Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Recollection: Sasuke is back, but he doesn't remember anything. On the contrary, Sakura remembers everything. As his former teammate takes care of him, will he start to gain back his memories?

Recollection

2. Unfinished Ramen

The two moved about wordlessly, each working on their personal jobs. For instance, Sasuke prepared a makeshift bed in the living room while Sakura hurriedly cooked their lunch. From the kitchen, she saw him in her living room (now it was theirs), and a little sigh escaped her. Without the contempt in his eyes, he looked like he belonged here.

Perhaps that was just her wish.

"Sasuke?" She hesitantly called him over as she set two plates on the small table. She had cooked a Japanese-style meal, consisting simply of rice, miso soup, and pickled plums.

He hadn't flinched when she had abruptly destroyed their silence. But he looked stiffened, as if he was unsure of what to do. Upon seeing her gesture toward their meal, he walked over slowly, calmly.

And then they sat in silence, ate in silence, and watched each other (secretly) in silence.

As Sakura took a sip of her miso soup, she peeked at the man sitting before her. To her alarm, his bangs were falling, partially casting his eyes away from her view, and she remembered…

. . .

Flashback, twelve-years old.

"Sakura-chan, the pork miso-based ramen is the best!"

"Nah, I'll take the Soyu base…" Sakura mumbled casually as she peeked at what Sasuke was getting. When the ramen was served, she stifled a giggle as she focused more intently on watching her teammate than eating her ramen.

His bangs were falling down, but she still made out his eyes. Slowly, heat rushed into her face as she couldn't help but stare at him in awe. Since the day they had become teammates, she had thought he was cool, but for this time, she saw something else.

He looked beautiful.

Uchiha Sasuke, eating his ramen, with his eyes somewhat hidden and cast below, looked mesmerizing. Up until now, Sakura had thought "beautiful" was supposed to describe females only. The boy sitting before her proved her wrong.

For a few minutes, she sat there, unaware of her ramen or her noisy blonde teammate. Her eyes only rested dazedly on the beautiful twelve-year old boy.

"Hey, Sakura-chan! Aren't you going to eat that?"

She snapped back to reality, and was about to reply, "Don't touch my food, Naruto!" At least, that's what she would have said, but then she realized she wasn't so hungry, after all.

And as her surroundings became clear, along with her mind, she came upon a huge disappointment. She had been so obviously gawking at him, but he had not once gazed to meet his eyes. He must have awfully disliked her rude stare.

. . .

The pang of nostalgia died away as Sasuke abruptly stood up to put his dishes away. He had already finished eating. She looked down to her forgotten rice, painfully reminding her of that once forgotten bowl of ramen.

Sighing, she stood up as well, mumbling a "I'm not hungry" when Sasuke cast her a curious look toward her unfinished rice. She packed it away, in hopes that she would get hungry later.

And then, as Sakura made her way to the sink, she realized how wrong she had been. Uchiha Sasuke did not look like he belonged here, at all.

Leaving the dirty dishes unattended, she reached instead for a pot to boil water for some coffee or tea. Sasuke stood there awkwardly, as if he was trying to offer his help on something, anything. Smiling gently, Sakura went back to the petit table and motioned him over.

Wordlessly, he sat again, and with a grave voice, she took out a notepad and questioned formally, starting with, "Can you tell me anything you remember?"

In between pausing for preparation of their tea, and the required questioning (even if that had been done by the interrogation squad previously), Sakura had learned that Sasuke had no memories. He failed to remember his team, his family, places and people…

By the end of the short questioning, Sakura almost laughed at the irony. Here, she didn't want to remember, yet memories came flooding in without control, while he couldn't remember a single thing. And, it was her job that she had taken upon herself to make him remember.

At least, when he couldn't remember, he also wouldn't leave her. She feared that once his memories came back, that would be the very thing he would do again – leave her.

Notes: Thank you readers & reviewers! I hope it's not boring... I want to try to write a memory per chapter, but if it becomes redundant, please let me know! (Although I suppose two short chapters are far too little to make any judgments at the moment..)