"Madame Terumi, I understand your anger, but please. There are rules in place for stuff like this. Draco will be properly punished. I'm asking you to please. Take a moment, so we may allow cooler heads to prevail."

"Listen, here. You senile, old bastard." Mei's voice was ice-cold, staring Dumbledore straight in those sparkling, grandfatherly eyes without remorse. She'd already sent Zabuza her message, now all she had to do was force the old man's hand. He was stubborn, but was still a civilian.

"This isn't some school yard prank to be shrugged off with a kiss and a band-aid... Now listen up, and listen good. We are foreign diplomats from a magical community you have not had contact in for over half a century, and even before that our interactions was sparse as hell. Now, unless you want us to disappear for another fifty years, you will. Shut. The Fuck. Up and listen to me."

Dumbledore's smile faded, unable to peer into the women's mind he couldn't assure his student's safety. He knew only as much as the other students... well aside from Ms. Lovegood, but her mind was so filled with.. fluff that it was pointless to even try and get info out of her. These foreign wizards seemed to have minds like fortresses as a standard, while getting something out of the young Ravenclaw was like trying to catch a particular snowflake in a blizzard while blindfolded.

It was a loss-loss situation for him. He agrees to the assembly and deals with the issues that follow, or he politely tells the foreigners were to shove it and Wizarding Britain looses even more contact with the outside world.

"I have your word that none of my students or staff will be harmed?" The old man finally sighed, looking down at his desk, wishing he could strangle Fudge for trying to reestablish connections. They had enough trouble right now, with Voldemort's possible return without another variable.

"So long as they don't get in our way, there won't be a scratch on them." Dumbledore had to applaud the young woman, her face was as unreadable as her mind.

"Alright then. I will call the assembly, and the Minister." Dumbledore was a lot of things, one of which was his small sense of pride of usually being the one in control of the situation, so the fact he had to play along did little to improve his mood. But he hid it behind a gentle smile, after all this was still politics.

"Lovely." Mei absent mindedly fixed her hair, flashing Dumbledore with a smile that would have sent shivers down a lesser man's spine. "Oh~ And before I forget. Do include Draco Malfoy's father in with the invitation. I've heard of his reputation and I believe his assistance would be just lovely."

With that said, Mei turned and left, not giving the old man a chance to argue or get another word in as she slammed the door behind her.

"I'm not the only one getting a sinking feeling from this, am I, old friend?" Dumbledore looked at Fawke who just shrugged. The bird was a bit better at figuring out a person than his master, but even he had trouble. If anything, the red-haired woman reminded him of Molly Weasley. Wasn't sure why, but it was there. So Fawke just shrugged and gave off a warning chirp.

"Yes... deal with caution indeed.." Dumbledore mumbled as he popped a Lemon Drop into his mouth, making a note to get more when he had the chance. He had a gut feeling his sugar addiction would be one of the few things keeping him functioning this year.


"So, does anyone know why we are here? I have a bloody potions essay to finish!" Ron moaned as he sat down at the Gryffindor table.

"I don't know. Hermione?" Harry glanced at the female member of the Trio, knowing if anyone had an answer, it'd be her.

Hermione just sighed, seriously wishing that her friends paid more attention to what was going on. "Ron, you've had time to do that essay for the past week, the only one to blame is yourself. As for why we are here... It's probably something to do with Haku..."

The boys brightened up at this, before their mood darkened again, they'd seen what the poor girl looked like before she was taken to the Hospital Wing. They boys even had plans to go and see her, in an attempt to cheer her up before Dumbledore called a school-wide assembly in the Great Hall.

"It was that git Draco... you all saw the smirk on his face when Haku left. He looked bloody pleased with himself.." Ron mumbled, getting a nod out of Harry.

"Who it was doesn't matter.. I'm just worried about Haku.. she wasn't looking too good..." Hermione gave the understatement of a century in the boy's minds. Haku looked beyond heartbroken, like her entire world had shattered. Just from a few words from a Boggart.

"What did the Boggart say anyways?"

"Something bout Haku being a useless tool.. or disgusting.. can't remember which.. Oh! And that she should have been left by the road side... wonder what that means..." Ron blurted out, getting a few passing looks from the his house mates before being ignored to talk to their friends.

"Left by the roadside? Did Zabuza abandon her at some point?" Harry asked, a bit of fire in his voice. He didn't really talk to the man at the Weasley's but if he was the type to abandon his own daughter...

