Notes: I'm happy this is keeping you all interested. I'm...not quite sure where this idea came from, but, now that it's here, I intend to see it through to its completion. I'm sorry that this chapter is nothing but talking and filler-stuff, but I had to kind of explain what was going on. We'll get back to the regularly-schedualed SasuNaru love shortly.

"He's sleeping now," Haruno Sakura sighed wearily as she closed the door behind her.

"Is he alright?" Hyuuga Hinata bit her lip nervously, and the pink-haired woman shook her head in response.

"I don't know," she said truthfully. "I wasn't able to get much out of him, besides the fact that…he really doesn't remember us at all. He doesn't even know who he is."

"I've checked his brainwaves and chakra patterns," Hyuuga Neji came into the hall from around the corner. "Everything is fine, and the Kyuubi was successfully sealed, so, there shouldn't be any side-effects."

"But there are," Aburame Shino had followed after the long-haired man. "Shikamaru's devised a theory about this. He's explaining it to the hokage now," his mirrored sunglasses gleamed coldly in the artificial light. "Sakura, I was asked to bring you and Uchiha Sasuke back to the Godaime Hokage's office so you can discuss what to do about the current situation."

"Sasuke left the hospital about an hour ago," Sakura's brow furrowed slightly. "I don't know where he could be."

"Damn," Shino's expression betrayed nothing as he turned and went back down the hall, toward the exit doors. Sakura rubbed her tired, slightly-stinging eyes and smiled thinly up at her medical partner.

"Hinata, can you take over my shift for the afternoon?" she asked.

The white-eyed woman nodded her head: "If you'd like, I can call TenTen in to cover the midnight shift so you can get a decent night's rest."

"That's alright, I'll be back," Sakura waved and hurried off down the hall after Shino. Hinata wrung her hands worriedly, giving her older cousin a slight frown.

"Don't worry about them so much, Hinata," he put a reassuring arm around her shoulders. "Those three are…special. With both Sakura and Saskue helping him, I'm sure Naruto will return to normal in no time."

"I…hope you're right," she gave him a strained smile.

Uchiha Sasuke stood beneath the hot spray of water until every last drop ran ice cold. Then he stepped out, grabbed a towel and wrapped it about his waist, shuffled wearily over to his bedroom, and plopped down on the still-made bed, his wet hair clinging to his neck and face as he stared blankly at the wall and wished he could fall asleep and wake up later, free of this…this nightmare. It couldn't be real. In exactly twenty four hours, he had watched his best friend die, come back to life as a demon, got teleported into his friend's mind, fought the legendary nine-tailed Kyuubi Kitsune and won, had his friend confess his feelings for him and was torn away before he had a chance to voice his own, only to have him finally come home and not remember confessing , much less remember him. For lack of a better word, Sasuke was depressed.

Then came the knocking. "Sasuke," a male voice called from beyond the door, "the Godaime Hokage wants to meet with you."

Rolling his eyes, the black-haired man pushed himself off the mattress and stumbled over to the door in still nothing but a towel. He opened it a crack and peered out, letting his agitation show on his face at the caller. Shino held up his hands in self-defense.

"Sorry," he said, "but don't kill the messenger."

"Any idea what this is about?" Sasuke lifted an eyebrow.

"They want to discuss what's going on and what's going to happen to Naruto."

"They?"

"Shikamaru and Sakura are with her."

"Nn," Sasuke closed the door and went back to his room to change. Shino, unruffled about having a door slammed in his face, shrugged and left to something more fitting with his time. Like observing the sleeping patterns of cicadas or something.

"You're late," Tsunande spoke over her tea cup. Sasuke dropped himself into an armchair and didn't even bother to retaliate. "Now, Shikamaru, could you please present the data you showed me earlier to Sakura and Sasuke?"

"Yeah, yeah," the black-haired jounin stood, looking slightly irked that he had to do something twice. "First, let's go over the data from the past twenty four hours. Sasuke, you were with him in the beginning; tell us what happened."

He shrugged. "We defeated the two rival clan ninjas without any trouble, but were not aware of a third party. This person attacked us on our way back to the checkpoint where we agreed to meet Neji and Kiba, and ended up…" Sasuke gulped softly. "He was run through. I tried to fend off the enemy, but Naruto came back as the Kyuubi--"

"As the embodiment of the Kyuubi's aura or its true form?" Tsunande cut in.

"I don't know," Sasuke ran a hand back through his still-damp hair. "It was Naruto, but his chakra and aura were that of the Kyuubi."

"That's most likely the time that the outer seal was erased," Shikamaru spoke up. "To allow the Kyuubi's regenerative powers through quickly."

"Of course, Naruto only thought about things halfway through," Sakura put a hand to her forehead.

"That aside," Tsunande waved a hand, urging them to move on, "we know that after the enemy was defeated, Sasuke, Neji, and Kiba all brought Naruto back here for treatment."

"So, Sakura," Shikamaru prompted, "what happened then?"

"Well," her eyebrows creased together in a frown, "when they brought Naruto into the ward, Hinata was already trying to help the self-regenerative process along, but was meeting fierce resistance from the Kyuubi's aura. I took over for her, brought Naruto into the emergency room, and contacted Tsunande-sama."

"Then Sakura and I redirected the Kyuubi's chakra back into the seal, but that's when we discovered it had been partially erased," Tsunande informed them. "And Jiraiya and myself had to remake the seal from the Yondaime Hokage's notes."

