Hello there!

Previously, I've written the story Freiheit for Zabuza x Haku; I've come back to write a new, multi-chapter piece that involves the relationship between the two. This writing, though, is another AU story; this means that there are some twists to the original character bases.

For instance, Haku, in this story, is a female. I know there may be plenty of stories with that involved, but please refrain from flaming. I know Haku is a boy in the series, as I have written about the homosexual pairing of him and Zabuza. I have no preference over what gender loves whom, but many others do. In this case, I am writing both; I have written about male!Haku, and now I am writing about female!Haku.

Zabuza Momochi will still be the same character, but he is also going to change a bit, too, as the story goes on. There won't be any dramatic changes, but I am pretty sure that throughout hardships, his characteristics may change time to time; as does all humans on this earth.

I'm not familiar to dance terms, so I was very confused on how to describe the routines that many of the characters will perform. If I make a mistake, I apologize about that.

The rating will increase to mature content, but not right away. Please be patient if you are looking forward to that!

Also, I want to say thank you to TeCHNiCaL-DiFFiCuLTieS and Bad Writer XD for talking to me; I really appreciate it!

I do NOT own Naruto, Haku, Zabuza Momochi, or any characters in the anime or manga. Thank you!

"Hold me tight, when the city glimmers…"

All she could hear was the air rushing around her as she twirled on her foot. Haku closed her eyes, feeling her long hair starting to slip out from her pinned bun. She lifted her arm up, stepping forward and sighing. Her back straightened; Haku's body stretched out into an elegant stance. She hopped up into the air, sucking in a breath. The brunette's eyes snapped open, now conscious to the world around her, and landed on the wooden floor before she could trip herself.

Quite suddenly, the music ended, and Haku almost doubled over; her foot in the middle of an allegro movement. She pursed her lips together, waiting for her instructor's voice to scold her, but it never came. Instead, there was a sickening silence that fell around the room. The young dancer turned her body, curious to see what had happened; what had gone wrong.

"Ah," Kakashi Hatake stood next to a tall man; his face was written over with surprise. "Don't worry, Haku. Keep dancing. You just have a visitor." He smiled, trying to hide his nervousness. "Come on, keep dancing."

Haku stared at Kakashi, waiting for the music. After many seconds of eye contact between them, she finally murmured, "'kashi… the music, 'kashi."

"Oh, yes! That's right! I'm sorry, Haku." Kakashi's words spilled out in a rush from his lips. He motioned quickly at the pianist to start playing.

Gaara groaned inwardly, starting from the top of his music page; the song began to vibrate through the air. Haku began to relax her body again, before she lifted her right leg into the air; an arabesque, her instructor called it. She brought it back down, to her left knee; she started to allegro once again. Her arms lifted and dropped; the movements smooth and fluid from the years and years of training. Her lips were in a slight pout as she kicked high into the air, bringing her limb back down again before raising her body with a sur la pointe. She spun, again and again, letting her hands flow into different movements and stances.

The room twirled around her, Kakashi and the stranger morphing into blobs of white, black and grey. Haku took no notice to her hair, which was fanning out, completely focused on her routine. Her mind was completely clear, but she could tell her face was filled with what seemed to be confusion and anxiety. The brunette tried to soften her features, but failed; she ignored it and kept on task.

"Stop." A harsh yet steady voice startled Haku, catching her off guard. She almost tipped over, trying to slow her spin to a halt.

Kakashi rushed to her side, catching the brunette before she could hurt herself; or what more was her feet and ankles. Gaara almost laughed, knowing all too well that Haku was unstable when she was interrupted while dancing. He pressed one more note on the piano before putting his hands into his lap, smiling a bit at Haku's embarrassed, blushing face.

"I-I'm so sorry," she whispered as she took Kakashi's hand to get back up on her feet. "Sorry…"

Kakashi frowned, squeezing her hand in reassurance. "It's alright, Haku. It wasn't your fault."

Haku looked down at the floor, still ashamed to have fallen at the sound of an unfamiliar man. She blushed even harder when Kakashi squeezed her hand; why was her instructor's assistant being so affectionate toward her? He had never been so soft spoken like this before. He was always the one to goof off, poke fun at people and pester Haku's instructor, Iruka Umino.

The visitor walked up to the dancer. Haku took in the sight of him; his hair was an ink black, contrasting with his pale, powdery-white skin. His eyes were a golden color and it seemed to have more than a dozen different shades of yellow and orange in them. It sent shivers down the brunette's back; he looked like quite a peculiar man to be in a ballet studio, watching her every move.

He smiled at Haku, brushing a rope of her long, dark hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. He chuckled when Haku looked back at the floor quickly and said, "You did very well, young lady. You shouldn't be shy, especially when it comes to performing." With that, he looked at Kakashi. "I guess I might as well be going now, shouldn't I? Ah, then," he waved his hand. "I'll see you later."

