Haku

was a villager from the Land of Water. He later became a Ninja after meeting Zabuza Momochi. Haku has the kekkei genkai ability of Ice Release, which allows him to control two types of nature chakra. He is able to control both Water and Wind chakra; this gives Haku the ability to use Ice chakra, a mixture of the two.

Background
Haku was born in a small, snowy village in the Land of Water, a land that had suffered from war not long before. In this war, different sides battled each other using ninja, some of whom possessed kekkei genkai. After the war ended, memories of the horrific battles still lingered in the minds of the people. Those with kekkei genkai quickly became feared and hated for their ability out of concern that their existence would only bring about more war.

Haku's father and mother were simple farmers, and they lived a peaceful life. They loved each other and were kind to their child. Unfortunately, this all changed one day. Haku's mother was a carrier of a kekkei genkai: Ice Release. She hid this fact from her husband, hoping that the love and peace that was shared in their small family would last forever. One day, Haku discovered the ability to manipulate water. Amazed by this, Haku proudly showed this to his mother, who was horrified by what she saw and harshly scolded Haku for displaying his ability. Unbeknownst to his mother, Haku's father had seen everything. When Haku's father discovered that his wife and child possessed a kekkei genkai, he assembled a small mob of villagers and killed his wife. He would have done the same to Haku, but before he could, Haku killed them.

Orphaned, Haku became a child who was wanted by no one. Haku was forced to take to the cold streets and rummage through trash bins for scraps of food, even sometimes having to fight off the wild dogs that roamed the same streets eating the same scraps of food. In time he was found by Zabuza Momochi, who asked Haku to become his "weapon", which meant to become a dedicated kekkei genkai shinobi for Zabuza. Haku readily accepted this role due to the purpose it gave him, devoting his life to becoming the ultimate weapon for Zabuza. Zabuza then trained Haku in the ways of the shinobi, as well as every fighting technique that he knew.

In the anime, it is revealed that Haku and Zabuza met Kimimaro some time after Zabuza cast aside the Land of Water and set out with Haku. Haku appeared to sympathize with Kimimaro for his loneliness and lack of purpose by looking into his eyes. However, he was forced to keep moving by Zabuza and let Kimimaro be.

Appearance
Haku has an androgynous appearance. Naruto exclaims that he is "prettier than Sakura" after Haku informs him that he is male. He can also be seen at times wearing clothing which shows a slightly more masculine appearance, or at others a more feminine appearance. Haku has straight, long and flowing, black hair that is just about to the length of his shoulder blades. He has pale skin and brown eyes. He is also quite short for his age.

Personality
Haku is a good-natured, compliant, and eager shinobi, believing that a person becomes truly strong when they have someone important to protect. Despite his talent for battle and incredible abilities, Haku dislikes needing to kill others in his role as a tool, and avoids doing so whenever possible. When forced to face an opponent, Haku does all that he can to avoid inflicting great harm, even putting them into a death-like state to prevent them from fighting further, as he did to Sasuke during their battle. Before he met Zabuza he suffered from a belief that he was unnecessary, and serves Zabuza because he wants to feel useful.

Land of Waves arc
When Zabuza is about to be killed by Kakashi Hatake, Haku appears disguised as a hunter-nin, playing the part by appearing to kill Zabuza. He takes the body and elsewhere revives him, leaving Zabuza to rest a week before he can have a rematch with Kakashi. During this time he meets Naruto, and has a conversation with him about their purposes in life and those they care about.

During Zabuza's second fight with Kakashi, Haku (wearing the same mask as when he saved Zabuza) is drawn into battle with Kakashi's students: first Sasuke and then Naruto. He traps both with his Demonic Ice Crystal Mirrors and bombards them with needles, tiring them out. When Sasuke appears to die protecting Naruto from "fatal" blow (in actuality being put in a death-like stance), Naruto, in anger, taps in to the power of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox sealed within him. He is able to attack Haku and break through the mirrors, in turn breaking Haku's mask. Recognizing Haku from earlier, Naruto regains his senses in time to stop himself from killing Haku.

Haku, defeated and thus of no further use to Zabuza, asks Naruto to kill him anyway. Though reluctant, Naruto tries to comply if it will make Haku happy. Before Naruto can do so Haku senses that Zabuza is about to be killed by Kakashi. Finding one final purpose he parries Naruto's attack and goes to Zabuza, using himself as a human shield against Kakashi's Lightning Blade. Before he dies he grabs Kakashi's arm, hoping that in death he will be useful to Zabuza in defeating his opponent. Zabuza thanks him and tries to cut through his body to kill Kakashi, but Kakashi is able to pull away from the attack.

When Zabuza's employer, Gato, arrives soon afterwards and chooses to end his contract with Zabuza, he is quick to defile Haku's body. While initially unperturbed by this, Zabuza is brought to tears by the act when Naruto tells him of how Haku felt about him. In a final act of repentance Zabuza kills Gato at the cost of his own life. As he dies from the injuries given to him by Gato's men, Zabuza asks to be beside Haku in death, and asks if they could go to the same afterlife together.

Abilities
Having been trained by Zabuza for years, Haku was a very dangerous ninja for his age. According to Zabuza, Haku possessed such prodigious talent, that in many ways Haku had become more dangerous than him. Haku possessed a very detailed knowledge of human physiology thanks to Zabuza's former ANBU training. His knowledge was great enough to that he could disable an opponent with acupuncture by hitting a precise point on the body with a senbon to cause immediate death or the a temporary appearance of such. Haku was also very keen minded as he has shown great observational and analytical abilities, capable of quickly determining a way around an opponent's technique or strategy.

Haku's most noticeable power was the utilization of water and wind-chakra to create ice. His power over ice granted him special techniques, of which the only one seen in the series is Demonic Ice Crystal Mirrors, which surrounds a target with mirrors that Haku can teleport between and attack from. He also can use water style techniques such as Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death which causes the water on the floor to concentrate into needles with just one stomp on the ground. He was very fast with his attacks, such that Sasuke could not follow his actions until he had awoken his Sharingan. Haku also had the ability to perform hand seals with only one hand. Whether this is a product of his kekkei genkai or not is unknown.

Trivia

 * Despite his early death and short appearances in the story, Haku has remained a relatively popular character in the story. He routinely appears in favorite character lists, but has fallen out of the top 10 in more recent polls.
 * Because of his androgynous appearance, worship of his hero Zabuza, and role in the story some fans believe Haku is female. Female voice actresses were used (Mayumi Asano, Susan Dalian and Mona Marshall)
 * In the anime, Kakashi simply drives his Lightning Blade onto Haku's chest, in the manga, Kakashi's hand goes right through his body.
 * Haku and his Ice Release ability are made reference to in Part II when Naruto is learning about different kinds of chakra.

Quotes

 * "Don't touch Zabuza-san with your dirty hands..."
 * "When a person... has something important they want to protect... that's when they can become truly strong.  "
 * "Mister... you have the same eyes as me..."
 * "If possible, I don't want to have to kill you... nor do I want you to have to kill me... however, if you come at me... I will kill my heart with a blade and become a true shinobi!"
 * "This bridge is where our dreams are tied together. The place where we fight. Me, for my dreams. You, for your dreams. Please don't resent me."
 * "I want to protect the person important to me... I want to work for that person, I want to fight for that person... I want to make that person's dream come true... That is my dream..."
 * "Can you understand? Not having a dream... not being needed by anyone... the pain of merely being alive. "
 * "Sorry Naruto, change of plans. I'm not ready to die quite yet."