Chapter 15: Gifts

"For you," she said simply.

They had been walking for some time now, bathing in the reassurance of each other's presence. Talking about insignificant things, trying to remember the facts of their lives. He had more success, of course.

A dog named Popo, a favorite sweater that was the color green, a secret hideout to where he went when he thought about his mother…

A part of her was jealous, wishing that she could remember those that she had known and the things that she had liked. But, she reasoned, even if she didn't, it was nice that at least one of them did. At least one of them had a history.

So they had strolled on, conversing until she, on a whim of gratitude, had suddenly plucked a sunflower. Now she offered it to him, a symbol of how appreciative she was of his company.

He looked at the flower and then at her, mouth open in an 'O' that she thought was absolutely adorable. "F-for me?" he stammered and she nodded.

Then he seemed to collect himself. A smirk spread across his face as he reached for the gift. She waited for him to grab the stem; instead, his fingers wrapped themselves on her wrist and pulled her close.

"Ano… have you ever been kissed before?" he asked, eyes intent on her lips,

…bright, sunny day. A field just like this and the heat between them was suffocating but pleasant… and his lips, she never knew that he was such a good kisser…

"I…" she could not speak. Too flustered. Was it the fleeting memories, the ones that she could sense for an instant before they faded again? Was it that… or was it him? His hand was suddenly at her cheek, touching her. Oh… He was cuter up close. She tried to breathe and finished her sentence in shaky, uncertain tones, "…d-don't remember."

"That's too bad."

…he was staring into her eyes, so hopeful, so serious… she had never seen him this way, so intensely focused on her…

This memory was precious, she knew. So very, very precious. She tried hard to cling to it.

Whisper, "Do you mind if I remind you?"

Then there was a hand at her cheek and it guided her mouth closer to his. She felt the heat spreading in her body as she imagined the taste of his lips—

"GET AWAY FROM HER!"

It was only an echo, but she turned to look anyway.

Over Sasuke's shoulder, there was someone standing in the far distance. She could not see his face for he was too far, but he had black hair. And his voice had been overflowing with rage.

"Shimatta…"

Sakura turned to look at Sasuke in surprise. The softness of their moment was gone forever now and all that remained was a hard look of unpleasant surprise. His hand grabbed her wrist and tightened uncomfortably, possessively. The time for confrontation had come.

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Sasuke was madder than he had felt in months and that meant quite a lot coming from a boy who had sought vengeance all his life.

But this… this… this was worse than when Naruto had forced him to face his own inferiority. Almost as bad as when Itachi had mocked his weakness and tossed him aside.

He could not accurately measure the hate he felt; all that he knew was that he was seething, boiling mad, ready to shed blood. His steps were taken with fury as he stalked toward the pair of figures. That shadow had impersonated him. In the same way it had borrowed Naruto's visage, it had taken his face to deceive Sakura. And if his eyesight had been correct, the disgusting thing had been touching her and they had been about to… about to… Oh, how he wished for a sharp kunai!

He stopped in front of them, sickened in his stomach and flushed with the heat of rage.

The shadow stared back with a friendly, taunting smile that seemed too cheerful on his own face. Its words, though, were acidic and spat out with resentment, "I see you made it out of that dream, boy."

"What the hell do you think you're doing, you bastard?" Sasuke hissed, eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Well… I thought you weren't going to finish your little mission so I decided to finish it for you," the shadow explained all too casually. It added, "Finishing it as you was just an extra touch."

"And how is this finishing my mission?" Sasuke growled, gesturing to the flower-filled surroundings.

For a moment, the shadow seemed caught off guard. It seemed to experience a flicker of confusion, "Is-isn't your mission to… stay… with her?"

"You don't have a clue, you idiot," the contempt was blatantly obvious, "I'm here to bring her back."

"Bring… her… back?" Now his face wore a look of utter disbelief and shock.

"Tch," Sasuke muttered, "You're better off wearing Naruto's face. Stupidity doesn't become me."

"N-naruto?"

Abruptly, Sasuke noticed the pink-haired girl hiding timidly behind his 'twin'. He had been too upset to notice at first, wanting to deal with the shadow before anything else. But seeing her again so suddenly took his breath away.

She looked the same. All pensive, green eyes and a pretty, thoughtful look that he had seen so many times before. That, more than anything else, made him experience a sudden rush of hope.

"Naruto?" she said again, her forehead creasing in contemplation, "Why does that name sound so familiar?"

"Sakura…"

Her eyes, previously filled with fear, widened now with astonishment. Her attention reverted back to him again, "Is that… my name? Did we know each other?"

"I… you…" he faltered, embarrassed for some reason he could not understand. She didn't remember him. Or Naruto. It was puzzling, but he didn't have the leisure to ponder what her amnesia meant. It was simpler at the moment to deliver a quick answer explaining their connection. Yet, somehow, saying that they had been teammates – even though, they had never been anything more -- seemed inadequate.

She looked back and forth worriedly, from him to the shadow that still bore his image, "Who is the real Sasuke-kun?"

"I am," they both answered at the same time.

At this point, Sasuke growled, "I've had enough of you," and promptly delivered a devastating blow to the head of his 'twin'.

The shadow flew backwards and landed on its back, cringing in obvious pain. Sasuke was satisfied to see that it was unable to maintain its façade. He watched his own face melt away to reveal a thing of darkness. Staring, Sakura covered her mouth, stifling a shriek, but not her expression of horror.

Sasuke took her distraction as an opportunity to grab her hand and pull her away. The shadow was temporarily stunned, but he didn't know how long it would remain immobile. He led her across the endless field of sunflowers, trying to put as much distance as possible between them and their enemy.

"Sasuke-kun…"

He didn't stop, "Aa…"

How did one get out of a place like this? Was it just a matter of wanting to be in Konoha? Of wanting to return? Was it so simple?

"Are you… are you really taking me back?"

He tightened his grip, trying Obito's method again, "I'm taking you home."

Konoha, calm, peaceful village. Strong, full of precious people. Perverted teacher, noisy idiot teammate, and… and…

"Why?" She was dead. She couldn't go back. Why was he here?

…her.

The sunflowers faded, to be replaced by the familiar sight of hunched, willow trees and a dusty road. He suddenly knew that the river would be up ahead. He turned to look at her. She was staring at their new surroundings with a mouth open in awe.

Their gazes met and he saw a spark of hope in her green eyes that made him want to tell her that everything was going to be okay, that he was here because over the years he had learned to love her too much, that nothing was going to stop him from taking her away…

"Because that's where you belong," he told her instead, but he said it in such a way that it was as if he had said everything else anyway. Then, he moved ahead and without completing understanding the reason, she found herself following.

For the first time since she had died and even if she didn't know exactly who this boy was or why he seemed so dear and wonderful, she felt like someone was giving her something instead of stealing something away.

He gave me back my name. My name is Sakura…

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A/N: In case you didn't know, Sakura refers to the shadow as Sasuke in the beginning paragraphs because that's who she thinks he is. And the whole sunflower thing was from a fanart I saw somewhere on the web. Ehehehe, yep, I'm a sucker for Naruto fanart. ;;

I'm going to start on some of the one-shots. They seem like a challenge since I haven't written any other couples before except SasuSaku. But I'll try. That's all I can do, right? Wish me luck.

Also, btw, the title of this chapter refers to two gifts. Specifically, a gift from Sakura and a gift from Sasuke. One tangible, and one not. I'm sure you smart people can guess what they are. Anyways, please continue to review!

Next Chapter: Price for Two