When the door was shut and the man was gone, Haku collapsed onto her knees, exhaling. She had been holding her breath the whole time that the visitor was talking to her. Kakashi laughed loudly, Gaara letting out a puff of air and walked toward the two, smiling, while Haku sat on the ground, wondering what had just happened in the past few minutes.

"Who..?" She asked, turning to Hatake, who was still laughing his head off.

"His name is Orochimaru…" Gaara spoke. "He's a student here. He mastered dancing with wooden naginata when he was still a child. He's very talented-,"

"But he comes off as a creeper." Kakashi added, slapping Gaara in the back playfully and knocked the air out of the redhead.

Haku giggled at the silver-haired guy, wondering how the two men could get along each other without quarreling every day. She picked herself from the studio floor, grinning shyly before picking up her water bottle and uncapping it; she took a big swig of water into her mouth.

"Now, now," Gaara winked at her. "Don't go swishing water like that in public, young lady." Haku pouted at him, gulping down the liquid in her mouth and closing the bottle.

It's not fair that men can do that without anyone telling them that it's inappropriate to, she thought to herself. I'm not the weak girl you think I am!

"Tired?"

"Ah… A little bit, yes."

"Good! So am I,"

"Teacher,"

"Yes?" Iruka turned his head to face Haku. He smiled, "We can go home in a few minutes. Just give me some time to clean up here," he pointed around his office.

"OK…" the brunette girl wiggled her toes, stretching out her tired feet. She yawned behind her hand; Haku asked, "Do you need any help, Teacher? I know 'kashi made a mess with your papers."

Iruka chuckled, shaking his head slightly. He always assumed the one to come into his office and destroy it was none other than Hatake. Soon, he hoped, he would work a truce out with Hatake Kakashi and all mischief would be diminished. Something about the man was odd. Possibly, it was his strange hair color; had he dyed it? Or it was the childish pranks that he performed; it was only aimed for Iruka and Iruka alone. Could Kakashi be up to something..?

"Gaah! Of course he's up to something! He's up to ruining my life!"

"Teacher," Haku stared at him, a worried expression settled onto her face. "Are you alright, Teacher?"

"Ehh?" He spun around wildly, then flopped into his study chair. He groaned, tipping his head back. He sighed, "Sorry, Haku. It's been a long day for me. Talking about Hatake just makes me want to-,"

"Blow up in his face?" the young dancer offered, giggling behind her hand. Iruka's jaw hung open at her.

He quickly composed himself, shaking his head. "No, no… nothing like that… Well, maybe… I mean! No! I would never do such a thing!" he clamped his babbling mouth shut, looking directly into Haku's eyes. "He just really annoys me when he's trying to prove something,"

Haku gazed blankly at her instructor, wondering what the silver-haired man was trying to prove. Kakashi certainly was annoying when he buzzed around Iruka all day, but did that mean Iruka didn't like it? Or was he just embarrassed around the man? She kept the question stored into the back of her mind, sure that she would find out soon enough.

"Ha-ha-ha!" Iruka laughed the subject away. "Haku, it's getting late. We should get home; you have school tomorrow, remember?"

"Uhn," Haku nodded her head in agreement.

"I'm just glad you're alright at school," Iruka muttered to himself. "It's a dangerous place for you," He glanced at the girl; she didn't seem to notice him talking and started to pick up her things from the corner of the room. Iruka just smiled slightly in Haku's direction.

The shrill ringing of her alarm awoke the brunette dancer; Haku quickly reached up to firmly smack the alarm clock. She did this every morning; she woke to the sound of a clock and slammed the clock to bits so it would stop making that horrible noise. Then she would get up and change into her school uniform, but this morning was different. Her feet felt so tense; she guessed it was probably from the other day. Slipping her legs out of the bed sheets, Haku looked at her tired toes and cracked one toe at a time; she winced at the sound, but it didn't hurt her.

"Haku, are you still asleep?" Iruka's voice floated into the room. "It's almost time to leave. You have school today, you know."

Oh, right, Haku thought to herself. I live with Teacher now. How could I have forgotten so easily? Perhaps, she realized. I overslept…

The dancer rushed out of her bed, dashing to her closet, and slipping on a uniform shirt as well as a skirt. She knew she wouldn't be eating breakfast this morning; it was already too late for any food. No matter, it was only one day without a piece of toast and orange juice. Haku ran to the kitchen, pouring her own self a glass of water before chugging it down in one gulp. She sighed, content that her stomach had something in it, at least!

"Haku?" Iruka's head peeked out from the bathroom door. "Umm, the bus is going to be here in a minute." He laughed nervously as he heard the engine of the vehicle draw closer to the apartment. "Never mind, I'll just drop you off,"

"Sorry…" she murmured, fiddling with a wooden chopstick that was placed in the sink.

