1- you mean the threads display of the latest threads? in v1.3 of vbindex you can only see these threads on the index-site which you have permission to see.
2- nope, no problem

. add anywhere in the index-file (but before the output of the home-template)!
PHP Code:
$forumid='forumid of the specific forum';
$limit=5;
$query = $DB_site->query("SELECT threadid,title FROM thread WHERE visible=1 AND forumid='$forumid' order by lastpost desc limit $limit");
while ($last5array = $DB_site->fetch_array($query)) {
$threadid=$last5array[threadid];
$threadtitle=$last5array[title];
$last5.='<a href=\"showthread.php?s=$session[sessionhash]&threadid=$threadid\">$threadtitle</a><br>';
}
now just add the variable $last5 anywhere in the right or left-template.