Querencia

Chapter Thirteen

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The moment he stepped into the foyer, this mother was already there, taking his coat from him and asking excitedly, "How have you been, dear? How's college?" Hugging Sasuke tightly, she wiggled his body from side to side in her embrace. When she didn't see a particular pink haired girl, whom she was very fond of, trailing behind him, she asked him with a frown, "Where's Sakura? How is she doing?"

"She's fine, Ma." Sasuke patted his mother's shoulder as he pulled out of her tight embrace. "She caught a cold so she's at home."

"A cold?" Mikoto exclaimed, mouth agap. Smacking her son on the arm, she lectured, "Then what are you doing here? You should be taking care of the girl, Sasuke! I know I've taught you better than this."

Sasuke couldn't help but roll his eyes at his mother's over exaggeration. Leave it to his mother to make a typical cold seem like a dangerous disease. Resting his hands on her shoulders, he led the both of them into the kitchen. "Ma, she's fine. She just needs some rest. It's nothing but a minor cold."

"But that does not mean you can leave the girl alone like that, Sasuke." Mikoto continued to scold.

Sighing exasperatedly, Sasuke rested his elbows on the kitchen counter. "Then what do you want me to do?"

"Take care of her," Mikoto stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. As she reached inside a cupboard and pulled out a pot, she added, "And you're going to be bring her some warm soup courtesy of your mother. While I'm doing that, you should go buy her some tissues and medicine for the cold. You're welcome, darling."

"Ma," he sighed again. Reaching over her petite frame, he turned off the stove. "I already bought her some last night and I made her soup this morning. She's fine. She's actually the one that told me to go visit you."

"Oh,"

"Hn."

Smiling brightly, Mikoto clasped her hands over her chest, "She's such a lovely thing, isn't she?"

"She is."

"Well, regardless if she already has some soup, nothing beats my cooking!" Mikoto exclaimed as she turned the stove back on and proceeded to gather the ingredients for her signature tomato bisque. "And I'm sure you're hungry as well."

Feeling that it was rather pointless to tell her that he had already gotten something to eat with Naruto just before coming over, Sasuke kept quiet and allowed his mother to go on with her things. Not to mention, he would never turn down his mother's cooking anyways.

.

Halfway through the afternoon, Sasuke wasn't sure how but his mother had managed to roped him into assisting her with her rose bushes. He didn't have a particular green thumb when it came to these things but Mikoto did. So here he was, snipping the thorns off of roses and moving pots of them back and forth. But he didn't particularly mind. Sakura was right, it has been a long time since he had spent some time with his family. And he had missed his mother.

His mother, in comparison to the usual stoic Uchiha image, was a very talkative person. She had filled the whole afternoon with her constant chatter; asking him about college and Sakura, keeping him up to date with the family business, and the gossips floating around town.

And then out of the blue, he heard his mother say, "You know, I'm expecting some dark or pink haired grandchildren running around soon."

Stunned, he stopped what he was doing, holding a single rose limp in his hands, choking on his breath.

Not even bothering to look over at him, Mikoto continued, "Oh, don't look so shocked, Sasuke. We both know Itachi is not looking to settle down anytime soon with how the company is running. Since my first born can't give me any grandchildren, then my second one can, yes?"

Sighing, Sasuke replied, "Ma, we're not even finished with college yet? Not to mention, after graduation, Sakura still has pharmacy school to worry about. And I know she's not planning on settling down anytime soon. She wants to travel and do other things before then."

"Oh, so you have thought about it?" Mikoto asked, laughing at her son's slightly flushed cheeks. Reaching over to pinch his cheek, she beamed, "When are you planning on proposing then?"

"Not anytime soon, Ma."

Sighing in an over dramatic manner, Mikoto weeped, "My sons don't love me enough to get married and give me a bunch of adorable grandchildren."

As his mother continued to ramble on about her "miserable" life, Sasuke felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Pulling it out, he didn't waste more than a second before answering it when he saw a splash of pink popping up on his screen.

"Sakura?" He whispered quietly the moment he got out of earshot from his mother.

