Holding Hands

It's nearly midnight by the time Team 7's late night training session ends. Naruto dismisses himself with a smile as he pushes Sasuke towards Sakura, yelling at his best friend to take the pink haired girl home. Sasuke doesn't want to, but realizes he's been forced to when Kakashi abandons them and Sakura gives him a pleading look, on the brink of giving a pout of whining.

Sasuke knows Sakura well enough to know that letting her walk home alone was likely a bad idea. Even he could admit she was a cute girl and didn't want anything happening to a precious friend and teammate.

Their walk was quite, as per the norm with Sasuke around. Sakura's smile didn't leave her face. She had been smiling since Sasuke called her to hurry up so he could walk her home. He hadn't tried to widen the gap between them, and she loved it.

She loved him. There was no way to deny it; it was true, even at such a young age. Sakura knew it was highly unlikely Sasuke felt the same way about her right now, but all she could hope is that one day, hopefully, he would return her feelings and they could be together.

Sasuke didn't even want to look at Sakura. Usually, when he was around her, everything was normal there were no strange feelings bubbling up in his chest. Tonight, however, there were, and he wasn't sure if he liked them or not. They were very odd feelings, making his heart race every time he looked over at her.

The very second Sakura's hand accidently-she hadn't planned it at all-brushed against his, Sasuke felt his heart race even faster and he shoved his hands in his pocket, hoping it wouldn't happen again.

Sakura giggled softly to herself. The whole thing really was an accident, but it seemed to affect Sasuke more than it did her. She noticed a very faint blush on his face before he shoved his hands in his pockets and looked away. She thought it was adorable.

Sasuke wasn't deaf. Her clearly heard Sakura giggle to herself and glanced over at her once again. She was still smiling, a very visible blush on her cheeks as she looked at the ground while they walked. She was happy even though he was paying her barely any attention.

Is it just because she's near me?

Sasuke shook his head after a moment, still looking over at Sakura. If that was the reason, it was quite odd. But if she was happy just for that reason, he didn't have much of a problem with it. At least she wasn't hanging off him like usual.

…I wonder…

It wasn't in Sasuke's nature to do so, but he decided he would just try holding Sakura's hand for a moment, just to see what it was like. He had seen his parents' when he was very young hold hands often, and his mother would smile away while his father looked very content. Every couple in the village that he would walk by had the same looks on their faces, making it look rather enjoyable, even to a boy who hated contact with girls.

Well, when it was forced on him. Other times, when Sakura actually asked, he didn't have too much of a problem. It was still uncomfortable, but, he was learning to deal with and accept it.

After a few minutes of resisting, Sasuke noticed they were nearing Sakura's home and he finally made the move to grab her hand. He hesitated, pulling back for a moment, before going for it and grabbing her hand. There was no intertwining of fingers, as all Sasuke wanted was to know what it was like for another person's hand to be in his.

It was quite nice, Sasuke decided after a moment. He knew Sakura was looking at him in shock, most likely, but didn't think much about it. He was busy enjoying having her with him and holding her hand.

Sakura stared at their hands for a moment, before giving a bright smile to no one. Sasuke was holding her hand and she didn't even have to ask him about it. It had crossed her mind, just so she didn't feel like she would lose him and be in the dark all alone. (Even though she was a ninja, it was still scary to her.)

The rest of their walk was silent as they finally arrived at Sakura's house where they broke their contact and she gave a smile to Sasuke before going inside.

"See you tomorrow, Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke nodded, turning around to leave. "See you."

Maybe it's possible…that I could fall for her in the future.

Author's Note: Whoop-whoop, SasuSaku Month is here~!
This is my first year participating and I hope I'll be able to update everyday with each prompt. :D
And here is the first. I had this idea in place since yesterday and was finally able to sit down and write it tonight.

Hope you enjoy~!