Haku was 'forced' awake rather early the next day. Well, not really forced, ninja's didn't require a lot of sleep, and getting up before dawn was the standard for Mist Shinobi unless they were on medical leave and needed rest.

Oddly enough it was Hermoine that knocked on the door to tell them to get ready for the days events. Kimimaro didn't say a word, but the look on his face told the ice ninja everything he needed to know. Mostly that being handled by a little girl wasn't up to Kimimaro's standards. This entire trip had been one insult after the other.

But he kept his mouth shut. Though the moment that Zabuza asks for their report, he was going to express his opinion to the fullest. These wizards were disrespectful, lazy, arrogant pricks who do not deserve the pleasure to even exist in Zabuza-sama's presence, much less be formal allies. Kimimaro was completely in favour of stealing everything that isn't nailed down and flipping the wizards the bird.

The only thing holding him back from doing so was Zabuza's express orders telling him to keep his temper in check, and try to keep relations pleasant until he'd had more info.

Regardless, the Weasley's minus Molly, along with the Shinobi delegation, Harry and Hermoine were walking through field after field, apparently heading to the portkey that would take them to the quidditch game. The shinobi still had to shake their heads at wizard naming sense. Why must they name everything after some sort of illness or physical malady?

Hell, shinobi were professional killers, and they still found some of the naming a bit morbid. Guess to each their own?

Haku had to suppress a laugh when Kimimaro's eyes landed on the portkey. He looked ready to go on a rampage after looking over the nasty old boot. It took him a couple deep breaths, but he got back down to manageable levels. Best of all the wizards were too busy talking with each other to notice.

The new additions were rather polite, but they didn't get the chance to really get further than introducing themselves and the usual small talk. Something any half-competent shinobi could breeze through without paying attention.

Thankfully the ordeal with the portkey was over quickly, though Harry almost didn't grab it in time. Now that would have been interesting. The poor little Potter boy lost in the middle of no where. It brought a small smile on Zabuza's face.

The new arrivals left as quickly as they'd shown up, leaving the Weasley's to show the Shinobi to their tent. With a promise to come get them before the match starts, the three shinobi were left standing outside of the small tent.

"Zabuza-sama... permission to speak freely." Kimimaro broke the silence. No one had moved, not even looked inside the tent.

Zabuza just grunted in permision, though he had a very good idea what Kimimaro wished to say. And frankly, he was starting to agree. As the Mizukage, Zabuza learned the value of patience and humility. But -this-. This damn tent that didn't seem large enough to fit himself and Kimimaro, much less all three of them.

"Sir, this is bullshit. I think we should just leave. If this is how they are treating us as an introduction to their society, I say fuck them. When the old man comes tomorrow to take you back to the Mist, we should all go. Tell the wizard where he can shove that damn stick of his, and that the Mist will be ignoring all contact with the wizarding world."

"Now now Kimi-kun. I understand completely. But we can't just leave a possible ally." Haku was pissed, but did everything in his power to hide it. How -dare- these wizards treat Zabuza like this. "Let's just put our stuff inside the tent and we can see if it is possible to rent another one. Then we can talk. Though if you want to leave this place on a path of corpses, I'm much more open to the idea than before. This is inexcusable."

Haku frowned as he took the step forward needed to open the flap. The moment he got a good look inside, the ice ninja's frown grew even worse.

Now Haku was not one for swearing. Zabuza knew this. Kimimaro knew this. Most people who knew that he rarely swore. So the moment that Haku stopped ranting, Zabuza blinked, and Kimimaro stood blushing a deep crimson. Who knew sweet little Haku had such a... varied vocabulary. His voice had even deepened to a more male tone during the rant. Haku never slipped out of his light and soft tone, even when angry.

The shinobi ignored the dirty looks they were getting from their tent neighbors, until Haku pulled them inside.

To their surprise it was bigger on the inside... "Mother fuckers.. they are just screwing with us at this point.. aren't they?" Zabuza swore under his breath.

