Rain poured down relentlessly onto land, shrouding everything behind a curtain of heavy grey. A bridge was visible though the downpour, massive in size as it connected a lone island to the continent, the Land of Fire, to be exact. It wasn't an old bridge, in fact, it was just barely finished. Maybe a day or two had passed since it had been officially opened. Traders from the content, most of them merchants from the Village hidden in the Leaf, Konohagakure, were streaming onto the isolated island, eager to trade their goods for the rare minerals, pearls and fish that the island could offer. Almost all of these merchants had traveled at the behest of the Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, to this Island, to the Land of Waves, to help strengthen the shattered economy that had been left behind by the former Industry Tycoon Gato.

The Island state had been in the greedy man's grasp for many years until a team of ninja from Konoha was sent to deal with the situation. Their original mission was to take out Gato and all of his advisers but after encountering Zabuza Momochi and his apprentice, the Kunoichi Haku, it turned into a protection detail. Gato had hired Zabuza and Haku to kill Tazuna, the man that was responsible for building the bridge that now connected the Land of Waves to the Land of Fire, essentially ruining Gato's business, which relied on the trading harbors. He had used those to smuggle wares and generally charging high amounts of taxes on the villagers goods, which had essentially bleed them dry. The team of four ninja from Konoha had defended Tazuna and his bridge long enough for it to be completed and they even took down Zabuza Momochi, who had been a highly skilled rouge ninja.

The whereabouts of his apprentice, after she had been thrown into the sea, were unknown.

Yet, Haku was alive, if only barely so. The fact that she possessed a bloodline, the ability to utilize ice through her chakra, had saved her from freezing to death in the cold waters, a natural resistance granted to her body. She hit the shore of a land she did not know and wandered aimlessly for a long time. There was no purpose for her, for a tool that had outlived the master. And yet she kept on living, despite the fact that she could not claim to have any reason left to keep breathing. Zabuza was gone and she was all alone again.

Eventually she passed by a group of travelers in this fairly warm and green land, unseen of course, and she overheard them talking. Haku had never been in the Land of Hot Springs before, but that mattered little to her. She was aimless and any direction was as good as the next. She wondered what she should do now, wondered if she could do anything at all, now that she had lost her use. She imagined she would be angry at the blonde young man that had thrown her off the bridge, angry at Naruto, the blonde, goofy teen she had met in the forest before they ever clashed. He was a bit loud, maybe even obnoxious, but Haku had seen the depth his blue eyes held, deeper than any ocean. She had witnessed his intelligence that shone through when they battled and experienced his power first hand when he shattered her Demonic Ice Mirrors with one ghastly powerful punch. And because she felt like she knew him so well, she wasn't angry at him, even though he had been the one that had prevented her from saving her master.

But it didn't matter, wherever she was now, she would surely never meet him again, no matter how much his blue eyes had fascinated her. She wanted to scoff at herself for such thoughts but was ultimately too tired when she reached what was the Village hidden in the Hot Springs. There was fog- no, steam rising everywhere around he village and it almost stole Haku's breath. The village wasn't small, fairly big even, but she couldn't feel many ninja around even if this was supposedly one of the Hidden Villages. But then again, she herself hadn't really heard of it. Maybe that explained the lack of military in the village.

She had scavenged some money from a few bandits that had tried to attack a bunch of tourists on the way here and it happened to be just enough for a few nights in one of the inns. Hot Spring included, of course. Tired and a bit lost in her own world as she was, she never noticed the redheaded young woman in the tan tunic with the purple rope belt that was letting fly profanities at every odd second in the direction of a heavyset young man that kept reprimanding her for her language whenever she opened her mouth.

Only once she had sunken her tired body in the deliciously hot water, she heard the redhead approach.

"Fuck off you cum oozing, cock sucking assbandit! I will fucking drown you in your own blood! Open your fat mouth one more time, Jirobo, and I swear will nail your tiny dick to the ceiling with a rusty nail!"

