Hey everyone, here's something I've been working on. I'm not sure if I'm going to get to continue it or not with the other stories I'm either posting or preparing to post. But the beginning part was something I'd thought some of you would enjoy. Don't worry, I'm not ignoring my other projects, this was just a plot bunny attack that I couldn't ignore.

Hope you enjoy,

Trouble 1

ps. I do not own the characters, they belong to who ever really does own them. Which is not me.
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A shot rang out, disturbing the peace. Cloud's body jerked involuntarily as pain coursed through his chest. He dropped to his knees, hissing as he grabbed his wound. His hand came away covered in blood as it soaked into his sweater. From what he could see, it was worse than the wound Sephiroth gave him not five minutes before. Both were bad, but he could tell this one went straight through his heart. He didn't have much time.

He climbed to his feet, spinning around to face the culprits. The sound was muffled, but he could see that the last two remnants were still alive, fighting the effects of the rain. They were trying to say something but Cloud couldn't make out what. They were at their last moments as much as he was. But if he didn't finish them off himself, someone else would get hurt before they would finally die.

Cloud kept a firm grip on his sword and rushed towards the men as they charged their materia. There was a giant blast as over a dozen globes of materia all went off at the same time.

He wasn't sure what happened after that. He felt weightless, as if he were stuck in a void. But despite all this he could still feel himself moving, as if he was being pulled by a current. It was relaxing, like nothing bad could ever happen as long he kept moving; that is, until he heard his name.

"Cloud!" It was Aerith, or at least he thought it was her. It sounded like her, but not. The voice sounded distant, and scared. "Zack, grab him!"

Something attached to his leg, jerking him to a stop. The current started flowing past him instead of with him. He felt terror at the thought of drowning in it. Cloud tried to struggle, unsure whether it was against the current or against whatever had his ankle. But no matter what he tried, he didn't move.

"I got ya Cloud," he heard another voice say. It was Zack.

"Don't let go! If he goes through the hole who knows what will happen to him!"

They continued talking, Aerith and Zack, but the current was increasing, making whatever it was rush by him so fast that he couldn't make out much of what they were saying.

"…a rip in…" Aerith said at one point.

"…let go, I promise," Zack said at another.

But he couldn't make out any other words, the current was becoming too strong, too loud. In fact it was starting to hurt, a lot. Each piece that went by felt like it was cutting his skin or burning it. He couldn't stand it. He wanted to scream, to yell, to rip his ankle out of Zack's grasp but he couldn't move. He was frozen.

But then it stopped. No, Cloud started moving. With the tether around his ankle gone he was free to travel with the current, not fight against it. Everything around him quieted down and became calm again.

"I'm sorry Cloud," Aerith whispered, but somehow he could hear her again. "Be safe."

With those final words, Cloud drifted away, feeling more at peace than ever before.
-x-

The funeral was held only days after the battle had taken place. When the group had finally gotten out of the airship to where Cloud was, there hadn't been much left of him. With heavy hearts they gathered what they could and made sure he had a proper funeral.

It was a nice ceremony that was held in what most now call Aerith's church. The Shinra Corporation paid for a top of the line casket for him, saying that even an ex-soldier deserved the best.

It seemed like the whole city had come to show their respects. Many whispered thanks to the coffin before offering they're sympathies to Cloud's makeshift family. Apparently they had heard of his bravery and wished to show their gratitude, even if just a bit, to the fallen hero.

It was a somber event, practically silent with everyone afraid to speak in anything but a whisper. Tifa spent most of the time thanking the visitors while Marlene hung off her dress as if letting go would make her disappear too. Denzel had been there for a while, standing silently next to them, but he had to go outside with Barrett after a bit. He had gone from not saying anything for days, to shouting at the coffin, screaming that "you promised to come back! You said you'd come back and you didn't!" When it was clear he wasn't going to stop, Barrett picked up the boy and took him outside so not to disturb the service anymore.

The rest of the team was there as well, sitting on whatever pews were left in the building, this included the few of Shinra's men that had been involved in fighting Kadaj. Red XIII, Rufus, Tseng, and Elena sat quietly, while the others were trying not to bawl too loudly. But, there was one more missing from this melancholy band, making the rest of them even more stressed. This was Vincent.

