Querencia

Chapter Twenty

Just read, enjoy, have a good laugh or two. Have a tear slip here and there. Get mad at cliffhangers or late updates, and review. Even if it's just a one word review~

In all of her life, Sakura never understood how she could be so blessed and fortunate to have someone like Sasuke in her life. Just as she was everything to him, Sasuke was everything to her.

And when he was looking at her the way he was doing right now, as if she was the very center of his entire universe, she could barely breathe. Every time that his lips would caress hers, the whole world stopped, leaving just the two of them together, in each other's arms. Then when he would hold her face in between his hands, it felt like he undid all the knots within her.

Each time that Sakura looked at him, she still felt the same butterflies and love as she did back when they were five, when they first met each other on the school's playground. Nearly two decades have passed and nothing has changed. If anything did, it was simply the love that she had for him grew tenfold. Just as she was his entire universe, Sasuke was hers, and will always be hers.

With tears brimming in her eyes, Sakura through trembling lips whispered, "Yes." And that was about all that she could manage before the water works began, sending her into a blubbering mess as she threw her arms around him tightly.

But all of this was short lived though as not soon after, Sasuke's phone began ringing, calling to their attention that if they don't bolt for it, he was going to be late to the director's meeting this morning. So they all but shared a couple more chaste kisses, before dashing out the door, with a ring gleaming on her left hand.

.

Sasuke had promised to bring her lunch after skipping breakfast this morning and she was very much looking forward to it as the moment that the shared this morning as all too short. So when she heard a soft knock on the door, Sakura hastily put away her paperwork and cleared her desk.

To her surprised though, when she opened the door, the person behind the door was not a certain dark-raven haired man.

Instead it was Mikoto.

Brushing off her initial shock, Sakura backed up from the door and welcomed her in. "Mikoto, I wasn't… expecting you here today…" Unsure of what to do with herself, Sakura simply closed the door behind the woman and led them to the couches in her office. Busying herself with pouring some tea for the both of them, Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin when Mikoto slid her hand onto top of hers. And she nearly had a heart attack when she heard the woman beside her begin to sniffle back tears.

Reaching out for Mikoto, Sakura wrapped her arms around her body. "Oh, please don't cry, Mikoto."

"I'm so sorry darling." Mikoto wept into her shoulders, returning her tight hug. "I'm truly sorry about what had happened at the gala. I was just… so excited about the idea of you two getting married and welcoming you into the family, that I didn't think about how you would have felt at all. How terrible was I to do so!"

Running her hands down Mikoto's back, Sakura couldn't help but almost laugh at Mikoto's crying. The roles were so reversed; it was as if Mikoto was a child being scolded for their wrongdoings and apologizing in return.

"It's alright, Mikoto." Sakura told her as she handed the woman a box of tissues to dry her tears. Smiling, Sakura added, "It looks like it all worked out in the end anyways." Not being able to hold herself back any longer, Sakura eagerly showed Mikoto her left hand.

At first, Mikoto was confused at what she was referring to. But then as she wiped away her tears and saw Sakura's hand extended out to her, Mikoto's head immediately snapped up to meet her eyes. Lips parted, Mikoto exclaimed, "Oh, my dear Sasuke actually did it?"

Grasping Sakura's hand in her own, she admired the diamond nestled in on the silver band. Then looking back up at Sakura, she cried yet again. This time out of pure happiness. "It's absolutely beautiful, sweetheart. Oh, I'm so happy for the both of you." Before Sakura could even hand her some more tissues, Mikoto had her pulled into another tight hug, swaying her from side to side. "You two are perfect for each other. I swear, even if you two didn't end up together for whatever reason, I would have never let Sasuke marry someone else anyways."

In the middle of Mikoto's rambles of happiness, a knock sounded at her door, announcing the arrival of another newcomer. Glancing from over her soon to be mother in law's shoulder, Sakura spotted Sasuke creeping in with their lunch for the day. As he entered, Sasuke simply raised a single eyebrow at the current situation that she was in. Shrugging her shoulders lightly in return, she gave him a small smile.

Sighing, Sasuke gently set down their lunch on the coffee table before coming over to the two ladies. Reaching out for his mother, Sasuke said, "Ma, I think you're overwhelming her with all the crying and being emotional."

"Oh!" Mikoto exclaimed, a bit embarrassed to be caught as she did by her youngest son, she wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. Then waving her tissue in the air, she added, smiling through tears. "Don't mind me darling. I'm just being a mother, that's all. Nothing to worry about."

"Speaking of mothers," Sakura mumbled. Exchanging a look with Sasuke, she frowned, "My parents are not going to be happy about this at all…"

Running a hand down her back in a soothing manner, Sasuke placed a light kiss on top of her head. "Hmm, don't worry about that. I have it covered."

"Nuh uh," she countered back at him. "You can't just weave yourself out of this one, Sasuke." Shaking her head, she added, "My father is going to be so mad that you didn't ask him for his blessing beforehand."

At this, Sasuke simply smirked at her slight distress as he shared a knowing look with his mother. Continuing to run his hands down her back in attempt to soothe her, he said, "Hm, we'll see."

.

It seemed like today was just packed with surprises.

Halfway through their lunch, Sasuke casually told her that they were flying back to Konoha for the weekend as he was finished with the business here for the year. Sakura had certainly not expect that they were going to be able to fly back home for the holidays based on how work was going for him. But low and behold, Sasuke had whisked her away onto a plane heading for Japan not more than a couple hours later.