"No, you dolts.." Hermione face-palmed, kind of wishing the two of them didn't always need her for an explanation. It's like her only role in this trio was to feed dumb and dumber (they swapped titles on occasion) information that anyone with a working pair of eyes and a functional brain could figure out.

"Haku is adopted.. honestly. How have you two not noticed? She looks nothing like him, so either she takes after her mother, which she doesn't haven't since Mr. Momochi isn't married as far as I know... hopefully." Hermoine finished her sentence quietly with a small cough he boys didn't notice. "Or she was adopted. I'm guessing Kimimaro was also adopted..."

"Well how do you know that?" Ron stared at Hermione, since this was news to him. The fact that Zabuza wasn't Haku's actual father was a surprising bit of news, since honestly, the man scared the shit out of him in a way that reminded him of the basilisk from second year, if not worse. After all, the basilisk was a bigger target, and didn't seem to have arms that could snap his ginger neck like a twig.

"She told me of course... I just asked when we were back at the house..." Hermione smiled, unable to look her friends in the eye at their jealous look. Harry hitting himself for not taking advantage of that time to talk to Haku.

"Thanks Hermione... you could have told us earlier.." Ron grumbled as the last of the staff took their seats at the Head Table, along with two people, both of whom Harry recognized to his dismay.

One was rather short and pudgy, almost fitting for his name sake. Minister Fudge. The others appearance brought a hush over the room, with his tall, thin frame, sharp chin and straight, platinum blonde hair. Lucius Malfoy. And Harry thought this day couldn't get any better, but the universe just loved to prove him right at the worst times.

"What's he doing here...?" Ron whispered quietly, getting a shrug from everyone who heard the question.

"Probably here to bail his Draco out from getting expelled... shame... he'd deserve it for what he did.." Hermione avoided looking in Lucius's direction, though she did notice that the Headmaster of Dumstrang and the Headmistress of Beauxbaton.

"Yah, the prat deserves to get expelled at the le-" Harry cut himself off as Dumbledore walked in, followed by closely behind by Headmistress Terumi. Instead of finishing his sentence, he decided to watch the Headmaster instead, trying to get an idea of what was going on. Dumbledore seemed to notice, turning his head to give the young boy a reassuring smile before stepping up to his podium.

"Afternoon everyone. I am truly sorry for calling you here, but it was at the insistence of the Kirigakure Headmistress who will be taking over from this point." Dumbledore decided the best way to deal with the situation was to sit back and watch. Interfere once he got the facts in order. He already knew young Draco was in some sort of trouble, it was just his job to make sure the damage didn't spill over and hurt the other students.

Mei just flashed a smile as she took Dumbledore's place. "Hello everyone~ It's been a while since we've all been gathered here, but contrary to the headmaster's loving introduction I will not be the one leading this meeting. Oh no, that pleasure will be reserved for my beloved little water demon. Who-" Mei cut herself off, turning her head to the side.

If anything, Mei's smile got bigger, sweeter and a lot crueller if that makes any sense. "Oh, he's right. On. Time."

And at the end of that sentence, with timing most would claim to be scripted, was when hell broke loose. Or more specifically, the doors of the Great Hall were almost kicked off their hinge by a pair of men in rebreathers and full body cloaks, flanking a tall gentleman with bandages covering his face.

Harry took a moment to take in the scene, not quite understanding what he saw. Zabuza was had what looked to the young wizard was a small army behind him. A total of five.. individuals wearing white oval masks with grey cloaks covering up everything else about them, with the trio of Kirigakure boys in the middle of them.

Zabuza seemed less... regal than the first time they'd met. Gone was the blue vest, loose-fitting pants, cape and mesh under-suit, instead he wore baggy grey and white pin-striped pants with little more aside from the bandages that never left his face, but now wore them from arm-pit down to his wrists.

The fact he wore little more than a hat, pants and bandages definitely gave the man an intimidating look. Even under the bandages, Harry could tell he was looking at everyone gathered here with barely held contempt and an anger he didn't care if they saw. What did confuse Harry was the giant scroll on the man's back.

The entirety of the Great Hall went silent, making Zabuza's slow, deliberate footsteps echo even louder as he walked towards the podium.


Zabuza cracked his neck, loudly, once he reached the podium, mentally sighing as Mei gave him a short respectable bow. He'd definitely be talking to the women once they had a chance.