When the whole event was finally done, they all helped bring the decorated box outside to be set on a pre-prepared pyre. They lit it as the group stood around it, watching the small flames grow bigger. Tifa glanced off towards the side to see Vincent standing a while off. He had his arms crossed, staring at them, not the casket. He glanced at it once only to shake his head and turn to walk away.

Tifa unwound herself from Marlene's grip, promising to be back before darting over to catch up with him.

"Vincent, why weren't you at the funeral?" Tifa asked, making the dark haired man stop.

"Was I supposed to be?" He glanced back at her, his red eyes showing no trace of sarcasm.

"Yes! It was a funeral Vincent! Cloud's funeral. Didn't you want to say goodbye?"

"Yes."

"Then why didn't you come?"

"I would have liked to say my farewells to Cloud, not whoever you found in the rubble."

"That WAS Cloud."

"No, it wasn't."

"Who else could he be? There was nothing left of the remnants and no one else was close enough to get caught in the blast. So, tell me who else it could be?" she demanded, her arms waving around.

"I don't know. But that's not Cloud."

"Vincent, you can't keep denying this. Cloud's dead."

"He might be, but he's not the body you're cremating right now." He turned to walk away.

"It has to be him!"

"If it is, then where's the Fusion sword, or Fenrir? Both went missing during the blast and haven't been found," he said without turning around. He began walking away slowly, leaving her to think on what he said, but Tifa didn't need any time.

"How do you know?" she asked, after he went a couple steps. Vincent stopped, giving her his attention once again. "You seem so sure that's not him even with evidence that's only circumstantial. How do you know?"

He stared at her for a moment before reaching into his pouch and pulling out several six by eight pieces of paper. He flipped through them before handing her one. She gave him a funny look before glancing at the sheet, almost dropped the paper in the shock. It was a photograph of a tall, blond man talking with a shop owner, probably about his wears. He didn't seem to know the picture had even been taken, not unlike a surveillance photo

"I acquired these yesterday from a reliable source of mine. He sent me about half a dozen of them, spanning six or eight years."

"That's…Cloud?"

"Yes. I don't know where, or more precisely, when, but that's him."

"Why's he dressed so strangely?" she asked quietly. She sat there studying the green armored vest he wore over a long sleeved, black shirt with three white stripes on each arm. "He doesn't like sleeves."

"Who knows?" she went to hand the photo back but Vincent waved it away as he put the rest in his pouch. "Keep it; you'll probably want the proof."

"I'm going to be gone for a while," he continued, as Tifa looked back at the photo. "I'm leaving to find him. It will take some time, but when I do, I'll bring him back."

"Thank you." His metallic footsteps beginning to leave made her ask a question she wasn't going to ask, but didn't think she'd get another chance to. "Who's your source? Why do you trust him so completely?"

"It's relatively easy to trust yourself."

Tifa looked up in confusion, only to find he had already left. She let out a sigh as she turned back towards the others. Looking at them all surrounding a growing flame made her think that it was useless. Cloud was alive, so holding a large funeral for him just didn't seem right anymore. But, then again, someone did die. Those remains used to be someone, they might not have been Cloud, but they used to be alive too. And whoever it was, deserved to be mourned.

So she put the picture in her pocket and headed back. She wasn't sure if she was going to tell them, it would just get their hopes up and in the event that he didn't come back… No, she would tell them, after the funeral. She had to trust in Vincent, trust that he would bring him back safe and sound. So she would tell them, if only to keep herself believing this too.

Come back soon…Cloud.
-x-

"Huh?" Minato stated, being startled out of his daydreams.

"I said, there's a cloud," Shikaku said, pointing at the sky. "Yoshino said that I wouldn't find any tonight. When I get home, I'm definitely telling her she was wrong."

"Seriously Shikaku, how drunk are you?" Minato asked with a chuckle.

He, Shikaku, Inoichi, and Choza were lounging on one of the Nara's cloud watching spots as they passed a bottle of saki between them. Each looked a little ruffled from getting kicked out of the bar earlier in the night.

"Drunk enough to know I'm right."

"That didn't even make sense."

"You don't make sense."

"Come on Minato, you know better than to argue with a drunk Nara," Inoichi stated as he took a swig from the bottle and handed it to Choza. "If you didn't before, we getting kicked out of the bar because of him should have fixed that."

"Yeah, I know. It's amazing how fast he loses his sense of logic, though. We weren't even there for an hour. The first time all four of us are in the village long enough to celebrate becoming fathers and the Nara decided to pick a fight."

