Haru Fukushima

Haru Fukushima (ふくしまハル, Fukushima Haru) is a shinobi of Konohagakure. He is assigned to Team Ren with Rika Kobayashi and Ko Yano.

Background
He is the third born and eldest male child of Natsuki and Sayaka Fukushima. As a child, Haru decided to stay isolated when he failed to find interest in friends. Because he was often treated as a disciple, he relied on learning and training to pass time. As one of the eldest children, Haru was often put under heavy criticism for his skills, especially from his father Natsuki. Haru eventually became more strength and skill-focused and neglected his family for matters other than training.

Personality
Haru is noted to be quiet but rational and observant. However, he is typically unapproachable due to his unsettling facial expressions and sharp and cynical tone when speaking. He is often engrossed in his own thoughts and prefers to spend time alone. He struggles to find his identity and is often unsure of how to look at himself. Later on, he develops a lust for power which affected his ability to rationalize and causes him to act recklessly such as mindlessly chasing after Fuyuhiko’s and Nobuyuki’s killers. As a result, the trauma due to several events eventually causes him to slowly turn mad.

As a child, Haru valued education and training which isolated him from other children. Since he often had student-teacher relationships, he expected to be disciplined and follow orders from others. The reason why Haru is closed off from others is mainly due to Natsuki’s seemingly harsh attitude towards his son to be a perfect shinobi. Haru constantly strives to prove his worth to Natsuki that Haru began to grow cold and lonely but obedient. Unfortunately, his obedience caused him to be taken advantage of by many in exchange for training. Haru held no remorse or hatred from being used and didn’t care for his well-being as long as he was accepted. However, after Natsuki had caught Haru in the act, Haru was overcome with shame thinking that he had disappointed Natsuki (even though Natsuki had poor communication and wanted to comfort Haru but didn’t know how). Afterward, Haru began to avoid interacting with his family and lock himself in his room.

Often bossed around by his older sisters at a young age, Haru learned what girls generally value and understood how to keep a positive reputation among them. He was often seen quite generous and gentle. However, he had no emotional attachment, and his words carried no real meaning despite how genuine it sounds. Much of this is shown during Haru’s interactions with Rika and Ko, the former being the most evident. Haru’s seemingly caring nature was the primary quality that caused Rika to fall in love with him. On the other hand, Ko relied more on Haru’s trustworthy and empathetic demeanor. Despite being able to treat girls well, he prefers being alone.

In Part I, Haru is shown to be intelligent and asocial. He puts no effort into interacting with his classmates and was even noted by the instructor that Haru had the worst social skills in the class. Although picked on by the other students, he wasn’t affected and had no expression that they left him alone. He is shown to be indifferent and passive, as shown when Ko suddenly picks Haru to be her partner and after joining Team Ren when Rika constantly drags him and Ko to hang out during their time off. Haru eventually opens up and is shown to enjoy spending time with his teammates. Sayaka also had noted that Haru has never been more expressive and joyful in his life. Haru also began to spend more time with his family. However, it would be the last time Haru is shown to express genuine empathy and concern as his normal and sane self.

During the Interlude, Haru begins to doubt the way of shinobi. He questions the idea of vengeance, betrayal, and loyalty that he contemplates why he exists only to conclude that he was an insignificant being. After getting captured, tortured, and lobotomized by Ruki, Haru was forced to join his henchmen, and his psyche was greatly warped to the point that he develops a fearless and bloodthirsty style of battle, without feeling any concerns about killing or being covered in blood. He also became less empathetic and became desperate to find his lost feelings. Still unsure of his identity, he remains with Ruki to find a new purpose. His stay was short-lived when Haru decided to kill Ruki and all his men to regain any feeling but only received a small satisfaction. Returning home, Haru remains disturbed when he could only feel slight traces of empathy when reuniting with Rika and Ko.

In Part II, Haru begins to partake in more solo missions and also tends to act colder to those around him as he adapted into his new mental state. In addition, Rika comments that Haru has become very handsome. She has also been shown to jokingly ask Haru on dates, but he had refused all requests. Ko also notes that as he began documenting and tracking information, he slowly became “power-hungry” and only cared about training. Haru felt overwhelmed with guilt during Fuyuhiko’s death when Haru failed to save him or murder Fuyuhiko’s killer. His sudden burst of feelings caused him to freeze while Hikaru expresses his anger towards Haru. Due to his lack of social skills, he wasn’t able to properly apologize or confront his family causing his clan to view Haru as insensitive and sociopathic.

