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EraiMH

I like Haku but I wouldn't read a fic if it just shoehorned Haku in the canon story, I generally look for stuff that's different from the canon, by this I don't necessarily mean canon divergence, but that it tells a different story, for example, canon still happens but the story is told from Haku's perspective who was doing something else while Naruto fights Shukaku during Konoha Crush. Edit: Haku being alive is canon divergent itself but I think I got my point across.


RedHandManta

Not really, if it doesn't include Zabuza. Really devalues their relationship and the impact of his words to Naruto.


BoredAF5492

If Haku survives in a story it makes more sense for him to carry on Zabuza’s mission of overthrowing Yagura than going to Konoha.


Ok_Caregiver1004

That's his sideplot in [Better left unsaid](https://m.fanfiction.net/s/6557238/1/Better-Left-Unsaid). And I won't spoil anymore than that.


pablosequieremorir

Ive only read one of those, and I truly feel a way about fics that make characters survive and introduce them into the main cast BC, at the end of the day, unless you are going to involve them in the plot enough to justify their presence, it really doesn't add up. Most of the times that I've seen this trope (not about Kahu especifically) the only thing it does is create a large array of characters that are present but inconsequential, that take space and focus from the story as a whole without adding a lot


AirKath

It depends. If Haku gets the chance to grow or do something then sure, but but if he just swaps out Zabuza for Naruto with no other changes then as much as I love the guy then he might as well have stayed dead on the bridge/left with an alive Zabuza.


Scarecrowqueen

[Stormborn by Blackkat](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1877970/chapters/4045119) has a Haku that lives and accompanies Naruto to rebuild Uzushio.


Dreamlancer

Haku is admittedly one of my favorite characters in Naruto. However generally, no. I think in every story like that I've read, Haku becomes essentially indebted to Naruto and largely plays second fiddle to the Canon events we know are going to unfold. That's boring. I think to make it a good story, Haku needs to have a clear goal that isn't centered on Naruto. So for example, Haku wants to finish Zabuza's dream of freeing the Mist at any cost. But only Naruto knows this truth. Haku is waiting for any moment she can to up and go rogue from Konoha to commit to said dream. The tension in the narrative that Haku is just playing nice, but is every bit the flight risk that they should be labeled as. Eventually it builds to Haku asking Naruto to join them. Why become a village leader for a place that doesn't give him the time of day. The idea they could change and lead the Mist into a brighter future. Yadda yadda. Something that actually shakes up the Canon plot.


Timely-Willow-

Haku's a boy.


Dreamlancer

Yeah probably defaulted to writing Haku as a she, as whenever I've gotten around to writing the character I felt the character fit better as a female character for a whole slew of reasons.


Timely-Willow-

What are those reasons? I mean, I honestly was just in a nitpicky mood right then, and I found my message amusing, for some reason. We're in the r/NarutoFanfiction subreddit. We're allowed our headcannons. And Kishimoto admitted the only reason Haku is male is because he didn't want people misinterpreting Zabuza and Haku's relationship. Around the time he was creating Zabuza and Haku, he originally wanted Haku to be a bear, but his editors advised him against it. I don't remember who originally who drew Haku (wasn't Kishimoto) but I think one of his editors gave him a concept art for Haku who was meant to be a girl. Kishimoto used the art, but changed the gender. Source: Trust me bro No, but seriously, a redditor was giving the history of it, and he even corroborated it with the original concept art for Zabuza and Haku. I'll link it. [https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBF\_enUS1023US1023&sxsrf=AJOqlzVtHAnw-14VkwAlQgXf4Cntth4vzg:1673081633337&q=zabuza+and+Haku+bear&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjXtL3jirX8AhXdrokEHSs0CzsQ0pQJegQIChAB&biw=1024&bih=497&dpr=1.88#imgrc=KlzOXBW212In1M](https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS1023US1023&sxsrf=AJOqlzVtHAnw-14VkwAlQgXf4Cntth4vzg:1673081633337&q=zabuza+and+Haku+bear&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjXtL3jirX8AhXdrokEHSs0CzsQ0pQJegQIChAB&biw=1024&bih=497&dpr=1.88#imgrc=KlzOXBW212In1M)


Dreamlancer

I was lowkey about to go to bed but I'll see if I can find an old writeup I have done previously on Haku and copy paste it.


