Konoha Spider

Land of Snow Part I

Kakashi looked up at the Lady Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage as he entered her office. For the past week he had been on light duty taking minor D and C rank missions alongside of his students. It had also allowed for him to reacquaint himself with his students and their skills. The mission to repair a farm had been most productive, as it had allowed him to observe if the team were still capable of working together. The group had proved that they were still learning, but that they were getting better. He had shown them that they did have a long way to go by defeating the entire team when they had attempted to surprise him.The Moya brothers who they had stolen the uniforms from had been a somewhat amusing distraction as well. He really wished he could remember why it was that they had been after him though. If the girl had been pretty enough for them to hold a grudge over, she should be pretty enough or him to remember. The various poisons that they had tried to use on him and his team had been taken by Peter and Haku, who had taken to studying the poisons non-stop. While Kakashi was good at identifying the various potions, he had no skill in creating them himself. Peter and Haku on the other hand had not only figured out what each poison was made of, but Haku had figured out the antidotes for them while Peter had figured how to make them stronger or to do a few different things.

At this rate, it was likely that Haku would be joining the medical core in some capacity as both an offensive ninja and one capable of healing his comrades. He would be a much sought after ninja. Peter on the other hand appeared to be following the path of the poisoner or hunter. For a ninja that could have his chakra bound, but still do ninja maneuvers that was a skill set that he could approve of. He would have to wait and see what else his students had to show him. Sakura with her encyclopedic knowledge had been a great help to both of them and would also be able to find her path in such things if she chose to follow one of those paths. Naruto would never be like them though as he seemed more of the combat type than his teammates were.

"I have your new mission here." Tsnuade told him, as she pushed a scroll towards one of her top ninja. She studied the man with interest, looking for any sign of the fact that he had spent nearly a month stuck in bed. The Healer in her didn't want to subject the ninja to this, but the Hokage needed one of her more famous ninja to be seen out and about doing missions. They had already lost to much face as it was with his injuries. It would be easier if Jiraiya was around to pull some of these tougher missions, but the old Sannin didn't really do regular missions anymore. Besides, he had other duties that were taking up his time and requiring his attention. If he was going to be on the move in other lands for the next couple of years, then he had to ensure that his intelligence network was in tiptop shape. This meant that he needed to either insure that spies stayed loyal, or place new agents into good positions where they could learn the most. She had looked over the files of Team 7, and admitted that they looked like they had potential in reinforcing Kakashi on the off chance that he would need it.

Kakashi nodded as he opened the scroll and let his eye skim over it. It was another protection detail, only this one was going to be pretty far out. The Land of Snow was not someplace that he visited often. The last time he had been there had been one of his first long distance solo missions. It was a protective detail for the Daimyo's daughter then. He had managed to get the girl out just before a coup led by her uncle had killed her father. He shook his head, he didn't have time to worry about what had been he needed to focus on the now.

"It's not too bad, all you have to do is watch over some hotshot actress." Tsnuade explained to the Jonnin. "It shouldn't take more than a month or two for you to do. It should also be a good chance to test yourself and make sure that you're in shape before you start taking some of the more serious missions again." Left unsaid was the fact that it would allow Kakashi to be seen and everyone would know that the ninja of the Hidden Leaf were not going to be beaten down so easily as Orochimaru thought that they would be. The Will of Fire still burned brightly in the hearts of the people of Konoha.