Kimimaro took it rather well actually. They, finally, had a place that was satisfactory. The lush pillows, hanging drapes and general atmosphere was much more suited to be the quarters for an ambassador instead of the Weasley house. He had one question though. Why, the hell didn't they just give them one of these on arrival!? He'd have had no issue with these accommodations and could have avoided the pointless argument with Weasley.

"Sir... I take back my prior statement. But I still ask that you think long and hard on whether or not an alliance is worth it.. I am starting to hate these wizards.." Kimimaro ground out.

"Cause you asked so damn nicely, I'll take your opinion into consideration brat." Zabuza collapsed onto a pile of pillows as he chatted Kimimaro about what he'd learned so far from the textbooks his clones had studied through the night.

Haku spent the time exploring the tent, making sure they had everything they needed. She was even surprised the kitchen area had food. It'd still need to be tested for poison later, but it was one of the few thoughtful gestures from the wizarding community thus far.

Once everything had been looked over, Haku decided to go exploring. From the way Ron talked about the event, almost every wizard in Europe was going to be attending. So what a better place to observe the enemy than when there are thousands of them?

With a reminder to return before the match started, Haku was off.

It took him barely half an hour to get bored with wandering. Seen one old wizard in a pink floral dress, seen them all. Haku had a feeling that if a wizard ever tried to infiltrate the Elemental nations, he'd be executed within the day for being a spy, if this was the standards of magical espionage.

He may be placing too much in the acts of civilians.. but then again, it seems that basically every wizard aside from a select few is a civilian. Haku wasn't even sure if they had an actually military... then again they were supposedly in a time of peace, and occassionally an idiot will take over..

An army is not an option for a country, an army is the back bone of a nation... though Haku's opinion maaay be a tad biased. Raised in a militaristic society after all..

"You have a lot of Wrackspurts floating around your head. Are you lost?" A voice spoke up behind the ice ninja.

Now never let it said that Haku is jumpy or easily frightened. But when an unknown individual manages to sneak behind you before announcing their presence. Most people would react in some way. Sadly, for ninja's that reaction was usually lethal for the sneak.

Quicker than most people could see, Haku spun around to face the 'attacker', barely stopping himself in time from skewering the poor girl through the throat with a senbon.

The girl just stared at Haku with gray eyes that seemed almost.. cloudy.. the weird part was these seemed natural, unlike that professor who probably used magic.

"Oh my, that was rather exciting. Can we do it again?" Wait, what?

"Um, I'm sorry." Haku's needles dissappeared back into his striped armwarmers. "Oh, I really do apologize. I didn't intend to hurt you. I am not the best person to startle from behind. If you would be willing to follow me I could find a bandage for your wound."

It wasn't much, a pin prick with barely a full drop of blood. But Haku felt terrible for harming a civilian in a moment of weakness.

"This, it's nothing." The girl took her stick- wand. It's a wand. Might as well use the right term. She took her wand from it's resting place in some unseen pocket before pointing it at her own throat. "Episkey."

Might have been overkill to use an actual spell on something like that, but Haku wasn't going to say anything. Still, Haku now knew healing existed. That would be a useful tidbit of information for the future. Also, see if the pockets are just tricks of perspective, or actual magic.

The girl standing in front of him was dressed in probably the weirdest outfit he'd seen thus far. It looked rather like the normal witch robes, aside from the puke green colour with gold trimming. No, the point of focus was her hat. If it could be called that. It seemed to be a small red haired man in green tights standing on top of some sort of bird woman. The radish earrings and cork necklace were just a bonus.

Add in the dirty blond hair, grey vacant eyes, dreamy voice and pale eyebrows that made her look constantly surprised, the girl seemed otherworldly. Finally, someone interesting.

"It's enchanted you know. I look forward to using it during the game." The blonde tapped the brim of her hat with the tip of her wand which set off the magic.

Haku kept himself from laughing as some sort of folk music started to play as the little green man danced on the bird thing to the tune of the music. The show went on for about a minute before stopping. Of course, Haku politely clapped. "Rather impressive. Did you make it yourself?"

This caused the girl to blink, and close her mouth as she stared back at Haku, obviously mulling something over. The worst part was, the ninja had no idea what she was thinking about. Her body language switched between unreadable and chaotic at a moments notice.

