Nerdy

Seventeen

(Name) strolled through the supermarket looking for some vegetables. She did not like meat. Truth be told, she did not like cooking meat.

She pushed her trolley ahead. (Name) had not brought a list. She was just going to buy whatever suited her mood then.

Her eyes fell on a stack of tomatoes. They were so red and shiny. (Name) checked if they were ripe. They were. She remembered she was out of tomatoes. She put a dozen or so in a bag and put them in her trolley.

As she went on ahead to buy something green, a shiver made its way down her spine. She felt being watched. She stopped and looked around herself. A supermarket, at any given time of the day, was full of people. (Name) scanned the faces of the people. She couldn't see anyone even remotely suspicious. She sighed softly as she continued walking.

Suddenly, a hand gripped her shoulder tightly. (Name) stopped and stiffened a little.

"(Name)..." said the person behind her, venomously. His voice was hoarse. (Name) couldn't recognise it. She turned to face the person.

"Uzumaki Naruto ?" she questioned.

The boy before her seemed to have a dark aura around him. Just looking at him made one understand he was gloomy. He had his hood up, so only some of his spiky hair and his nose and mouth were visible. (Name) could not see his eyes. She frowned with distaste at him.

"What do you want ?" she asked, slapping his arm off her shoulder.

Naruto looked right and left, and then back at (Name). He leaned ahead to match (Name)'s height.

"Not here." he whispered, as he started pulling (Name) away.

(Name) resisted. "I have other things to do." she said. But Naruto wasn't listening. He kept pulling her, and with how little her strength was compared to his, she could do nothing but simply be dragged.

"At least let me pay for what I already picked out." she said, still trying to resist. Naruto still wasn't listening.

"Let me go." said (Name), trying to loosen Naruto's grip on her arm with her other hand. But his grip was too strong fir her.

"Miss, do you need help ?" a salesman who noticed Naruto pulling (Name), who was resisting.

"I--" before (Name) could say anything, another man blocked Naruto's tracks to stop him.

"Move." Naruto hissed.

"You're hurting the girl, young man." he said. People started to gather around.

"Move." said Naruto, a little louder.

"Hey, mister, let her go." said another man who stepped ahead.

(Name) held her hand against her forehead and exhaled. It was one big misunderstanding.

"Excuse me, this--"

"Get out of my way, will you ?!" snapped Naruto, grabbing the collar of the man in front of him. He let (Name) go.

(Name) took her arm back and rubbed the place where her gripped. It had Naruto's hand's marks.

(Name) stared back at Naruto. It had already turned into a fight with more people joining in and beating the hell out of Naruto. She sighed. He had brought it upon himself.

As more and more people started to gather, she used her chance to slip away. She made her way to where her trolley stood. She decided not to buy anything else and went to pay for her tomatoes.

On her way to the cashier, she saw the crowd gathered around Naruto again. The people seemed to have increased even more. (Name) could not see Naruto, but could her the sound of punches and kicks and the occasional groans from Naruto.