"Hey, yeah, sorry for bothering you, Sasuke..,"

"You're never a bother, Sakura, you know that."

"But you're supposed to be spending quality time with your family."

"And I have," Sasuke replied, running a hand through his ebony locks. As he glanced over his shoulder at his mother, he found her grinning back at him widely, shooing him to continue on with his phone call with Sakura. Rolling his eyes, he said, "But I think my mom has been dying to get me back to you."

Over the phone, Sakura gave out a little giggle, "Sounds like Mikoto to me." After a couple of coughs, she said, "I'm not sure when you're planning on leaving, but can you swing by the pharmacy and grab me my prescription? Doctor just sent in a prescription for me."

"Yeah, I'll grab it." He told her softly. "Do you want anything else?"

"Ice cream please."

"Really, ice cream?" Sasuke chuckled.

"Okay, you know there's nothing wrong with eating a little bit of ice cream when you're sick. Plus I'm burning up and I need something to cool me down."

"That's why you have a cool wet cloth on your head, Sakura."

"Oh, whatever, Sasuke. Just get me some ice cream please."

"Yeah, alright. I'll get you some."

After exchanging a couple more words with her, Sasuke told her goodbye and that he'll see her soon. When he turned around to let his mother know that he was leaving soon, he was surprised to see her already standing behind him and holding out a soup container to him. Pushing him out of the room. "I already heard everything. So you, darling, need to get going and go back to Sakura."

Once they got to the front door, she gave him a light peck on the cheek and told him to promise her to come back again to visit, but with Sakura next time.

"I will, Ma."

"Good," Mikoto smiled. Pointing at the container, she said, "Make sure you heat it thoroughly, stirring it so that it doesn't heat up unevenly. And before she goes to bed, make her some hot tea with honey and lemon. Also, don't let her eat too much ice cream. I know she has a sweet tooth but it's not going to be good for recovery."

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke extended an arm out and hugged his mother goodbye. "I know, Ma. And I'm sure Sakura knows what her body needs."

"I know, I know." Mikoto replied, waving her hands. "I'm just being a worry wart as usual. Sakura is practically family. Well, she is family."

"Aa."

.

Stepping into his apartment, he turned around to lock the door before slipping into his house slippers. Just as he was about to walk into the kitchen, to put away all of the food, Potato came running out and started to yap and bite at his ankles in a whining manner.

"Alright, alright. I know. Give me a moment," Sasuke mumbled as he continued to store away the endless amount of food that his mother had urged him into taking home. The longer he continued to stay in the kitchen, the louder Potato began yapping. It got to a point to where the little pup was biting on the hem of his pants, a poor attempt in dragging him to wherever it was that he had in mind.

Giving up on putting away all the food in an organized manner, Sasuke sighed and looked down at Potato. Tilting his head in the direction of the bedroom, he said, "Alright, go on." Then without another word, the little thing was dashing away. As Sasuke followed him into the bedroom, he found himself looking at a rather unpleasant sight. And from the way that Potato was fully barking now, he was just as displeased at the sight as his owner.

There on his bed was Itachi, all cuddled up with a slightly annoyed and feverish looking Sakura. Itachi had the poor girl locked in his arms with his fingers were running through her pink locks.

Before he could even voice his displeasure, Itachi had beat him to it. "Took you long enough, little brother. Our poor Sakura here was about to die."

From the way that she was pressed against Itachi's chest, her voice was heavily muffled. But his keen ears could still make out her words, "He's exaggerating, Sasuke."

Patting her on the head, Itachi argued, "It is the truth! How could you leave our sweet Sakura here, shivering away to the cold. She's colder than a freezer, Sasuke."

As Sasuke reached her side, he immediately pulled her free from Itachi's tight embrace and into his own. True to his words, Itachi was right, Sakura was freezing. Tucking the comforter tighter around her, he rubbed his hand up and down her shoulders. Glancing down at her, he asked, "Do you need more layers?"

Shaking her head against his chest, she said, "No, I'm good."

