Querencia

Chapter Seventeen

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"Oh, girl. You and yo man is better than any soap opera out there." Akame laughed loudly as Sakura retold of the events that happened in the past week that caused the level of gossipping around the ward to increase immensely.

"Oh my gosh, can you not Akame? You're not helping the situation at all." The rosette groaned as she dropped her head into the palm of her hands and messing her hair in the process.

"It totally is, I'm telling you." Akame continued. "Like seriously, where's the popcorn? I'm going to need same." To egg Sakura on even more, she even went as far as opening up random cabinets in search for her buttery and delightful snack.

Swatting her hands away from her desk, Sakura retorted hotly, "Ha ha, very funny."

"Relax, Sakura." Akame said as she plopped back down into the seat right across of her. "I honestly don't see anything wrong with what he did. A little on the extra side, but hey, if I had you as a girlfriend, I would have done the same. You're hot."

Unable to keep a straight face after what Akame had said, Sakura began to laugh uncontrollably. As she did so, Akame couldn't help but laugh along with her at the statement that she just made.

"Honestly, if I didn't have him, you would have fitted into my type as well."

"Yeah, but if you floated the other way, you would have been taken by Ino anyways." Akame pouted before sighing exasperatedly, "What does a girl have to do a land a smoking hot partner?"

"Search for one on the internet? Landasmokinghotpartner .com?" Sakura suggested jokingly, earning her a shove on the shoulder. "Oh okay, you know I didn't mean that." Digging into one of her desk drawers, she pulled out a gold embossed invitation, and handed it to Akame. As Akame opened the invitation, Sakura told her. "There's a gala for the company later this month. You should go. I'm sure your dad has already told you about it." Shrugging her shoulders, Sakura gave her a mischievous smile. "Who knows, maybe you'll find Mr. Smoking Hot there."

Eyeing the girl knowingly, Akame said, "You know someone and you're trying to play matchmaker aren't you?"

"Am I?"

"That's what I'm asking."

"Who knows." Sakura winked.

Glaring her down for a moment longer, Akame questioned the rosette's crazy motives. But not more than a second later, she hugged the invitation close to her heart, exclaiming, "Oh my gosh! Yes! Please work your matchmaking, cupid powers on me, I beg of you. I've been single for so long."

Patting her friend on the back comfortingly, Sakura laughed at Akame's over the top reaction. "There, there. Your fairy godmother is here to save the day."

"Bless your soul."

"Hmm."

"Have you found a dress for the event yet?"

"I think so," Sakura began as she racked her mind for the answer. And then it dawned on her that Sasuke once mentioned over lunch a while back that he had already bought a dress for her. "Actually, yeah. I do have a dress."

"Let me guess, Sasuke bought you one already."

"Maybe."

Rolling her eyes, Akame slammed her hands down on Sakura's desk dramatically, saying, "Just marry the man already girl."

"I will." Sakura couldn't help but let the fits of laughters escape her body at her friend's request. Once she had calmed down, she added, "Once it's the right time."

"And when is that?"

"Who knows? Only time will tell."

"Time for me to start talking about it to Sasuke then." Akame nodded confidently.

"Okay, you need to slow down there. We're still young, Akame. We have time. No need to rush." Sakura assured the girl. "Plus, when the time comes, we'll know."

"It better be before I turn like forty." Akame huffed. "Didn't you say it took you guys until college to get together? Lord knows when you two will actually tie the knot."

"You're definitely exaggerating now."

"Why thank you. That's what I do best, Sakura."

"No shit."

"And that's why you love me." Akame said sweetly as she threw in a heart sign for good measures. "Isn't that right?"

"Hmm."

.

Stepping past the automatic doors, Sakura groaned the moment that she was outside. It had been raining all week, today included, and it didn't show any signs of letting up. If anything, it was raining harder. It was downpouring out with the wind blowing so hard that the rain began going in the horizontal direction. Based on the weather they've had all week, you would think that she would have remembered to bring an umbrella. But she didn't.

Pulling her white coat closer around her body, Sakura cried, "Mr. Almighty up there, we've had enough rain already, please stop, I beg of you." And the answer she got back was an extremely loud clap of thunder that shook her to the core. Rolling her eyes, she mumbled, "Nevermind…"

Mentally preparing herself and bracing her body for the rain, Sakura dashed out from under the roof of the hospital building. Before a single drop of rain was able to land onto her body though, she felt the air being knocked out from her lungs as she ran into a hard, sturdy chest. As she began to fall backwards from the impact, Sakura felt a strong arm slip around her back and steadied her.

