Chapter 8 - Gay Batman

"As soon as Tayuya dropped me off at home I called Neji to let him know what happened, right? And of course he overeacts like he always does. I hardly had time to finish my story before he hangs up on me. I'm freaking out 'cause I have no idea what he's up to, but he calls me back half-an-hour later. Apparently he went to work, yelled at Gato, then quit. That's all he'll tell me about it."

"Because that's all you need to know."

By request, Neji had decided to pick his friends up before heading to school, on the way Haku explained to them all that had happened the night before.

He picked up the other three boys at Naruto's place, it being in the middle of the three homes. Lee lived with his foster parents in the apartment complex on the corner of Naruto's street, and Kiba lived with his mother, sister, and dogs in their family home two streets away. It was a common arrangement between all of them that when Neji drove to school he'd stop by Haku's and then Naruto's on his way. It wasn't a detour, and it made the car ride more entertaining.

"Neji, you're like a gay batman. Always saving the damsels in distress."

"I am offended by that statement." Neji said calmly, getting into the next lane.

"How about superman? He's way cooler than batman." Kiba said, earning himself a glare from his blond friend.

"No way! Batman is the best! He's epic because he doesn't need superpowers to be badass!"

"Superman can fly. That beats any arguement."

"Yeah? Well, batman has the batmobile. So there ya go. I win."

"Boys," Neji interrupted, "Will you stop this nonsense? This is worse than your stupid ninjas versus pirates debate, and that's saying something." Especially since the two boys had gotten so into that debate that they'd made an actual poll, getting the students to vote for their favourite. A teacher had stopped them, though, before they were able to get a final score.

"Superman."

"Batman."

They refrained from continuing to make their points because they were able to feel the irritation radiating off their friend.

Haku turned in his seat to face them, "How about this. Both of them are pretty awesome. Can we agree on that?"

Naruto and Kiba shared a grin, "Truce." They agreed, and Lee smiled happily at both of them. Neji always had him sit in the center to separate the two boys, and when they got into debates of the sort he hated being stuck in the middle. They usually asked for his opinion and he never knew what to say.

"Anyways, I'm glad I didn't bring my resume there. The guy sounds like a ass." Kiba commented.

"That's an astute observation, Kiba. Any more wisdom to share with us?" Neji replied sarcastically.

"He lost three employees in one day, I'm hoping that'll make him realize that things need to change." Haku said, pretending Neji hadn't spoken. They were used to the sarcasm and knew better than to acknowledge it.

"I would certainly hope so! If not, his opinion isn't the one you should be listening to." Lee said.

"Exactly! The only opinion that matters is ours."

"And we think you look great, so fuck him." Naruto emphasized on Kiba's point.

"Well, thank you boys. It means a lot."

"Oi, Kiba. What's our first class?" Naruto asked his friend as they entered the student parking lot, Neji strolling along looking for a parking space.

Naruto and Kiba shared all of their classes together and three of their four classes with Lee. Lee had prefered drama over music. The three boys were in the average level classes, not due to lack of smarts. Naruto was intelligent, but his attention deficit disorder caused difficulties for him when it came time to take the tests and exams. Same went for Lee with his dyslexia. They both had the motivation, but high level classes would require more focus than they were able to give.

Kiba was simply unmotivated. He would move the mountains and the oceans if it meant saving an endangered species or making cars eco-friendly. But give him a simple math equation and he'd zone out immediately. There was nobody more environment-friendly in the entire school, and Kiba was proud of it, even if it did get him a couple 'tree-hugger' comments.

Haku and Neji had all their classes together as well, but they were in the highest level classes they could get. They were a very intelligent group of boys, it was simply that they all defined intelligence in different ways. Academically, socially, environmentally, technologically. They were all proud of what they did know and never put themselves down for not knowing something another person did.

They could accept their differences and that's what made it easy for them to get through the harshness of high school, unlike others. They were victims of bullying and insults and rude comments, but they knew a future was waiting for them, and they could wait.

It was simply a matter of time.

"English." Kiba replied.

"Awesome."

Neji parked the car and they all exited the vehicle. They grabbed their bags and headed into the school, ready for a new week after a nice weekend.

Haku patted down his skirt and walked into the school with his head held high.

AN: I have no clue where gay batman came from. Don't ask. Another filler chapter, super short one at that. Next one will be the school day! I hope you liked the chapter!

I'd like to thank AUehara, EatEmUp, and AkatsukiCrush for reviewing! It really means a lot!

Thank you for reading,
-MewMew