As they landed in Japan later that evening, Sakura couldn't help but fidget nervously as they waited for their luggage to come around. She haven't even had the time to talk to her parents to tell them that they were coming home, much less mention that she was now engaged. Her mother would be fine, she knew for sure. But her father on the other hand was another thing completely. While he looked a lot more calm and humorous than her mother, he was not one to mess with when it came to relationships with his only daughter.

Taking notice of Sakura's clear display of emotional distress, Sasuke reached out for her and tucked her into his embrace. Then placing a soft kiss on her temple, he reassured her, "Everything will be okay, Sakura. I promise."

"Oh, I don't know Sasuke. You can make and hold a lot of promises, but I don't know about this one." She told him worriedly.

"Have a little faith in me, will you Sakura?" Sasuke chuckled. "Trust me on this one. I have it handled and under control."

Pulling away from his embrace, Sakura whispered, "Maybe we should have brought him some chinese wine before we left. To ease him into the conversation. A little alcohol wouldn't hurt."

"I think you're the one that can use a little alcohol in your veins, dear."

"Maybe I do." Sakura nodded. Tilting her head towards their luggage that was slowly making their way around the luggage carousel, she asked, "You don't happen to have any alcohol in that suitcase of yours for emergencies like this, do you?"

Clasping his hands down on her shoulders, Sasuke gave them a quick squeeze. "Hn, you just need to relax. Come on, it's time for us to leave. We shouldn't keep your parents waiting for too long."

"If it saves us from a bloody war, then I think that they can wait a couple more minutes."

"Stop being dramatic, Sakura."

As he pulled her along towards the exit, Sakura couldn't help but continue to blabber mindlessly out of nervousness. Sasuke all but ignored her blabbering and led her out, searching for her parents amongst the crowd. But it didn't take long for him to locate her father's huge stature and star shaped hair.

"Sakura! Sasuke! Over here!" Kizashi hollered to them as he waved his hands in the air excitedly.

Before they could even exchange hellos, Mebuki immediately envelope the couple into a tight hug. "Oh, how I've missed you too. It's so good to have you back, blossom."

And in that moment, Sakura allowed her worries to slip away for a mere moment as she returned the hug. "I've missed you too Mom."

Then pulling back from their embrace, Mebuki winked at her in a knowing manner. "So, I've heard that China has been treating you very well, my daughter. A little birdy has told me that something very exciting as occurred, am I right?"

Wringing her hands together, Sakura gnawed on her lips. Stealing a quick glance at her father, she hid her hands behind her back. "Uhh, I guess you could say so…."

"Oh, that's nonsense!" Her mother waved her off. Eyes shining bright, her mother exclaimed, "Alright, let me see that ring of yours! Knowing Sasuke, he must have done a wonderful job in finding the perfect ring for you. Come on know, let me see."

Unable to stop her mother's prying hands, Sakura had no choice but to allow her to take a hold of her left hand. To which a loud gasp slipped from Mebuki's lips as she cried out, "Oh my gosh. It's gorgeous, Sakura!"

As this all unfolded, Sakura watched for her father's reaction carefully. And she was surprised to find that he wasn't angry at the sight of the ring at all. Instead, it was quite the exact opposite. Kizashi was happily holding a conversation with Sasuke, his hand clapping Sasuke hard on the back in a congratulatory manner.

Ignoring her mother's constant gushing over her ring for a moment, Sakura asked astonished, "Wait… you're not mad Dad?"

Kizashi howled in laughter at his daughter's sudden question. Shoulders shaking in mirth, he asked in return, "And why would I be dear?"

Eyes widening, Sakura stuttered as she looked between the two men, "A-aren't you mad that Sasuke proposed without asking for your blessing?"

She watched as her father and Sasuke shared a quick look before the both of them laughed, although Sasuke's was much more subdued. But it was still evident that they had found the situation at hand funny, hilarious even.

"Blessing?" Her father repeated, a big smile on his face. Then pulling Sasuke by the shoulders, something like a proud father would do, he told her, "Sweetheart, he asked me for that decades ago. Literally."

"Wait, what?" Sakura was shocked to say so to the least. Averting her attention from her father to Sasuke, she asked, "You did? When? How come I didn't know about this?"

"Oh come on, sweetheart," Kizashi said. "That's the minor details. It's a conversation between us men that you don't need to worry about."

Placing her hands on her hips, she continued to stare at the two men suspiciously, a single eyebrow raised. "Okay, now I'm even more curious."

At her statement, Sasuke simply winked at her as he began to help her father load up their luggage into the car. Then coming back to her, he took her hand and opened the car's door for her. "Come on, it's time for dinner. I'll tell you the story another time."

{A/N}: Yes, hello~ I am very much alive and still working on this lovely fic. I just had a really major writer's block on this one. It took me a very long time to finally settle down and get this chapter done. While it is a bit shorter than the previous chapters, I hope you guys still enjoy this one. As requested since the beginning, Sakura's parents has finally made their appearance!

I will try to make the next update soon and I promise it won't be months again until the next chapter.

Thank you for sticking around with my lazy butt for all this time. Happy Holidays everyone!

Anyways, leave me a review and tell me how you feel about this chapter~

Thank you to: BoycottingLove, chica-flick, BookWormFT, ILoveSxS, SeaInkBlot, Emily da great, BlueMarian, asma raya, chizuruyamamoto, FeistyAya, Mejima, CharlieSlayer, Tipu940, withloveagain, Bsmiles123, Elisa. CFPS, UnknownSoul- x, brenda sianipar, Caila27, muut, fan4ever, jesteeeyn, Sasusaku Uchiha1, and MANY guest anons.