"Seriously, Sakura. What did I say about calling me when you're out?" Sasuke reprimanded her with narrow eyes. Flicking her on the forehead, he added, "Also, what kind of crazy person are you to go against this crazy ass weather? It's at least a ten minute walk from here to the company."

Avoiding his eyes, Sakura gave a timid smile, saying, "Adventure is out there…?"

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke pulled her body close to him so that she was inside the umbrella as much as possible. With his hands on her shoulders, he sighed. "You're completely insane. Come on, let's go."

As the two of them stepped out into the rain, underneath the covers of the umbrella, silence enveloped the two. They walked comfortably across the parking lot, listening to the pitter patter of the raindrops landing all around them. It seemed like winter was slowly coming to a close as it was particular warm in the past couple of days with all the rain, leaving the air to be uncomfortably humid and a bit more earthy.

Sasuke opened the passenger's door for her and helped her in while shielding her from the rain. Once she was inside and settled, he closed the door before running to the other side and hastily getting inside. Throwing the umbrella onto the floor behind him, he started the car, and immediately started the windshield wipers.

When he shifted the car into reverse, Sakura suddenly beamed as a pleasing aroma reached her nose. "Wait! Is that Thai food I smell?" Whipping her head around in her seat, she spotted a familiar takeout bag sitting in the backseat. With stars practically shining in her eyes, she asked him hopefully, "Please tell me that's what I think it is?"

Not saying anything in return, Sasuke pulled out of the parking lot with a tiny smirk on his lips. And that smirk pretty much equal a yes.

"Oh my gosh! Thank you!" Sakura clasped her hands together, praising to who ever was up there for the food. Smiling, she asked him, "How did you know that I've been wanting Thai food?"

"Well," Sasuke began as he reached across and laid his hand on her thigh, "I know you best don't I?"

"Well, yes."

"But also, you've been texting me about pad thais and curry all week long, Sakura." He chuckled.

"Okay," she began, " I texted you about it like once this week and that was like three days ago."

Giving her a look, he monotonously said, "Sakura, you sent me paragraphs about it. For an hour straight."

"Okay! Fine. I was a little crazy about it."

"Hm."

"But thank you, Sasuke."

"Hn." He nodded. Eyes still on the road, he removed his hand from her thigh and reached for something in the cup holders. Holding out a cream, orange colored drink to her, he said, "I also got you this."

Immediately taking it from his grasp, she shouted excitedly, "Oh my gosh! You got me a Thai milk tea too? I freaking love you."

"I love you too."

Taking a sip of the sweet drink, Sakura moaned, "This is a gift from the heavens. It's unreal for something to be this good."

"Hm, sure."

"No I'm serious." Sakura claimed as she continued to sip on the drink. "This is literally perfection.'

"It's just milk and tea."

"Okay, it is not just milk and tea." She argued hotly, holding a possessive hand over the drink. "That's like equivalent to saying tomatoes are just a fruit."

"That's because they are, Sakura." He snorted.

"Well, you get what I mean, don't you?"

"No, not really. But let's say sure."

"You're unbelievable."

"If I was so unbelievably, would I have gotten you it then?"

Sighing, Sakura mumbled, "Okay, you got me there."

After a little while, their conversations began to shift away from trivia things to more about work related items. And as they did so, Sakura noticed that Sasuke had discarded his black tie a long time ago, probably before he had came to pick her up. He had also had a couple of the top buttons of his shirt undone, revealing a bit more of his collar bone. With the warmth that his hand was radiating off onto her thighs, she began to feel a flustered. Which was why, when the car pulled to a stop at a red light, Sakura reached over and pulled on his open collar, making him turn his head in her direction. As he did so, she wasted no time before covering his lips with hers.

.

It had been a couple hours since they had gotten back to his office. By this point, his personal assistant was long gone and they were the only few left on the floor as everyone else had gone home.