Haku looked into the sink, noticing that there were a few traces of ramen noodles in a bowl, next to the pair of chopsticks. Realizing what Iruka must've eaten for breakfast, she drew her hand away from the wooden utensil she was playing with and grimaced; the dancer decided to wash her hands thoroughly. She didn't mind that Iruka's saliva was on the chopstick, but she didn't want to accidentally touch her face and get it in her eye or something.

She didn't want to be mean, but one question flew through her mind; did Iruka ever eat something else besides ramen? He seemed to have it every single morning before she walked out to board the bus. It looked to her, except on weekends when they ate out that Iruka had a very bland taste for food. She preferred something more than just dough and vegetables floating in soup broth.

"What are you doing?" Haku heard her teacher's voice. "We're gonna be late if we don't hurry." Iruka's tone was one of a teacher's at the moment.

"OK…" Haku grabbed her bag from the closet and moved forward to slip on her shoes.

"Oh, good," Iruka sighed, checking his flip-open cell phone. "Kakashi hasn't texted me at all toda-," Just then, the electronic device beeped loudly and vibrated. Iruka read the screen, saying, "For crying out loud, he always has to ruin my day!" He stomped over in Haku's direction; she smiled shyly and handed him his coat.

"Thanks," Umino scratched the back of his neck. "Ready?" When Haku nodded, he responded, "Alright then, let's go." He unlocked the front door and headed outside, the young girl trailing right behind him. They took the elevator, pressing the ground floor button as hard as they could.

Haku opened the car door as soon as she heard it unlock, climbing into the back seat and buckling herself in. She unzipped her backpack, slipping her pink phone into a hidden pocket. The brunette girl stared out the window, watching the scenery pass slowly as Iruka had started up the car and was now driving to her school. She frowned, pulling out an mp3 player from her bag and putting the earphones on. She chose a random song, hoping it would distract her from the thoughts in her head.

"Freud? Keloid? Just hit the keys. Let's just laugh everything off. Hurry up and dance, you group of fools!" The music whispered into her ears, as the volume was lowered to almost silent. Haku smiled; as much as this song seemed idiotic and crazy, it gave her peace. The artificial voices flooded her head, and she instantly came up with many scenarios of a new dance routine. Her style of dance wasn't jerky or anything near hip-hop, but that didn't mean that she couldn't create a routine to a batty song like this one.

The song ended, snapping Haku back to reality. She breathed in a big gulp of air, taking in what was around her. She recognized the area they were in; Haku was near her school. Iruka pulled over to a curb, saying, "Will you be OK, you know, to walk from here? Sorry, I'm already late…" Haku nodded, wishing him a good day, then closing her backpack and unbuckling herself; she stepped out of the vehicle and shut the door.

The brunette yawned behind her hand, still shaking the last remnants of sleep from her eyes. Walking to school was no big deal for her, but sometimes she wished to be dropped off in front of the gates, like every other girl. Iruka knew she wasn't weak, but that didn't mean he had to make her walk by herself. She wanted to be treated like a girl, but then again, she didn't. It was so confusing to her… She could almost feel her brain throbbing in pain.

"Hey, Umino!"

Umino? She thought. Oh, that's right. We registered under Teacher's last name when he brought me in.

Haku turned around; secretly smiling as she saw some of her classmates running to catch up with her. She grinned bigger than before when her friend, Sakura Haruno, walked beside her. The brunette said, "I noticed you touched up your hair; it's pink."

"Oh, you noticed!" Sakura laughed, subconsciously touching her hair. "Yeah, I got it done yesterday. My mother said it was alright to dye it pink. She said it reminded her of strawberry-scented writing paper. How strange is that?"

"Very," Haku giggled along with her friend, walking to her first class.

This is only the beginning of the story, so I apologize for the slow start..!

I've been working at this for at least a week! It's been hard because schooling has started, and I'm still trying to back as much English into my head as I can. I may not be able to speak it well, but at least I can right, yes? I apologize if this is not your cup of tea, but I wanted to try something different. Haku is most certainly a boy (at least, I think so) in the real anime and manga, but that doesn't mean no one can bend his gender… right, girls and guys?

Well, anyway, drop me a line! I've gotten two comments on my last story, and I'm extremely happy to hear some people like my writing.

Also, not to mean, but Mr. or Ms. Maceklacek, it wasn't very kind of you to review the word "b***s****…" on Ms. Elena's (Bad Writer XD) piece of fan fiction. She did a very good job at writing it, even though it was mighty humorous. But thank you, my dear, for the comment on Freiheit.

That is all I have to say! Stay tuned for the next chapter, alright?

"Hallo!" from Magdeburg, Germany.