Apparently she had come to some sort of decision before she took a step forward, standing on her toes to look into Haku's eyes as best as she could. The fact she could get to his height on her toes did irritate Haku slightly. He knew he'd never be the tallest ninja, but still. He didn't want to be reminded of his small stature.

"Mr. You know your eyes are the exact same shade as a Umgubular Slashkilter. You may want to start to wear a bracelet made of sphinx hair and turnip shavings." Her voice kept the dreamy quality to it, but there was an undertone of seriousness in it now. The fact she had guessed he was male was also more than a bit disconcerting.

"Oh? May I ask why? Also, what is an Umgubular Slashkilter? I don't think I've ever heard them mentioned before. You see, I'm not from around here. I am looking to learn as much as possible in my time here." Haku smiled at the girl, though she was a little too close to actually see it. Well her loss.

"Having eyes the same colour as yours is bad luck, and can lead to diseases such as Rubber Bone or Loser's Lurgy. Sphinx hair is known to prevent both when in contact with skin."

"Then why the turnips?"

"To reduce the smell. Some people seem to be oddly sensitive to it and complain about it."

"Ah, well thank you. I will see what I can do to. I don't know the best way to get sphinx hair though. Any recommendations?" He couldn't tell if the girl was serious, but it'd be worth a try. That and if the girl was willing to tell him where to get magical ingredients, he wasn't going to stop her.

"Most potions shops will carry some... though you'll have to order it special, or it'll be cut into smaller pieces that can't be made into a proper bracelet." The girls voice got lower as if she wasn't sure what to say. Okay? Oddly enough she took a half-step back, so he finally had his personal space freed up.

"Thank you, now I don't believe I caught your name."

"Luna Lovegood." She said, as if her attention wasn't entirely on the conversation at this point.

But Haku just smiled at the girl, not really caring if she was out of it. He was to be act as a diplomat after all. "Haku Momochi. Lovegood-san. I know it is rather rude, but may I ask you a small favor?"

Luna snapped back to reality.. or whatever plain of reality she was on normally before smiling back at a Haku. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. It must be rather fun to play around like that. I wonder if I could pretend to be a boy for the year..."

"Well, if you wish Lovegood-san, I could offer you some pointers as I am just as much a member of one gender as I am of the other." Haku grinned playfully. If she was willing to keep quiet, why not give her a bit of help? It wasn't going to hurt the village, and it's not like she could change her chakra signature, which was now memorized in the back of Haku's mind.

"It's alright. I don't want to waste your time. The game will be starting soon anyways." Well, he got shot down. Ah well, he could try again later. There was something different about this young witch. 'Interrogating' regular witches is easy enough. It's the odd balls, the spanners in the works that you got to look out for and utilize.

Regardless, Haku bowed his head. "It has been a pleasure Lovegood-san. I do hope we meet again in the future." Luna simply nodded before leaving, another thoughtful expression on her face as she weaved her way through the crowd.

Haku shook his hand, he'd need to tell Kimimaro and Zabuza about this later. They'd probably get a laugh that someone guessed his true gender so easily... how the hell did she do that anyways... Well he could figure it out later.

For now, he had to get ready for the match. After all, that lovely red kimono wasn't going to wear itself.

Haku knew he wasn't like the vast majority of other males. If he was going to forced to wear male clothing, it would have to be for a -very- important occasion. And this was not that important an event. In fact, there had yet to be anything where he was forced out of his beloved kimono's.

He could only think of two occasions were he'd wear male formal wear. And in a way he wasn't looking forward to either of them.

But for now, he could enjoy himself in his scarlet kimono with a pink sakura petals pattern sewn randomly into the the fabric. His birthday present from Zabuza last year. Haku's hair pulled back into a bun to expose his face. Again Haku thanked genetics for his appearance, where his Adam's apple next to invisible, and he generally just looked effeminate without effort.

A slight application of make-up later, and Haku was willing to bet a years pay that no one would think he was male.

Kimimaro went with a simple sea blue kimono, with Kiri's emblem printed proudly across his back in a light gray. Nowhere near his best, but after the treatment of Zabuza in the past two days, he didn't feel the wizards deserved the extra effort. His only compromise was to pull his hair back into a single grey ponytail that draped over his left shoulder.