With that in mind, Zabuza turned to face the crowd, sitting on the podium to over-look the people gathered. A quick check was all he needed to know that everything was going right. He was flanked by a Demon Brother on his left and right, with a Hunter-nim or one of the young members of the Seven in every corner and on every wall.

No one could make a move in this place without a trained killer's eyes on them. Anyone tries something funny, and they'd look like a porcupine from all the swords sticking out of the idiot's corpse.

Zabuza laughed at the thought. He didn't chuckle, or give an amused snort like usual. This was a loud, full-bodied laugh that seemed to shake the hall to its core.

"You wizards are an interesting lot..." Zabuza smiled under his bandages as occupants of the Great Hall breathed a sigh of relief they didn't notice they were holding in. "Now, I am told, it a.. custom.. to introduce oneself... seeing as the brats are the only who, don't, know who I am..."

"I have more titles than I will bother wasting my time explaining... but let me be clear. I am, not, someone to anger. I am the Mizukage of Kirigakure... think of me as the equivalent of your... Minister of Magic." Zabuza cracked his neck again, grinning as the student's faces dropped again. Oh how enjoyed this game. He could almost feel the fear radiating off the adults.

"All of you are wondering why you are here... Every. Hogwarts. Student. Is. Here. Because, my child was attacked. I was told by the headmaster that the culprit would be properly punished... expelled for such a blatant disrespect to a student's safety... for tormenting a student, to the point they are in the Hospital Ward being treated for a mental breakdown." Zabuza slid of the platform, silencing the whispers as his sandals hit the stone floor with a resounding thud.

"Of course, I have decided to show mercy. As I understand it, to be expelled from school as a wizard." Zabuza held himself from spitting out the word. "Is a rather extreme punishment. Your wand is snapped, and you are reduced to nothing. Something even a muggle would regard with pity."

He had to chuckle quietly at the look on a few of the faces from the kids, some of the outraged, most filled with dread at the thought of being expelled. Their magic taken away forever. A certain blonde in green-trimmed robes looked as if he was about to vomit, and a whispered message in his earpiece said his father looked to be nearing the boiling point.

"Lower than a squib. Or so I'm told. Now I am not cruel, so I'm going to give the culprit a few... options." Another crack of the neck to make a point. "Firstly. If the culprit reveals himself willing, his punishment will be reduced. If he doesn't, well. We will find him, and he will face the consequences of his actions to the full front of my anger."

Zabuza scanned the audience. "Of course, if anyone wishes to step forward and identify the culprit. Don't let me stop you. You will be thanked and possibly rewarded if your information helps. Now, we will all sit here, for the next five minutes, allowing you time to think. Anything other than complete and total silence will be.. frowned upon."

Having said that, Zabuza pulled a small, clear hourglass with black sand from his pocket, holding it up for the crowd to see, student, staff, visiting wizards and Shinobi before putting it on the podium for all to see. He stepped back, crossing his arms over his chest, not needing to do anything to look intimidating.

Oh how he hoped no one would come forward. In this situation, they'd be stupid to do so. They'd earned the whole school's wrath, and get nothing out of it. And in a very rare show of complete house unity, no one stood up. Harry, Ron and even Hermione gave it a good thought, but something about the glare Zabuza and his men gave them quickly shut that idea down.


You know that feeling you get? Not the normal ones of everyday life. It's that feeling you get when you see the dragon, and you know the dragon sees you. It's the feeling you get in your gut, just as you realize you put the mermaid scales into the potion instead of the porcupine quills, so you aren't really surprised when it blows up in your face.

That's the feeling Dumbledore was getting now, and it was growing stronger by the moment. Sadly one of the curses of being an old genius is the ability to size up an opponent or situation, which regrettably was doing its job perfectly. Oh how he wished he was young and foolish.

But no, he was an experienced, old wizard. And he didn't get that way by being easy to kill. Still, the fact that everyone in the Great Hall was a group of hostages that they'd basically given these foreigners on a silver platter set him on edge.

He couldn't do anything just this second, but if things go to dragon dung, they'd have to go through him first.


Time was up, the last few grains of sand had fallen to the bottom and don't let Zabuza's scowl fool you. He was as happy as a man could be when they are contemplating the genocide of an entire group of people. People would call it overkill, but with the shit he'd been putting up with since the first letter, Zabuza was seriously weighing it as a possibility.

