"Hey.."
Zabuza grunted back at Mei. He'd done more talking in the past one hour in the Great Hall than he'd done in the past month, and it pissed him off. He was never one for grandiose speeches and wasting breath, but that's one of the chains of his new position.
Now his throat hurt... damn wizards cause more problems than they were worth... maybe he should have just killed them. But no, now he was left with a sore throat and enough trouble to last a life time.
"Sir?" Shit.
"What?"
"Any regrets?" For what? Possibly traumatizing an entire generation of civilians, effectively conquering a nation as well as pissing of some of it's most influential members? For what? Revenge? A burst of anger? For Haku? Did he regret any of his actions?
"Never." No, there was nothing he wouldn't do for the safety and prosperity of his people. He may make mistakes, and he'd happily go down in the history books as The Demon of the Mist but only after he was sure of the villages future. He didn't have any regrets. Now or ever.
"Alright, now my little water demon? Ready to visit your daughter?" Mei wrapped herself around Zabuza's left arm as they turned down the hall towards the Hospital Wing.
Said demon only grumbled as he half-heartedly attempted to shrug the woman off. Mei just giggled and followed beside him.
Damn witch was going to be the end of him one day... Actually should probably find a new insult for her.. Zabuza decided to figure it out later. Maybe ask one of the brats. He was sure one of them could come up with something hilarious to call the damn woman.
"...The thought of those barbarian's..."
"..When my parent's hear bout this... these foreigners will wish he never left whatever backwater hovel he came from.."
"How dare the minister allow..."
Wave could feel a headache coming on, and it was only Sleet's presence behind her that stopped her from beating the snot out of some of these loudmouths.
Did they already forget what happened five minutes ago? That the only reason they still drew breath was from Mizukage-sama's mercy? How stupid could they be?
"Hehe... If Mizukage-sama gave a damn bout any of their parent's he wouldn't have held them a knife point..." Blizzard chuckled quietly so only his fellow ninja's could hear, getting a small smack to the back of his head from Ice.
"Idiots should show their better's proper respect Blizzard-baka." Ice said in a deadpan tone fit for her codename.
"Ice-ni-san, don't think that just because we are in a school, doesn't mean I will kick your ass from here to Wave Country." Blizzard threatened back.
"If Dumb and Dumber are done fighting, we have an extraction point to get to." Sleet spoke up as Wave got in between the fighting moron's.
"And what was the name of the little bitch these weirdo's are so mad about, anyways? So what if she's some diplomat's child? She'll be fine right? A calming drought and some chocolate and she'll be fine, right?" A rather rude and not too bright Slytherin said at a voice he probably believed to be quiet and secretive. He just had the bad luck of being within 100 feet of a ninja.
Specifically eight ninja, five of which who were having a minor cat fight to the amusement of some students watching while three just sat back and snickered. That stopped in a heart beat after they picked up the idiot's poor choice of words.
Wave and the Demon Brothers were pinned to the ground in an instant by their comrades.
"Get. Off of me. I am not going to let them insult Haku-chan like that.." Wave hissed up at Sleet as she watched the back of the idiot who misspoke. The brat didn't even notice how close to death he was as he slowly walked to his dorms.
"What she said." The Demon Brother's said in unison as they were brought back to their feet in Island and Blizzard's grip.
"We are not to make a scene. Our mission is done. Mizukage-sama's orders." Island tried to appeal to their sense of duty. It worked on a third of the restrained party. Wave tilted her head down to look at the floor, taking a quick breath before nodding at Sleet. Sleet simply let her fellow hunter-nim go.
"Don't care." Said the first Brother.
"Anyways, Zabuza-sama would have planted that shits head through a wall if he was here." Continued the second Brother.
"Irrelevant. I am not Mizukage-sama. You are not Mizukage-sama. Mizukage-sama is not here to make that call. So what do we do?" Ice shot back.
The Brother's simply glared at the masked ninja. Technically they were the superiors of the group by right of seniority. Too bad ninja's care about the concept can be summed up with 'whatever, so long as it doesn't interfere with the mission.'