After the Fourth War, Haru was motivated to return to becoming a powerful shinobi. Developing his Nisekissui, Haru gradually underwent personality changes. His mental state has partially clouded his thoughts, and he becomes more susceptible to rage. He finds that he enjoys the rage and bloodshed after triggering his Nisekissui. However, when not in use of his Nisekissui, he began to experience headaches, hallucinations, fits of rage, and extreme pain in various places on his body. After being captured by Nobuyuki, Haru displays extreme hatred towards the assassin for holding him captive. After Mitsuru is born, Haru also held no remorse for her and continued to look for a way out. However, in times that he had ran out of ideas, he found joy and entertainment while playing with Mitsuru. Despite not caring about Mitsuru, he impulsively saves her from drowning at the cost of his own life. Desperate to fight Nobuyuki as a chance to escape, Haru fought with all his might before the assassin admits defeat. Haru carried on his hatred and hoped that they would never meet again. However, after Haru was saved by Nobuyuki who begged him to get "remarried, Haru only accepted that Nobuyuki would be beneficial to his research. Overtime, Haru began to feel his heart waver due to Nobuyuki’s gentle and affectionate nature.

As his own dreams for strength was hindered, Haru wanted Mitsuru to achieve what he couldn’t. Therefore, he hardly looked at her for anything outside of training. Haru often heavily critiques his children’s training. He is also shown to be extremely cold and seemingly unsympathetic to their mistakes. However, most of his focus lied on Mitsuru as she was the eldest.

In the New Era, Haru grew extremely pessimistic. He also began to take part in the Scientific Ninja Weapons Team, although he is shown to only join for gathering intelligence for his own personal benefit. Despite Haru’s seemingly cruel and strict nature, he cares deeply for his children. However, he is often shown to have difficulty showing compassion and care towards them. After Nobuyuki’s death, Haru fell into a deep depression and barely socialized with anyone. He eventually regained his motivation for his research after discovering Mitsuru’s inherited Nisekissui. Haru continues to push Mitsuru to the point of overworking, similar to the way Natsuki would push him.

Appearance
Haru is shown to be quite tall and has an extremely thin figure. He has short black hair and purple eyes. Over time, he typically styles his hair the same way, the only difference being its length. He is noted to have a pretty face by his friends and family. After turning 15 and onward, he begins to develop eye bags that progressively get darker.

Chakra and Physical Prowess
As a Fukushima, Haru is born with large chakra reserves, which helped improve his overall stamina.

Nisekissui
After the Fourth Great Shinobi War, Haru developed a supplemental life form that was meant to enhance his current abilities.

Body Modifications
Unlocking his first transformation,

Intelligence
From a young age, Haru is above average in intelligence, as shown by his grades during the Academy and

Kekkei Genkai
Himomai (紐舞, lit. Knot Dance) is the Fukushima clan’s Kekkei Genkai. Members of the Fukushima clan are born with compact discs that act as secondary chakra reserves. Therefore, the clan typically has more chakra than the usual shinobi. These discs can be closed off from the user’s chakra pathway system so that if the primary chakra stream has been disrupted, the user is still able to use a backup supply. However, the chakra in the discs are much slower to recover so there is a limited amount that they can carry.

Chakra strings released from their fingers, palms, or wrists (depending on the user’s preference) can tie together into their desired position to form various designs such as nets, barriers, and ropes. When chakra is separated into precise amounts, the strings become more difficult to break and faster to repair. They are also capable of absorbing chakra. After their usage, the chakra is reabsorbed into the user’s palms.

Additionally, the discs can absorb ninjutsu and release the same jutsu or completely dissolve its chakra into the user’s system for another use. This technique requires advanced control and excessive chakra buildup toward the wrists. If normal shinobi attempt transferring large amounts of chakra into the wrists, the buildup will cause immobility to their hands. It is hinted that another technique must be mastered, but the details are currently unknown. Some members are known to undergo surgical modifications of their discs to alter their abilities such as absorbing environmental energy, manipulation of regular chakra strings into complex designs, and vast chakra absorption that may result in the death of the target

Part I
During the Academy, Haru is an above-average student. He is rarely invited to join friend groups, and he doesn’t seem affected when people make fun of him. Later, he is approached by Ko Yano requesting that they become training partners. Haru questions Ko why she decided to partner up with him. Ko responds vaguely to which Haru assumes she likes him before Ko immediately refuted. Haru didn't believe Ko liked him at all, but he did not care about the real reason why she wanted to team up with him.

