A/N - I had been planning to sleep tonight. I was laying down and everything...then the phone rang. One hour later, I hung up and was very much awake. And because of that, you get another chapter! Woohoo!

This chapter is all about getting to knoooow one another, you know? Not much action. I hope you like it anyways.

'In the biblical sense and sensibility, let me know you'

Love: In Theory and Practice - Chapter Two

Scared to Death

Sasuke watched the snow through his window as it drifted lazily to the ground. He'd been sitting on his bed for twenty minutes, lost in thought.

Winter was his favorite season.

He hated the bitter cold and the harsh winds as much as the next person, but there was something about it that made him reflective – almost emotional – so he'd grown rather attached to the season. He always took a deep breath when the air turned crisp in the fall, letting the sharpness of it invade his senses.

Something about the gray skies that blanketed the world in winter was peaceful, relaxing. The warmth of summer was nice, but the coldness of long winter nights was moving.

He glanced at the digital clock on his night stand. It was four-thirty. On Saturday. The day he had agreed to go with Naruto to a movie.

He got to his feet and pulled the jacket that had been resting in his lap around his shoulders, before picking up his bag and heading out of the apartment. He paused briefly to give himself a once over in the mirror. He didn't particularly care what other people thought of his appearance, but he liked to look decent when he left his house. Composed.

Because generally, he was a mess when he went into the outside world.

Sasuke eyed his reflection. His hair was styled perfectly. His two long bangs falling on either side of his face and sticking up slightly in the back. The blue turtle neck he wore was unwrinkled and looked good with the black pants that hung low on his hips.

He let out a breath, satisfied. He could do this. He just had to act the part. Convince the world. If he pretended he was flawless, then he would eventually be flawless, right?

Sasuke tugged open his apartment door and mentally braced himself to deal with the many faces of the world.

People were invasive. They were constantly in each other's business. They were loud – sometimes laughing, sometimes crying – but always loud. The streets of cities were packed with people who casually passed each other by, completely ignorant that they had just brushed shoulders with a stranger. And that that stranger had a life, a family, a story.

The world was suffocating and vast all at the same time. Sasuke preferred not to deal with the anxiety that provoked in him and stayed in his apartment most of the time. Except for his usual few trips to Nine-Tails cafe` every week, he was pretty much a recluse.

Sasuke didn't have anything against people, he didn't ever judge or scorn them intentionally. He just really didn't want anything to do with them. They made him nervous. Because people talk, and generally that causes people to listen. And then they get close and a bond forms and they hold power over each other forever.

So why was Sasuke going to a movie with one of those very people?

He shoved his hands in his jacket pockets as bitter winds assaulted his face. He could practically feel his lips chapping. Nine-Tails was only five blocks from his apartment, so it was a short walk. Winter didn't deter him from being outside like it did most people. No, winter was probably one of the only things that kept him going outside.

The snow was about an inch high by now. Sasuke's footprints ruined the perfect purity of white as he trudged onward. It made him sad to see something so whole and innocent ripped apart by careless people passing by.

Sasuke could feel the cold flakes of snow as they piled up on top of his head, but he ignored it. He wondered idly if he should have taken his meds before leaving but shrugged the thought away. He had them if he needed them.

The warmth of the cafe` blasted him in the face as he opened the door and stepped inside. It almost felt like stepping into a fireplace. The bright overhead lights reflected off of the cream colored walls and made him squint. The snow outside made the interior seem more bright than usual. People were seated in various booths. Some reading, some typing away on laptops. One girl had fallen asleep at her table.

Sasuke looked behind the bar to see Ino and Naruto standing there. They were out of ear shot, but he assumed they were bickering about something. It's what they usually did. Sasuke made his way toward his usual booth to wait when Naruto seemed to notice his presence.

The blonde gave him a smile so wide it made Sasuke's face hurt just to look at. Sasuke ignored it and sat down as Naruto resumed bickering with Ino, the smile still on his face.

Sasuke had always been curious as to why he felt so comfortable at Nine-Tails cafe`. In a way, it made sense. What author didn't like coffee shops? They could laze around and write uninterrupted for hours while still being somewhat involved with the world.

Sasuke had been to many different coffee shops in his time, and they had all appalled him. Along with bars, bookstores and just about any other place an author would like. But when he and Sakura had ducked into Nine-Tails on a rather harsh rainy day, something had clicked.

He'd felt comfortable, so he came back, and had continued coming back until the staff new him by name and didn't even bother taking his order anymore, just brought him his coffee. He was a regular.