"We found out what we're having today," Shikaku said, suddenly changing the subject like drunken people do. "We're having a boy."

"Us too," said Choza happily.

"Kushina doesn't want to know till she has it. But I think she's hoping for a clone." Minato said with a sigh.

"Kami help us," Inoichi mumbled. "At least then my baby girl would have someone to play with."

"You're having a girl?"

"Yeah, but I was hoping for a boy."

"It's not like it matters," Shikaku said as he got the bottle. "You Yamanaka men keep your hair so long you all look like chicks."

"No! Our hair makes us supper manly," Inoichi said, finally showing his real sobriety.

"Of course, of course," Minato said with a sly smirk. "It's very manly, as long as you all don't start wearing dresses on us, that is."

"I wouldn't talk if I were you, Namikazi-chan ," the Nara taunted, passing the bottle to the now wincing hokage.

"That wasn't voluntary. I was blackmailed and you know it," he defended, pretending to take a swig before passing it on down the line.

"Blackmail or no blackmail, half of the ninjas in Konoha know their hokage went around town dressed in a wig and his wife's kimono for an entire day."

"The other half are still trying to figure out where your hot cousin lives," Inoichi said with a laugh. "If I remember correctly, you made a very convincing girl."

"That's true. Sad but true. Even Jiraya tried to hit on me, before he knew it was me."

The three drunken ninjas laughed as their leader pouted indignantly. As they quieted down, Minato closed his eyes, relishing the moment. He was having a good time with his friends for what was probably the last time before they took on their new responsibilities as fathers.

"What are you four doing?" a new voice rang out.

Minato opened his eyes to look at the newcomer only to see an image that he knew couldn't be there. It was a black haired man that he'd never seen before laying in a combination of mud and blood. He was grinning despite the many holes he had going through his abdomen.

"You are my living legacy," he said offering the sword to him.

Then, just as quick as it started, the image was gone, replaced with an annoyed Fugaku staring down at them.

"We're just celebratin'," Shikaku slurred. Minato shook his head a bit to get rid of what was left of the image as he continued. "We're all gonna be dad's for the first time so celebrating is mandatory."

"You found this out months ago. Why are you 'celebrating' now?"

"Are you jealous?" Inoichi asked with a grin. "You know we would'a invited you but you got started on the whole father thing earlier. This was a first father's meeting. Why are you here anyways?"

"It's eleven o'clock at night, idiots. There's a sound ordinance in effect that you are clearly breaking."

"Oh so you're here as a police officer," Inoichi asked. "Why didn't you send one of your lackeys?"

"They were scared the hokage would make their life a living hell if they tried to arrest him," Fugaku said flatly. "I, of course, have no such notions."

"Are you threatening us?" Shikaku asked.

"It wasn't clear? Well then, if you all don't go home right now, you'll spend the night in a cell. Is that clear enough for you?"

Shikaku opened his mouth to say something that, no doubt, would have ended him in jail. Therefore Minato was forced to save the day by speaking first.

"Perfectly clear Fugaku-san. I'm sorry we were such a bother," he said diplomatically. He climbed to his feet and continued. "I'll make sure these three get home without stopping off somewhere else to cause mischief."

"The Nara and Akamichi complexes are a bit out of your way, am I right?"

"A bit, yes," he answered as he started pulling each of his friends off the ground. "But it's not a big deal."

"I'll accompany those two if you make sure Yamanaka-san gets home," Fugaku offered, helping pull Shikaku to his feet since he was giving Minato a hard time. "You seem sober enough to get yourself home in one piece."

"Ok, thanks."

"It's on my way." He threw a complaining Shikaku over his shoulder and began leading the half-awake Choza back to his home. "Have a good night, hokage. Don't let your wife kill you when you get home."

"We shall see."

Fugaku shook his head, not believing the man as he left.

"Come on, Inoichi. Let's get you home."

"Ok, if you insist," she said with a sigh, and they went on their way. They walked down the quiet road for a while until Inoichi spoke up again. "Hey, Minato, what happened back there?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, hoping he wasn't talking about that image.

"Well, when Fugaku came you made a funny face then you shook your head. So you saw something, right? Right?"

"Fine, I saw something, but I can't really explain it."

"Come on, I know you've been seeing things for a while now."

"How?"

"You always look surprised at random moments. No one else has noticed but I'm a Yamanaka and we know the mind. Particularly when the mind isn't working like it should," Inoichi said, sounding oddly serious for a drunk man. "Whatever's making you see these things can't be very good. Maybe I can help?"