Often times, Fuyuhiko and Hikaru would ask Haru to train with them to which Haru would constantly refuse. Haru began spending his time away from his house.

Interlude
Haru begins to contemplate on the idea of vengeance, betrayal, and loyalty. On a mission to Kirigakure, he stops his train of thought when he was ambushed by the village’s missing-nin hunters. Haru escapes their traps before revealing to them that he was sent by Konoha for assistance. They immediately take him to the kage’s office and give him the necessary information to hunt down one of the most threatening criminals, Ruki. Haru quickly figures out where the hideout is located and hunts down with a team of backup. At the hideout, the team is faced with Ruki’s henchmen. As Haru prepares to fight, a sack is thrown over his head, and he is taken inside the hideout. Haru is thrown and tied to a chair before the sack is lifted which allows Haru to see Ruki. Haru doesn’t speak and quickly analyzes the area without being suspicious. Ruki threatens to kill Haru if he doesn’t reveal the path to Kirigakure’s secret library. Haru claims that he isn’t from the village, but Ruki refutes it stating that no one would know to track him down without being affiliated with Kiri. Haru refuses to reveal the location, and Ruki begins electric torture. Haru screams out in pain, and Ruki questions how a shinobi can be so willing to run to their death. Ruki explains that Kiri’s kage only had an outsider to be a scapegoat. Neither accepting nor denying Ruki’s statements, Haru states that he knew that the village was only using him. Ruki changes his mind to have Haru join the group and become a rogue nin. Haru is then put through repeated rounds of electric torture and a lobotomy procedure. Afterward, Haru assists in killing the rest of the Kiri team.

Acting as one of Ruki’s henchmen for a month, Haru fully completes his training and even secretly stole information detailing forbidden jutsus, summonings, and rituals. In addition, he gradually killed each member before slaughtering the rest by destroying the hideout. Ruki, outside, witnessed the collapse of the cave and met with Haru who seemed like he returned from a mission. Haru kills the remaining guards in front of Ruki revealing that he was the killer who the group was aiming for. Ruki charged at Haru to ensure that if all his men died, Kiri wouldn’t be able to track them. However, Haru proved to be superior as he knew Ruki’s tactics and easily dodged them. Haru had placed chakra strings behind Ruki which then circled and tightened around him. The strings sucked all the chakra out of Ruki before Haru expresses his gratitude and left him to die. Haru returns to Konoha explaining to his friends that his mission was longer than expected. But Ruki’s belief continues to linger within Haru as Haru wasn’t able to forget his words.

Returning home in the dead of night, Haru finds Rika and Ko in his room. Rika is asleep on Haru’s bed while Ko is reading a book. Ko states that the two have been lounging around his room since the day before and notes that it was Rika’s idea. Ko also admits that she is relieved that Haru returned in good health, and Haru replies that he is glad to hear that they were worried. He quickly showers and offers Ko to stay the night, but she refused and wanted to return home. Haru convinces her to stay to rejoin as a team, and Ko gives in. As Haru and Ko got on either side of Rika, Rika wakes up ecstatic at Haru’s presence and hugs him before the three fall asleep.

The next morning, Fuyuhiko enters Haru’s room and is shocked at Haru’s reappearance and the two girls on his bed. Haru wakes up before the girls and notices his brother. Fuyuhiko alerts him that the Fukushima’s biannual tournament is in an hour. Haru initially decides that he isn’t participating after completing his mission but joins to test his new skills.

Part II
Fuyuhiko and Hikaru ask Haru to train with them in the training field outside of Konoha. Fuyuhiko had ventured too far into dangerous territory, and a mysterious ninja appears behind him. Haru and Hikaru catch up to see a wounded and poisoned Fuyuhiko strapped to a tree. Haru feels the presence of the man nearby and attempts to chase after him. Hikaru applies pressure to stop the bleeding and yells for Haru to save Fuyuhiko. Haru was too focused on the killer that he neglected his brother’s health. Haru soon realizes that the man had escaped without a trace and returns to find his brothers. Hikaru drops to his knees in shock and disbelief at his twin’s death. In anger, he turns to Haru and yells at him for abandoning them not only at Fuyuhiko’s death but for their entire lives. Hikaru also notes that Haru was selfish and declares that he doesn’t want to associate himself with Haru disowning him as a brother. Haru’s guilt hindered him to attend his brother’s funeral, but Haru visited his grave while no one was around.

