Luminous

Chapter 7

Two teenagers walked along the street, chatting happily about this and that. They were just about to make a turn into another street when a blond boy rounded the corner at full speed, cackling like crazy, and almost collided with Shisui.

"Whoa, there!" the teen yelped as he ducked to the side to avoid being run over. "Why are you in such a hurry, squirt?"

Menma skidded to a halt and blinked owlishly at the Uchiha. After a second, his face split into a toothy grin. "Shisui-niis—"

Another kid—a girl of the same age with the wild mop of red hair and glasses—appeared from the same direction and, with a startled squawk when she couldn't stop in time, crashed into the blond.

"—oof!" Menma grunted as he stumbled forward. Ultimately, he managed to keep his balance.

Until the third kid rounded the corner. The boy's black eyes widened, but it was too late. The collision sent all three of them sprawling on the ground.

There was a brief outburst of guffaw from Naruto quickly brought under control. Shisui himself barely held it in. A surprise he felt by seeing Sasuke as one of the trios helped to keep his mirth in check. It was the first time he saw the red-haired girl though. His curiosity was piqued.

"Hey, brats," Naruto called, still obviously fighting the urge to laugh, "you three alright?"

"Yep!"

"Yeah..."

"Mm."

There was a soft chuckle. Shisui looked up. Upon seeing a red-haired woman standing next to Itachi, his curiosity grew even more. The Uzumaki perhaps?

"I warned you all not to run in the streets," Itachi said, his shoulders dropping. He sounded resigned to them not listening.

"Hehehe..." Menma rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly still sitting on the dusty ground.

Sasuke stood up, dusted himself off, and glowered at the other boy. "Why would you stop like that while we were racing?"

"I wasn't expecting to meet Shisui-niisan and Neesan here, 'ttebayo."

The youngest Uchiha crossed his arms, puffed his chest, and declared, "I would have won anyway."

Unsurprisingly, Menma flared up like an agitated firecracker. He jumped to his feet and rounded up on Sasuke. "No, you wouldn't!"

"I would!"

"Wouldn't!"

They practically rammed their heads together and growled at each other.

"Boys," Naruto interrupted with her hands on her hips and a sweet, sweet smile on her face. Both boys looked at her with wide eyes. "Shouldn't you help your friend first instead of arguing?"

Menma grinned sheepishly before sucking in a breath and extending his hand to the girl to pull her up. At the same time, Sasuke turned away with a slight tinge of red on his cheeks and one of his hands outstretched towards the little redhead.

The girl's expression brightened up instantly. She grabbed both hands with her own and effortlessly hopped back up.

"Sorry, Karin," Menma said, shuffling his feet awkwardly. "You okay?"

"Yeah!" the girl assured. "Completely fine!"

Sasuke tried a bit too hard to pretend that he wasn't happy about it, but a little quirk of his lips fooled no one.

"So, how come you're together with Itachi and Sasuke, Kana-san?" Naruto asked.

"We just had dinner at the ramen stand and met these two young men while going for a walk. They volunteered to show us around," the woman replied. "Menma mentioned that you'll be in a meeting with your fiancée. Although, I believe a date was the word he was looking... for..." Noticing Naruto starting to fiddle with the lock of her hair, she trailed off, tilting her head in confusion. Then, her gaze flicked to the teen standing next to her fellow redhead and a sudden realization flitted across her features. "...Oh."