"Help with what?"

"Well, first with finding out why you're having them, and then figuring out how to fix it. But first I have to know what they're about or I doubt I can help much."

"Alright, it's not much, usually just images of people," Minato said after a moment of indecision. "The strange thing is that I've never seen them in my life. They look like real people and, at least in the last one, they sound like real people, but I don't know from where."

"You said that one of them talked?"

"Yeah, only today though. It was a man with spikey black hair saying something along the lines of 'you are my living legacy'."

"Weird. And you never met him." Minato shook his head. "And that's the first one to speak."

"That's what I said."

"Weird." Inoichi was quiet while his intoxicated mind tried to work around the alcohol. "I should check you out. I can see what's wrong with my jutsu. Probably."

Inoichi raised his hands, about to form the hand sign needed, when Minato stopped him.

"Not now."

"Why not?"

"You're drunk. I don't want to risk the possibility of you going into my mind and thinking it was a good idea to change things. For all I know, I could think I was the Sage of Six Paths once you're done in there."

"Alright, I won't do it right now. But soon, I want to see you soon."

"After the baby's born."

There was silence for a moment as Inoichi thought.

"Mine or yours."

"Mine," Minato said with a sigh. "I don't want to worry Kushina about this while she's still pregnant. It will just stress her out and that's not good for the baby. So I'll only come see you after the baby's born."

"I'll write it on my calendar."

"Inoichi, you don't have a calendar."

"Oh," he said quietly before picking up his volume once again. "Minato we need to stop and buy a calendar."

"It's eleven o'clock at night, no one is selling calendars right now."

"But I need a calendar."

"No, you need to go home and sleep off the liquor."

"I guess," he mumbled. "Wait, why did you tell me all that now if I'm drunk? That's awfully suspicious."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do, you told me about your images now so that I wouldn't remember them."

"You brought up the subject Inoichi, not me."

"Oh yeah, I guess you're off the hook then."

Minato hid a grin as they went back to walking in silence. It was too easy to keep Inoichi guessing when he was like this. Of course he was right, the only reason he admitted any of it was that his friend was drunk and unlikely to remember anything; contrary to Minato who was barely buzzed. He did have a few drinks but not nearly as much as the others. He was hokage after all, getting plastered wasn't something you could do without putting the whole village in jeopardy.

"Hey Minato," Inoichi called out as they got to his house. "Why did I want a calendar again?"

"Who knows? Maybe you'll remember when you wake up tomorrow."

"Yeah, maybe. Night Minato." Inoichi waved lazily as he walked towards his house.

"See you tomorrow."
-x-

Minato snuck in the door, not wanting to disturb anyone else in the apartment complex. All the lights were on, letting Minato know that his wife was still up. Or, was still up. He found her passed out on the couch in front of the television. He chuckled softly, wondering if he should just leave her alone, she had such a hard time sleeping with the her due date just around the corner that it would be a shame to wake her. But he knew that if she woke up on the couch alone he'd get the riot act the next morning.

"Kushina-chan, I'm home," he whispered, shaking her shoulder slightly. "Wake up dear."

"Don't wanna," she murmured softly.

"You can't sleep on the couch all night."

"Yes, I can."

"If I let you sleep here, you'll be mad at me in the morning."

"Carry me," she demanded, peeking at him with one eye.

"What?"

"Carry me to bed."

"You're pregnant Ku-chan, if I dropped you…"

"Then don't drop me."

He sighed, shaking his head as he bend down to pick her up. She wrapped her arms around his neck and placed her head on his shoulder as they made their way to the bedroom.

"Have a good time?"

"Yeah, Shikaku got us kicked out of the bar," he told her.

"Again?"

"Yep, and Fugaku busted us for disturbing the peace shortly thereafter."

"That's why you're home early," Kushina mumbled as she closed her eyes again.

"Yeah."

Minato set her on her side of the bed and pulled the sheet over her before changing into his pajamas. He climbed into bed next to his wife, allowing her to snuggle up close to him.

"Good night my love," she whispered, making Minato's mind jump again to an unknown face.

This time it was a woman with long black hair, dressed in a leather outfit as she tended a bar. She looked to where he was standing at the bottom of some stairs.

"Good night, Cloud."

Minato shook the image away before pulling Kushina closer.

"Good night."