Suigetsu Hōzuki

was the first member to join Sasuke Uchiha's Taka.

Background
Suigetsu was born in the village of the "Bloody Mist" with powers unique to his clan. Reputed to be the "reincarnation of the Kijin", Suigetsu, together with his brother Mangetsu, dreamt to inherit the title of Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and this acted as their motivation to finish cruel missions day by day. Then this dream shattered with the death of his brother, and Suigetsu changed his ambition to "collecting all the swords". With the humiliation of being captured by Orochimaru, his ambition was put on hold.

Personality
Suigetsu appears to be indifferent, caring for only a few things around him. He spends a considerable amount of time mocking and or being beaten by Karin, another member of Taka (formerly Hebi). Despite showing initial dislike towards his teammates, Suigetsu has grown fond of them, and was willing to risk his own life to protect them, even if he still outwardly mocks them.

Kisame claims Suigetsu is a prodigy at the art of murder, as he has a habit of chopping off his victim's limbs before beheading them. Suigetsu, despite addressing him with the honorific-term "senpai", wants to defeat him and take his sword, noting to Sasuke that he will one day serve him as "shark fin soup" (a reference to Kisame's shark-like appearance) after Sasuke suggests he is not yet strong enough to defeat Kisame.

Suigetsu apparently likes animals, as he is seen playing with several talking cats at one point and also lectured Sasuke on treating animals better after Sasuke used Manda to escape Deidara's ultimate self-explosion jutsu, causing Manda's death.

Hunt for Itachi arc
Right after Sasuke defeated Orochimaru, he went into one of Orochimaru's many experimentation labs and freed Suigetsu, who was sealed inside a holding tube in the form of water. After pointing out that he owes nothing to Sasuke for dealing with Orochimaru, Suigetsu agreed to join him. Once they left, Suigetsu had Sasuke take him to the Land of Waves, to retrieve Zabuza's sword from his grave (in the anime, however, the sword was taken from Zabuza's grave by a politician and crime boss named Tenzen Daikoku, who wanted to take the sword as a trophy and for "revenge" after losing many men during Zabuza's attempted coup years before; the story of Suigetsu obtaining Zabuza's sword was lengthened out slightly for this episode in order to facilitate an earlier display of his abilities). They then go to the base where Karin resides, where Suigetsu is instructed to free all the prisoners. Before releasing them however, Suigetsu told them to spread the word that Sasuke killed Orochimaru and would bring peace to the world. As Sasuke hadn't ordered him to say these things, his motives appear to be unclear.

Once Karin was persuaded to join, they head Jugo. They had to fight their way through an army of people branded with the cursed seals to reach him, and under Sasuke's orders were told not to kill any of them. When they found Jugo, who attacked them, Suigetsu attempted to kill him. However Sasuke intervened and threatened to kill both of them if they didn't stop fighting. Once Jugo calmed down, and with some persuasion on Sasuke's part, Jugo was recruited. Afterwards Sasuke told them their mission and their new team's name; they would be known as "Hebi" and their mission was to find Itachi Uchiha.

Soon after the team splits up, Suigetsu is drawn to the site of Sasuke's battle with Deidara. After they rest and continue on their way, Sasuke finds Itachi and goes to challenge him. First, his group encounters Kisame Hoshigaki, who tells them Sasuke must go alone. Leaving Hebi behind, Suigetsu challenges Kisame to a battle, who gladly accepts while Sasuke finally makes Itachi's death a reality. It is later revealed that Zetsu interfered in the fight, leaving both Suigetsu and Kisame alive.

Hunt For the Eight-Tails
Hebi, now renamed "Taka", begins working with Akatsuki. They go to Kumogakure and confront Kirābī, the host of the Eight-Tailed Beast. Suigetsu attacks him first but is quickly disarmed. He quickly engages him again, but Kirābī's electric attacks leave Suigetsu outmatched. To be as useful to his team as he can, Suigetsu immobilizes Kirābī, allowing Sasuke a chance to attack them both. When Kirābī turns into his beast and tries to use an Eight-Tailed Ox Menacing Ball on the team, Suigetsu uses himself as a shield to block the attack. Though it saves the other members of Taka, he is left unconscious. After the battle is over Jugo carries Suigetsu away.

Invasion of Pain arc
While Taka recuperates, Suigetsu recovers in a tank of water. He yells at Karin for leaving his sword behind, but is later seen to have recovered it. Once healed, Taka sets out for Konoha.

Kage Summit arc
As Taka leaves for Konoha, Madara intercepts them and informs them about their failure to capture the Eight-tailed beast, and that the capture of the beast is no longer of interest. Zetsu informs them that Konoha has been destroyed by Pain, and that Naruto Uzumaki had defeated him. Suigetsu was shocked to hear of Naruto's power and becomes even more surprised to hear that Naruto is now most likely stronger than Sasuke. He displays displeasure when Zetsu guides Taka to the Kage Summit, but Sasuke reassures him of his power.

Abilities
Suigestu is arguably quite powerful, or at least very confident in his abilities, since he has threatened Sasuke on more than one occasion. Kisame has noted him to be a child prodigy in the art of murder, and is practically the reincarnation of the Zabuza. Sasuke has noted, however, that he isn't strong enough to beat Kisame yet.

Liquid Form and Water Release
Suigetsu is able to reduce himself to liquid form and to return to bodily form at will. This ability also allows him to change his body shape, giving him the ability to increase the size of his limbs, proportionally increasing his strength, if necessary. It also makes striking him somewhat difficult; since he is made of liquid, any regular strike will go right through his watery form. As his body is water, he is also capable of merging with already existing water to increase his attack range, and use Water Release techniques.

Suigetsu is also the first ninja seen carrying water bottles on his outfit. Given his somewhat frequent desire to consume water, Suigetsu may require regular hydration to sustain his watery form. He is, however, weak against lightning-based techniques.

Sword Fighting
From his training days with the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Suigetsu is also quite adept with wielding Zabuza's sword, but seems to tire out when traveling with it for long distances. He can also expand the muscles in his arms to help him wield swords better. However, carrying Zabuba's sword for longer distances seem to tire him out, and make him require to drink more water. In addition to his own skills, Suigetsu also has a good perception for swordsmanship skills, as he saw Kirābī is a skilled swordsman with his seven swords.

Trivia

 * is a poetic term for the moon reflecting on the surface of the water. As an extension of this, the word can also refer to something illusionary, without true substance. Perhaps referring to Suigetsu's ability to turn his body into water.
 * is the Japanese word for the Chinese Lantern, a plant bearing fruit which resemble Chinese paper lanterns. It can also refer to the fruit of this plant. All known family names from Kirigakure are related to fruits: and.
 * Suigetsu's favorite food is jello or yogurt (preferably anything drinkable) and least favorite is dried cuttlefish