Zabuza seemed to share Kimimaro's opinion, and didn't even bother to change. He simply used his spare Mizukage outfit instead of the formal wear he brought. Why? Cause the wizards weren't worth the time it'd take to change. Anyways, this was a sport of some sort, was it not? He didn't care if he was an ambassador, he wasn't going to wear the robes given to him by the kids, to watch a bunch of brats fly around with a stick up their ass while throwing balls around.

"Hello, anyone home?" Arthur Weasley called from the entrance of the tent. A brief conversation later on where they'd be sitting and the entire group was off. Apparently the Weasley's were going to be sitting in the Top Box as well with all the other big wigs.

Kimimaro was smart enough to keep his mouth shut, and face neutral. He didn't need to start another fight. He could wait for Suigetsu to show up and let him throw the first punch. It'd worked in the past, so it'd probably work now.

Haku had to ask, why in Kami's name were there so many damn stairs? He was nowhere near tired, but having to constantly stop as the random assortment of wizards in front of him tried to catch their breath was irritating.

They had magic for Kami's sake. Use it. Or if you don't want to use magic, toughen up! Haku sighed, kind of hoping to see that Luna girl. She might not be any better than these wizards physically, but at least he might have an interesting conversation.

He'd asked Hermoine about the Umgubular, and apparently she had never heard of them, which just made Haku more curious since the girl was basically a fountain of knowledge. When asked where he heard the term he gave Luna's name.

Oddly enough, it was Ginny who had the most info regarding the girl. Luna was a third year Ravenclaw, whatever that meant. She was rather smart, but wasn't exactly all there in the head and was known to talk about creatures that didn't exist or crazy government conspiracies. Ginny's words, not Haku's. Though she was aparantly a rather nice girl, regardless of her oddities.

Haku would have believed the little red head girl about Luna being insane, but he'd met the girl as well. Besides, the only difference between madness and greatness is success. Kami, look at Orochimaru. One of the greatest ninja's of his era, and everyone knew the snake bastard was crazy to a great degree.

So the ice ninja spoke up once or twice in defense of the blonde haired girl. After all, it was better to cast judgement on a person after you actually spent time with them. Or were the wizards prejudice by genetics? Who knows.

After about ten more minutes of faffing about on the stairs the ninjas plus Weasleys plus others arrived in their section, and already the crowds were whispering. Haku could easily hear the various males whispering each other questions about who the beauty in the red dress was, which was always enough to cheer up a sour ice ninja.

No one seemed to guess he was male. Haku giggled quietly. He always loved this little game as he gave out small smiles and greetings to the various assortment of flirtatious winks from the bold, and muttered introductions from the shy.

In fact, of the Kiri ninja's only Kimimaro didn't stir up a lot of gossip from the nearby wizards. Sure, some wondered why he had gray hair or what his dots were, but soon enough those voices either went back to the game, Haku, or if they were a female older than sixteen, they focused on Zabuza. Specifically his body.

Haku almost shook his head in pity at the predatory gazes that examined her teacher/father. They didn't stand a chance of gaining his attention, the poor things just didn't know that. Nor would Haku or Kimimaro stand for some random women to try and take -their- Zabuza.

So Haku just sat down to enjoy the side show. He knew exactly why Zabuza dressed rather.. provocatively as his standard work wear. Each of the hidden villages had their specialties. Suna was a village of pragmatic schemers who'd do everything and anything to get the job done. Iwa used overwhelming numbers to crush the opposition beneath it's heel. Kumo was a master at shock and awe. Attack, disorient the target, and keep attacking until you or the enemy was dead.

And Konoha would -claim- to be a jack of all trades that didn't specialize in anything in particular. But all you needed to do was take a quick look through the village history and you'd start to connect the dots to their usual tactics. Specifically hording and using as many over powered blood lines or clan techniques as possible. The Uchiha, and Hyuga's as a prime example.

The fact that every Hokage was basically a monster disguised as a man didn't help either. The Hidden Leaf just had a talent for producing a one man army once per generation.

