it from my hands. He looked at it as if trying to figure out if it was dangerous or not. Apparently the boy had no idea what it was, which was understandable if he only knew this forest for his whole life. "Here, like this."

I opened the package for him and handed it back. The curious boy looked at it for a moment before taking a bite. He wrinkled his nose at the taste, making me laugh.

"I know, it tastes horrible."

"My tou-san's cooking's better."

"Is your father a good cook?'

"No." I chuckled as he continued eating it anyways.

"So, your name's Ryuu, right?"

The boy looked up at me quickly, as if in surprise. I couldn't tell with this hair covering his eyes but it was a good guess.

"That's what your tou-san called you. Am I right?" He nodded before turning back towards the ration bar. "Well, Ryuu, what's your family name?"

"Tou-san s-said I wasn't supposed t-to tell."

"That's alright." I smiled again getting a small one back in return. "So, how old are you Ryuu?"

"Four."

"You're a very brave for a four-year-old."

"Thanks?" He sounded confused as if he didn't know how to react.

"Do you know why your father ran off like that?"

"He h-had to fight the b-bad men."

"Who are these bad men?"

"Don't know. But they're bad."

"Why are they bad?"

"They hurt my kaa-san. I-I'm not sure what they did b-but it made tou-san really sad and we can't see her anymore. T-that's why they're bad." He looked down at his ration bar still in his hands as he played with the wrapper. "I g-get her flowers b-because tou-san said they make her h-happy."

I tried to think of a response but came up empty handed. It was clear that the woman had died, even if Ryuu was too young to understand what that meant. He might have on some level, especially if he was that worried about his father fighting them. I knew why he called them the "bad men" now, any person that kills a child's mother deserves the title.

Just as I was about to speak, Neji tapped me on the shoulder and whispered urgently in my ear.

"He's in trouble," he said so quietly that I almost didn't hear him. "They have him restrained and are placing some sort of seal on him."

"What type of seal?"

"Paper, so it's temporary but other than that I don't know. Wait..." He blinked, his head jerking back in surprise. "The seal, it just released a bunch of red chakra from him."

"Red? Are you sure it's red?" I asked desperate.

"Yes." His answer was all my mind needed before going into hyper drive.

It started recalling all the little details I overlooked, that should have hinted towards this outcome but I never picked up on them. The hesitation in his pace, as if he was surprised to see us, knowing we were Konoha despite being too far away too see our symbols, even knowing we were captured; it was all clues. I glanced towards the Ryuu to see him looking at me curiously as if he was trying to figure out what we were saying.

"Ryuu, I'm going to ask you something important and you're going to need to answer me truthfully. Just a yes or no will do."

"Ok."

"Your father's name, is it Uzumaki Naruto?"