"Hey." Sasuke looked up as Naruto greeted him, still smiling. "Sorry, Ino wanted me to stay late. I had to take a minute to remind her I was not one of those employees who went above and beyond the call of duty."

Sasuke shrugged in response, but Naruto's grin didn't falter. "Just give me a minute. I have to grab my stuff and then we can get out of here."

Sasuke nodded, but Naruto had already turned and disappeared through the staffroom door. Sasuke wondered if he had to make conversation with Naruto. Something like that would be expected when spending time with another person. He grimaced at the idea.

He didn't really have anything to say.

"Okay, let's go." Naruto was back and practically dancing as he shifted his weight from foot to foot. Sasuke fought the urge to role his eyes at the hyperactivity as he slid out of the booth and followed Naruto out the door.

By the end of the movie, Sasuke was almost completely relaxed. He hadn't had to talk much, at least no more than his usual 'Hn'. Naruto provided most of the conversation.

They'd gone to see some animated movie. Sasuke had arched an eyebrow at Naruto's choice, but the blonde just shrugged and smiled at him. Sasuke couldn't remember the last time he had gone to see a kid's movie.

And it hadn't been all that bad. He actually found himself genuinely amused during some parts of it. He hadn't come so close to laughing in a long time.

Naruto had been talking his ear off from the moment they had left the cafe` until the movie let out, and didn't let up as the wandered the busy streets of downtown Konoha. Sasuke now knew that Naruto's favorite color was orange, favorite food was ramen, that he hated having to wake up for classes and stayed up way too late playing video games with his friends. He was an art major, which wasn't really surprising and he lived with a friend in an apartment just off campus.

"So then, of course Kiba ratted me out." Naruto was in the middle telling a rather colorful anecdote about one of his friends. "I don't think Ino's ever beat me so hard in all my life. Which is saying something, cause she hits me a lot."

"Hn." Sasuke grunted as he watched a little girl with pigtails follow her mother across the street. It was a little after seven and the sun had already set, leaving an orange tinted sky full of clouds overhead.

"So, do you wanna get something to eat?" Naruto bounced a few steps closer to him and looked at him expectantly. The bright orange of his hoody hurt Sasuke's eyes. Sasuke debated it for a minute, before giving up. The puppy eyes Naruto was giving him made him nod his head in agreement. Naruto beamed.

"Pizza sound good?" When Sasuke shrugged, Naruto let out a howl of victory. "Shikamaru and Kiba never let me pick where we eat." He told Sasuke, his face contorting to a pout. Sasuke marvelled at how similar he was to a child.

Ten minutes later and they were tucked in a corner booth at one of Konoha's more crowded pizza parlors. Naruto had ordered a large pepperoni pizza for the both of them and then proceeded to eat half of it himself.

"So," He said through a bite of pizza. His grease coated lips shined as he licked them. "What do you do? Other than write, I mean."

Sasuke's eyes widened for a second as his brain processed the question. Naruto hadn't asked him anything all night, so Sasuke had assumed he could get out of this without having to be too personal. He felt like a deer caught in the headlights as Naruto stared at him expectantly.

"I do what everyone does." Sasuke said finally. "Wake up, work, eat, sleep. Wake up again." Naruto raised an eyebrow and Sasuke got the feeling that answer wasn't going to get him off the hook. "What about friends?" Naruto asked, taking another bite of pizza. Sasuke shrugged.

"I lost touch with most of my friends after college." He sounded as indifferent as he could manage. He was fidgeting on the inside, uncomfortable with the turn the conversation had taken. "The only friend I really have now is Sakura. I've know her since we were children, so she won't go away."

Naruto laughed loudly and Sasuke failed to see what part of the statement was funny. After his chuckles calmed down and he took a drink of soda, he started up with the questions again. "What does she do?"

Well, at least they weren't about Sasuke anymore.

"She's a fashion designer." Sasuke took a bite of his own pizza as Naruto nodded.

"That's cool. Every girl's dream, right?" Sasuke shrugged. He didn't really know anything about girls, let alone their dreams. He didn't know much about men either. Or people. Or himself. He didn't know anything about anything.

Panic rose in his throat as the thoughts swarmed around his mind. He felt like he was choking on them. He reached for his bag reflexively when Naruto asked another question. "So is she your girlfriend?"

Sasuke snorted, which caused Naruto raise an eyebrow at him. "No." He said curtly. "She's engaged to a business investor named Kakashi."

"A business investor?" Naruto sounded skeptical. "Where's the fun in that? Aren't business investors kind of boring?"