Sadly the Brother's actions were affecting the mission, and they knew it. They just needed to be brow beaten... well mask beaten by their comrades for a few tense moments before they caved and were let free. They'd already lost track of the suicidal brat in the first place.
Well, aside from Blizzard who sent a clone after the kid. Might as well know the kid's name for later. The boss would be hearing about this incident and the reasons behind it. Maybe he'd overlook their lack of professionalism with a more.. attractive target.
Did Blizzard have any remorse for throwing some moron with loose lips under the bus? Not really. He was just as mad as Wave and the Bro's. He just knew patience was the best option present. And it's not like the boss needed to deal with more trouble at the moment. Zabuza did a lot for the village his opinion, so trying to lighten the man's work load was the least he could do.
"Come on. Let's get out of here. Drinks on me tonight, till one of us drops." Island chuckled out, making light of the situation.
"Ah.. shut up Island. We all know you aren't paying a dime.." Sleet smirked under her mask. "Going to get us all dead drunk, slip our wallets out from under our noses, then pay off your tab. You ass..."
"Haven't caught my hand in your pockets yet."
"And if I ever catch them in mind, you are going to lose the hand, you pervert." Ice twirled a kunai in her hand to make a point as the group continued their walk to the front of the school. The boss was in no rush, Ao and the Shadow clone could certainly handle the paperwork.
"Please. If Island was stupid enough to try and get in your pants, he's getting everything he deserved." The first Brother spoke up as if only thinking bout the weather.
"Probably.. I've heard rumor's Ice keeps a bear trap down there." The second Brother replied in a similar tone. "That or she has a set of teeth for a-"
"You little shits!" Ice screamed as she chased the Brother's down the hall, fully intent on slicing them to pieces.
"Storm, Wave... please go stop Ice before this entire school has been reduce to rubble." Sleet asked quietly. Island's offer for a round was getting more appealing by the moment.
"Will do!" Island grinned under his mask, sprinting off after his comrades while Storm followed after a quick salute to Sleet.
The rest of the Hunter-nim followed along at a slower pace, leaving a crowd of student's and a couple teachers that had a lot more questions than before. Most of them were a variation of 'What the bloody hell?', just with varying degrees of profanity.
Luna glanced over at Haku who was still sleeping. At least now he was doing it peacefully. Even with the calming potion, he still seemed to have nightmares for the first few minutes. Now, now he was sleeping like a log. One most people would describe as the best looking log they'd ever seen before. But still a log.
Personally she couldn't see the similarity between a sleeping human and a tree. And people called her the crazy one. Luna giggled quietly at the thought as she flipped the page on her book. A Wizard's Best Defense: Offense by Salibar Vinewood.
She hadn't planned on reading it until the summer, but Luna wasn't going to let her friend do all the work. She was a bright young witch after all. Even if she could barely hold her own against a competent shinobi, that wouldn't stop her from casting circles around her fellow wizards.
"Brat." A gruff voice brought Luna out from her own head, or specifically how to use every spell, jinx, curse and hex she'd read in the past hour to protect Haku from future wizarding 'pranks'. So she did what any witch with a sense of self-preservation did.
Luna jumped up, drawing her wand towards the sound of the voice, ready to turn her possible attacker into a ferret if need be.
Zabuza just stared at blonde pointing a stick at him. He was impressed at the response. He could have cut her in half in the time it took her to turn towards him, but still. It was a good response.
Mei just stood back and watched with a grin. She had front row seats to the show, and planned on enjoying that fact.
"Next time brat. Just fire off a spell. If I had intended on hurting you, and made a mistake as kami-damned amateurish as announcing myself, I'd have taken it. Now sit down and shut up." That may have came out a bit harsher than he intended, but he was having a bad day, he'll 'apologize' later.
Luna sat down as instructed, watching as Zabuza moved closer to the bed.
