As a young and rather androgynous boy, Haku enjoyed a tumulus childhood. His father hated the fact that his only son was so feminine. He considered Haku to be a freak of nature.
"Dear, don't be so close-minded," Haku's mother chided one night at the dinner table. Back then, candles hadn't even been invented yet, so everyone was forced to eat in a pitch black setting. It didn't really help to lighten the mood any.
"I am not being close-minded. I just wish I had a son who looked like a strapping young man that rich women would want to marry. At this rate, some bachelor will accidently get hitched to Haku."
Haku's mother sighed putting down her spoon of cold soup. "Dear, is that really such a bad thing?" Haku's father spit out the soup he had been gulping, seemingly out of shock.
"IT IS A BAD THING!" The man ran out of the hut, slamming the door behind him, which only caused a bunch of ice to land on his head. The man's cursing made Haku and his mother giggle in a very girly way.
"Now Haku, don't let your father catch you daintily giggling like that. He's liable to tan your hide." Haku frowned, looking down at where he guessed his bowl was. It wasn't fair.
"Ma, why do I have to hide what I am?" Haku's mother placed the young boy on her lap, humming a tune to get the boy to calm down before answering. After a pause, the mother inhaled.
"Your father used to be an arsonist. I married him because I like a bit of danger. But this means that he is liable to murder anyone he doesn't like or who he deems a freak. Unfortunately, that means you, due to your female figure."
"And just imagine what kind of stuff would hit the fan if he were to find out about your ice powers?"
For a few months, Haku and his mother had been secretly training Haku to become the Ice Warrior, a mysterious person born every hundred years who could fight crime and save the world with ice powers. At the time, Haku didn't know that his ice power was considered a Kekkei Genkai; all he knew was that he could beat up criminals and freeze them in their tracks.
One misty morning, Haku was using his power to create ice sculptures in his front yard. He knew that his father wouldn't return home until sundown, so he wasn't being careful at all. Unfortunately, his father returned home early to eat a BBQ sandwich, and when he saw what Haku was doing, he pitched a fit.
"My son is a mutant! AHHH!" The man grabbed a pitch fork that was lying on the ground and ran towards Haku, who recoiled away and instinctively raised his hands in front of his face. Just in time, Haku's mother grabbed her husband and dragged him inside the hut, where Haku could hear loud words erupt.
"I have powers too, remember?" Haku's mother screamed. Haku heard his father groan, and then heard some shoving motions. Before long, Haku could smell smoke, and his mother's words about arson rang in his ears.
Haku knew that this was his chance to get in good graces with his father. All he would have to do was use his ice powers to extinguish the fire! That way, his dad would be grateful because he hadn't burned up.
Haku closed his eyes, and blocked everything around him, like he had been taught. Then, with a heroic cry, he faced the palms of his hands at the burning house, and let loose a bunch of white ice. Opening his eyes, Haku covered his mouth with his hand and giggled. He made sure to let his pinky stick out.
"Mother! Father! I saved you! Isn't that swell?" Haku dashed in the house, and gasped. His parents were both frozen solid, with looks of terror etched on their faces.
"Well, poop." Haku tried to break the two out of the ice by hitting it with the pitchfork, but only accomplished in breaking the ice along with the parents, who were now scattered in a dozen pieces. Haku sobbed, before realizing that he would have to hide the evidence. Thinking fast, Haku grabbed his father's lighter, and set the house ablaze once more.
As Haku traveled the countryside, he was forced to join a circus. He had hoped that his unusual power would make him the main attraction, but the ringmaster merely used him to keep the beer cool for the audience.
After the ringmaster suggested that Haku dress up like a female clown, Haku quit the circus. He tried to get a job, but the market was full, and no one wanted to hire a kid with no life experience and dodgy abilities.
Haku was at the end of his rope when he received a telepathic summon to join a school for gifted individuals. Haku, who had been in a bad mood, went to the school and froze everyone inside it.