But Kiri was different. The Hidden Mist used distraction. Supterfuge, illusions, traps and ambushes. Everything they could to draw the attention away from the important facts, so that the enemy didn't even notice the knife that slit their throat.

And Zabuza was nearly the Mist personified. He was a huge man, who looked like he relied on strength to beat his opponents senseless. He gave off the air of a beserker, someone ready to charge into the thick of combat to tear as many to pieces as possible. Nothing about him screamed assassin. He walked confidently, and seemed to draw attention to himself with ease.

Even his title worked to his advantage. The Demon of the Hidden Mist. The expected a monster who's body count was in the triple digits before he even attended formal training, and that's what he showed them. What he didn't show them was the cold, calculation look in his eyes, as he picked his opponent apart, looking for any weakness, any slip up to capitalize on.

And if showing a bit of skin gave his target that split second hesitation that resulted in the difference of life or death, of success or failure, he'd do it happily. He always had a good laugh in private at the end of every day, remembering how this women was staring at him, or this woman offered to take him out for lunch. His outfit was a tool, with a purpose. And right now, it was performing beyond expectations.

Might have to something to do with wizards having only seen such a sculpted body on.. well sculptures honestly. A life of magic does not a six-pack make. So Zabuza who stood off to the side of the seating area 'talking' to other foreign dignitaries was the focus of a lot of female attention, even if not all of the observers were.. available. What? A girl can have her fantasies. It's not a crime to look after all.

The game was uneventful in Haku's opinion. Mostly cause he didn't care enough to listen to the rules or Play by Play that Ron and Harry were fighting over to explain. Again, cute but no matter how cute a pouting puppy is, after an hour it just becomes troublesome.

So halfway through the game Haku's attention wandered. There was a platinum blonde pair of males that seemed to be shooting the Weasley's dirty looks every so often. Haku's gut told him to ignore them. Why? Just cause they appeared twice as unjustifiably arrogant as the rest of the wizards combined.

Not worth his time, even if the younger one kept checking him out. Thanks but no thanks.. well well.. what do we have here.

Haku smiled when he saw a small, vaguely female looking shape sitting in the seat next to Kimimaro, who seemed to be sleeping. Probably just practicing meditation in noisy environments. Kimi-kun must have been even more bored than Haku thought.

With a gentle elbow to his brother's arm, and a short nod in the elf's direction, Kimimaro got the message and they traded seats, where Haku immediately congratulated himself for noticing the poor little thing.

The.. little girl? Thing was obviously deathly afraid of heights, and after a minute of convincing, Haku was getting info as fast as the little house elf could spew it out. Most of it was about the elf's master, who Haku decided to check out later if he was anyone of importance. Mr. Crouch... wait, that was one of the people Zabuza talked to early.

No one of major importance, from what Haku was hearing he was a pencil pusher... and the kami-damned fool who seemed to have been in charge of the Kiri delegations housing while in Britain. Aparantly these damn wizards don't really understand the concept of a Hotel. Kimimaro also seemed to have picked up that fact, storing it away for later. Least now his wrath had a target, and so did Haku's.

Let it be said. Only fools think that the only use of kindness is to show weakness. Oh no, kindness was much more useful. Show a little kindness and you can make allies that will stay by your side through thick and thin. The Kiri nin had taken that lesson to heart. Even if Zabuza said to take the advice with a grain of salt. Being gentle and kind is fine when the situation allows for it, but be prepared for when negotiations break down and everyone starts reaching for the kunai, cause at that point, kindness is just a pleasant way of saying suicide.

Unless you are a blonde haired idiot. But he is the one exception among a universal rule, and Zabuza in a rare show of emotion asked all of his brats to not emulate the blondes behavior, for their own safety.

Haku spent the rest of the match talking to the house elf. Most of it was listening to stories about her master and his family, the rest were innocent little questions about her species and wizards in general.

A lot of people left the stands after the game with a smile on their face. Ireland had narrowly snatched up the victory, but Haku was the only one smiling for an entirely different reason. Two little tidbit of information that he'd have the immense pleasure of telling Zabuza later.