Well, at least he's sleeping peacefully, Zabuza thought to himself as he ran a hand through Haku's hair, getting a look at the boys face... "Did they say when he'd wake?"
"No sir." Luna responded, shifting slightly as she was freed from the man's gaze. It didn't help that she knew Zabuza would have no issue killing every non-shinobi within a ten mile if he had a good enough reason. Still, she didn't feel any malice, but again. Haku said ninja's were trained to suppress that, and hide it until needed.
"Brat." Zabuza didn't even look in Luna's direction, eye's still locked on Haku. "I'm not going kill you... Can't really say the same for some of those other damn Sticks.." He said the last part almost to himself. Luna didn't need to be a genius to figure out who the 'Sticks' were, and what the term meant.
"You and your father are now under the protection of Kirigakure. Anyone fucks with you, and they might live long enough to regret it. We take care of our own in the Mist." After all, comrade's, brother's in arms were really all the Mist had left.
"Oh..." Luna blinked, a bit dumbfounded. She'd expected some backlash, but death threats? Seemed a bit much even for her.
Then something Haku once said clicked in her head.
'Zabuza doesn't play in politics. He's a subtle as a cleaver to the face and that's what makes him dangerous. If he wants something, he will strong arm his opponent, flex his muscles and put the knife to the person's throat to get them to sign the deed.'
'But not everyone would take that lying down right? Especially if their ninjas?'
She remembered Haku smiling back, his voice filled with absolute confidence as he spoke. 'No, but Zabuza-san is an assassin first, the best even, before he's a politician. -Noone- get's the drop on Zabuza-san.'
"Just a warning deary, but I do suggest you stick close to the boys for a couple weeks. To let things cooldown. Especially Haku, I'm sure he wouldn't mind the company~" Mei suggested from her spot by the wall before shutting up again at the glare from Zabuza.
Oh he knew her game. She was trying to push the blonde brat together with -his- Haku. Like hell he was going to let it happen that easily. He'd be the judge of any of Haku's suitors and he'll be damned before he just let's Mei play around with his daughter's... son's.. .ah.. shit.. daughter is close enough. Haku's as much his daughter as anything else.
Zabuza just grunted, finally looking away from Haku, turning his permanent glare back at Luna before she could squeak out a response. "Brat. You did the best you could to protect Haku, but in doing so, you've thrown chum in the water. You better realize that fast, or you'll be torn apart. Don't expect an apology if thing's go gills up. Shinobi's are human, and can still make mistakes, so this is your last warning. Swim with the sharks, or go back to hiding among the tuna fish. The choice is yours. Make the one you won't regret."
With his final speech of the day done, Zabuza turned to leave, hearing Luna let out a small breath as he closed the door behind him. As much as he wished to stay, he had a group of Hunter-nim to rendezvous with, and a village to run. He didn't even need to ask Mei to inform him the instant Haku woke up. She already knew.
Mei for her part just smiled as her 'boss' left, noticing the poor girl relax immediately. "Sorry bout him. It's been a bad day, and he was never one for the 'mushy stuff'."
Luna nodded as she turned back to Haku, who was going to get a small scolding when he was better. Zabuza was not 'a little scary', he was rather scary.
Oh if only she saw our performance in the Great Hall. Mei giggled at the thought, wondering how many kids would have a nightmare tonight. Probably the entire first year, if their faces were any indication. "Still, the cranky water demon will never say it out loud, but he's grateful. There are few things Zabuza cares about in this world. And at the top of his list is Haku..."
A position that if it was anyone else than Haku, Mei would feel jealous about. But no, Mei simply walked around to the unoccupied side of Haku's bed, giving the boy a kiss on the forehead. "So thank you Luna. You've done the Mist a great service today, and we will not forget it."
The older women turned her head to look Luna in her misty blue eyes. "If you need anything, find a Kiri ninja and tell them 'The Water
It was days like today that Dumbledore almost envied Voldemort. Or more specifically that he could just blast people out of existence and no one would give him a second glance. After all, straight up murder was expected from the Dark Lord, but no. He was stuck as a 'shining example of the light', so all he could do was sit in his office wishing whatever idiot thought it was a good idea to reestablish contact with the foreigners was eaten by a dragon.
