Nerdy

Forty-Seven

Sasuke sighed deeply as he check his watch, again. He was sitting on a bench in a park where kids hardly played anymore. That explained why he only saw a girl who could be hardly five years old building a mountain in the sand area. Her mother was sitting on a bench near to her and just watching her daughter play, smiling and waving occasionally when the child looked up at her.

He sighed again. Naruto was late - very, very late. Sasuke had been sitting on that bench for nearly an hour, waiting for Naruto. They had planned to visit Shion now that she had moved back into her own house with Itachi but Naruto insisted that they go together. Sasuke was reluctant at first, but now he regretted agreeing to it. He should have known Naruto wouldn't be on time. They had decided to meet up in that park before going to Itachi and Shion's house.

Sasuke checked his watch again. He had half a mind to just leave Naruto and go on ahead. (Name) must have already reached there. Knowing her, she probably went there early in the morning. Every minute Sasuke spent waiting for Naruto was a minute less to be spent around (Name).

He took out his phone to call Naruto and tell him to hurry up or he was going on ahead. He thought might as well tell (Name) that they both would be a little late - if 'little' was the appropriate word because they were supposed to be there more than an hour ago.

And that's when he realized that he didn't have her number.

Sasuke scowled as he scrolled through his contacts, just in case he had saved her number under a different name. He had the numbers of pretty much everyone who mattered, but not of the one who mattered the most. He sighed as he held his phone against his forehead. It had been almost a year since he started talking to her, although with different intentions at the beginning. Why hadn't he noticed this before ? Was it because he was always around her that he didn't realize that they hadn't exchanged phone numbers ? It was true that he spent as much time as possible around her. And once vacations started, he had been around Shion for most of the time, and (Name) was there too.

But the important question was - how was Sasuke going to ask her for her number ?

He could ask Shion but that would mean owing her a favour and that never ended well. Naruto probably didn't have it either. Itachi wasn't any better than Shion.

And even if he did get her number, what was he going to do ? Call her multiple times a day just to hear her voice ? Send her 'good morning' and 'good night' texts ? Talk to her for hours at a stretch ? That seemed very unlikely. And, knowing (Name), she would probably block him the first time he called her or sent her a text.

But he wanted her number anyway. It was for convenience, he would tell her. So that he could contact her during times like these. But would there be any more times like these ?

It didn't matter, Sasuke decided. He was only being paranoid. All he had to do was ask for her number and offer her his own. He could manage that. How hard could it be ?

"Oi ! Did you wait for long ? I'm sorry ! I totally forgot about this and slept in." Naruto yelled as he jogged over to Sasuke. He was out of breath and it was clear that he had run all the way from his house to there. Reaching the bench, he slumped down on it and started catching his breath. "Good morning, Sasuke." said Naruto, with a grin.

"It's way past noon, you moron. Who sleeps in for so long ?" Sasuke grumbled as he got up and started walking ahead. Naruto jogged to catch up.

"I need my 10 hours of sleep daily." Naruto mumbled as he walked faster to match his pace with Sasuke. "Why are you walking like your ass is on fire ?"

Sasuke turned and glared at Naruto. "We're late," he said, "and it's all your fault. If you need your 10 hours of sleep daily, then sleep early."

"You heard that ?"