Zabuza knew this was bullshit. Really. What else could it be? Yes yes. Mei could talk all she wanted how these people were close allies with the Third. But so what?
He'd been in charge for nearly two years now. Kiri was making progress. Slow, but steady progress. What more could he ask for?
Actually, stupid question, Zabuza thought. It'd be nice to get the last four swords back. Why? Cause the Three Swordsman of the Mist just doesn't have that same tune that causes lesser ninja to need a new pair of pants.
Sure, three is a good number. And it's a hell of a lot better than a year ago. But the swords work best together. They are tools, and every tool has a purpose. Their purpose? To incite fear and dread in every suicidal dumbass, stupid enough to be staring down a Swordsman of the Mist.
But none of that's important. What was important was the issue Mei was being her stubborn self about.
Oh how he'd love to throttle his second in command.
She was far from useless. But she definitely had her quirks. Primarily that she pushed all the paperwork onto him. If he'd known that assassinating the Mizukage and taking his 'throne' was going to result in him spending most of his day behind a desk, he might have been more receptive to that Chidori Kakashi offered to shove down his throat back on the bridge.
Again, not important. He'd killed the bastard Fourth, now he had the job of patching up the sinking ship called the Village Hidden in the Mist.
Hell, if there was any indication that the leaks were slowly being plugged and the water was finally starting to stop pouring, it was that some of the Hunter-Nin were getting bored without any new meat.
Ah fuck it.. if he doesn't succeed. So what? Keep trying. Just like an assassination. Jobs not done till either you or the target is dead. And Zabuza planned to emulate the First. Live out his days as the top dog until his hair was gray, and the Seven reformed.
Who knows, maybe by that point Haku'd have found himself someone. I swear that boy enjoys toying with people far too much. But, not my problem.
"Alright. Mei. Cut the bullshit, this isn't Mizukage talking to their unofficial second. What do we stand to gain from this, that justifies sending those four to this.." Zabuza reread the letter that started this whole thing. "This Hogwarts place for the.. I can't believe I'm saying this shit. Quad-wizard cup?"
"Kimimaro is -still- not at a hundred percent... That damn slug bitch did some nice work thanks to the the non-aggression pact, but I don't want to waste one of our -very- limited protegé on this. Yes, the prize pool is substantial, but with the way the boys work we'd get just as much from regular A ranks. And they still have training to complete."
Zabuza didn't glare at the long haired, red-head before him. But he also didn't smile... Okay. For clarification, he rarely smiled. Only the brats could make one come cracking out on a rare occasion. So instead, he just stared into her, with a look he'd been getting a lot of practice using since Yagura's head went rolling. The looking that didn't imply, it flat out stated. 'I am not in the mood for excuses, so for my sake, and yours. Keep it simple.'
Who knows, a Kage that's relatively blunt may be a welcome change. Probably not. Who knows?
"Zabuza.." Good, she didn't say sir. "I understand the concerns. But we need to look at this not as a numbers game. Instead, let's look at this a little more light-heartedly. Yes, we won't be sending the boys to the Chuunin exam. Kiri has its own promotion system anyways."
The grey-skinned Mizukage had to nod a bit, indicating for her to continue. "I know you want to use the boys as a show of strength. Yes they are still technically Genin.. well.. mostly. Currently they are all Genin." Mei said with a small giggle.
"Sending them to the Chuunin exams would be showing our hand too early. The nations most likely already have an idea what we are capable of, so why bother to impress them? As for the nobles, sure we'll impress a few. But remember, we are still widely known as the Bloody Mist."
Mei leaned forward, placing her hands on Zabuza's desk as she stared him dead in the eye. If he didn't know her better, the fact that she positioned her arms to emphasize her exposed cleavage could have passed for a natural occurrence. So he kept his eyes locked with hers.
Of course she had the audacity to wink at him. Damn woman probably guessed what was going through his head. Again, throttling is slowly working its way up the list. Hell, if he wasn't one of his most trusted subordinates right after Haku and Kimimaro, he'd have taken her outside into the centre of the village and given her a spanking for everyone to see.
It'd be funny to see her try to marry after that spectacle...
Zabuza pushed his thoughts of petty vengeance out of his head once Mei started speaking again.. yes, she was definitely swaying her shoulders on purpose.. Damn woman...
