When Zabuza said no, he meant it.

... So... If that was how he was supposed to work... Why the hell was he running across the desert with one boy beneath each arm, a pup perched over the front of his poncho?!

"Halt! Return the Kazekage's son!"

Oh, right, and he also wound up having a group of no less than twelve Jonin level enemies chasing after him.

"Run, old man! You can beat them!" Kiba shouted with a broad smile, although his voice was somewhat jumbled because of the fast pace Zabuza had set.

"I believe in you, Mr. Old Man!"

And, as if hearing the energetic cheers from both boys, Akamaru added his own input with a happy bark of encouragement.

A kunai sailed at him and forced the man to jump over it, but he continued running without faltering.

This chase had been going on for at least ten minutes and there had been nothing to gain. He could throw the red headed kid back at the ninja chasing him, distracting them for long enough to escape without a trace. But that would make Kiba get all pissy and would that really be worth it?

He really wished that, by ignoring the shinobi chasing him, they would disappear.

Apparently, though, the phrase 'Ignore it and it will go away.' did not apply when being chased by a dozen shinobi.

Now that he thought about it, it also didn't apply to Kiba, Akamaru, most of his troubles, and pesky feelings that made him feel somewhat attached to the young boy he had picked up in the Hidden Leaf quite some time ago.

With a soft sigh, the man decided that there was no avoiding it. He would have to kill these men.

... Wait, this could actually work to his advantage. If he traumatized both boys, they would be more likely to listen to him and not try to fight him!

"Okay, no more running." The man announced, taking two more steps before he dug his feet into the sand and turned around. "I'm taking the kid!" He announced to the shinobi, who stopped a few feet away from him. "Kiba, kid, Akamaru, stay here."

He set both boys down with a soft growl, then took a chance to look at the kid for a second.

The red headed kid looked at him with wide eyes, but Zabuza didn't stop and think too much on what he may want to say. Instead the man just turned around, grabbing his large sword from his back with a glare at the men and women before him.

"If you stop now, we will not have to kill you." The one at the very front of the group conceded, voice deep and dangerous. He was somewhat odd looking, with the left side of his face covered by sheet, and the rest of his head covered by a kind of turban. He also had two red markings on the visible side of his face. "But if you resist, we will not be held accountable for our actions. You did kidnap our Lord Kazekage's youngest son. That is grounds for execution without needing any other charges."

Setting his sword in front of him, the man glared at the shinobi in front of him. Then he looked down at Kiba. The boy was glaring dangerously over at the shinobi as well, hands balled up into fists. Then he looked at the young boy he was now being blamed of kidnapping (which he technically was) and noticed how trustingly he was looking back at him.

With a roll of his eyes and a deep set scowl, the man grabbed Akamaru from the front of his poncho, placed him on Kiba's head, and stepped forward.

"Big words." He called out, "Why don't you show me just how serious you are about backing them up?"

The man at the front sneered at Zabuza's words, then dropped into a fighting stance. "You cannot take the boy!"

Zabuza was prepared to run forward and slaughter these Suna shinobi. It would be a good learning experience for both boys, for they'd see just how truly dangerous he could be. Kiba may just finally start fearing him and understanding that life was not a game.

But right when he was about to step forward to attack, he noticed something odd about the sand around the shinobi.

At first, it was a subtle change that could be attributed to the rough winds of the desert. But when it began to swirl around the men and women, Zabuza believed that his eyes were playing tricks on him. It began to whip around like a contained tornado around the shinobi, causing them all to look around them in astonishment. Then, as if sudden realization hit them, they looked forward at Zabuza, eyes wide and terrifying.

But... Why? He wasn't doing this...

With slight confusion, the man looked at the shinobi. The sand was becoming more and more tangible around them, beginning to obscure them. But they didn't move. Instead, they just looked forward at him with terror in his... Wait a minute... They weren't looking at him.

Following their line of sight, Zabuza turned his head slightly to see what they were so scared of. And he found that they were scared of the young boy he was in the middle of kidnapping, who had his arms outstretched and eyes narrowed in concentration.

"Uh... Gaara... Are you doing that?" Kiba questioned from beside Zabuza, pointing at the sand beginning to completely surround the shinobi.

The young boy turned to look at him with a small smile and a nod. He seemed so bashful with that smile, but Zabuza could not understand why.

Could... Could he possibly be the killing machine he had heard the rumors say he was?

He could use this.

With a flare of his hands, the sand attached itself to the men and women, encasing them until the only thing that could be seen of them was their heads. Then, with a smile up at Zabuza, he said, "That should hold for a few hours. We can go now, Mr. Old Man."

He... Could not believe what he had just seen and heard. But Zabuza was no idiot. This kid had a gift with the sand. He could use this in the future if he was able to train him correctly. Just like he would be able to use Kiba as a perfect tracker and hunter once he was completely able to tame the wild boy.

"Alright then." Zabuza muttered, turning around to push both boys forward. "Get to walking then. We've got quite a ways to go."

Both boys immediately became excited at the man's words, and the ex-Inuzuka ran around Zabuza to grab Gaara by the shoulders and push him forward.

"Let's go, Gaara! Ah! Akamaru, we have a new friend! And we're actually going to take him with us!"

Akamaru jumped out of the boy's shirt and began to run around both kids, barking animatedly as he did so.

They all began to walk away from the group of shinobi that the boy had singlehandedly incapacitated, but not before Zabuza took one final look at the men and women that had chased after them. The one at the front, the one that had spoken and had the red marks on his face, was glaring at them hatefully.

Zabuza couldn't help the cocky expression that came onto his face because of that glare.

He had just managed to use the Kazekage's own son against them. And there was nothing Suna could do.

He knew that this could count as a terrorist attack against Suna. But... Really, what was Suna to do? They were a weak village with not enough shinobi to send on the wild goose chase that would be needed to get the kid back.

Oh, he felt powerful.

Now all he would have to do was actually instill discipline and respect into both boys.

With this thought, he began to walk forward. Only to get bumped into by Kiba, who looked up at him with a broad smile.

"Let's go to Mist now!"

Sighing softly, Zabuza conceded that a task such as forcing discipline into this one would not be as easy as he wished it would be.

"To Mist, Mr. Old Man?"

Wait, what was the other boy doing? Why was he throwing himself at Zabuza just like Kiba had? Dammit! Why were both these idiots so trusting!?

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