At a festival, Rika introduces Hiroki Akita, Chiharu Inoue, and Nao Shimizu to their group of friends. Haru is surprised that Takeo had already met Hiroki and Chiharu is Kazuo’s sister. At the same time, Takeo spots his younger sister, Ume, with her teammates Leo Oono and Hikaru, when they pass by and later join the conversation. Haru spends his time with the larger group. It is shown that Haru and Hikaru don’t converse even when walking home together after the festival.

Haru is promoted to a Jōnin along with Akane, Takeo, Kazuo, Rika, and Ko right before the Fourth Shinobi World War.

During the war, Haru is assigned to fight in the Fifth Division. Later he is shown to be possessed in the Infinite Tsukuyomi jutsu. His dream is vague and left Haru confused after being released.

Blank Period
After the war, Haru became a mercenary nin to hunt down criminals and missing nins for their power and the reward money on the side. He would often disappear for long periods of time traveling from village to village. He aims for tasks involving strong criminals or threatening forces. At the same time, Haru starts to develop an ultimate form called “Nisekissui” [偽生粋] (meaning “fake purity”). In doing so, he undergoes several physical changes resembling more of a forest elf. However, his mental state has partially clouded his thoughts, and he becomes more susceptible to rage. Haru would return back to Konoha once every few months to secure his health and safety.

During a mission to spy and infiltrate a hideout, Haru was caught and captured. Haru knew it was an immediate execution if he was taken to the base. His stress triggers his first Nisekissui transformation. He had killed his captors as well as several reinforcements. Unable to control the duration of his form, the Nisekissui had worn off on its own, and Haru was immediately drained of his chakra levels. He was able to escape and go into hiding. He reflected on his abilities and expressed that he couldn’t be any more excited.

Arriving back in Konoha, Haru had gone to the hospital for physical tests and examinations. He notes that it has been half a year since he began developing his Nisekissui. Sometime during his return, he finds that he enjoys the rage and bloodshed after fighting. However, when not in use of his Nisekissui, he began to experience headaches, hallucinations, fits of rage, and extreme pain in various places on his body.

Soon after Haru completes his second transformation, he faces several assassins. Haru manages to kill several members, but he fails to notice that his chakra had been drained since he made contact with one of the assassins. He is knocked out and gets taken to a small rundown house. Haru wakes up in his original body and finds his ankle chained to a pole and a similar aged young man nearby. The man immediately faces Haru as Haru only moved slightly. The two stared at each other before the man broke the silence. He introduces himself as Nobuyuki Watanabe and that he was the one who sedated and took Haru to the small shack. Haru wonders why he was brought instead of killed which he assumes that Nobuyuki might have strange intentions. Nobuyuki admits that he was intrigued with Haru’s transformation and proposes that Haru reveals his technique in which Haru refuses. Nobuyuki then admits that he knew Haru wouldn’t talk about it and instead forces Haru to become his “bride.” Haru remains silent before accepting in a monotone voice. Nobuyuki laughs and mocks Haru for agreeing to a strange proposal. Nobuyuki changes the subject and explains that the chain on Haru’s ankle absorbs large amounts of chakra while still permitting enough energy for the captive to survive. But it is also long enough to allow Haru to travel 30 meters outside the house. Haru beings to develop his plan to escape.

That night, Haru grows uncomfortably hot and couldn’t fall asleep. He tries to get up, but his limbs weren’t able to carry him, and he falls. Haru shoves Nobuyuki lying next to him, and Nobuyuki turns around. Haru questions his condition before Nobuyuki admitted that he added aphrodisiacs to Haru’s food. Nobuyuki also stated that he had a high libido and wanted Haru to share the same sexual enjoyment which he was able to conclude that Haru might have a low libido or was too stubborn to engage in the activity. Haru resisted giving in to his instincts, but Nobuyuki pinned him preventing his escape. The next day, Haru woke up aware of the events that took place the night before and gets angry at Nobuyuki. Later, Haru refuses to eat anything Nobuyuki prepared due to his suspicion that Nobuyuki could have drugged it. A few days later, Nobuyuki grows incredibly worried at Haru’s increasing fatigue and proposes that Haru would cook both of their meals to confirm that Nobuyuki couldn’t drug Haru. Haru begins to prepare but passes out due to dehydration. Nobuyuki transfers some water by mouth to waken Haru enough to drink more water while Nobuyuki quickly prepares their food. Haru is still reluctant to eat but doesn’t have the energy to refuse and ends up eating. Afterward, Haru passes out.