The fact that these 'wizards' had the balls, the arrogance, the suicidal stupidity to attack one of his men, one of his children, his unofficial son, his official daughter, his Haku. Oh no. Oooh Kami no. No one attacks the child of a Demon, and walks away without paying flesh for flesh, blood for blood.

It was time to send a message. He'd played soft ball with these proud sacks of shit for too long. Time to show them why he was hailed as the paragon of the Bloody Mist.

"Well. I expected better from the proud, and noble British wizards. Not much better, but I expected at least one of you shitty brats to step forward, be man or women enough to accept their punishment with dignity... after all. One of you fucks attacked Haku." Zabuza's tone went from gruff and reasonable, to ice cold and deadly.

"Zabuza-sama, we are ready to subdue at a moment's notice. Starting phase 2?"

Zabuza gave a subtle nod to Wave, after another crack of his neck.

The entire crowd flinched at the sound.

"Draco Malfoy... get your stupid, dead ass, up here now." All eyes went to Draco, who was shaking like a leaf. Mostly his head, going left and right in the universal signal of the word 'No'.

Too bad really. The brat should have said 'No' the moment he thought of starting this stupid plan. Zabuza's grin grew wider, and some of the younger students were starting to feel a bit queasy from the tension. Poor kids, still. If you are going to send a message, send it right. Half-assed measures are a waste of time for everyone involved.

"Now see her-!" Lucius stood up from his seat, just fast enough to get two and three-quarters of a word out before Kimimaro appeared behind him in a puff of mist, slamming the older man's head into the table without a moment's hesitation, before holding him there, one hand in a vice grip on the man's neck, the other holding the wrist of his wand arm in a safe position.

Funny enough, no one saw Kimimaro actually move, but everyone did see him standing in two places. Which was weird, since no one remembered Kimimaro having a twin, or knew of any magic that could make a corporeal, touchable clone.

"You. Will. Shut. Your. Kami. Damned. Mouth. When. Zabuza-sama. Is. Talking. Filth." Hissed the Kimimaro clone grinding Malfoy's face into the woodwork, more than loud enough for everyone in the hall to hear.

Sadly.. well happily enough the wizards were predictable creatures. The subjugation of one of their own set off a chain of reaction that ended up with the entirety of the adult population minus Dumbledore with a bruised forehead, a face full of table, and a dropped wand in some cases, but a completely immobile hand for every wizard stupid enough to make a move.

Zabuza had to raise an eyebrow at some of the older students, mostly Slytherin who'd risen to the defense of the Malfoy patriarch when his son had done nothing but watch. At least some of the pig-headed brats had some semblance of a pair.

So, they were left with about 46 incapacitated Wizards, all made from weak as hell Shadow Clones. Zabuza made a mental note to send Naruto a book of ramen coupons or something for showing Haku the technique. It'd be the least he could do for such an amazing addition to the Mist's arsenal.

"That. Was rather stupid. I don't think you understand the position you Wizards are in-." Zabuza huffed out in annoyance, only to be cut off.

"You will let us go this instant Momochi! You can not hold us like this! Release us now, and I will still consider the possibility of an alliance between our societies!" Fudge roared, his words slightly muffled by the oak... Zabuza guessed it was oak.. table in his face.

The Shadow Clone looked at Zabuza for orders. This was a copy of Storm. One of his favorite among the Hunter-nim. Loyal to a fault, would do everything in her power to succeed the mission while trying to minimize losses and she had a good head on her shoulders. She may not be Mizukage one day, but Zabuza will be damned if doesn't pay her what she deserves for her service.

A small nod, and, Snap.

Fudge screamed in pain, before simply starting to cry quietly. Please. A broken wrist is nothing. The clone's hand's switched positions, the one that was on Fudge's neck previously was now on his injured wrist, giving just enough pressure to remind him of what happened when he spoke out of turn, while the hand that so generously taught the Minister a less moved to grip the man's pudgy neck. Well, hopefully he wouldn't be stupid and lose his right hand as well.

"I, do not enjoy repeating myself, Minister. But since you are as brain-dead as I was told, I will say it again. You, do not understand the position you are in. I believe only one wizard in this entire room, completely understands. Headmaster?" Zabuza glared at the Old Man, out of everyone here, he was the big threat.