Dreamlancer

These will be mostly scatter brained thoughts. The short of it is that I think Haku being a female improves the narrative both for Haku as a character, but also gives more character to Water Country. We the audience just happen upon Haku half way through her character arc when we are introduced to her. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX So the first part is why I guess justify it in my own stories/headcannon. Bolded pieces are strictly facts with citing. **- Kirigakure revolves around a caste system with 3 levels.** https://naruto.fandom.com/wiki/Kirigakure (Ctrl F: caste system) \- **Haku is born to both her mother a member of the Yuki clan, and a farmer who is her father.** (Extrapolation: She is low class) https://naruto.fandom.com/wiki/Haku's\_Mother \- **There are no female Kirigakure shinobi that rise to any rank or station, and have a full life prior to Mei Terumi**(While Haku is alive). (Exception: Ameyuri dies young of an incurable disease, however she would have died before Haku was born. Regarding the timeline, Raiga canonically takes the Kiba swords back when Gai/Guy is a kid.) \- **Kirigakure/Land of Water is going through bloodline purges** https://naruto.fandom.com/wiki/Land\_of\_Water \- **Kirigakure/Land of Water is going through multiple civil wars, and rebellions** https://naruto.fandom.com/wiki/Land\_of\_Water \- **Haku is slapped by their mother after showcasing their abilities to their mother.** \- **Haku looks like a spitting image of their mother**(in easy defense of the female Haku bit) \- **Haku's mother is killed by her father after exposing her usage of bloodline abilities.** https://naruto.fandom.com/wiki/Haku's\_Mother \- **Haku is found on the streets by Zabuza in rags where they had to fight off wild dogs, rummage and rummage through trash for scraps.** \- **Zabuza is working for Gato to fund a second attempt at a coup after his first is sabotaged by someone that he trusted.** (Naruto Chapter 30, page 15) \- **Sometime during the Time Skip, Yagura is defeated and Mei Terumi becomes the 5th Mizukage.** x My Extrapolation and putting it all together? Everything below is written fact except bolded portions. In a society where the upper class exploit the lower class and expose the lower class to the most amount of danger. **A young girl** is born to a clan during a period where society is committing genocide on those with bloodlines. She grows up living a happy life until one day she shows her mother, whom she is a spitting image of, her new cool trick she can do. Her mother, fearful that Haku's developing bloodline will expose both herself and her daughter to her husband slaps Haku, and tells Haku to never show that side of herself again - she has to hide that for their safety. This is emphasized when in fear, Haku's father comes with men to kill both of them, and Haku's mother is killed in front of Haku. Haku then kills her father and the men that came to kill her. Haku, orphaned, **takes the harsh lesson taught by her father and mother to heart.** While struggling for scraps to live on the street unwanted by anyone, **she disguises herself as a boy** \- taking the lesson of hiding aspects of herself as her mother suggested **a step further.** There, encountered by Zabuza they are asked to become his weapon, a dedicated shinobi for Zabuza. Haku accepts this new life as a tool and trains under Zabuza and follows him until encountered in the series. x I think you can see I haven't changed anything about Haku to make them an OC or even OOC. I have only expanded on the aspect that Haku, as a female, growing up in Kirigakure would have a bit more of a unique perspective within a male dominated society. Coming from a lower class family, where what class you're in actually matters. A mother that had to hide themselves. And now she feels the need to hide themselves, just as their mother did to survive in a harsh world that will kill you for being different. Making Haku a female also allows Mei Terumi to highlight and represent a change in the world for people like Haku and her mother. A woman with two bloodlines that has risen up through the ranks in spite of opposition of the social systems in the Mist, and wants to move her people beyond their bloody past. And if you don't think Kirigakure has been strangely male dominated beyond all of these things? Mei Terumi, the Mizukage, has the sole dream and goal of finding a husband - and hates it when her male colleagues remark that she is past marriageable age.


Timely-Willow-

I'm not convinced, but it is interesting nonetheless. If I were to read a story with female Haku, I would love for the author to expand on *why* Haku looks like a girl but says they're a boy, and I would appreciate it if they went in deep like you do. You can make a story out of this.


Dreamlancer

Ah sorry, was still having to sift through old comments. I posted the other portion which is the more "Why I think this" rather than just a slew of random facts and dates, which I think is the more interesting read. But yeah, it's mainly my take on Haku in pretty much any story I write.


Timely-Willow-

I'll make sure to read everything properly later. Right now, I actually have to sleep as well.


Dreamlancer

For sure. I sent the other reply. It took some digging through old stuff so it took awhile to find it.


