Nerdy

Sixteen

As (Name)'s house came in her sight, she couldn't help but notice a black car parked at the front. She was sure it did not belong to anyone from her family, so she sped up her pace and jogged up to it. An oddly familiar figure stepped out as she neared it.

"I was waiting for you." said Itachi with a small smile.

"What do you want ?" demanded (Name), already glaring at him. He took a step towards her and leaned against his car with his hands in his pockets. He chuckled lightly at (Name)'s rudeness.

"Do you cook ?" he asked her. (Name) raised an eyebrow.

"What is it to you ?" she asked in return.

Itachi laughed lightly again.

"That does not answer my question, (Name)." he said, again, with a smile.

(Name) suddenly felt a lump in her throat. Despite the sweetness in his voice and the smile on his face, something about Itachi made her feel as if she had lost her voice.

"I-I do." she squeaked. There was something in the tone of his voice because of which she refrained from throwing any insults at him and simply answered.

"Really ?" said Itachi, raising his eyebrows.

"Well, yes. I don't have anybody else to do it for me and eating out is not an option." said (Name). Itachi nodded.

"Shion was wondering whether you ate properly." said Itachi.

"She could've come herself if she cared so much." said (Name) and scoffed.

"I'm here to take you back home for dinner." said Itachi.

"What ?" asked (Name) in disbelief.

"Mother and Shion are cooking up a feast. They insisted that you come." said Itachi.

"Then tell them I apologized." said (Name), pushing her glasses up with her index finger.

"Oh, (Name), you can't refuse." said Itachi, standing up straight. (Name) was already shaking her head.

"Tell them I'm busy. I can't come on such short notice." said (Name), and walked up to the front door.

"They'll be sad." said Itachi, a little louder so that (Name) could hear him. She stopped and turned around and shook her head with a small frown.

"Tell them I apologized." she said again and entered her house. Itachi sighed and went back to his car. He opened the door and sat inside.

"Why did you lie ? Do you want me to go over to your house and cook that much ?" asked Shion. She sat in the passenger's seat. Due to the tinted windows of Itachi's car, (Name) had not seen her. She had not come outside because she thought Itachi could do the work better. Itachi looked at her and gave her a small smile.

"I thought she'd agree if I said you were there." replied Itachi. Shion let out a small laugh.

"Um.. How should I say this ?" she laughed again, "Let's say, she dislikes me as much as your brother dislikes you. If I were there, it would just be another reason for her to not come."

Itachi laughed.

"Aren't you supposed to be sad because of that ?" he asked her. Shion half-smiled and let out a breath.

"I guess I just got used to it. She wasn't so spiteful as a little kid, you know." she said. Itachi nodded in agreement.

(Name) did not know that Itachi had actually known her for a long time, since he and Shion had started dating in high-school. (Name) had met him earlier, she just did not remember it.

Shion was with Itachi even when he had gone to Konoha High earlier. There too, she sat in the car. Though Itachi had told Naruto that he had some work with Tsunade, he was actually there to talk to (Name). Mikoto wanted her to come over for dinner so she could get to know her 'little son's future bride' better. Of course, (Name) was the only girl she thought would be perfect for her son. She had asked Itachi and Shion to bring (Name) over directly after school. She hadn't told Sasuke about it because she knew he'd reject.

Itachi could not approach (Name) at school and ended up going to her house. He did not tell (Name) anything about Mikoto's wishes, because that'd scare her off. He knew she wasn't particularly fond of Mikoto either. So, he tried adding Shion to the picture to see if it worked - and it did not. He was now going to tell his mother that he could not convince (Name) to come over.

"Mother would be disappointed." said Itachi, and exhaled loudly. Shion beside him smiled with sympathy.

"I can understand that she feels that (Name) and Sasuke make a nice couple - I mean, I do too ! But I think she's just being hasty. She should let things progress at their own pace." said Shion.

"You stole the words out of my mouth." said Itachi. They both smiled at each other.

"Let's tell her that." said Shion, and Itachi agreed. He thought that a face-to-face talk would be better than a phone call. He drove to his house to meet his mother.




(Name) peeped from between the curtains and spied Itachi's car. She had seen him climb in, but he was not driving off. He coming to meet her was already suspicious, and upon that, he said she was invited for dinner. Of course, she'd refuse. After all, what relation did she have to the Uchihas ? Besides, she wasn't interested in eating dinner with Sasuke again.

She had hardly talked to Itachi, so she did not know what kind of a person he was. This time, the only thing she could make out was that he had this air of intimidation around him. All the Uchihas did, she thought. Not that she would ever be intimidated. One more thing she noticed was that he was kind of pushy. She wondered what Shion had liked in him. She wondered how she handled him.