Sasuke almost grinned as a mental image of Kakashi flitted through his thoughts. No, boring was definitely one thing Kakashi was not. "Not this one." He said, picking up his pizza to take another bite. He froze.

Where had the panic gone?

His eyes widened. One minute he had felt like he was going to be thrown into another attack and then what, it just disappeared?

"Really?" Naruto asked, wiping his hands on a napkin before throwing it down on his plate. "Then what is he?"

"Eccentric." Sasuke deadpanned. Naruto grinned. After a few moments of silence, the conversation took a more comfortable turn as Naruto started an anecdote about Kiba being late for class one day, which seemed to bring on a series of unfortunate events until all of them ended up having to do an extra assignment.

It was pitch black outside by the time they left the pizza shop, the only light was slightly orange hue of the street lamps. The city seemed to have calmed down while they were away from it. It looked like a sleepy scene from a Christmas card, with bright lights strung on the trees of the park across the street and strings of them hung tackily in the windows of shops.

Sasuke looked at his watch. It was nine now. He had spent almost two hours sitting in a pizza parlor with a total stranger and hadn't had a panic attack once.

This was new to him. And not entirely unpleasant. Even if Naruto was loud and obnoxious and invasive.

Sasuke's chest clenched slightly as he realized that it would end soon. That Naruto had homework to do and people to see the next day. That the strange familiarity they'd fallen into would end as abruptly as it had started, probably never to begin again.

The idea of it seemed more isolating than the empty apartment waiting for him at home.

"Naruto." He said suddenly, catching himself by surprise as he interrupted whatever tale the blonde was telling. He lifted his eyes from the ground to meet Naruto's curious blue ones. "What are you doing on the twentieth?"

Sasuke could hear his phone ringing as he unlocked the door to his apartment. Once inside, he turned on the light and dropped his keys on the counter before picking up his screaming Blackberry. It was Sakura.

"Yes?"

"Where have you been?!" Sakura shrieked into his ear. He held the phone away for fear of impairing his hearing as she shouted at him. "I called you four times! Four! And you didn't answer once! Nine-Tails closed two hours ago! Where were you?"

"Out." He said curtly as he placed the phone over his ear again. An eerie silence greeted him from the other side of the phone as Sakura seemed to be processing the information.

"Out?" She sounded skeptical. "Out where?"

"I was at a movie." Sasuke said idly. He picked up the pile of mail that was sitting on his counter and started flipping through it. He paused as he looked at the Christmas card his parents had sent him.

'Holiday Greetings from the Uchiha's.'

It had one of those appalling family pictures on it. He and Itachi stood in front of his parents as they stared at the camera, looking anything but cheery in their holiday sweaters. He snorted.

"A movie." Sakura repeated, astonishment coloring her tone. "I'm sorry, this is Sasuke, right? Uchiha Sasuke? King of all things cynical and mundane? I think I may have the wrong number."

"Shut up." He grunted as he tossed the pile of mail back on the counter and started a pot of coffee.

"I'm sorry." She didn't sound it. "I just can't remember the last time I heard of you being 'out' anywhere, other than at Nine-Tails, which hardly counts as an outing. Did you go to the movie by yourself?"

"No." He answered truthfully. He had learned a long time ago it was easier to be honest with Sakura and let her get all of the berating out of her system, than hide things and have her find out about them later. And she would find out about this later.

"Who did you go with?" She demanded. Sasuke didn't know whether to be hurt or amused by the disbelief in her voice. He opted for neither and remained impassive.

"Naruto." He said, not intending to give any kind of explanation as to who that was.

"Wait, wait," Sakura sounded thoughtful. "The art prodigy from Konoha University? The really loud blonde one?" Sasuke paused for a moment, confused. He put the pot of coffee down and picked up his mug, before going into the living room to sink into his couch. He didn't remember telling Sakura about Naruto.

"How did you know that?" He asked, wondering if he should be concerned about his privacy. Maybe she had private investigators following him.

"That's my boss's nephew." Sakura told him, sounding smug that she had guessed correctly. "He's always in here yelling at her, calling her an old hag. Tsunade-sensei really hates it."

"Hn." Sasuke opened his laptop and pulled up his novel. He was going to write tonight. Probably all night, again. His writer's block hadn't gone away entirely, but it had lessened to the point where he could actually enjoy the experience of his own creativity.

"Well, I don't know what to do with myself." Sakura deadpanned. "Sasuke made a friend. I don't know who I should call first, my mother or yours. Neither of them will believe me."