House elves are what Haku would call a race of willing slaves. An entire race of energetic, loyal little helpers. It almost seemed stupid until he thought about it. The elves apparently knew some magic, but when magic was the norm it was no longer special. They most likely became a slave race to survive. After all, if your boss is apparently the apex predator, in their minds, of the whole world, who would be stupid enough to harm you? It was rather clever. If you can't do a job yourself, you get someone else to do it.

The second, and better piece of info was that Hogwarts was full of the little things. If his talk with Blinky was any indication, they were always happy to help anyone who showed them a bit of kindness. It was perfect in Haku's mind. A well established way to gather info was through the servants, and since the house elves liked to be helpful, this was starting to look like a year long vacation for the ice ninja.

Haku had every intention enjoying this time away to the fullest. After all, months without missions meant more training time. Who knows, maybe he'd be able to master a few more techniques while in England. Maybe make some friends, have a bit of fun. Enjoy himself.

He didn't mind his profession. Well, he didn't enjoy assassination missions, but those were a necessity, and thankfully he only got them when he was the absolute best choice for the job. He knew it was necessary, and that he was doing people a favor, but still.

Haku shook his head slightly, clearing his thoughts before deciding he should just go to sleep. Zabuza would be leaving tomorrow night, and Haku wanted to get a full training session with him in the afternoon, since Kimimaro was being a bully and called the morning slot.

Oh, it'll be nice to see the look on their faces when they see what some 'real' training is like. Haku giggled. He liked the Weasley's. They were nice people, if a bit naïve. Something about their kindness reminded him about Naruto. He couldn't really place why, but he knew what the feeling was.

They were good people. Rough around the edges, sure. Some more than others. But they had a heart of gold. Except maybe the twins. Haku had overheard them discussing a variety of pranks and chaos to be caused this year, and he had to admire both their creativity and commitment. Even if it was to simply causing trouble.

Haku was awake the moment he heard the first scream. This wasn't the irish enjoying a night of drinking, singing, drinking, getting hammered and more drinking. This was a scream of terror and pain, that caused his training to kick in.

With a glance at the others, Haku wasn't surprised to see Zabuza already dressed. His eyes were closed as he focused his hearing and chakra detection. Since he wasn't a sensory type, Zabuza took more time and energy to get a clear reading.

"Roughly seventy contacts minimum... their chakra signatures seem tainted.. similar to that scum orochimaru's curse mark, but weaker.." Kiri ninjas ran into some of Orochimaru's goons seven months ago, managing to find one that was lucky.. or well unlucky enough to have a curse seal.

Sure, it was probably the weakest one the snake bastard had available, but the Interrogation Unit, Research and Development, everyone had a field day with a live test subject. Heck, Zabuza was even nice enough to ship him over to the Leaf with part of their findings as a show of faith between the villages.

But we are getting off topic. As Zabuza gave a very rough estimate of the enemies numbers, the two teens finished getting ready, waiting for orders as more screams joined the first. Haku heard the term 'Death Eaters' a few time. Must be the name of the idiots.

"Brats, you are on evac duty. Revugee protocol. Get the civilians out of here. No limiters. We are not letting these damn Sticks die just cause they showed up to watch some stupid game. I'll deal with the fucks."

Haku and Kimimaro disappeared in a puff of frost and smoke while Zabuza started to gather his chakra. Yes he was Mizukage, but he still needed a moment when doing a jutsu on the scale he was about to attempt. He hadn't spent the last two years sitting on his ass after all.

A small smile appeared on the Mizukage's face. Oh, it had been a while... he hadn't had a good fight since Kakashi in the Land of Waves... sure he kept up his training with Mei and the brats, but as much as he boasted bout them learning through the fear of death, he knew most of his partners wouldn't kill him. He trusted them that much.

No, now he'd get a real fight. Though a more accurate term might be slaughter.. massacre... butchery. Really, just take your pick, since they all apply.

Zabuza finished gathering chakra, summoning the Executioner's Blade onto it's rightful place on his back from the sealing matrix before rapidly going through the sequence of twenty hand seals that he was beginning to fall in love with. "Secret Technique: Demonic Prison of Mist and Rain".