Just then, the car sped off. (Name) released a breath that she didn't even realize she was holding. She left the window to continue her usual after school routine. After she had taken a shower, she decided to make dinner for herself. She went into the kitchen, only to realize she was out of many things. She grabbed her purse and left the house for the supermarket.




As Itachi set a foot inside the house, he was tackled by Sasuke, who was aiming straight for his throat. Itachi resisted, and managed to throw Sasuke off himself. Shion just stood behind, watching with wonder.

"What's with you ?!" choked Itachi as Sasuke made another attempt at strangling him.

"Shut up !!" yelled Sasuke.

They started wrestling again, forgetting that they were still at the door. Shion let them be and stepped over them and went inside. She greeted 'Mom', or Mikoto. Mikoto had already known they had come when she heard all that commotion near the door. She knew Sasuke had pounced on Itachi. Sasuke had been in a bad mood since he came home because he had come second. She was very happy with that too, but he wasn't. She had made no attempt to stop Sasuke and Itachi, because the filter in her eyes saw that as a cute little boy ( Sasuke ) greeting his elder brother ( Itachi ) with a big hug when he had come home after a long time.

"Where's (Name) ?" she asked Shion.

Shion just shook her head with a small frown. "I'm sorry, we couldn't convince her to come her." she said.

Mikoto sighed softly.

"Um.. Itachi and I--"

"I though she'd refuse." said Mikoto, interrupting Shion. "You know, dear, I was thinking. Maybe I'm being to hasty. I should just let things be the way they are and let the kids handle it themselves. I may think Sasuke and (Name) make a good couple, but I shouldn't force it on them. If they were meant to be, things will definitely progress between them without me interfering."

Shion listened to Mikoto with her jaw dropped. She had already realized it. There was no need for Itachi and her to talk to Mikoto anymore.

"And, you were saying ?" asked Mikoto, wiping her already clean hands on her apron, because however rich the Uchihas would be, they never kept a servant.

"No - nothing." Shion waved her hands in front of her and shook her head simultaneously. She grinned sheepishly at Mikoto.

"Okay, then." said Mikoto. She raised a brow at Shion's behaviour and went back to the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Itachi had finally managed to get Sasuke off himself.

"Why are you aiming for people's throats since after school ?!" Itachi demanded, out of breath from all the action.

"I knew it !! I knew you were there !!" accused Sasuke, pointing a finger at Itachi.

Itachi realized and gave Sasuke a small smile.

"Tell me. What did you say to Naruto ?!" demanded Sasuke, standing up and brushing himself.

Itachi couldn't tell him what their mother's intention were and how they all hoped for him and (Name) to be together. So he decided to play dumb.

"I wonder what you're talking about." said Itachi. He got up and closed the door, which was open all this time.

"Don't play dumb." said Sasuke. He took his phone out at shoved it into Itachi's face. Itachi stumbled to catch it from falling and looked at the screen.

"What's this ?" he mumbled. There were almost infinite messages from Naruto, all saying how Sasuke had betrayed him for a girl, or cursing him, or demanding 'what was hidden' from Sasuke.

"Do you see that ? I have no idea what that idiot is talking about, and he's spamming me with all those messages. I suspect you told him something weird." said Sasuke, sighing. He had already regained his composure from that sudden outburst he had when Itachi entered and had that scowl on his face which he always had.

"I don't know. I really don't." said Itachi innocently. If (Name) and Sasuke had a secret, there was no way he would know about it, and if he didn't, how would he tell Naruto ?

Itachi wondered and recalled his conversation with Naruto. It was hardly a conversation. All Itachi had done was greet him and ask him whether he wanted a ride home. Also, he had said how his thoughts matched Mikoto's. Nothing out of the ordinary, or so he thought.

"No, I don't think I said anything weird to him." said Itachi.

"So you did talk to him after all, you liar !" said Sasuke, and peered at Itachi, who just laughed it off.

"Well, why don't you call him ?" he said.

"I did, but he's talking gibberish. I hung up." stated Sasuke.

"You could go meet him."

Sasuke laughed as if Itachi had cracked a joke. "Very funny." he said, I'm meeting him tomorrow at school anyway. I'll ask him then." said Sasuke, and headed inside. Itachi followed him, until he suddenly stopped and turned.

"By the way, why are you and that woman here anyway ?" asked Sasuke.

"How dare you call me 'that woman' ?!" Shion appeared and smacked Sasuke on his head. Sasuke scowled at her.

From behind him, Itachi motioned Shion to be quiet.

"We're just here for dinner, Sasuke. Is it so surprising to see us ?" questioned Itachi, with a smile. Sasuke just frowned deeply. He knew, that whenever Itachi smiled so much, he was hiding something. But since he was hard to read, there was no way Sasuke would find out what he was thinking unless Itachi himself decided to tell Sasuke.

"Hn." said Sasuke, and went inside.

If it was something related to himself, Sasuke would eventually find out. There was no use fretting over it.