Chapter 11 - Bitches be Bitchin'

"Do you think dad would notice if the pasta's whole wheat?" Haku sent the text to his best friend, and waited patiently in front of the wide selection of pasta packages in front of him for the response. While waiting, he grabbed a couple and read over the ingredients and the nutritional facts.

His father was working late that night and Haku had offered to prepare supper. He wasn't a splendid cook, but he could still manage to make a tasty meal. He liked it when he had the chance to cook, because it meant that he would get the oppertunity to sneak in something healthy. Give his father a tool and he could build a house, give him an apple and he'd stare at it confusedly for several hours.

Men, he thought with a sigh.

His phone vibrated and he checked the reply, "...That stuff tastes like cardboard." Haku would take that as a yes, Zabuza would notice.

"They should make meat pasta."

"Food for real men." Neji's response made him laugh, and he stared around him to make sure no one had heard him. He sent out, "I'm sure you would know." and was unsurprised by the glare he was sent back.

With a sigh he grabbed the normal, full-fat, pasta off the shelf and put it in the basket hanging off his arm. All he had left to pick up was an onion that he would add bits of to the sauce, and then he could head home to make the meal. It was with a slight bounce in his step that he made his way to the vegetable aisle.

It had been a good day, and he was in a good mood. He'd nearly gotten into trouble with Mr. Mizuki, which had rested heavily on him for the early part of the morning, but other than that he hadn't gotten any other sly comments of disapproval about his attire. Not from any other teacher's anyhow. The other students would be more difficult to keep from being, to put it simply, cruel.

While looking through the onions to find a nice one, he heard a high pitched voice he would be able to find in the densest of crowds approaching his general direction.

"Did you see what she was wearing? She looked like a giant lemon!" The click-clack of heels announced her presense and that of her entourage.

He wondered why they'd be there, and he spotted them out of the corner of his eye. Seeing a bag of chips and a tub of ice cream in their arms, he realized something or other was going on that weekend and they were getting provisions. He sighed, and pushed away the temptation to stab something into his ears to make her voice fade away.

Haku liked people. It was in his nature to give everybody the benefit of the doubt, no matter what they've done. But he was unable to do the same for Karin. There was no force in the world that could ever make him think nicely about her. Of course he was nice to her, but he couldn't stand to be around her. She'd bullied him for many years during their youth.

The foster system had been good in keeping him near Konoha, and at the same school. His home may have changed frequently, but he had the chance to grow up alongside the same students. One of which happened to be Karin. Most of the kids had insulted him because of his femininity, calling him names like 'fag', 'queer', and 'queen', but she had been the worst of them. To that day, he still didn't know why she had taken such an instant disliking of him, but it had made him suffer.

Thankfully, Neji had showed up in sixth grade, when the bullying was at an extreme, and had been the first person to defend him against her. That had resulted in his own torment, but Neji had always been emotionally stronger than Haku. He could return the insults tenfold and brush off any nasty comments. (Neji insisted that Haku was strong, and merely too nice to defend himself, but Haku was still unconvinced by that one.)

"I can't believe that loser had the balls to bump into me this morning! I almost dropped my purse! And this is pure Guess. I swear, there are so many idiots who don't appreciate the value of designer brands."

"This place is a dump, what do you expect? Half the people in this down don't even know who Marc Jacobs is. I can't wait to get out of this shithole and go to L.A. That's where my people are at." Karin had a dream of becoming famous, and was ready to do whatever it took to get there. Her goal was becoming a movie star, but she'd take t.v star as well.

"One more year, Karin, then we're all out of here. If I'm lucky, I'll get to be Orlando Blooms baby mama, I could also settle for Zac Efon though..."

"Like they'd ever sleep with you!" Karin laughed, the other girls joining in. The one who'd spoken lowered her eyes to the floor, a blush of shame covering her cheeks.

Haku picked his onion and placed it in the basket. He wanted to get out of there before she saw him. As much as he would have liked to defend the girl, he didn't. They all had warped ideas of what the future could be for them, they were delusional and living in their imagination. Trying to help her would have made things worse. She'd be insulted by his help and then they'd all start making fun of him and he just... Really wasn't in the mood to deal with them.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he read the text from Kiba, "Did you know a pig's orgasm lasts thirty minutes?"

Kiba always sent him random animal facts. It was... Educational. He hadn't known that bit of information, and he texted his friend back saying as much. Thirty minutes, he mused. That's a long time.

Unfortunately, having been distracted by the text, he hadn't realized that the bitch club (Naruto's title) had gotten close enough to spot him. Of course, they did.

"Hey, Queen." She greeted him, looking at him as if he were the dirt under her high-heeled shoes.

"Hello, Karin." His tone was flat, but polite. He put away his phone and started walking away, hoping she wouldn't speak again, but she did.

"Ya know, most guys who realize they look like a chick would cut their hair. Not make it even more obvious. But I suppose you've just always wanted to be a girl, huh?" He just smiled at her, wondering if she was finished, of course, she wasn't, "I'ma cut through all the bullshit. Here's what it is, Queen. You may want to be a girl, but no one else wants you to be one. Guys are gonna hate you, and no girl is going to want to be your friend. You're a guy, so grow a pair and get a life, got it?"

"Why is it so wrong for me to dress like this?" He asked her.

"It's insulting. To real women, and to men. Look, we know we're awesome, but you don't need to try and look like us. Seriously." Karin replied.

"It's gross." Another one added.

"If he wants the world to hate him, leave him be. I mean, no one liked him before, they'll just hate him now. Maybe he'll get the clue and jump off a bridge." The girl he'd wanted to defend said, and he was suddenly glad he hadn't bothered.

"As if we'd be that lucky." Karin scoffed, "Bye, Queer! I mean... Queen." Her smirk showed that it was clearly not accidental, but then again, he knew it wouldn't be.

As he watched the bitch club walk away, he wondered what caused people to become so horrible. He sighed because he had known Karin long enough that she was merely a spoiled child who expected the world to bow to her feet. If anything dared go against her philosophy, she tore it down until it was no longer an obstacle.

Haku was just glad that he hadn't yet caved to her pressure and disappeared from her life like she clearly wanted him to.

AN: Ehm... I have no excuse. Well, I do, but I don't feel like sharing so... This chapter really sucks, and I'm sorry. I just really wanted to put something out for my dear readers so here it is. I'm really sorry and I'm going to do better from now on!

I'd like to thank AUehara, Reeserella, EatEmUp, and AkatsukiCrush for reviewing! It really does mean the world to me! And I'm infinitely sorry for taking so long to update! (Yes, the Mizuki from the last chapter was the one Naruto beat up early on in the manga! Glad you noticed!)

Again. Seriously very sorry.

Thank you for reading,
-MewMew