"Oh, I believe it's my turn to speak?" Dumbledore chuckled out after a moment's hesitation as if he wasn't sure who was being addressed. He knew it was probably worthless to act senile in this situation, but he didn't want to show his cards just yet. "But yes, yes. I believe I do know what is going on. I must ask though. Isn't this rather extreme, my good ma-"

Two kunai dug into the back Albus's chair as Wave and Sleet spoke in unison. "You. Will refer to Mizukage-sama, with his proper title." The 'or else' wasn't said, but it was sure as hell heard.

"Apologies." Dumbledore waved the reminder away as if it was a small fly. "As for what is going on. I do believe Sir Mizukage-sama has the entire school and the head of the Ministry of Magic hostage. In his hands right now, is the entirefuture of Wizarding Britain. Effectively, he could demand the world, and the only thing we could do is try and give it to him. "

Zabuza barked out a laugh at the old nut's explanation, getting a few more flinches from the crowd of students. By now some of the first and second years may or may not need a change of clothes.

"Perfectly said. Now, let's finish my business with the Malfoy brat before I move on to the rest of you bastards." Zabuza turned to face the crowd, eyes pinning Draco to the floor just as he gained the presence of mind to possibly run away.

Lucius's complaint's were quickly and effectively stamped out. Quite literally actually. It took two broken legs and a broken left arm to shut the man up, but still. He kept quiet as one of Island's Shadow Clone's threw his son on his knees before the monster that seemed to have gained complete control of Hogwarts.

"Brat... I have evidence that you are the son of a bitch, who left my child traumatized. Are you going to be stupid enough to deny that claim?" Zabuza's eyes stared into the young boy's, who saw his life flash before his eyes. It was a sad, spoiled and kind of pathetic life if the blonde had to admit it. Especially if it was going to end like this.

"No.. sir- Mizukage-sama!" Draco quickly amended, hoping to whatever god who'd listen he'd walk out of this alive. "I-I-Iiii-ii-t, was me..." The Slytherin wanted to look anywhere else, but he couldn't tear himself away from the older man's gaze. He saw monster's reflected back at him, and enough blood to drown in.

"Good... now you have a choice of punishment." Draco gulped, guessing he wouldn't be enjoying anything set out before him. "Firstly, you can choose execution." What little blood was left in Draco's face drained to the bottom of his boots, the faint protests and plea's from Lucius fell on deaf ears of both his son and his possible executioner. Draco did hear another bone snap. If it was anyone else, he'd wonder how many bones these monster's had left to break.

"Secondly, you, your father, and your entire line will pay a total of a nine-hundred and ninety-nine trillion Galleon in damages to Haku for your actions." Zabuza knew it was a bullshit number, and he didn't care. So far the options in plain terms for the boy was immediate execution, or selling himself and his entire family into slavery, since even the Malfoy's didn't have that much money. Hell, Gringotts probably didn't have that much money.

"And the third option.. Mizukage-sama..?" Draco croaked out eventually. To say he regretted he was ever born was an understatement at this point.

"Expulsion from Hogwarts, exile from Wizarding and Muggle Britain, exile from the wizarding world in general and a promise to never willingly use magic again." Some may say that was the easy choice, the one saving grace amount the pile of shit offered up instead. Those people wouldn't be pure-blood wizards, who magic was quite literally in the blood. It was who they were at their very core.

To those people death was the preferable option. Zabuza was almost curious what the shit stain of a brat would pick.

Zabuza cracked his neck again, drawing back everyone's attention. At this point, there wasn't a wizard in the room that didn't have a feeling of dread going down their spine, and hell, even Ronald Weasley was feeling a drop of dare he say it pity for the blonde twat.

"You have a few minutes to decide while I deal with another piece of filth." Draco was grabbed by the shoulders by a masked Shadow Clone, before being dragged back to the center of the room, on display for everyone to watch if they so desired as he made his decision.

"Now, Minister. I believe it is your turn to have your options presented to you."

Wave's Shadow Clone stood the shaken wizard up, half marching, half dragging the blubbering mess to kneel before Zabuza.

"Minister.. I read your..terms earlier today.. and I find them unsatisfactory... a bit of advice for future dealings with an unknown civilization. Think before you act. You know nothing about my country, about how our system works, what 'magic' we have at our disposal, nothing. You didn't even wonder if this could have possibly been an ambush. It's rather disgusting that someone as useless and chicken-shitted as you was given a role of leadership. If you were born in my village, I would have you scrubbing toilets for the Academy brats."

