A/N: Okies, new story from Rai! I hope you like it, as I really do.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of these characters.
"What happened?" Choji said, looking into a small room in the hospital. Lying on the bed was a girl of no more than eight.
"We don't know. Temari of the Sand carried her back into the village in this state." Tsunade sighed, also looking into the child's room. The young girl shifted in her sleep.
"Is there anyway to cure it?" He wanted answers.
"There's not even a record of this anywhere. I'd have to do some research." She had none.
They both stared at the girl, who slowly woke up. Her eyes started to water and her happy face turned to a frown. She was wailing for something.
She was crying for her teddy bear. One of the nurses walked in, and handed her the brown, bear-like toy. The girl hugged it happily, and started playing with it. She was having it dance.
"Then... it's definitely a jutsu?"
"Yep." Tsunade looked over at the twenty five year old standing next to her. He was looking at the child with worry written all over his face.
She had seen that look on Temari the day before.
Temari had walked into the village, carrying the small, blond-headed child in her arms. The guards tried to stop her, but Temari told them that it was important she come into the village. They told her that the child couldn't come in, but they shut their mouths seeing the large Konoha headband around the girl's neck.
Tsunade herself was busy doing the crossword in the newspaper, having no meetings that day. Until, of course, the Sand ninja burst into to her office.
"Hokage-sama." Temari bowed, still clutching the girl to her body.The young child looked around the room quizzically, as if it were a new place to her.
"Lemme down, Temari-chan!" The girl said as she tugged on the sleeve of the older girl. Temari let her down genitally. The child walked around the room, poking at random things of her own interest.
Tsunade looked the child over. "She looks a lot like Ino." The girl was looking out the window with wide eyes. "Speaking of Ino, where is she?"
"I'm Ino, ma'am!" The young child turned to look at the Hokage.
Tsunade gave Temari one of her signature 'what?' looks. Temari looked down. "That's Ino, Hokage-sama."
That sent off an alarm in her head. "W-What?" the Hokage stumbled over her words, her eyes now glued to the eight year old blond child that stood in front of the window.
"Our team was ambushed on our way back to Suna. While fighting, all four of us became separated. When the enemies suddenly retreated, Ino was an eight year old girl. None of us could figure out what happened."
"But... that's not possible. It's not possible to make someone younger..."
Temari sighed, and looked down at the girl.
"It is, Hokage-sama. She's living proof."
The Hokage looked down at one of her best spies, who was now an eight year old child. Ino had forgotten everything about her growing up. All she could remember was that she wanted to be a great ninja, like her daddy.
"Well, Choji, visiting hours are almost over. You better be getting home."
The man sighed. "Yeah, I guess I should." He cast one last look at Ino, who was now munching on a cookie. She looked genuinely happy, something he hadn't seen on her face in a long time.
The next day, Choji entered the Hokage's office.
"You wanted to see me, Hokage-sama?" He was staring at Tsunade's back. She was looking out of the window, staring at her village.
"We both know that I would do anything to help any one citizen of my village." Choji nodded, having no idea where this was going. "And letting an eight year old rot in a hospital room is not helping." He was starting to get an idea now.
Tsunade turned around, and looked Choji in the eye. "Choji, I can't have Ino sitting in a room for the rest of her life. But I can't have her stay with her parents, either..."
He raised a brow. "Why not?" Her parents seemed to be the logical solution.
"When a patient loses their memory, it is best to have them stay with someone they love and trust completely. In Ino's case, her parents would be a good choice. But they will shelter her. And I happen to think that not letting her see the people she's known forever will be even worse than letting her stay here. If she sees them, it will be beneficial. It might spark some kind of memory in her head of those missing years. And this could give us better insight into what's plaguing her."
Choji frowned. "What do I have to do with all of this, then? Wouldn't Sakura or Shikamaru be a better choice?"
"You're one of Ino's closest friends, are you not?"
"Well, yeah, but..." He was cut off by Tsunade.
"And she trusts you with everything?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
"And you love her, do you not?"
Choji was taken aback by the question. "I... She... Well..." He didn't want to answer her.
"Do you not?"
"I do," he mumbled, looking away from the busty blonde woman.
She smirked a bit. "Then you, Akimichi Choji, are assigned this mission:" He looked back at her.
"You are to keep Yamanaka Ino in your care until further notice."
A/N: Thanks for reading, and please review! Reviews love! Anyway, to clear up some things: All of the Rookie nine are now twenty-five. Except Ino, of course. Tsunade doesn't want Ino to stay with her parents, because she fears that living with them won't spark any sort of memory. But living with Choji, whom she grew up with, might.
New stories are love!
Rai.