Hi, I'm back. Thanks for the reviews everyone, I really do appreciate knowing you're thoughts of my story, good or bad. Anyways sorry if the next chapter is a bit off, it was another rush job, but I really want to get to the explanations quick so here it is. Not the explanation, that's next chapter. This is just a bit of a break before there's more seriousness.

Hope you enjoy,

Trouble 1
~~~~~~~~

KIBA

The three of us left at our make-shift camp sat in an uncomfortable silence. Well, it was uncomfortable for me and the kid at least, Shikamaru looked to be sleeping. The boy seemed very worried for his father despite trusting Sakura and Neji enough not to follow them. Despite this, he wouldn't relax even for a moment around Shika and I.

"It's time," Shikamaru said suddenly, making the both of us jump. The other man got to his feet and stretched lazily.

"What? It hasn't been ten minutes yet." The kid looked at him in surprise as Akamaru barked in agreement.

"It's been twelve. I gave them two extra minutes just in case but they're still not back yet." He picked up his sack and placed it on his back. "We have to go."

"B-but what about m-my tou-san?" He looked towards Shika questioningly. "We h-have to wait f-for him."

"We can't. We have to get to safety before we can go back for them." There was a moment of silence between the two. "We have to leave."

"No." My head snapped towards the boy, shocked at the stubbornness in the little kid's voice. "I'm not leaving."

"It's not safe here," Shikamaru tried to explain but was promptly ignored.

"Don't care. I'm waiting for tou-san."

"No, we're leaving," I said trying to help.

"Alright." I blinked at him in surprise before he continued. "But I'm not going with you."

"You have to!"

"I'm not going!" I glared at him as he, not doubt, glared back. We sat there for a minute or two before I finally had enough. Faster than he could react I shot forward and scooped him up around the middle. He started flailing as I placed him under my arm.

"Let's go," I said over the kid's yelling. Unfortunately, we only got a few feet before he went silent for a moment.

"Tou-san!"

He suddenly threw out his arm, catching me strong in the stomach. I end up dropping the kid in my surprise, allowing the little brat to scurry off before I could even recover. Just as Shikamaru decided to get his lazy ass in gear to go catch him, a figure appeared in front of us. It was only a couple seconds after we realized it was the weird hermit that he got tackled by a flying child and almost sent into the ground.

"It's alright Ryuu," he said quietly, kneeling down so the boy wasn't dangling from his jacket anymore. He wrapped him in a comforting hug just as Sakura and Neji appeared behind him. "It's alright."

"T-they thought y-you w-weren't coming b-b-back."

"I guess I just proved them wrong, huh?" He coaxed a small smile from the boy before continuing. "I'm fine, honest. Now it's time to get you home, it's way past your bedtime."

"But tou-san-"

"You and I both know you should have been in bed an hour ago," he interrupted gently. He picked him up with one arm, making sure the boy's arms were around his neck before standing up. "So we're going home and you're going to bed."

Ryuu sighed, sounding as if he already knew he lost the fight against bedtime. The hermit turned to walk away with his son when I decided to speak.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going? You're supposed to be giving us answers!"

"I guess you're going to have to come with us then." I gawked at him as he flashed me a trickster's grin. "There's not much room, but it's safer than staying out here."

"How is some hermit cave better than right here?"

"Because my 'hermit cave' has extra security measures that will keep them from finding you."

"We can take the bastard."

"Are you sure? He'll come back with more lackeys, especially since he now knows you're here. So, you coming?"

"I'm not following some-"

"Cut it out Kiba," Sakura said as she started following him. "We're going with him."

"But-"

"Who's heading this mission again?" I was silent, which somehow got interpreted as an answer. "You're right, me. So, let's get going."

He started walking away again as the rest of my team followed, including Akamaru. My dog glanced back and wined, trying to get me to follow. With a sigh, I followed them, knowing that I lost.

Of course, it didn't take long for us to get to his small hole-in-the-ground. Surprisingly, it really was a hole in the ground, a cave entrance hidden under a huge tree. The tree itself was covered in strange symbols that looked like some sort of seals.

"Are those seals?" Neji asked, making the other man glance back.

"Huh? Oh yeah, they are." He grinned as he turned towards the tree once again.

"You're 'extra security measures' I presume?" I asked, he didn't even bother to turn around this time.

"Yep, beautiful, aren't they."

"Chaotic, that's what they are," Neji answered as he examined them. "I've never seen seals like this before, they shouldn't even work."

"Well I kinda had to improvise. There was an old ninja that taught me the basics but from there I had to figure out everything else on my own." He pushed the make-shift door open and ducked through the opening.

I watched as the rest of my team followed him through the doorway. I looked at Akamaru, earning a curious tilt of the head from him.

"Can you believe them? Following a stranger into his own house!" He yipped quietly, telling me I was paranoid before going into the house as well.

"Traitor," I murmured, following them anyways.

There was no way I was staying outside alone, not with that ribbon loving psycho on the loose. In my annoyance, I forgot how low the doorway was and ended up knocking my head on it.

