Sasuke was still rather sour over the fact that Naruko had (temporarily! Nii-san promised!) grown taller than him.
Every day after he came home, he'd go pester his mother until she took him to the kitchen wall and measured his height.
Today, Sasuke stood ramrod straight, mightily resisting the urge to stand up on his toes. As much as he wanted to be taller, he wanted to actually be taller. And there was no way he'd convince Naruko by cheating, anyway.
He frowned as the memories of what she'd said to him resurfaced.
"Mom?" he asked as she finished drawing the pen across the top of his head on the wall. He turned around and drooped when he saw that she was just drawing on top of the line from yesterday and the day before that. "Am I ever going to grow taller?" he mumbled dejectedly.
Mikoto aww'd and fondly ran a hand through his hair, and he leaned into the comfort of her touch. "Don't worry, Sasuke. Just give it a few years and you'll be taller than Naruko. In fact," she continued, her eyes appraising his growing body, "by the looks of it, you might end up taller than Itachi."
Sasuke's eyes widened. "Taller than Nii-san? No way."
Mikoto smiled and tweaked his nose. "You're taller than your brother was at your age," she informed him. "It could happen."
Sasuke found himself hoping against hope. "Do you really think so?"
"I really think so," Mikoto reassured him, taking a moment to ruffle his hair and smiling at his resulting scowl. "Give it time, Sasuke. You'll grow up strong."