Seeing that she was good and feeling a little warmer, Sasuke averted his gaze back to his brother, who was successfully shoved off from their bed, thanks to a rather aggressive Potato. With a smirk on his lips, Sasuke reached out to pat the pup proudly. "So why are you here? Aren't you suppose to be in China right now?"

"I was," Itachi hummed. "But, I got word from mother that Sakura was sick. So I came back to see how bad you are at taking care of her."

"It's a common cold. Not a deadly disease."

"Same difference," Itachi commented. Dismissing the silly conversation with a wave with his hand, he said, "I'm actually here to discuss some business matters with you."

Raising an eyebrow, Sasuke asked, "Such as…?"

Itachi sighed and tilted his head out to the living room, "Come on."

Making sure that Sakura was all situated and comfortable, he instructed Potato to keep her company. With his hands in his pockets, Sasuke walked out of the room. As soon as they were out of earshot, Sasuke said, "What matters?"

"Father wants you to run the branch company in China for its first couple of months. Maybe two or three months. But that might change depending on how things goes."

"Why?"

Itachi shrugged, "Not really sure. But it probably has something to do with our China partner's daughter being particularly fond of you."

At these words, Sasuke couldn't help but roll his eyes. "And?"

"It'll just make the process a little smoother."

"I highly doubt it. If anything, it's going to cause more problems."

"Guess we'll just see."

Shaking his head, Sasuke voiced out, "I didn't say that I would agree to it."

"You don't really have a choice this time, little brother." Itachi told him. Patting him on the shoulders, he said, "You backed out on the last couple of times already. Father's not going to let you go on this one. It's a big business deal that he's been trying to accomplish for a while now."

"I have Sakura, and he knows this." Sasuke retorted, slowly getting irritated by the whole conversation with each passing minute. "I have no desire to go to China and finesse around with some billionaire's daughter, who I have no interest in, to get a business deal."

"Well, welcome to the business world. Sometimes you win some, sometimes you lose some."

Groaning, Sasuke said, "Where the hell did father even get this idea from? It's so pointless."

"Just go Sasuke. She's really nice," Sakura croaked from the bedroom, shocking him out of his annoyed moment. Whipping his head up, he glared at Itachi, "You told her?"

"Why of course." Itachi nodded as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Smiling lightly, he clapped his brother on the back, "I mean she's going too. Why wouldn't I tell her about it."

"What?"

Chuckling, Itachi pulled him into a headlock, ruffling his hair in the process. "Oh, why so serious baby brother? You looked like you were about to march into father's office and throw a huge tantrum." Tightening his hold on Sasuke, he said, "Did you really think father would do something like that? Have you go overseas and fool around with that chick, when you have a gorgeous girl waiting for you at home?"

"Wouldn't be surprised." Sasuke mumbled underneath his breath, which earned him a hard smack from his brother. After a couple more minutes of struggling, Itachi finally stopped.

Standing back up to his normal height, Itachi readjusted his black suit. As he walked away to the front door, he said with a smile, "I think you two will enjoy China in the winter." Before walking out the door, he popped back in and threw a gold package at Sasuke with a wink. "Just don't enjoy it too much."

Confused by his brother's words, Sasuke looked down at the gold box that he caught. Groaning, he tossed the box onto the side table and yanked the door back open, fully intent on kicking Itachi's ass.

It was a fucking box of condoms.

{A/N}: Stressful week so I decided it was time for me to relax and bust out the rest of this chapter lol. I've been busy and had a bit of writer's block. But here's the next chapter with the return of classic teasing Itachi. (Also, it's a lowkey slow burn story y'all, they haven't slept with each other yet.) Hoped you guys liked it as much as I did.

If you did, tell me what you think with a review!

Thank you to: jrenamae1, moonluver92, Chocolatedrops, Kyah-chang, ZainaJay, MademoiselleRED, Kosmas, ILoveSxS, ss. 2u2k. ss, LuminaJu, A, Anya Ishikawa, PeePeeroni, orangetree, uchihaforever, chizuruyamamoto, Yagami Saika, and multiple guest anons.