He pulled on his baggy dark blue jeans, frowning down at them. They were too big, but he couldn't buy more, his adoptive parents didn't have enough extra money. Next, he pulled his pale purple shirt over his head, reaching behind his head and beneath his shirt to fan out his hair, it cascaded down between his shoulder blades. He sat upon his bed to pull his plain gray socks on, and jammed his feet into his shoes, bending to tie them before wandering into the bathroom that was across the hall from his room.
He gazed at himself only for a moment. His black hair was glossy, long, framing his pale, beautiful face, his brown eyes were full of a sadness that never seemed to fade. His plain black choker stood out starkly upon his pale neck, a brief smile crossed his features.
After brushing his teeth, he returned to his room for his pack, a simple tan messenger bag.
He wasn't looking forward to school. He was secure in who he was, it was the others who judged and hated him for everything he was. He didn't fit in with the guys, because he was gentle. He didn't fit in with the girls because he was prettier than they were. He largely sat and worked alone. His intelligence didn't help either, being at the top of the class with Sasuke Uchiha and Neji Hyuga. There was another, who if he wasn't around, people would crack jokes about, Gaara Sabaku. He was very quiet, deep voiced, a genius really, but his temper was legendary.
They were similar in few ways. The red head's feelings though, were a mystery, his face was always blank, his eyes flat.
And so, Haku sat alone on the bus. At lunch. He had no real friends to speak of.
There was one boy..., who tried, at least. Naruto Uzumaki. A very friendly, if slightly dim-witted blond. They had spoken on a few occasions. Naruto had actually taken to coming to the quiet, older boy for academic help. He wanted to learn, but he simply didn't understand how the teachers explained things.
One day, when Naruto came to lunch for help, Haku noticed he had a black eye and his nose was bloody.
"What happened to you?" His question was quiet but it sliced through Naruto like a needle.
The blond jumped, keeping his eyes down at his paper.
"Some guys were bad mouthing you and I told them to shut up."
Haku was shocked that Naruto would defend him but he let the matter drop, focusing on the assignments the blond needed help with today.
As their session drew to a close, Haku finally asked, "What were they saying?"
"That you were a girl. That you were gay. That you were a freak," Naruto mumbled as he returned his things to his backpack.
"I see...," Haku muttered.
"Thank you for defending me though Naruto," Haku offered a smile to the blond, who saw it and flushed pink.
"Would you mind telling me who was saying those things?" Haku asked, his smile turning a tad bit cruel.
The blond froze an instant, he'd never seen Haku smile..., let alone smile like that.
"I-it was Kin, Shino, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kiba."
"See you tomorrow," Haku told him as he brushed by the now shaking blond.
All those who had been talking were sitting at a table together. He saw them. He hoped Naruto would go off, and not see what was about to transpire.
He stopped at the head of their table. Their conversations slowly came to a stop and Sasuke was the one to address him.
"What do you want Freak?"
Haku grabbed the Uchiha by the collar of his shirt, lifting him from his seat, leaning in close, their noses centimeters away.
"If you have something to say about me, say it to my face."
The Uchiha had paledand then he was dropped.
"The same goes for the rest of you," an icy glare swept the speechless table, then he walked away, the whole cafeteria had gone silent, the bell the loudest sound a moment after Haku had left the room.
No one moved however, still in shock over what had happened. Gaara was the first to leave the room. Then Naruto. Slowly the other students began talking again, trickling out and to their respective classes.
Haku sat alone, in the back of chemistry. Gaara was the second student to enter, instead of taking his seat that was across the room from the other boy, he took the seat beside him. His normal expression was gone, replaced by a slightly crooked smile.
"That was... Entertaining."
Haku flicked a glance over, Gaara had returned to facing forward.
"I do try," he responded with a smirk of his own.
A smile tugged at Gaara's lips, but no more words were shared between the two as students began filing in. Gaara's seat wasn't challenged, the student who usually sat there, taking Gaara's old seat instead.
He was walking to his bus when he saw them. The ones from lunch. Probably hoping to outnumber him. He kept his face smooth, walking towards unfalteringly.
A hand was placed on his chest. He looked up into the angry eyes of Sasuke Uchiha.
"Despite your misconeptions of gay people, just because you are male does not mean I wish to sleep with you."
Sasuke flinched away, his cheeks flaming, a few of his friends snickered before Kiba strode forward, joining his friend.
"Same goes to you Inuzuka," a cold smile offered as Kiba's fist flew by where his head had been seconds before. Haku grabbed his wrist, wrenching him forward, into his fist, the smaller boy flung the taller into Sasuke as Kin charged him. He uppercutted her chin with the heel of his hand before stepping around her and simply gripping Sakura by the arms and moving her aside to continue on his way to the bus. Shino making no move after seeing what happened.
They wouldn't admit to getting beat up by him, so he wouldn't get suspended. But he silently stared out the window as the bus finally began moving.
Just another day. Albeit, slightly different, but still, just another day.