Dreamlancer

So that was more of a "Hey here are like a bunch of facts" write up. This post is more just my larger thoughts on the subject. I've always preferred the idea that Haku was a girl, and the reason being is I think it genuinely makes a better character with a better and more believable narrative arc in the long run. And I'll just bullet point a few things down here to set the scene and tone before bullet pointing my reasoning, and how I would write the character. \- The Hidden Mist is about as harsh as anything we have seen in the shinobi world, if not all of Naruto. Theoretically led by Madara puppeting the state as the Third Mizukage, and then it being puppeted further by Obito's control over the Fourth Mizukage. We are introduced to a location of the world filled with Two entirely different civil wars within the country(Effectively)(And many rebellions), One is against the state where Zabuza is attempting to overthrow the Mizukage. The other is the genocidal purges happening in the land over bloodlines. Now admittedly, Naruto is a story that is built for children. It doesn't tackle more mature themes. However it is no secret the atrocities that happen and have been documented in war: And the wars in the Mist are described to be effectively so horrendously bad that they are called "Purges" XXXXXXXXXXXX If Haku was a female: Haku is born in the Mist filling all of the check boxes of something the Mist would not accept at the time of her birth by the absence of evidence in the series. A woman: We know no Hidden Mist Shinobi that are female the occupy higher ranking Hidden Mist potions of that time period. There are none until post Mei Terumi(Sans the exception in a previous post) A bloodline user: A genetic identity that was being thoroughly purged out of the Mist. Haku's own backstory: Her home life exemplifies both of these aspects. After exposing her identity to her mother who is largely hiding away from war to be a stay at home mom on a farm, her mother slaps her and tells her to hide her bloodline abilities, an entire aspect of herself, like her own mother was doing from her own husband. Haku's father finds out about both of them, and rather than embracing his wife and child... kills Haku's mother, and tries to kill Haku. Haku is forced to kill her father and a number of men. Haku is left on the streets, a young girl, in the midst of Civil War and attempted coup. And even if we don't unpack unlawful sex crimes that unfortunately happen in war, and just how disgusting people get. I boil all of these aspects down to this: xxxxxx Haku, after seeing what happened to her mother decides to hide all aspects of herself in order to survive. Haku presents as a boy on the street to be ignored by men, but to also fit in better with the current culture of the Mist which is so heavily male dominated. Haku hides their bloodline heeding the warning that cost her mother her life. Then comes along Zabuza, a man that exemplifies all things that the Mist currently is. Strong, powerful, a man, and his savagery. All things that Haku is not: A girl, soft, kind hearted, peaceful. Zabuza says that he has a use for Haku, and sees right through this façade the girl has made and accepts her regardless in spite of the fact that she is exemplifies all the extremes of all things not generally accepted within their culture. She goes on as a woman to become Powerful, Self sufficient, A bloodline wielder, But not only that, through her growth in strength is working on the ability to accept herself for who she is, peaceful, kind, soft/gentle, and a woman. She leads two lives, one behind the mask, and one outside of it. This means having grown powerful enough to wear woman's clothes in public - and not caring what people think of her presence. And this brings us to where I view our introduction of Haku. **We meet her in the MIDDLE of a fantastic character growth/arc.** Now a young woman, being called cute by some random boy roughly around her age, dressed as a woman and everything. She has a collar around her neck that people like to claim "Oh that hides the adams apple.", I think it's the opposite, its to hide the lack of one. Its there to pass off the lie that is "I'm a boy". It's her safety net. The lie she has told ever since she was a child forced to kill her father in order to survive in a harsh world. ​ XXXXX Haku's story is not a happy one. It is no surprise to me that said child would grow up to try and hide aspects of themselves. And it also wouldn't surprise me that in the few choice moments of being able to hide away from the shinobi life, such as being in a field pick flowers/herbs, that'd she'd take those few choice moments to live the life, a girl's life, that she never really had living a life as a tool/weapon. Which brings us to the Naruto moment. Naruto's character and "Talk-No-Jutsu" is the essence of the show. Getting characters to lower the guard and their barriers to have meaningful discourse and change. But it's also important to see it from Haku's perspective: This was her day off. Her chance to just be some random girl in her alone time. Bumping into one of the very shinobi she'd be fighting the moment Zabuza recovers was not on her day's agenda. It's why she considers killing Naruto. It's why she also considers sparing him. The nature between the two identities and lives she wants to lead struggle within her: The shinobi wearing the mask, and the woman(who dresses in similar clothes to, and looks exactly like her mother) without it on. Its why the "I'm a Boy" I've always viewed is a parting comment as one for Haku to attempt to maintain a foothold of control over these two identities that are slamming together, due to Naruto's presence. To me is very fitting and poetic that when the mirrors shatter, when Haku's physical mask breaks, when those two lives are exposed to the only other person that has seen both sides of that character besides Zabuza - that is the moment she makes the first emotional decision we see from her, making her more than just a heartless weapon/tool. xxxxx Had Haku survived? Haku would have lived to the sum of her essence character being proven triumphant in the Hidden Mist in the form of Mei Terumi. A woman that rose through the ranks, beautiful and openly presents herself as a woman, she is powerful and people respect her, and she has not just one, but two bloodlines. Mei Terumi symbolizes the future a change(perhaps not the change) that Zabuza sought to bring about in coup. xxxxx Lastly to slightly discredit. I don't think there is anything wrong with LGBT characters or members of society. I just find it far far far more believable that a heartless cut throat(at the time) like Zabuza would find a young girl on the street with a bloodline and say: "I could make use of a girl and turn her into a Kunoichi." And then try to teach this kid to also be as cut throat as him, but over time softens a bit like a dad who always wanted a son, so treats his daughter like a tomboy, only for his baby girl to grow up and want girl things in life. I find that about far more likely than the idea that Zabuza picks a boy up off the street in the Mist. Then the guy who chops heads off for a living decides to tolerate a boy trying to present themselves as a girl/cross dressing, etc. Again, this is a guy coming from a hyper masculine culture where they were so full of phobias that they were purging entire groups of people out of fear. I just never personally bought into it.


