Kakashi stood on a lone boulder in the middle of a grassy field, one hand on his hip and another fingering the strap of his pack as he watched the horizon. He'd noticed a few hours ago that there was a small, dark cloud speeding toward him and his team. It wasn't moving at the same pace as the other clouds around it. He narrowed his eyes and looked back. A few feet away from him, Tenzo was watching as well. About twenty feet away, closer to the tree line, Naruto was getting his head beat in by Sakura. Sasuke and Sai were looking on with varying degrees of indifference from the sidelines.

"Kakashi," Tenzo whispered as he walked up behind Kakashi and climbed onto his boulder. "That doesn't look like a storm cloud. What are you thinking?"

Kakashi paused for a moment.

"I don't think there's anything we can really do about it. It might be harmless or it might not be, but we are in foreign territory so we'll have to be wary. I think the best thing to do would be to get out of its way."

Tenzo nodded curtly and looked back at the rest of their team and said, "Let's find some shelter for the night then and wait it out."

Kakashi tilted his head back to look at the cloud again, and he raised a hand to shield his eyes from a sun beam that had broken its way out from beneath the heavy cloud cover. There was another long moment and then he nodded at Tenzo.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. Let's get out of this field at least and head for the forest. If there's lightning I wouldn't want to be the tallest thing around."

"Yes, sir."

Tenzo hopped off the rock and headed towards the forest. When he paused in front of the rest of their group and Kakashi didn't need to hear them to know what they were saying. Tenzo wouldn't tell them their suspicions, and Naruto and Sakura turned to look at him with confusion. They followed Tenzo without a fight though; knowing better then to question the two of them. Sai didn't say anything, following behind Sakura and Naruto, never for a moment thinking to question Tenzo. Sasuke, on the other hand, gave Kakashi and then Tenzo a pointed glare, wanting to know why they had suddenly stopped and were heading for shelter. It wasn't until Kakashi had casually tilted his head toward the sky behind him that Sasuke reluctantly turned and followed the rest of the group.

It had taken them a while to reintegrate Sasuke into society, but fortunately they'd managed to earn his trust again and he'd managed to earn theirs. It had taken longer for the relationship between the village and Sasuke, but patience and a year of good behavior on Sasuke's part had paid off. Naruto and Sakura's powerful influence on the majority of their village had made a significant contribution as well.

Kakashi watched them carefully as they move towards a safer location and then he glanced back towards the encroaching cloud. He closed his eye and hoped it was nothing. They were only on a B-ranked mission, nothing too serious. However, Kakashi couldn't shake the strange feeling he had as he stood in the grassy field.

This was the place where he'd led his first mission, where he'd made his first best friend, where he'd learned all the morals he followed today, where he'd perfected his one original technique, where he'd lost his first best friend, and, of course, where he'd had received his Sharingan eye. It hadn't changed much despite the war.

"Oi! Kakashi! What? Are you going deaf? Get over here!"

Kakashi looked away from the cloud and saw Naruto waving him over to them, a scowl on his face. Sasuke was standing there too, looking just as cross. He smiled and waved as he headed towards them.

He hoped this was nothing.