Zabuza glared at the mass of flesh before him. He refused to call it a man, since a man had some semblance of dignity. The thing before him was simply, quietly begging for his life. It was rather sad.

"Grow a spine, you piece of shit." Zabuza said, giving Fudge a half-hearted kick to the ribs to get him out of his fear induced stupor. He wanted to use full strength, but killing the man at this point would just be detrimental to his efforts.

"Bout damn time." Zabuza growled. "Now, here are my terms. And do not. Misunderstand. You have the option if refusing them, but there will be consequences. Very big, and messy, consequences."

Fudge just nodded along, at this point it was the only thing he could do. He just wanted the pain to stop. Today was supposed to be a normal day, do some paperwork, have a pleasant lunch and iron out some details with the foreign wizards, come back to do some more paperwork, go home by seven to a nice dinner and a stiff drink before turning in for the night. None of this was planned.

"I'll keep it simple for now. After all, I do not wish to embarrass you in front of your peers and citizens. You will swear an oath on your life... oh yes. I know all about an Unbreakable vow. You will swear loyalty to the Mizukage and the Mist. We can work out specifics on another day."

Fudge just nodded again, getting another glare from Zabuza who tilted his head. "Dumbledore. You will be the witness and Bonder for this oath. I am tired of you fucking Wizards screwing us around. First, your damn incompetent government can't even give a diplomatic party proper lodgings. Second, your security is so terrible I had to intervene to stop those damn fools at your stupid world cup."

Zabuza rolled his shoulder, muscles flexing. "Then you try to screw me over with plain and simple diplomacy? I was willing to play nice, stay friends and all that crap. But one of you crossed the line. And I don't give a fuck it was just one. One of you attacked without provocation one of my men, specifically my oldest child. That, was the cut off point. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. The only one's to blame for this is your own arrogance. And let this be a warning to all of you. Any other unprovoked attacks will be dealt with swiftly and officially."

Dumbledore stood up, disgusted with himself for the slight spark of admiration for the man in front of him. He was willing to completely destroy a child's life and forever damage diplomatic relations between two nations for the sake of protecting his own people. That was one of the most ruthless forms of love he'd ever seen in his life and he had to give it a certain amount of respect for the fire he saw in the man's eyes.

Placing his wand on top of the interlocked right hands of Zabuza and Fudge, the old wizard muttered the incantation before giving Zabuza a small nod to proceed.

"Will you, Cornelius Fudge, swear your loyalty to Kirigakure and the Mizukage until freed from this bond?"

"I will." One strand of light.

"Will you complete every assignment you are given to the best of your abilities?"

"I will." Two strands.

"Will you periodically check for new assignments?"

"I will." Three stands.

"Good. Now take your seat and shut up." Zabuza let go of Fudge's hand, letting the pudding of a man stumble away.

"Dumbledore, stay here. There is more to do." Zabuza was never one for loose ends. "Kimimaro." The Shadow Clone nodded before picking up Lucius's limp but conscious form. From the look on the blonde's face, he had a good guess about what was going to happen to him. Might have been the fact his right arm was the only uninjured limb on his body.

"Alright Malfoy. Your turn. Your choices. Accept my vows and I might grant your son some leniency in whichever punishment he chooses."

"I.. yes.. Mizukage-sama..." This was for Draco. This wasn't about him, about the Malfoy pride. This was about his only son. One of the few things he truly cared about in the world. If he had to make a deal with the devil to save the boy, by Merlin's beard he'd fucking do it.

"Good." Zabuza took hold of the patriarch's right hand in his own before glancing at Dumbledore who started the incantation again.

"Will you, Lucius Malfoy, swear to never again harm a member of Kirigakure, knowingly?"

"I swear.."

"You will not take any action against whoever you believe to have given us evidence to your son's guilt?"

"I.. I swear."

"You will never share the identity of the person who gave us evidence by any means to anyone under any circumstances?"

"I swear."

"You will hinder any and every investigation into that person's identity?"

"I swear..." Lucius was starting to get irritated again, watching any and everyone possible route of vengeance cut down before him.

"You will never knowingly aid in any action taken to harm someone related by blood or by bond to the witness?"

"I swear..." Lucius ground out.

"Finally, you swear your loyalty and the loyalty of your house to the Mizukage and Kirigakure?"

"I..swear." Six lines of burning fire wrapped around the 'ex' Death Eater arm as the vow was made.