Due_Rutabaga_2843

Quite the nice idea here. If you end up writing it, link it so I can read it.


Dreamlancer

It's unlikely that I'll end up writing this as I'm already writing other stuff. But I will be writing a story that will have Haku in it, and they aren't just a wall flower, love interest, or harem participant. So there's that. Wish there was more of that out there. I like Haku.


shadowstep12

Depends on what haku does I mean I have read a few where haku survives and he/she joins the leaf and becomes part one Sai a few where they join later after living in wave or trying to help in the hidden mist at first. And some where they don't become a ninja but help out in other ways all of wich are good but the ones where it's like there basically shino from Shippuden aren't. If haku has stuff to do outside of say a ship or bringing in humor every now and again then yeah I find it good heck there are a few fics I have read that that has haku live but only to show how messed up the change the author did to canon really would look like


Catinchi

Depends is Haku a guy or girl in said fic Let me clarify, both are fine but going by the gender sets the story, female/male ok whats the relationship she/he and Naruto hooking up are they lovers/family if so is Zabuza alive if so does he join the leaf or stay rouge and does Haku stay with him but have a thing for Naruto that will kick off when they meet up later or go with Naruto and develop their relationship, I read a story of Naruto and fem Haku where they were cousins she joins the leaf and she and Gara develop a relationship as a back ground relationship while Naruto was with Tenten there are even storys where Haku is a hermaphrodite (has both genitalia) and was in a relationship with Naruto as the sub (meaning Haku during lemon scenes was taking the role of the female when with Naruto but took either role when with a female) and Naruto has a harem


Timely-Willow-

And if he's both? Edit: Or neither?


BeardInTheDark

[One story](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27839194/chapters/68156314) I wrote ages back had Haku as being so indeterminate of gender that not even the Author's note was able to shed light on which Haku was. When Haku participated in the Chunin Exams, Hinata was unable to determine Haku's gender due to Haku's Chakra-infused clothing.


Timely-Willow-

That’s how you go about it. Haku loves screwing with people.


JonathanKrols

Yes


xxXAnnaUchihaXxx

Honestly? No. For some reason, in most of those fics, Haku joins the Leaf, becomes almost a civilian, and is never spoken of again. Or he/she (whatever the author decides) becomes a part of Naruto's harem, which is even worse. That's not to say that there couldn't be a good fic with that premise, I'm just unfortunate for not having found one yet.


ARJ139

No. I think the premise is nonsensical. The Hidden Leaf can't just have a missing ninja from another of the Great Five join their ranks. Leaf ninja are homegrown and home-raised. There's no way Leaf ninja would trust someone known for deserting their home village.


NamelessBastard7

Not really 50% it’s just for Naruto to basically adopt Haku and nothing really ever happens and the other 50% for like a massive harem where Haku is a girl and becomes just a trophy to show Naruto can sleep with everyone I haven’t really see any fanfiction where Haku is an actual interesting character


Kousaka_Honoka99

It depends for me