Even if that idiot was him.
"Anything to add, Fawke?" Dumbledore looked up at the Pheonix, who only shook his head. "Didn't think so..."
Well, could be worse? No one's died, yet. Who knows, maybe this was an isolated incident. Dumbledore knew his students weren't stupid... mostly.. Crab and Goyle could use a few spare brain cells, but sadly magic can't solve everything.. well a few potions could but that's cheating.
"It's simple. Calm the nerves, ask.." Or more specifically beg. "Madame Terumi to keep her students in line, if at all possible." Again, Dumbledore knew the majority of students wouldn't be picking a fight after seeing what almost happened to Malfoy. But some of them were thick headed, and wouldn't learn until the second, or Merlin forbid, the third example.
Zabuza may not be so forgiving with wizard arrogance in the future.
"Just get it together Albus, this is fixable." The old man tried to give himself a pep talk as he popped a lemon drop into his mouth, with thoughts of how life screwed him over. He was supposed to be one of the greatest wizards since Merlin himself, but no, Grindelwald fell prey to his hatred of muggles, forcing his hand.
Then there was the issues with Tom Riddle. Oh if only he knew how much pain the creepy little boy would cause in his adult life, he'd have strangled him in the orphanage right then and there, consequences be damned. Would sure as hell save poor young Harry a lot of pain.
But no, he was an old man with his head in his hands, mind racing as it tried to come up with a specific measure of how boggart blisteringly screwed he, and by extension the Wizarding world was. The foreigner's had showed their hand, and if this was a game of Muggle poker, they'd be holding a royal flush, against a simple pair of twos held in the shaking, sweaty hands of Cornelius Fudge.
After all, Voldemort and the Death Eaters were feared, but they were a group of radicals. The majority of the Dark Lord's forces pushed into service by wand point. But oh no, from what little he'd seen, the foreigners were different. They were organized, they were smart, and they were the right level of fanatical. Not enough to disobey or outright plot against their leader, but not enough to follow blindly. They knew why they served Zabuza and the Mist, and they'd do their damnedest to follow through.
"Fawkes... be a dear and deliver a letter for me, will you?" Dumbledore asked as he flicked his wand, floating a piece of parchment and a quill over to his desk as he outlined his 'advice' to said blubbering mound of chocolate disguised as a politician. This had to be handled carefully, Riddle might still be out there doing god knows what, and frankly if the foreigner's joined with him, Dumbledore might just have to resort to the old definition of 'For the greater good'.
So as Dumbledore scratched out what some may call a plan, others may call terms of surrender, and most with half a brain would call the wise decision of waiting to see what happens. The tired old wizard outlined that for all intents and purposes, every child in Wizarding Britain, along with a decent chunk from France and the Netherlands. Dumbledore even included a rough outline of a public address, to keep the masses from panicking.
Worst case scenario in Dumbledore's mind, parents from all nations panic and form a militia with intents on 'freeing' their children from Hogwarts. He honestly couldn't predict the outcome, since he couldn't get a good read on the foreigner's.
And there was the biggest issue. He was lacking information. Information that could prevent a war and save lives at worst, or at best help smooth the transition. Legilimency was always met with a quick glimpse at chaos before being struck down like a hammer on a nail. It took numerous attempts and multiple headache's for Dumbledore to give up on the fruitless cause.
"Thank you Fawke's. I know it is rude to even ask, but do make haste. I imagine that things are only going to get worst the longer we wait." Dumbledore tied the letter to Fawke's leg, nodding as the phoenix disappeared in a puff of flames.
Now, to try and get some sleep, hoping that the Wizarding world doesn't burn to a crisp in his short absences.
An: Short? Absolutely, but it's a set up for future events. Anyways, hope you enjoy, and I shall see you later for the next chapter~