And that's how Haku met Tayuya, who broke through the door of the bath, mouth foaming in fury and naked as the day she was born. It was not the best first impression she had gotten of someone else, that Haku would have to admit.

"What the fuck are you looking at, flat dolly!?"

Haku blinked up at her. No, not the best of impressions.

"Language, Tayuya!" someone, probably this Jirobo, shouted over the bamboo wall that separated the male area from the female area.

"Fuck off, fatso!" she hollered at the wall before turning back to glare at her. In the end, she just sniffed dismissively and dived headfirst into the water, generously dousing Haku with it in the process.

Haku wiped her raven hair out of her eyes just as Tayuya surfaced again. She threw her a glance over the shoulder. "What?" she asked snarkily, "Got a problem?"

She was in no mood for this. "No," she answered simply.

It seemed to infuriate the redhead but nothing came of it as she submerged in the water across from Haku, glaring her her as if she had done something wrong. Apparently she wasn't used to people not rising to her taunts. But Haku wouldn't, she was just too tired, both in body and mind, and even if she had been fully rested, she simply didn't rise to such petty words. Master Zabuza had taught her to be calm. Oh she missed him terribly... Now that she was actually resting, it suddenly hurt all the harder, burned so far worse than it had before, when she had been aimlessly wandering.

"Why the fuck you crying, flat dolly?"

Haku flinched. Tayuya was right in front of her, scowling at her something fierce. She wiped at her eyes but couldn't tell if there actually were tears or if it was just the water from her hair that kept running down her cheeks. She stood abruptly, absently noting that she was a bit taller than the red head.

"Excuse me," she rasped. Her throat felt tight and her head hurt.

She stepped backwards out of the water, the towel she had was forgotten entirely. The world began to spin and the door was suddenly all wrong and bent. Then it was suddenly sideways and Haku merely managed to blink twice before the world faded to black.

Tayuya still stood in the water and frowned at her. "Well... fuck me."

"Tayuya! Language!"

She scowled. "And fuck him too!"

She was in a hotel room, she realized, which was not the last location she remembered being in. Oh no, she had passed out in the bath! Master Zabuza would-... Haku bit her own tongue. Hard. She sat up carefully and noted that this was not her own hotel room, there were clothes on the bed that weren't hers and... the clothes she wore weren't hers either. She tried to focus, let her senses expand, but her mind was a mess, she couldn't concentrate.

"Look who's awake!"

Instinctively, she reached for a senbon needle but found that these clothes had none stashed away. Instead, she carefully faced the girl, Tayuya, that sat in an armchair at the other side of the room. Had she carried her out of the bath? She assumed so.

Haku bowed her head. "Thank you for taking care of me."

"Whoa there, flat dolly," Tayuya huffed, "I just carried your porcelain ass here. No need to fucking bow, god dammit."

She bowed her head again. "I apologize."

Tayuya groaned. "What the fuck, I told you- Ah, never mind." She leaned forward in her chair. "So, who are you, flat for tits?"

Haku brushed the insult off as if she had never even uttered it. "My name is Haku and I-" She faltered. Who was she? Who was she now aside from a name without a reason? "Just... Haku," she said quietly.

"Yeah right," Tayuya snorted, "And I'm the Whirlpool princess. You're a goddamn ninja, dolly, you had dozens of senbon on you."

She merely nodded, how would she deny that? More over, why would she deny it?

There was a kunai at her throat in under a second ad Tayuya was face to face with her in the same heartbeat. Had she not been as broken as she was, Haku may actually have reacted. "Who the hell sent you?" Tayuya hissed, "Was it the damn leaf fuckers?"

Konoha shinobi... No, she shook her head. She hadn't seen any Konoha shinobi, ever since Kakashi Hatake had driven his lightning coated hand though Master Zabuza's chest, killing him instantly. He was dead, her master, her wielder was dead. Gone forever and forever more.

"What the fuck are you crying for?"

And indeed she was. The tears just spilled from her eyes, she couldn't stop it. She was alone, like she had been before Zabuza found her, without a purpose, without any use. She was supposed to be dead, supposed to have died in her master's stead.

