Nerdy

Forty-Nine

Sasuke coughed slightly once again to take his mind off the awkward silence between him and (Name). Maybe it was only awkward for him. Maybe she was used to this silence. What did they talk about with each other usually anyway? Sasuke couldn't think of anything at all.

He looked at (Name) from the corner of his eye. She was looking straight ahead as they walked, paying no attention to Sasuke at all. He thought she was still in a daze from having just woken up from her nap. Since (Name) refused to spend the night at Shion and Itachi's house, she had woken up in the evening to go back home. She would go again in the morning, but she wouldn't spend the night there.

Sasuke coughed again.

They didn't have much time before they would reach her house. Since it was getting dark, Sasuke was walking her home - or that was the reason Shion gave (Name). Itachi had almost offered to drive (Name) home, being unaware of Shion and Naruto's 'plan', but Shion had pulled him aside and explained everything to him so he didn't interfere. And that was how Sasuke ended up walking her home.

"Have you caught a cold? You've been coughing quite a lot now." Sasuke looked at (Name) only to find her staring back at him.

"Oh, no, it's- it's nothing." Sasuke said. Once again, they fell into an awkward silence. He knew he had to say something to break it. They couldn't go on walking that way to her house. There was no way Sasuke could ever bring himself to tell her how he feels in such a tense atmosphere. He had to strike a conversation - something, anything.

"By the way, (Name), do you have anyone you like ?"

Sasuke exhaled sharply and ran a hand down his face just as the words left his mouth. That was all he could think of ? Why did he even ask her that ? It would have been best if they walking in silence. Did he really not have anything better to talk about ? (Name) raised her eyebrows. She gave him a questioning look and then looked back ahead.

"That's quite a random thing to ask and I really don't see how that should concern you." she said. But Sasuke saw it on her face that she was really contemplating her answer. She was frowning slightly and her eyes had narrowed, not as if she was looking at something properly, but like she was thinking.

Sasuke mentally punched himself. It was already awkward, at least to him and he shouldn't have made it any more awkward. He prepared himself to listen to whatever she was going to say. He had gotten himself into this, now he had to get through it.

"Well, I guess you could say I like Shion." said (Name), looking back at Sasuke with a little indecisiveness still in her eyes.

"Shion ?"

"Shion."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. He wasn't sure whether to be glad or to be angry because (Name) was so dense. And she took all that time to consider whether she likes her own sister or not !

"That's great. You like your sister." Sasuke couldn't help sounding bitter. He could even picture Shion doing a victory dance despite her fractures if she heard (Name) say that. That was, if he ever told her. Sasuke knew (Name) well enough to know for sure that she would never say it to Shion, and he himself wasn't kind enough to say it either.

(Name) glared at him. "At least I accept it, unlike some guys who have trouble showing how fond they are of their brothers."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her. "You know nothing."

(Name) raised her eyebrows. "Really ? Then, tell me."

Sasuke held his glare for a few minutes. Then, he sighed and looked away. This was not why he was walking (Name) home. He wasn't here to fight with her over such trivial matters. They did that almost everyday. But he couldn't do that today. He had more important matters at hand. He had to tell her what he felt. And the atmosphere wouldn't really be appropriate if the quarelled all the way to her house.