Eyes slowly becoming crossed at looking at so many medical documents, Sakura pushed her laptop away and stood up, stretching like a cat in the process. Once all the knots and kinks in her back were undone, she walked over to where Sasuke was sitting at his desk, which was littered with empty takeout boxes, empty coffee cups, and an endless amount of papers. The moment they had arrived, Sasuke had threw his suit jacket elsewhere and had rolled his sleeves up to his elbows.

Slipping behind him, she wrapped her around his neck as she peeked at the papers he was reading. "How many more do you have to review?"

"This and then that stack over there." He told her without looking up from the papers in his hand. When he heard her sigh, Sasuke reached up and placed a hand over her own. "But we can leave after I finish this one."

"No, it's fine." Sakura shook her head, hands wrapping themselves a little tighter around him. Burying her face, into the junction between his neck and shoulder, she mumbled, "You should finish it here so that you don't have to worry about it when we get home."

"I'm getting tired from reading these all anyways." Sasuke assured her. "I'm going to a need a break before the next set."

"Alright."

After a couple more minutes of reading though, Sasuke sighed, closing his eyes. As he leaned back against her, Sakura gave him a light peck on the lips. A giggle slipped past her lips, "Admit defeat already?"

Opening eyes, he gazed at her tiredly, "Hn."

"I figured so. That's why I came over here and bothered you in the first place." She laughed, giving him another kiss before laying a couple more on his jawline. "I knew you were over it a long time ago. Figured it was time for me to save you from the misery."

With sarcasm dripping from his voice, he said, "How thoughtful of you, Sakura."

Feigning innocent, she replied, "No problem."

As she began to help him reorganize his desk, Sakura said, "I think we both need to distress after all this work." But as she took another look at the big stack of papers that the both of them still had, she reconsidered that thought. "Okay, maybe we both need a distressor before going back to it."

Clasping the cuffs of his sleeves back together, he asked, "Such as?"

"Guess we need to find out." Sakura pulled the tie over his head and began to knot it into place at the base of his neck. Making eye contact with him, she asked, "Any suggestions?"

At her choice of words, Sasuke simply gave her a single raised eyebrow. And as he did so, Sakura smiled and daringly pulled him close by his black tie. Tilting her head up to look at him, she felt his hands on her hips and lower back. Lips merely an inch away from each other, she breathed, "Why aren't you cheeky mister."

Scoffing in amusement, he said, "I think that's you, Sakura."

"But you're not denying that we're thinking the same thing."

"And what is that that you're thinking, Sakura?" He teased, his breath warm against her cheeks, sending shivers down her spine.

The longer she gazed into his deep colored eyes, the less resistant she felt. And she believed Sasuke felt the same as well judging from the way his hand was trailing way past her hips. With every ticking second, she felt herself relax a little more and more until she was leaning onto him, feeling all of the warmth that was radiating from him. Cheeks flushing a little from the intense gaze that Sasuke had on her, leaving her head in a dizzy. Tilting her head, she tipped toed up to meet him halfway.

Only to break away before they're lips can even touch as the door to his office swung open after a light knock. "Mr. Uchiha, I'm-."

At the sudden unwanted interruption, Sasuke let out a couple explicits, earning him a punch from Sakura, who flushed a darker red than before.

There at the door was none other than Natsuki, standing eyes wide.

Even though the moment had been rudely interrupted, Sasuke hadn't removed his hands from her body and Sakura hadn't bothered to remove herself from his arms either, leaving them in a very close proximity with each other.

Mouth still agap, Natuski stuttered out, "W-wait, are you guys actually dating?"

{A/N}: Originally, this chapter was supposed to be a bit longer, but I decided to end it here. It's still a pretty long chapter, so I hope you guys don't mind. I was supposed to update this earlier, but me and my boyfriend finally got a chance to go watch Black Panther, and let me tell y'all... the movie was freaking amazing. So good, that I'm going to see it again on Tuesday. Have you guys watched it? If you haven't, I highly recommend it.

Anyways, hope you guys liked the chapter. As always, remember to leave me a review with your thoughts. Let's see if we can get this story to 250 reviews by next chapter? Also, it was nice see some new "faces" in the reviews. I see you my lovely silent readers~

Thank you to: ILoveSxS, Three 7s, Emily da great, The Green Blossom, P. C. Y. E. X. O. 0714, chizuruyamamoto, Yui Kuran, 7HeartAndSoul7, and multiple guest anons.