But she didn't. And she hated herself for it.

So she looked up at Tayuya's annoyed face, teary eyes that were devoid of hope and life focused on the red head's fierce brown eyes and she asked, "Kill me, please."

Tayuya's eyebrows rose and she tilted her head. Her hand gripped Haku's chin and drew her closer, the kunai digging into her skin. She sneered at her. "No." Tayuya withdrew the weapon and sat back down into the armchair.

Haku blinked at her. What? "Why?" she asked weakly.

Tayuya snorted. "Do it yourself, you pitiful piece of shit," she spat. "Bite your tongue or some shit." She stood. "I am not your fucking way out. Now get the fuck out of my room!"

And so Haku found herself standing in the hotel hallway, staring at the door of Tayuya's room. "Why?" she whispered again to herself, taking and unsteady step forward. One hand touched the door, the rough wood under her palm felt wrong. "Why?" she asked louder, banging her hand against the door. "Why?" she asked the door, banging her palm against it, harder than before. "Why won't you!?" she finally shouted and her voice cracked, slamming her fist hard enough into the thick door to draw blood.

There was a beat of silence before the door opened and she was roughly yanked into the room.

She had barely hit the ground when Tayuya was already looming over her. "Because," she hissed, "I was like you once." She pulled her up, closer to her face by her shirt and stared right into her eyes, fierce brown meeting matted and hollow coffee eyes. "So you either do it yourself or keep living but don't fucking go begging other people to end your pathetic life!" She let go and Haku dropped unceremoniously to the floor, where she remained; motionless.

Haku didn't know how long she had laid there, how often her tongue had been in between her teeth and all it would have needed was one sharp bite but she never did it. She was pathetic, just like the redhead had told her. So why...? Why did she keep living? She rolled into her back and stared at the ceiling, only then realizing jut how dark it already was. She sat up and looked around.

She almost jumped when she met Tayuya's eyes in the dark, who was laying on her side in the bed, staring at her. "Couldn't do it, huh?"

Haku shook her head. "No... I-" She swallowed dryly. "I guess I'm just that much of a coward. I couldn't even follow after master..."

Tayuya snorted. "Probably." She pushed herself in her elbows. "Now, flat for tits, you either get the fuck out of here or you lay down here." She patted the pillow. "This country is fucking cold at night and I could use a heater."

Haku stared at her in obvious confusion. For a long suffering second, she didn't respond, wasn't able to. And after a minute of silent staring, she got up and slid into the bed besides Tayuya. Right now, the warmth of another person, of another life, sounded heavenly.

"Fuck, you're cold!" the redhead hissed, squirming and turning so that she was facing her. "Hmm," she made, eyes almost curious as they took in Haku's face, which heated the slightest bit under the intense scrutiny. Then she poked her, causing Haku to squeak quietly. "Well, what do you know? You aren't flat after all!"

Haku blushed and could for the life of her not explain why.

She had never woken up with someone else in bed, not since her mother had died, so Haku was mildly confused as to why there was a redhead in her tunic (however she even got in there). "Uhmm... Tayuya?" she asked quietly.

"Mhmmm?" was the muffled response that was spoken directly into the bare skin of her chest.

"I-It's morning," Haku managed. Tayuya's breath was incredibly hot against her colder than normal skin.

There was a lot of squirming and moaning before Tayuya sat up, her head a mess of red strands that stood out in every angle possible. "You are a shitty heater," she told her while she yawned. "At least you're soft."

Haku didn't know if that was supposed to be a compliment. "Thank you?" she said carefully.

Tayuya just snorted and rolled over her and out of bed, arching her back int the light that fell in though the hotel window. "Don't get used to staring at my butt like that."

She hadn't stared, Haku had been wondering what one would call this shade of red but once Tayuya had mentioned her behind, Haku's eyes dipped low once on their own accord. It had been only a second and once her eyes were up again, she was met by Tayuya's triumphant grin. "I said not to get used to it, dolly."