When he felt the jutsu start, he had to smirk. Perfect, now to go prove his credentials. Time for a return of the Demon of the Mist.

It was an interesting night for those who attended the Quidditch world cup. Some might replace interesting with terrifying, or horrible, but interesting seemed to fit far more appropriately.

The Death Eaters had attacked once the celebrations had started to wind down, probably hoping to catch as many people asleep as possible. Which they succeeded in doing. They had even managed to rampage for ten minutes before anyone started to offer some form of resistance aside from stunned silence.

Then people were being shaken awake by either a nondescript young wizard wearing a grey robe, or a plain looking witch in black. Haku and Kimimaro thanked Kami that their ice and bone clones could use the transformation jutsus, or they'd be calling a lot of unwanted attention to them.

Some of the magic users hesitated at first, but the moment the word Death Eater was mentioned they started scrambling to leave.

Later people would all wonder why they saw multiple copies of the two mysterious strangers running around between the tents, entering one before leaving another, but at the time no one cared to ask why. There were Death Eaters about, with the fires and flying spells more than enough evidence to suggest a retreat.

The -vast- majority of people were evacuated without issue. Regardless of if they were muggle-born who didn't want to be added to the large list of deaths in the Dark Lord's name, or they were Pure-bloods who didn't want to get caught in the cross-fire.

Some tried to stay, saying they'd be safe in their tent, or they were the fools that tried to pack everything before running. Both were treated with the same level of grace and care. Specifically, they had their asses knocked out and Haku or Kimimaro had one of their clones carry them to a safe distance.

Things were going rather well with the pair only using ten of their fifteen clones each

Probably the biggest troublemaker was one Harry James Potter. The Boy-Who-Lived, otherwise know as the Boy-Who-Refused-To-Just-Let-Someone-Else-Handle-Thing wasted precious time arguing with the original Kimimaro about how he could help.

Of course, Kimimaro couldn't blame him. Here he was, a stranger in the kid's home country, telling him to shut up and sit back while some stranger supposedly protected them. Frankly Kimimaro would have given similar protests if the Mist itself was being attacked.

But the bone user didn't have the time to argue, so he did what every good ninja did, as well as fulfilling a life long wish of Harry's. He put his hand on Harry's shoulder, looking into his eyes as if they were going to have a quick heart to heart. Get to know each other, forge a friendship, tempered in the fires of war. All that shit. Instead, all Harry got was a fist in his gut and a world suddenly filled with pain and blackness.

Well, he always did want to be treated as something other than the Boy-Who-Lived. To Kimimaro, he wasn't anyone special. He was a civilian, attempting to interfere in Shinobi matters, which demanded that he be handled by the highest ranked ninja on site however said ninja damn well felt like it.

Let this be a lesson children. If you are going to make a wish, don't leave it open to vague interpretations. Consult a lawyer and get as -specific- as you can. If not, don't be surprised when the universe decides to screw you over. Food for thought.

Kimimaro hid a small grin as he tossed the unconciouss boy to the twins who barely had time to react before yelling at the assembled group to move, their lazy, under-used, wizard asses out of here. A rare moment of vulgarity, but Kimimaro felt he deserved a break.

Of course his actions and 'unnecessary roughness' got him a few dirty looks from his host, but it was totally worth it. That, and they were easily ignored.

Haku meanwhile had no such issues and was efficiently managing the crowd of people running away. Using his clones to distract any Death Eater that got to close.

After what seemed like an eternity to the assembled witches and wizards, things started to quiet down. The screams had stopped, and a few of the more inquisitive wizards turned around. Hermoine's jaw almost dropped at the scene, cause of course she was going to investigate.

It had been a rather clear night, a bit humid sure. But -nothing- to justify the literal sphere of mist that seemed to have descended over the camping grounds. It seemed to go on for miles, encasing the entire grounds in a pearly-white abyss.

Hermoine didn't know why, but she had a gut feeling to look at Kimimaro, who stoop next to her, grinning a bit at sight. So obviously this was some sort of magic from his people... just.. the scale of it was nearly over-whelming.