"Meanwhile, I went inside Naruto's body to help him battle the Kyuubi," Sasuke slowly became active in the conversation. He knew he had to explain what happened, anyway. "And with some help from Sakura, he and I used a combination of the shadow-clone technique and the water dragon jitsu to hold the Kyuubi in place, and then Naruto used Rasengan on it."

Tsunande actually whistled in appreciation. Shikamaru grunted, but leaned over with his hands in his pockets so he could look straight into the raven-haired man's eyes. "Alright, you subdued the Kyuubi and then left Naruto's body so the seal could be properly replaced. Did he recognize you while you were there?"

"Yeah, he…" Sasuke started, but then his breath caught in his throat: 'I love you, Sasuke.'

"But then, when he woke up, he didn't remember anything at all. Not even his own name," Sakura's stare grew bothered. "That's what I don't understand."

"What exactly did he say to you, Sasuke?" Shikamaru turned to the other man in the room.

Sasuke looked down at his hands clasped in his lap and tried not to blush. "He said…that he had to keep the Kyuubi contained until I could escape, and that he would come back, but…but he sounded uncertain about something. I couldn't ask, because that's when I was pulled back out by something."

"It was Sakura," Tsunande explained gently. "Naruto was indeed containing the Kyuubi until you could escape, but it was trying to get away from him the whole time. Sakura held him down and called you back." She gave her student an affectionate smile, and the pink-haired woman blushed and shook her head quickly.

"I didn't do anything…" she mumbled.

"Regardless, it's done," Shikamaru stood and began to pace the length of the room. "Naruto's back, albeit missing his memory, and we really don't know why."

"Shino said you had a theory about it," Sakura watched the tall, lanky ninja move fluidly back and forth.

He shrugged: "It's just something I was thinking of when I heard about everything that was happening. Naruto had to battle the Kyuubi by himself for a good amount of hours, right?"

"At least five," Saskue estimated. "One hour to return to Konoha, and almost four for your examination and chakra reversal process."

"So, we could assume then, that he had to use all of his personal chakra--separate from the Kyuubi's--in order to fight," Shikamaru spoke carefully. "Which means, in theory, he had to dive into his inner reserves, his inner strength. Which possibly affected the chakra patterns, in this case, tied specifically to memory."

"So, what you're saying," Sakura blinked at him, "is that because Naruto had to depend on his own strength to fight something so powerful for so long, he sacrificed his own memories to give himself more power?"

"I think so, yes," Shikamaru nodded.

"It's a logical explanation," Tsunande leaned forward in her chair, clasping her hands and propping her chin on them. "And is most-likely true. Today, when we gave Naruto a reflex test, his skills were completely jumbled. Parts of his own body refuse to cooperate, which means he must have sacrificed those areas of control for the strength to fight the Kyuubi."

"Will they ever come back?" Sakura bit her lip worriedly.

"Oh yes, I'm sure they will," the older woman waved a hand dismissively. "With each day he rests, Naruto will continue to regain his own personal chakra, and those areas will begin to mend themselves."

"What about his memory?" Saskue asked.

"A memory is slightly different," the hokage frowned. "You can repair the pathways of a memory, but you can't remake the memories themselves. Naruto will have to recall everything on his own, on his own time."

"So, we just have to wait," Sakura looked relieved.

"Yes, but, there is a possibility that without the right methods, Naruto will never remember certain things at all," Tsunande closed her eyes, looking slightly upset. "Right now, it's like we have all of his past laid out in front of us, and we could easily pick and choose what memories to reinforce so that they'll come back to him, and what memories to keep away so we could possibly shield him from pain."

"But then…he wouldn't be the same Naruto," Sasuke scowled. "There has to be a way to bring all of his memories back, both good and bad, without putting him through the exact same situations again." Tsunande was giving him a pointed look. "…what?"

"There is a way, Sasuke," she spoke softly, deliberately. "If we keep him around someone who has the same memories he does, or ones very closely-related, that very person's presence will remind him constantly of everything he was before the accident, and eventually, all of his memories will return."

"And…" Sasuke gulped softly, "is there anyone…like that?"

At this, Tsunande rolled her eyes and Sakura leapt to her feet. "You!" she cried excitedly. "Sasuke, you and Naruto have been on the same team for years! You two are best friends! You must have large and important memories tied to one another!"

"Don't forget yourself, Sakura," Sasuke rose, crossing his arms over his chest. "You're important to him too."

"But," she smiled at her friend in mock exasperation, "not as important as you. Trust me, Sasuke."

"Then it's settled," Tsunande leaned back in her chair, hiding a smirk lingering on her face. "Uchiha Sasuke, your new mission is to accompany Naruto until he fully regains his memory."

"What--" Sasuke jumped.

"Right, now that that's settled, I'm off," Shikamaru shrugged and shuffled out of the office.

Sakura followed him out, her grin not visible to her shocked partner. "I might tell Hinata to call TenTen in after all, is that alright, Tsunande-sama?"

"Yes, you deserve it," she nodded.

"Hey! Don't I get a say in this?" Sasuke yelled as Sakura left the office, giggling.

"No, you don't," the blond woman's eyebrows drew together in a frown. "This is a direct order from the hokage. Or," she lifted an eyebrow, "do you not want to help Naruto regain all his memories?"

Sasuke flinched and withdrew from the argument He knew he had lost from the get-go, anyway: "Fine."

"Report in every morning, ten am. sharp," she ordered and he nodded, leaving the office without another word. Tsunande rummaged through the papers on her desk, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.