A/N: Timeline wise, let's say car accident was January, they meet again in February (you know, give him a little time to grieve before being Confused), then her bday will be as usual in March. After this chapter it'll become much lighter in tone with lots of pining.

"What the fuck?" His bread was abandoned on the beige tile floor. The shelves, stacked high with baked goods, felt like they were about to swallow him up.

An elderly woman huffed at the end of the aisle and steered her cart away.

Sakura, or someone who looked exactly like her, smiled even wider, "Hi to you too, Sasuke."

He rubbed his eyes hard, his vision already blurring with tears. His breathing grew shallow and his heart started racing. He hadn't been experiencing hallucinations yet—and he didn't want to start now. The grief was already so painful and confusing, but now he was seeing things under the flourescent lights in the stupid grocery store.

"Why are you doing this to me? Why are you still hurting me?"

"Sasuke? Did I do something wrong? Aren't you happy to see me?" She came closer, wondering what set him off like that. Not even a hello?

"Get away from me. Get away from me, you are not her. You can't be her." And with that, Sasuke tore out of the grocery store and sprinted home.

Except he was so, so weak from his emotional damage and his hunger that he barely got halfway before his muscles screamed at him to stop, and he collapsed on the sidewalk. He heaved, his vision blacking out and his lungs working overtime. But he needed to get home, he needed to get away from whatever happened in that grocery store.

Slowly, he dragged himself to his feet again and hoped someone he knew, or worse, the Konoha Police, wouldn't see him.

The next day, he felt proud of himself because even if he slept until noon, he ordered pizza for lunch. He was still exhausted, and he was starving. A large pepperoni pizza with extra sauce sounded perfect.

The doorbell rang and he pulled the door open while looking down at his wallet, counting the cash.

Except instead of a pizza delivery box, he was staring Sakura straight in the face. And not his Sakura, but the young Sakura he encountered at the grocery store.

"No," he said immediately. He tried to close the door, tried to shut everything out because what the fuck was going on.

But this girl was strong and she stopped the door with one hand, "No, you!" She shouldered her way into the house and closed the door behind her. Sasuke was about to scream when she shakily lifted her fingertips and pressed them lightly against the middle of his forehead.

"I'm telling you, it's me." Her chest was heaving as if she was trying very, very hard to keep it together herself.

He didn't know when he started crying again, but his midnight eyes widened and all the tears spilled out. The white noise rushing through his ears was reduced to silence.

"Sakura?" he whispered in disbelief before crashing into a bone crushing hug.

He saw her, he felt her, he smelled her. He still didn't know what was happening, but for some reason, he didn't want to run away anymore.

"I'm here," she whispered soothingly. She missed him, even if they had only just met when they were sixteen, when they were her age. She remembered him enough to miss him.

"Are..are you sure?" he asked, feeling like a scared little kid, but he was desperate for reassurance.

"Will you let me explain?"

He didn't want to let go, but he was still so confused, so he drew back to look into her eyes and found them unchanged: his favorite shade of green. He was soothed; her eyes wouldn't lie.

"How old are you?" he asked cautiously. Beyond just how the hell she got there, her physical appearance was throwing him off.

"Sixteen."

"Why?" He stepped back again, taking in her smaller frame and rounder face.

"I don't know," she admitted with a half smile, "but that's just how it was when I woke up. I was at my parents' house. And then my body…it's like it was telling me to look for you. So I went to the grocery store and then, you know."

Sasuke felt like a horrible son-in-law because he had hardly checked up on her parents. But he didn't know how he would have helped him if he did call. "Your parents, how are they doing?"

"They're fine, um, I guess they're normal for me. They're younger too, the same age they were when I was sixteen before. From what I've seen today and yesterday, I think you're the only one who's older."

"Why?" he asked again as he led her into the living room and onto a couch. She perched herself naturally on the cushion she always used to occupy. The room felt so much fuller than it had in the past month.

"I don't know." She placed one of the pillows on her lap and hugged it close. She was the one who had chosen those pillows. Everything in the house had her touch. It had been their house.

"When you woke up…did it hurt? Or…" he trailed off, unsure of what his question even was. Was she reborn, was she the same?

"I feel completely fine. I know I left you and this world, but I don't really have any memories leading up to um, the end. I just woke up. Some things are fuzzy, and some things are completely clear. I remember you, of course, but there are some gaps."

So she didn't know how she died. Sasuke breathed in, deciding then and there to never let her know. She shouldn't have to suffer twice. "So in your memories, I'm still me? I'm still there?"

She showed all her teeth when she smiled this time, "Of course you are. You're right there beside me, just like before."

His heart squeezed in his chest. "Sakura, I'm 25." It felt like a dirty secret he was admitting to, but he wasn't sure if she knew, and it wasn't something he could gloss over.

"I know, I have memories of us being the same age, even past sixteen." He was undoubtedly her Sasuke, just older. He had a house, a car, a job. His hair was longer and he was taller. But his eyes were the same, dark and honest.

He nodded. The doorbell rang again and broke the silence. "Pizza's here," he said weakly.

He'd always felt like he'd known Sakura his whole life. They fell in love quickly after meeting—loving her was easy and natural. So maybe in their past lives, they were together too. Some things were just meant to be.

But the thought of meeting someone to take her place never once crossed his mind. She was his soulmate—his one and only.

"It's been hard on you, hasn't it?"

Sasuke turned his face away, not wanting her to see the pained grimace that flashed across his face. They had shared the pizza in silence, and now he was searching for something to fill the silence. He missed everything about her, her daily chattering included. He tried to resume his new normal of a stone faced expression, but sometimes he couldn't help but let the grief surface.

"I'm sorry. If we could trade places, I promise you I would. I don't fully understand it either, but I would never have wanted something like this to happen to you." She was always sensitive to his mood changes. He couldn't hide from her.

"This just still doesn't feel real." He kept rubbing his eyes, making sure he was seeing her correctly.

"It's me, I promise you it's me."

He slowly breathed in and out. Despite the confusion, he knew he still had choices. He had suffered for what felt like a lifetime and now he was going to allow himself to indulge in the comfort of Sakura being back in his life. "I know, I believe you."

Before he knew it, she all but threw her petite body at him and wrapped her arms tightly around his torso. Believing her, not running away from her, was a start.

"Sakura, it hurts," he mumbled.

She loosened her grip and apologized sheepishly. Strong as ever, he thought, of course it's her. He pulled away from her completely, "And we can't." He thought it went unspoken: she's only sixteen and he's already twenty five.

"Please let me. Share your pain, I'm telling you it's okay."

He looked down at her very seriously. She'd always been mature, but the words coming out of her mouth didn't match her youthful face. "You said you would trade places with me, but I would never wish this upon you. You should enjoy being sixteen again. I'll wait."

A/N: I know the word reincarnation usually means someone is born again in a different body with the same spirit, but for this, Sakura is more so transported back in time and she only has some of her memories. The rest of the people in her life are kind of reset and know Sakura as a 16 year old (and only up until then), furthering Sasuke's feelings of confusion and loneliness because he's the only one who aged/stayed in his timeline. This isn't a time travel fic tho, as key Sasuke-related characters (like his brother and parents) are also in his timeline and he has not returned to his 16 year old state. I know good writing should explain this all, but just wanted to try to clear it up, hopefully this helped LOL