The young witch took a step forward, as if heading to reach out and touch the white clouds held in perfect formation before a hand caught her by the wrist.

"Don't touch. It won't kill you, but you will not enjoy extended exposure." Kimimaro warned her, pulling her back a step. Sure they weren't too close to the edge, but he wasn't going to take his chances.

"What.. what is it?" She stuttered out, trying to conjure reasons why she shouldn't touch the mist... was it poisonous? No, he said it was non-lethal. So paralysis? Maybe, but he said touch.. so it didn't need to be breathed in.. why would they use it then? Some sort of magic potion in gas form?

"Zabuza-sama's magic. I do implore you to keep quiet about this though. Please?" Kimimaro's voice dragged Hermoine out of her thoughts, before nodding.

"Um.. sure.."

"Thank you." Kimimaro let go of Hermoine before crossing his arms as if to wait. He looked quite a bit like his adoptive father in that pose-.

The moment the teenager compared Kimimaro to Zabuza, the screams returned, but these were different. The voices sounded muffled even with the mist to block things...

It took her a couple minutes, but the bright gryffindor put the puzzle pieces together. It was no longer the people who came to watch the game that were terrified... no.. it was the Death Eaters. They were screaming curses as loud and fast as they can, some sounded like they were begging for mercy, while others just seemed to scream.

The noises coming from the mist seemed to last for nearly half an hour, as more witches and wizards came closer to the edge of the mysterious magic until finally it stopped and the night became quiet. Very, very quiet.

More time passed, but people could see the mist start to fade, as if it was no longer being held together.

Slowly the grounds cleared and people began to enter, lead by the idiotic few willing to bet it was safe, followed by the slightly less foolish who were willing to go because they had a meat shield in front of them.

It took them a while, but eventually the wizards in front reached the center of the camp, where most of them had the pleasure of vomiting at the sight that lay before them.

Corpses, nothing but a large pile of Death Eater corpses, thrown on top of each other like sticks in a campfire. The bodies were found to mostly be intact, well at least the ones they could see were. A few were missing an arm or a leg but ah well. Dead is dead, in one piece, or in dozens.

Blood pooled on the ground as more and more magic users gathered to see what the commotion was about before wishing they hadn't.

"Hey.. look up there!" One wizard shouted, pointing up at the sky.

Many held off, to try and think of someway that this didn't happen, that the Death Eaters weren't taken out with such ease. Of course they'd thank whoever did it, but the speculated and misinformed facts gathered by a quick look at the scene told them that whoever did this was not to be messed with.

But, humans are curious by nature, and eventually. One by one, witch after witch looked to the sky. Some were even brave or tired enough to chuckle.

Written in the sky, gently back lit by a soft blue light were the words. "They didn't enjoy the taste."

Zabuza gave Haku a sidelong look as the boy admired their handiwork. "Come on Haku, let's find the others and head back to the Weasleys. I don't feel like staying in this shit hole for the night."

Haku nodded as he walked along side. "I agree. I'm starting to believe that massive concentrations of 'magic' reduce a species's intelligence."

"Hah!" Zabuza gave a short laugh. "Just keep that opinion to yourself, and you'll be fine for the year, kid."

"Of course, Zabuza-san." Haku smiled as his Zabuza gently pat his head. The ice ninja really hoped he'd visit when he had the chance.

Chojuro and Suigetsu were slowly becoming family, so it'd be nice to have them around, but while Haku was a bit embarrassed to admit it, this was going to be his first time on an extended mission away from Zabuza. Most missions Haku received were completed within a week, possibly two. But this.. this was much longer. He might not see Zabuza for months.

What if something happened while he was stuck with these wizards? It was rare, but there were still a few missing-nim who wished to usurp Zabuza like he usurped the Fourth. What if Zabuza was killed, when he could have been in Kiri to help protect him?

No.. He'll be fine. Zabuza is stronger than that.. He'll be fine. Haku shook his head slightly as he wrapped his arms around Zabuza's, holding onto it as they walked. Might as well enjoy the time he had left as best as he could.

An: A cookie to whoever can guess what jutsu's Zabuza combined to make his secret technique.