Kakashi glanced at his newest teammate as they finally reached the trees and frowned. She had been acting strange ever since she had returned from talking with Gaara and seeing the doctor to okay her to leave. She had only said everything was good, but she pushed for them to quickly leave because she wanted to return back to Konoha.

There was confusion, anger, and shock all into one. Since it was finally nightfall, he called everyone to a halt so they could get camp ready, and would ask if she was okay as soon as he could. Sakura and Naruto immediately got everything done so Kiya could rest and she jumped up into a tree and leaned back against the trunk and sighed. But Kakashi felt that sigh wasn't from relief or anything good.

Naruto's sleep-talking about fighting food soon filled the clearing as everyone settled down, but Kiya was still wide awake in her tree focusing her chakra. In her open palm a small orb of water and an orb of fire circled in her palm, not touching but she was frowning. Kakashi jumped up on the branch only a couple feet from hers and she glanced at him before refocusing on the orbiting elemental orbs.

"Are you okay? You have been more distant since we left. What did Lord Gaara talk to you about?"

"N-nothing," she stuttered as the orbs in her hand disappeared suddenly from her loss of focus and her hand fell limply to her lap.

"You have been in your thoughts seeming confused and angry. It was not nothing," Kakashi frowned as he saw a slight blush but she was far from being okay.

"H-he k-kissed me," she stuttered quietly. "But I-I don't even like him like that. I ended up punching him really hard to get him to let me go, but all he did was smirk and say he wasn't sorry. People just can't do that to others, especially taking a girl's first kiss..."

"He what...?" Kakashi felt his blood boil in anger that the Kazekage advanced on Kiya, especially without permission. "You okay?"

"I don't really know," she muttered. "He scared me. If you're trying to tell someone you like then, you tell them, you don't just kiss them and expect the right message to get across. But why me? I don't even know him that well. The only time I ever really talked to him was when he was helping me bandage your injuries or had to rely on him to help me when we were in Sunagakure."

Kakashi focused on her face and saw confusion. As if anyone liking her needed some explanation, or if she didn't understand that people could actually like her enough to want to be closer to her. Just like how he wanted to, but could not since she was his student. He touched her arm gently and she looked back up at him.

"You misjudge how much people are drawn to you Kiya. Even though you are quiet, you are loyal and easy to get along with. It still surprises me how loyal you are to keeping secrets, especially mine."

"You wear that mask around everyone and never say why. It isn't my place to go telling people that I've seen what they haven't. Just because you've had a bad facial injury and decided that I would be your personal med-nin, doesn't mean it's right to go off chatting about it especially when not even Lady Tsunade has seen under the mask. You are a very private person Kakashi."

"As are you Kiya. Have you never had any close friends before?"

"Not since I was very young. When we moved to the town where I got hurt a lot, I just closed myself off. Everyone either avoided me or helped hurt me, so I saw no point even trying. Why does that have anything to do with this?"

"That avoidance could be why it is harder for you to see the effect you have on those who help you here. Though it angers me that the Kazekage was so thoughtless and thought his actions would do any good, but it has only confused you and made you scared of him because of this."

"I feel like I should be insulted by that but it makes sense," Kiya sighed as she looked up into the darkened sky above. "It's going to rain tonight."

"Really? The skies were clear when we set up camp."

"The trees must have blocked the storm from view. They are going to get a rude awakening," Kiya smirked as she pulled her rain cloak out and wrapped it around her as Kakashi could her the tap-tap of rain starting to hit the trees above.

"To be able to sense it before it comes seems handy," Kakashi spoke as he put his own cloak on.

Sakura woke first and immediately put her cloak on before looking around and sighed as she looked at Naruto who snored away talking about beef ramen. "Are you going to wake him?"

"What's the fun in that?" Kiya spoke, grinning like a Cheshire cat while Sakura moved her stuff to be under the tree they had been sitting in.

The rain slowly became harder as the storm became bigger and soon they could hear the sizzling of rain hitting the fire. Kakashi had made a tent-like cover for the three of them as they waited for Naruto wake. Kakashi went back to his book while Sakura pulled out some medical book and Kiya started her elemental orbit in her hand again while just watching Naruto. It wasn't until the rain had completely put out the fire that Naruto sat with a startled yell as he looked around.

"That took longer than I would have thought," Kiya chuckled and Naruto turned around and frowned as he grabbed his things and hurried over even though he was mostly soaked. "Your dreams fighting food must be really good, Naruto."

"Why didn't you wake me?" he grumbled as he curled up against the trunk.

"I honestly didn't think you would be so hard to wake with being rained on. I guess we all were wondering how long it would take to be able to rouse you from sleep."

"I'm not that hard to wake up…"

"It always takes a few minutes to wake you Naruto, honestly," Sakura huffed as she closed her book. "Heck, we have kicked rocks at you before and it has not worked. Only the smell of food wakes you up instantly."

"Let's try to get some sleep, we still have a few days before we get back to Konoha," Kakashi spoke as he leaned against the trunk of the tree on a branch next to Kiya.

"Agreed," Kiya spoke as she let the fire orb grow and let it fall to the ground beside Naruto who yelped in surprise. "It won't burn you Naru, but you are soaking wet and if you do not dry off, you will get sick."

"Oh, right, thanks kiya," Naruto grinned. "How are you feeling by the way?"

"Just a little sore, I am fine Naru," Kiya smiled down at the grinning idiot.

"That's good."

"Talking is not sleeping," Kakashi spoke quietly from his place beside Kiya and that ended the conversation as everyone hunkered down, feeling the fire orb warm them enough to not get sick from the rain's chill.