Nerdy

Twenty-Seven

"Ow... Watch where you're---" Naruto stopped mid-sentence when he realized that the person he had run into was (Name). She was down on the ground like Naruto. He got up to help her.

"Oh, (Name). I'm sorry, I didn't see you coming." he said and pulled (Name) up by her arm.

She pulled her arm out of his grasp and glared at him, before grabbing her back from the ground and heading ahead.

(Name) just barely made it on time to school. You know how when you're in a bad mood everything and everyone around seems to be trying to disturb the hell out of you ? That was exactly the situation with (Name). She had not slept properly all night, which had put her in a bad mood. Words of a certain someone kept coming to her mind and she remembered some bitter memories.

Later, when she tried to cook, her toasts got burnt charcoal black, she had showered twice because her cup slipped out of her hand and coffee was all over her clothes. Her glasses broke when she accidentally pushed them off the table when she was trying to pick them up after her shower. She was using her spare ones. They were exactly like the ones she wore everyday.

A car had sped past her while she was walking, startling her and making the book she was reading drop out of her hand and into a puddle which was very accurately right in front of her. And of course, she was late to school. Almost. The word 'late' got on her nerves.

In her rush, she also charged head first into the classroom's door. (Name) groaned and entered the class, rubbing her head. She was met by a very surprised-looking Hinata. Hinata sat near the door so obviously she hadn't missed the noise which was a result of (Name)'s head colliding with the door even over the noisy classroom.

"Uh.. Are you okay ?" she asked.

(Name) gave her a quick nod and went to her seat.

"Oi! Sasuke, what did you do to (Name) ?!" Naruto demanded as he entered his class.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him. Naruto did not realize that he had yelled half the sentence while he was running down the corridors and the only part that Sasuke had made out of it was '(Name)'.

"What about (Name) ?" he asked.

"What did you do to her ?" Naruto repeated himself.

As usual, Sasuke's fan-girls had left him alone after Naruto arrived. But both of them were aware of the curious eyes on them. Everybody pretended to be minding their business, but were actually listening in on Naruto and Sasuke's conversation. It being about (Name) had just sparked their interest even more.

"What happened ?" asked Sasuke.

" 'What happened' ?" Naruto imitated Sasuke, getting frustrated. "I'll tell you what happened. I ran into (Name) just now AND YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN HER. She had these dark bags around her eyes and was looking kind of messy, like, not her usual prim and proper self. That glare she just gave me was-- "

"She glares at everyone." said Sasuke.

"Yes, but this was more intense. Usually, she would've called me a weird name and let it go. This was like, she wanted to strangle me with nylon ropes and tie me to a railway track." said Naruto.

Sasuke winced a little. "You sure have a wonderful imagination, Naruto." he said, and he realized something.

"Wait a minute- You bumped into (Name) now ?" he asked.

Naruto nodded.

"Did she have her bag with her ?" asked Sasuke.

Naruto thought for a while, and nodded again.

"(Name) was late ?!" Sasuke said. His eyes were wide with shock.

"Yeah, that's another point." said Naruto. "So, what did you do ?" he asked again.

Immediately, Sasuke remembered how he had gotten (Name) angry at him. Maybe (Name) was irritated by him, sometimes a little annoyed, but never was she as angry as she was the previous day.

"Why do you think that it has something to do with me ?" asked Sasuke.

"Obviously, it has."

"No."

Sasuke sighed deeply, not wanting Naruto to know about what he had done. He had definitely touched a sensitive topic, very insensitively. If he found a chance, he was going to make up with (Name). She may not like him already, but he didn't want to give her another reason to not like him.

"Students, I have something very interesting to tell you." Kakashi said as he walked in. No greetings, no excuses.

Everyone quickly settled in their place. The class groaned at the mention of 'something interesting'. The way Kakashi was smiling through his mask wasn't helping it much.

"For the rest of this semester, you will have a partner from another class with whom you will do your assignments. I will pass a box around with chits. Pick one, and who's name is on it is your partner."

Saying so, Kakashi passed a box. When it reached Sasuke's seat at the back, he quietly took a chit out and passed the box beside, to the next row.

"Psst hey, Sasuke ! Who did you get ?" Naruto whispered as the box was passed on ahead.

"Who did you get ?" Sasuke asked him in return.

"I got Hinata." said Naruto, holding up his chit for Sasuke to see.

Sasuke smirked, and opened his chit. What he saw, made his smirk get wider.

"I got (Name)." he said.