Haku didn't blush. "My name isn't dolly," she said instead. "I'm Haku. Haku... Momochi." Yes, that sounded about right.

"That so?" Tayuya said, stretching he legs. "Well, you look like a damn porcelain doll, so dolly it is."

Haku almost pouted.

"Tayuya? Who is that?"

The man with the two pair of extra arms was apparently not excited to see her. The tall one with the mohawk and the white haired one didn't react in any particular way for her to gleam their thoughts.

Tayuya huffed. "Does it matter? She's coming with. There was way too much tiny dick on this team anyways."

"Language, Tayuya," the tall one scolded calmly, which pointed him out as Jirobo to Haku.

"This ain't no five player game!" the many-armed one huffed.

"Is there any particular reason why we should take her with us?" the white haired one asked, "We have a mission to fulfill, after all."

Tayuya glared at him. "Maybe she's just a good shag and I wanna keep her!"

Shag? Did she miss something? Not knowing what else to do, she merely smiled kindly at them and bowed. "I am Haku. Pleased to meet you," she introduced herself.

"Tsk, whatever," the man with the multiple arms said, "I'm Kidomaru, the main character."

"Jirobo, pleased to meet you," the tall man introduced himself.

"I am Sakon," the white haired man said with a sigh, "and this-"

Then, much to Haku's surprise, a head emerged from Sakon's shoulder that looked remarkably alike to the original, yet their were minor differences to their noses. "I am Ukon. A pleasure."

Haku had never meet twins that shared a body but supposed their could be stranger things.

Somehow, over the course of about three days, Haku became a member of a group called The Sound Four. It occurred to her that the name was now no longer fitting but decided not to voice her thoughts. It had been largely on Tayuya's insistence that she came along with them in the first place and because Haku had nothing else to do and nowhere else togo, she accompanied them on their mission.

Whatever that was. Haku still had no idea.

They traveled up north into the Land of Frost. Haku felt much at ease in between all the snow. Tayuya on the other hand, did not. Sakon and Ukon, as the apparent leader of the group, decided that it was too dangerous to travel at night so they unsealed four tents and hastily built a camp just as a blizzard hit them. Haku, however, remained outside, watching the snow dance in the wind.

"What the fuck are you doing!?" Tayuya shouted from her tent entrance, "Get the hell in here!"

Haku didn't immediately look at her, for a few seconds she kept her eyes trained on one of the snowflakes until it vanished in the fallen snow. She nodded at Tayuya and crept into the rather small tent. Tayuya was already curled into the only hammock, looking up at her expectantly Haku merely tilted her head.

"Yes?" she asked eventually.

"What do you mean Yes? get the fuck in here," Tayuya growled and pulled her down and into the hammock. "Do you want to freeze to death or something?" She sighed as Haku settled down besides her. "Dammit, dolly, what's wrong with you?"

"I wasn't cold," Haku responded, studying the crown of Tayuya's red hair.

Tayuya huffed. "Uhu, not only the looks of a doll but also the brain? Geez, girl..."

Haku didn't respond, just stared blankly ahead. She didn't feel cold, neither did she feel tired. She still felt empty and had no idea what to do now. That said... "Where are we going?" she asked.

Tayuya grumbled something under her breath and scooted up to be face to face with Haku. "What's it to you?" she asked, "No longer fancying death?"

"I... don't know," Haku admitted.

With a huff, Tayuya buried her face in Haku's neck again, hissing lightly. "Damn you're so cold!" She squirmed around until she was sort of using Haku as a pillow, who did not know what to think. "You're with us- me now," she said, "Can't let something as cute as you die now, can I? We're gonna find something for you yet, dolly."

And with that Tayuya was fast asleep, leaving Haku to wonder what was to come.

They were on a boat, en route to what Tayuya had called a "Fucking Block of Ice!" and Kidomaru the "Winterlevel, Yeah!". Haku supposed it could be the Land of Snow, but she never asked. She remembered that her clan, the Yuki Clan, was originally from there. Did she still have family up in the snowy planes? It would be a nice thought, maybe she could start anew there. But... as what? She was still broken and without a master. Useless.