"Don't you dare call my mother." The threat was plain in Sasuke's voice. He knew Sakura talked to his family from time to time, but they did not need to know about the inner-workings of his personal life. Or lack thereof, up until this point.

"Fine, fine." Even over the phone, he could tell she was holding her hands up in surrender. "You should bring him to the engagement party." She suggested, excitement coloring her tone.

Sasuke snorted.

"What?" She demanded. "Are you afraid to bring him?

"No," Sasuke said as he took a sip of coffee, a smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth. "I already invited him."

It was a quiet Monday evening. Unusually quiet for downtown Konoha. The entire town seemed tired by the holidays. Things like Christmas shopping and family reunions weighed heavily on people during the holidays. Sasuke was one of three people at Nine-Tails. A very slow night for the cozy cafe`.

Naruto was chatting with Ino behind the bar. Sasuke glanced up just in time to see her smack his shoulder playfully before returning his attention to his laptop.

It was almost finished.

The atrocious novel that had plagued his existence for the last five months was almost complete. The first draft, anyways. He'd have to turn it in to his publisher, and then revise and revise and revise...

Just thinking about it made his head hurt.

Ten minutes later, Sasuke had finished his cup of coffee and exited the word document on his computer and was in the process of packing it away in his bag when Naruto walked over to him.

"Where are you going?" He asked, tilting his head. "It's only five. Usually you're here until close on Monday's." Sasuke didn't know whether to be flattered or creeped out at how well Naruto knew his schedule.

"Shopping." Sasuke said shortly as he pulled his bag over his shoulder. Naruto raised his eyebrows comically and his mouth parted in a large 'O'.

"Shopping?" He repeated once he regained his composure. Sasuke simply nodded. "You never really struck me as the shopping kind of guy."

Sasuke almost rolled his eyes. "I have to get Sakura a present for the engagement party." He explained, annoyed at Naruto's assumption.

"The one you invited me to?"

"Hn." Naruto seemed to take that as a yes, because he nodded. Sasuke stared at him for a moment before heading for the door. Naruto followed him. "Mind if I come?" He asked, much to Sasuke's chagrin. Sasuke paused with his hand the door knob as he thought it over.

"Hn."

An hour later, Sasuke felt like killing himself. He hated shopping malls. Too many people bustling around with bags too large for their small purchases. Too many bright fluorescent lights overhead and loud teenage girls giggling to each other.

Naruto tagged along behind Sasuke as they wandered from store to store. Even though Sasuke had known Sakura for years, he still had no idea what to get her when it came to presents. Usually he opted for his presence as the gift. She was always whining about how they never had time to hang out anymore.

He didn't think Kakashi would enjoy his presence quite as much as Sakura would.

"What about this?" Naruto asked. Sasuke turned and looked at the item indicated. And continued looking.

"What is that?" He had never seen such an atrocious looking object in his life.

"It's a waffle iron." Naruto said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"It's pink." Sasuke pointed out.

"You said she liked pink!"

"Why is there a cat on it?"

"It's 'Hello Kitty' dammit!"

Naruto and Sasuke glared at each other for a few seconds, until Naruto busted up laughing. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, not entirely sure what was funny about the situation, but shrugged and moved on. He'd like to find a present and get out of there as soon as possible.

"So, how long have you and Sakura known each other, exactly?" Naruto asked as Sasuke examined a pair of silver candlesticks. "Don't even think of getting her that." Naruto told him, as if reading Sasuke's mind. When Sasuke looked over at him, he shrugged. "It's too stuffy. Sakura is young, right? And she's a fashion designer. I doubt she'd like candlesticks."

Sasuke sighed and ran a hand through his hair in frustration, glancing over to see Naruto staring at him. He still hadn't answered the question. "Since we were four." He said shortly, leaving the store they were in to go find a better one. "Her mother and my mother met one day while we were both at pre-school, apparently. They hit it off."

Naruto nodded but didn't say anything. Sasuke couldn't remember the last time he had talked so much about himself. Or anything, for that matter. He didn't know if he liked the change. It wasn't so much that he had anything to say, it was more like Naruto dragging answers out of him.

Usually, that would annoy Sasuke. He would ignore him and walk away rather than answer personal questions. Actually, he probably never would have given Naruto the time of day in the first place.

But he was tired of being alone.

One hour and many arguments later, they left the mall and headed on foot toward the direction of Sasuke's apartment.

They had decided on a salad shooter for the gift. You could never go wrong with a salad shooter.

It was pink.

A/N - And there you go. A relationship blooms between our stoic hero and his blonde counterpart. Reviews are appreciated, as always!