"While the Chuunin exams would be a dull waste of time for the boys, this tournament with the wizards might throw the boys against something new. Think of it as situational adaptivity training. Just over the long-term. They could practice information gathering. Think about iiiit."
Mei purred the last part as she turned her body to sit on the Mizukage's desk, making a small show of crossing her legs. They both knew it was for fun, instead of actual seduction, but it still got a small snort past the bandage's on Zabuza's face.
"We'd have at least eight months to gather info. Think of what we could do. Sure, we have some info on the wizards from the time of the First and the Second, but.."
"That info is at least fifty years out of date.." Zabuza finished for the scantly dressed red-head.
"Exactly!" Mei clapped her hands together. "And if they are stupid enough to -invite- us, why turn it down? Think of what we can gain. We may not be able to use those silly little twigs, but think of the seals, the potions and every other silly thing we could copy off them! We were the only village invited, so this is the perfect chance. After all, with a cash price that could be equal to a quarter of the village's current revenue..."
-That- caused Zabuza to perk up a bit. "Mei, I don't know what reports you've read in accounting. But while yes the 10,000 galleons.. what is with these names.. once converted to actual Ryo would be an acceptable pay for a mission of this length and level, it is not that big. If it was, this village would have been ran into the ground a month ago."
He knew Mei had an idea, and now he just had to wait for her to spill the beans. The room was sealed from any unwanted attention, ninja or otherwise. So he just clasped his hands together, placed them gently on the desk, and looked into those playful green eyes.
"I'm waiting." Is what he would have said, if his body language wasn't two steps ahead of him.
"Weeell..." The kunoichi grinned. "I was just thinking. And this is just a silly little possibility of mine, since the First, and Second both made notes of it.."
Again, throttling and spanking. Both a very tempting option at this point. Zabuza sighed mentally, but kept it from showing on his face.
"Wizards are a proud, arrogant bunch for a group of jumped up civilians waving twigs in the air. And they are always wanting more knowledge.. more power. After all, with a society is as closed off as theirs, I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't want to seal it in even more."
Thus it clicked. Oh, it was a terrible idea. But still, he had to smirk. It was a terrible, underhanded and brilliant idea if it worked.
"Well, my sweet little water demon?" Mei could see the bandages shift into a small smile, knowing she'd won. See, this is why they had these talks, this is why they worked together. Give Zabuza a problem and he'll solve it in the most efficient and blunt way possible. Give it to her, and she might take a bit longer, and it might fail, but the payoff would be better.
After all, an assassin just kills their target. As a former member of both the Kiri Hunter-Nins and Anbu, Mei has to be a little more creative.
"Fine." Zabuza snorted in defeat. It made sense. He wasn't going to let his pride get in the way of what was best for the village.
Mei shot off the desk to wrap Zabuza up in her arms. It was a rather childish action for a woman, twenty-nine years of age. But she was going to take her victories, and pleasures where ever and when ever available.
"Get off me woman." The Swordsman groaned quietly as he pushed the unmarried mass of hair off of his chest, before he stood up and adjusted the strapped tunic over his mesh weave. "I'm going to go inform the brats after I get a message sent..."
"Oh! And don't forget to tell them you'll be going to that game thing. Make some friends, see the culture.." Mei clapped again as she joined Zabuza as they walked down the halls of Mizukage building.
"Politics.. was it really worth it.." Zabuza muttered to himself as he walked to his secretary. Guess he had a damn acceptance letter to write.
An: Well, I sort of hate putting these up before I have another chapter of Lich + Vampire finished, but I really must apologize. I just keep getting ideas that aren't my other stories! Please forgive me! If not, ah well. Anyways, another stupid concept I had in my head. It'll be a rather different AU, mostly cause Zabuza said "Ah, fuck it, I got one. Might as well have a second." And picked up Kimimaro as well when he left the Mist. I've read a lot of the Harry Potter x Naruto stuff, and I find it cool (Especially the stuff by pinksamurai1014) thought I wanted to do something a little bit different than the standard x is actually Harry Potter, or y is Harry's long lost brother/sister/petdog/whatever. The stories are nice, but I enjoy variety. Cause I'm a terrible person. Anyways hope you guys enjoy. Also, writers promise. I may leave a story for a week or two, but I will be finishing every story I start. In summary, I'm a terrible person, hope you enjoy the chapter and rest of the usual stuff~ :)