"Watch your head," the hermit warned, smiling as he placed his son on the ground. His mini-me giggled tiredly as his father helped take off his jacket.

Seeing that the rest of them removed their shoes, I did the same as I glanced around the room. I wasn't surprised when I saw the dirt walls or the large, round piece of wood that seemed to serve as a table. There were roots sticking through the walls everywhere, some of them had stuff hanging off of them. One such root had a ratty piece of fabric that seemed to cover a doorway to another room. Another served as a shelf, holding various objects that probably had some sort of sentimental value. There was a two cracked vases that didn't match, one holding flowers while the other seemed to be sealed shut with a make-shift top. There was also a jagged piece of metal sitting next to a picture frame that seemed to have fallen over at some point. I was just wondering what could be in the picture when our host spoke again.

"Did you have dinner?" he asked Ryuu. He hung the coat on another root jutting out the wall before hanging his own as well.

"Uh huh." He smiled happily, pointing at Sakura. "She gave me some'in that tasted bad and was wrapped in a shiny leaf."

"Ration bar?"

"Yeah," Sakura answered as she sat herself down by one of the walls. "He looked hungry."

"He wouldn't have been if he ate what I gave him." He looked at Ryuu out of the corner of his eye. The boy looked to the floor guiltily.

"But that tastes bad too." He blinked tiredly, almost swaying in exhaustion. Apparently being carried for the five minutes it took to get here gave enough time for his adrenaline to wear off.

"Anyways, you guys make yourself comfortable while I get this little monster to bed."

"But I'm not tired," he complained, a yawn breaking up his statement.

"Of course you're not." He began escorting the boy to the other room regardless. "But you need to sleep or you'll be grumpy tomorrow."

"So?"

"I don't want a grumpy son," he teased. He ruffled his hair slightly, sending a bit of dirt into the air. "Now off to bed."

"Hai Tou-san."

"Good boy."

"Can my hair get washed first?" He asked as they crossed into the other room. "It itches."

"Not tonight, bud." The man almost sounded sad to have to tell him that. "We'll do that first thing tomorrow. Ok?"

"I guess so."

"Let's get you tucked in then, huh?" I heard the rustle of blankets as I went to sit near the rest of my team. There wasn't much room like he had said, especially with Akamaru in here, but it wasn't uncomfortable. We heard him tell the boy good night just before the fabric started to move. It stopped suddenly when Ryuu spoke again.

"Tou-san, can you tell me a story?"

"You know you won't stay awake for it all."

"Please." The man gave a sigh that told us that he gave in.

"Alright, but only a short one." The fabric settled back to its original position as I assumed he went back to his son. "Which do you want to hear?"

"The bug one."

"I said short." There was another sigh from the man as he continued. "Fine, I suppose I can tell you that one."

"Arigato."

"Ready? Let's get started then. Many years ago, a long time before you were born. About six years if I wanted to be exact. Anyways, at this time one of my best friends left the village."

"The emo duck butt guy, right?"

"Yes," the man agreed with a chuckle. "He was definitely a duck butt. Regardless of what his hair looked like, I was dead set on bring him back. So set, in fact, that I convinced Baa-chan to give me a mission to do just that."

"You had to find the special bug."

"Who's telling the story here?" The boy sheepishly apologized before his father continued. "So, she sent me on a mission to retrieve a special bug that could track anything no matter how far away it was. But she wouldn't send me alone, oh no, instead she added me to another team of three around my age. We went to the academy together so we knew each other pretty well."

By this time I was starting to get a bit suspicious. I don't know why, it all seemed pretty general. Yeah, me and my team went on a mission to find a bug with Naruto but I'm sure many other people went on missions similar to those.

"Kaa-san was on the other team." Ryuu tried to sound excited but it came out more tired.

"Yes she was, along with the rest of her team, a guy who specialized in bugs named Shino, and a man-dog duo by the names-"

"Uncle Kiba and his puppy Akamaru." Hearing my name my eyes widened as I literally choked on nothing. It was our mission he was telling the boy, but how could a hermit like him know of it. The thing was top secret! The only way he could know was if he snuck into the vault and read through the file. If that were the case that means he's dangerous, and probably knows more than just that bedtime story he was telling.

I glanced at my team to see their reactions, only to become more surprised myself. Not a single one of them were in shock or even a bit nervous. Sakura and Neji were enthralled by the story somehow. Shikamaru seemed to be taking a nap again but he was probably listening too. Akamaru was just giving me this look that told me I was an idiot and not bothering to tell me what was so idiotic this time.

I focused back on the story, trying to figure out what the hell was going on only to become more confused. I thought maybe I was mistaken, that maybe he got the names wrong or something, but the longer I listened the more I knew it wasn't. The description of our trip to get there, the way the people acted, even the training that Hinata was doing at night. Every detail matched that of my own memory, except for one, that it wasn't my point of view. This hermit was telling as if he was Naruto! But he wasn't. There's no way he could have been. I saw Naruto die! He was gone, there was no way he could come back.

The fake Naruto continued telling his story as I decided. I didn't know who this guy was, but there was no way in Hell that I was going to let him get away with taking my friend's identity.