Title: Emo Kids in Love
Rating: PG
Characters: Haku and Zabusa
Word count: 692
Summary: Haku is destined to live a life of pain.
Author's Notes: Apologies to any yaoi-haters who consider this a yaoi pairing. But it's not. Haku is a girl.

Haku gave a rare smile as he unwrapped his birthday present. Zabusa stood glowering, his arms folded across his chest.

"Oh, wow! A guitar! Oh, Zabusa, you're the best!" In a moment of uncharacteristic exhuberance, Haku threw his arms around the taller man's neck.

"Ch. It's not like it cost anything. I just took it off that guy we killed back in the Wind Country." Zabusa turned away, his cheeks reddening slightly.

Why is he always like this, Haku whined to himself. Why can't he see how much I love him? I gave up everything for him, became a ninja for him, and he treats me like I'm nothing. And just like that, his birthday was ruined.

Of course he didn't say anything. He couldn't say anything. Nothing good could come of talking about your feelings.

So he brooded.

"...Haku? Is something wrong?" Zabusa turned back, noting the dark look that had fallen over the boy's face. The jounin's shoulders fell as he slipped his hands into the pockets of his leather pants, consternation painting his features.

"No. Everything's fine," Haku snipped. "It's my birthday. What could possibly be wrong?"

Zabusa nodded, accepting the response at face value, which only made Haku angrier. The jounin flounced into a black leather chair and let out a dramatic sigh. "Well, as birthdays go, y'know, you might have thought it sucked. We've been kicked out of our homes. We lead a lonely, hollow existence, always on the run. Our own comrades would gladly hunt us down and kill us. I mean, we do have a lot to be depressed about, y'know."

Haku wanted to brood about Zabusa's refusal to acknowledge his feelings, but the new topic provided fertile brooding material of it's own. "Yeah... Our lives really suck, don't they. But you know, if you weren't such a great ninja, and if I didn't have a bloodline talent, we'd probably be okay. Really, it's our own fault." Yeah. Sure. It made sense.

Zabusa nodded his head sadly. "We're tortured souls, destined to lives of anguish and pain. No one could possibly lead a life more miserable than ours."

Haku spoke before thinking. "Well, did you hear about that Gaara kid from the Village of Sand? He's got it pretty bad too, don't you thi-"

"NO ONE could possibly lead a life more miserable than ours," Zabusa reasserted.

Haku nodded quickly. Yeah, it was true. That Gaara kid probably had all sorts of nice things in his life. He couldn't be as miserable as Haku. No way. "Don't you wish it would stop, though? Don't you wish there was some way to fix all the problems, Zabusa? Go back to being part of the village?" A pleasant daydream formed in Haku's head: the two of them, living together in the Village of Mist. With friends.

"But there just isn't a way to fix them, Haku. You understand that. We're cursed to live this awful half-life, from now until the day we finally get to die. It's our destiny. We can't fight against fate." Zabusa had slipped back into his usual melancholy tone of voice.

"It's too terrible, though, Zabusa! I don't know how to take it anymore." Tears began running down Haku's cheeks, dripping and wetting the black lace ruffles of his shirt.

"Haku! Stop it! You can't let the pain show. You can't let anyone know how much it hurts. No one can ever know. You're a ninja now, and you know what that means. 'One who endures.' You have to endure. It's part of your destiny." Zabusa frowned angrily, his brood ruined by Haku's outpouring of emotion.

Haku nodded, drying the tears on his frilly sleeve. "Okay... I'm sorry, Zabusa. It won't happen again."

Zabusa nodded and hmphed. "Good. Now why don't you try out that guitar. I got you something else, too. A few songs you can try playing. Uh... Yeah, the dead guy had 'em too." He reached behind his back and drew out a small book, tossing it across the room.

Haku snatched it out of the air easily. He looked down, reading the cover.

Guitar tabs for My Chemical Romance.