Light our Shadows

Ch 20: Thoughtless Actions

"Boys, come over here and eat." Mikoto called to the children. "You can hunt for fireflies when you're done."

"Okay!" Mini Naruto turned his head to grin at Teensy Sasuke. "Cmon, Sasuke! Hurry! While it's still warm!" Little Naruto took off sprinting towards the porch.

Little Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets with a huff following slowly after. He didn't bother running like little Naruto did.

The top of little Naruto's foot collided with the bottom porch stair. First of all, ow. Second of all, he was going down. Hard. The small blonde's eyes scrunched closed, it was the most he could do to prepare for his kiss with the wood. He didn't even have time to throw out his arms.

There was a tension in the back of his shirt as it was pulled from behind. A bent leg slid underneath him cushioning the impact, keeping him partially upright. His forehead stopping well away from the top stair that his head would have smashed into. Tiny Naruto breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sasuke...you..." Itachi nearly dropped his tea at the feat. He'd never seen his younger brother display such speed before. He'd made it across the yard to little Naruto in the blink of an eye. He would've thought his little brother had teleported if his chest wasn't heaving so harshly. Which meant he ran, no sprinted, all the way across the yard in mere seconds. As much of a gifted genius as he was...no way was Itachi that fast when he was academy student.

Little Sasuke's mind took a moment to catch up with the rest of his body. He didn't even quite realize what he'd done himself. He just saw Naruto's step come up short and then...the next thing tiny Sasuke knew, he had the idiots shirt clutched in his hand and he was kneeling beside him to halt his fall.

His body... it just moved.

Little Sasuke's eyes blinked rapidly as he came back to himself. He tugged Naruto's shirt, hauling him off his leg, lightly tossing him back onto the dewy grass.

"Ow!" Little Naruto's bum met the dew. "Sasuke! You jerk!"

"Don't get blood on my stairs, loser." Little Sasuke replied, eyes slipping closed as he climbed the stairs and sat beside Itachi on the picnic blanket his mom set out. "We don't need a red stain on the backstairs too."

Little Naruto grumbled to himself, he kicked the step that tripped him up like it was the steps fault he fell then went trudging up the others and sat down on little Sasuke's other side.

"Awe 'Suke," Kage Naruto smiled at the young boy genuinely amused at the events. "Don't be like that. You were so chivalrous, breaking little me's fall...don't act like you were just protecting the stairs."

"I wasn't protecting anything." Little Sasuke protested glaring at the kage. "It just happened..."

"Maybe it did." Sasuke's older self agreed with a small smile. "But he's still right. You moved pretty fast. It wasn't like the stairs were losing against gravity on a time limit."

"So what?" Little Sasuke complained, a light pink dusting his cheeks. What was with the sudden attention? "We're fastest in class. Even Kiba's dog eats our dust."

"Still," Itachi nudged his little brother. "That was a very impressive show of speed, Sasuke."

"Really?" Little Sasuke tilted his head skeptically.

"Yeah." Itachi nodded his head at him.

"It's true." Mikoto nodded at her smallest son with a smile.  "Your brothers right sweetie that was very fast."

"It wasn't that great." Little Naruto protested, face burning red. A bit embarrassed Sasuke had to save him from the fall at all. He was grateful for it and everything but man...tripping was so uncool.