"Why ya looking so gloomy there?"

Haku turned around. Kidomaru had approached her and she hadn't even heard it. Master Zabuza would... would have...- She swallowed the thought and smiled gently at the young man. "The snow makes me nostalgic," she said.

He nodded. "Ah, reminded of home, that it?"

"A little." It was a half truth. It reminded her of her mother but that was a good as home was for her.

"Well, we should be here for a while," Kidomaru said, scratching his head though the hood of his winter coat, "May take us a while to find them target. My spotting skills only leveled up that much, you know?"

She smiled, because she didn't know how to respond, and turned back to watching the water. Kidomaru left eventually. It was as if she had blinked twice and it was nighttime already. She hopped down from the barrel she had been perched on and wandered under deck, to see where the others were.

Jiboro nodded at her from a table in the galley when she passed, where he was preparing something to eat. Haku had been surprised by his cooking skills but didn't muster the will to ask him where he had learned. Kidormau was arguing with Sakon, or maybe it was Ukon, about something that sounded like he wanted to be the leader because he was the main character so Haku passed by them unnoticed. She found Tayuya in the berth, playing a quiet tune on her flute.

Haku always liked to listen to her, the soft and sometimes sad music always eased her troubled mind and so she sat onto the bottom bunk at her side and merely listened, watching Tayuya's long fingers dance over the metal flute. She had caught her polish it once or twice and was told not to tell the others about. Haku had no reason to talk to them anyways, so she made the promise easily enough.

"What's up, dolly?" Tayuya asked her," You look down as shit. The cold finally got to you?"

She shook her head. "No, I was just thinking, spacing out listening to your music."

"Yeah," Tayuya snorted, putting away her flute. "You're one of the Yuki, right?"

Haku's faced didn't even twitch but her heart dropped. She didn't say anything.

"I saw you shaping the snowflakes, you know?" Tayuya continued, "You... can't stay."

She felt like crying again. Felt as helpless as back then when her mother had forbidden her from using her abilities. Haku had believed to have found a companion, if not a friend, in Tayuya, but her bloodline was once more destroying everything. Her vision swam and became blurry. Oh, she was crying already.

Tayuya sighed. "Oh for fucks sake! Dolly! Why are you always crying? I just let you travel with us!" She roughly grasped Haku's chin and forced her to look up into her eyes. "Listen, I work for Orochimaru! If he finds out about your bloodline, he's going to take you!"

Haku blinked the tears away. "Would he... be my master?"

Tayuya scowled. "What? Are you-? You can't be serious!" she hissed. "He isn't even my master! If not for the fucking seal I wouldn't even be here! He's a god damn monster! If he finds out you have a bloodline, he'll cut you up and try to get his slimy hands on it!"

But... it would give her a purpose... right?

"Don't even think about it, dolly!" Tayuya growled. "He won't fucking have you! Listen, dolly- Haku, you have to leave! Once I can leave, I will find you!"

Haku just smiled sadly at her. It had been the first time Tayuya had used her name. "Where would I go?"

"Shit if I know! Didn't you talk so much about these fuckers from Konoha?" Tayuya huffed. "But you have to leave! As soon as the ship docks!"

"And... and you will find me?" Haku asked. If Tayuya would come for her, then maybe she could wait... to have a friend again. A purpose, even.

Tayuya grinned. "You won't survive that long without me, anyways, dolly. 'Course I'll find you!"

"Promise?" Haku asked hopefully.

"You fucking bet it is!"

Haku flickered away in a gust of icy wind the moment the ship began docking. She appeared atop a hill not far from the small port town, watching the red spot that was Tayuya's hair move in the distance. Haku would do as she had been told, she would escape to Konoha, where Tayuya would find her. She had promised, after all. Haku committed the memory of Tayuya's red hair to memory and disappeared in another gust of icy wind.