As he was leaving the site of his icy destruction, Haku passed by a therapeutic clinic. Knowing that clinics loved to hire beautiful women, Haku dashed inside, claimed that he was a lady of 18, and learned the art of acupuncture. It took a few months of practice, but a few lethal accidents later, and Haku was a pro. He could even locate someone's pressure points from a mile away.
One day, while Haku was performing an acupuncture surgery on some dude on a bridge, it began snowing. Haku always considered snow to be a good omen, so he stopped mid-surgery and began walking aimlessly, hoping that something magical would happen.
Lost in his thoughts, he bumped into a large man with an even larger sword.
"Watch where you're going, brat!" The snarling voice was frightening, but oh so commanding. Haku knew that this was someone he could work for.
"Sir, do you require the use of a weapon?" The man raised an eyebrow, before steadily replying, "I think a few extra weapons can always be of use." Haku grinned, his first real grin since his mother died.
"The man was, of course, Zabuza. Together, we have killed many people for money. I couldn't be any prouder to be of use to him. And that leads us here." Haku finished his story, and almost collapsed when he looked up to see Naruto sleeping on the cold ground.
"HOW DARE YOU?" Haku stomped on the ground hard enough to wake the sleeping ninja up.
"Rubbing his eyes, Naruto muttered, "Sorry, man, but your story was like something out of X-Men." Haku rolled his eyes.
"You have no idea…" Naruto ignored Haku's cryptic words, and grabbed a kunai knife. Its sharp edges gleamed in the sunlight.
"Well….I guess I should kill you now," Naruto said with remorse in his voice. Haku nodded, and closed his eyes. He at least hoped that his death would be beautiful.
Kakashi was getting sick of the fight. Zabuza would hide in the mist, and then slash at Kakashi just when the copy ninja was letting his guard down.
"I have had ENOUGH!" Kakashi bit his finger, winced, and then made a complex sign on the ground with said blood. It took ten minutes, but Zabuza was so into it that he forgot to attack Kakashi.
"Summoning Jutsu!" Kakashi placed his hand in the center of the blood sign, and an explosion caused smoke to spread across the already foggy bridge. When the smoke cleared, a bunch of ninja dogs could be seen wagging their tails and sniffing each other's butts.
"Go fetch," Kakashi ordered menacingly, pointing towards the mist vaguely. The dogs all yawned and barked before scattering like the wind. Cries of, "Nice dog!" and "Don't bite me there! Not there!" filled the air.
The artificial mist cleared as Zabuza lost his concentration. Kakashi couldn't blame the assassin, though; about a dozen dogs were biting Zabuza over almost every inch of his well-toned body. Kakashi only hoped that Zabuza didn't bleed to death before he received his true comeuppance.
"Zabuza, I hate the way you just sell out to any old fart that has money, and I hate how you would murder a man like Tazuna who only wants to build some stupid bridge. Prepare to die!" Kakashi raised a hand, which began to glow and spark, as if it was some electrical wire.
"No way! That's the Lightning Blade technique, which is said to be Kakashi's strongest attack, where he concentrates all of his chakra into one hand, and the ensuing attack can break a boulder!" Zabuza just couldn't help but yell out exposition when his life was in danger. To him, it beat having his life flash before his eyes.
"At least you did your homework," Kakashi reluctantly said, before running towards Zabuza, who screamed out, "Help!"
As Naruto dashed towards Haku, he almost paused when Haku suddenly opened his eyes. Before Naruto could plunge his knife into Haku's icy heart, he felt himself getting backhanded to the ground.
"Sorry, but I must go!" Haku vanished in a puff of smoke, and appeared a few paces away – directly in front of Zabuza.
"Master, what seems to be the OH GOSH!" Kakashi's electrified hand impaled Haku through the chest. Naruto felt jealous that Kakashi got to deliver the final blow.
Author's Notes:
Chapter ten! Double digits!
I always found Haku's backstory in the manga to be eerily similar to many of the X-Men's backstories, ya know? Haku is like a ninja Iceman!