"Good, now take your seat.." Zabuza glared down at the man. The Death Eater had been with Voldemort at the height of his power, but even the Dark Lord didn't command the fear Lucius felt gripping his heart at the moment. The Dark Lord had been flesh and bone after all, still human for all his cruelties. This man before in the bandages wasn't human. He was a demon made flesh.

"Brat. Your decision?" Zabuza's gaze swept back to Draco, who was standing a bit taller. He'd seen his father's bravery.. or at least what was in the boy's eyes as bravery, and he wasn't going to let the man down by setting a bad example. He'd face death with dignity.

Draco walked to his place in front of his executioner, able to meet the man's eyes out of little more than childish pride that it'd be one last insult. "Execution. I would sooner die a wizard on my feet, than live as a slave or filth."

Zabuza grinned and barked out another harsh laugh. "Finally.. a wizard with a spine.. shame you just got it now. It won't last you long... due to your father's actions, you will not suffer.."


Dumbledore was about to step forward to protect the boy, consequences be damned before Zabuza caught his eye with a look. It was a look that said 'try it, honestly. I won't hurt the kid if you do.' Now he had to just figure out what 'it' was...

Took him half a second.. before it hit him like a ton of bricks. It was a stupid idea, but it was the only one he had. Meeting Zabuza's gaze, Dumbledore had to suppress his emotions as best as he could before he gave anything away.

The old wizard knew exactly what he was going to do once this fiasco was over. He was going to make sure every student in the hall and some of the adults got a calming drought in their systems before going to his room, drain an entire bottle of fire whiskey and laugh himself into a coma or something.


With that out-of-the-way, Zabuza turned his full attention back to the brat, who probably though he was deliberating on exactly how to kill him.

"Hold out your right arm. I've found a rather fitting way to kill you... poetic almost..." Draco complied, feeling his hand get encased in Zabuza's much larger fist.

Another nod from the ninja got Dumbledore enchanting for the third time in a row.

"Draco Malfoy, you have been sentenced to execution. Do you accept your punishment?"

"Yes..." Draco wasn't sure how this was going to kill him, but in the back of his mind, the Slytherin gave the man a small nod for originality. Least Draco would go down in the history books as the first wizard intentionally killed by an unbreakable vow.

"Will you, as soon as you are informed and as soon as Haku is willing to accept your presence, kneel before Haku and beg for her forgiveness?"

The gathering of wizards collectively blinked, then blinked again.

"I... um.. I swear." Draco really wasn't in a position to say no.

"Will you swear to attempt to change your ways?"

"I swear.." At this point Draco was on automatic, just trying to figure out what was going on.

"Good. That'll be enough." Zabuza let go of Draco's arm, allowing the magic to take over before stretching, blatantly ignoring the looks he was being treated to. The most prevalent of which was pure bewilderment.

"Um.. Mizukage-sama?" Draco had to ask, it was stupid of him to do so, after he was given a chance to continue living, but he was curious. Now to hope he didn't end up like the cat.

"Yes, brat?" Zabuza's tone had lost its cold edge, going back to the standard gruff annoyance he always felt when talking.

"I.. um.. Sir? Wasn't I to be executed?"

The Mizukage snorted as he crossed his arms over his chest. "There are many ways to kill a man. Cut off his head, and you kill the body. Torture him past the point of sanity, you kill the mind. Change a man and you kill the person. I am not one for executing children . But do not forget the fear you felt, use it as a learning opportunity to better yourself.. just don't forget what you swore to... now go take a seat brat.."

Draco nodded, not sure what else he could do before being slowly guided back to his seat.

"You as well Headmaster.." Dumbledore just walked back to his place, his smile back in place as Zabuza snapped his finger's.

The various ninja followed the signal and released their various hostages from their grip. "Ladies and Gentleman, let this be a lesson to all of you. We are as strong, if not stronger than you. And we are very protective of our own. Do not fuck with us and we will not fuck with you."

"Now scram." Zabuza turned his back to the stunned students, his glare now focused on the adults, who didn't seem much better off. Only Flitwick, Snape and McGonagall had a spark of defiance left in their eyes. Good.


"What, the bloody hell was that!?" Ron nearly shouted once they were out of the Hall.

AN: Well, I had some free time and was in the giving mood since it's thanksgiving for the canadian so yay?~ Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and I will see you all later. :)