Sasuke was taken aback, to say the least.

"W-What did you say?"

"I said, I don't know you…"

He looked at his brother in shock. How could he not remember him?

"Calm down Sasuke. Tsunade had mentioned something like this could happen."

Madara sat down at the edge of the bed and laid his hand on Itachis shoulder comforting.

"So you say you can't remember us or anything that had happened?"

Itachi shook his head. His eyes were downcast, bangs falling in front of his face and his hands were shaking slightly.

"Then do you remember who you are?"

Itachi took in a shaky breath, grabbing the blanket around him a little tighter. The realization that he indeed couldn't remember hit him. Slowly he shook his head.

"N-no"

It came out as a quiet sob. He had his head held down and Sasuke could just slightly make out tears streaming down Itachis face.

Sasuke felt lost. He had never ever seen his brother cry before. Ok, waking up and having lost your memory was upsetting enough to make the strongest men cry, but this was Itachi we're talking about. He never cries! Not even as their parents had died.

"Sasuke, could you please go and see where that nurse is you called earlier. And tell someone to get Tsunade immediately."

Sasuke nodded and rushed towards the door, nearly bumping into Tsunade who stepped in just this moment.

She frowned at the expression on Sasukes face, but understood the moment she saw the shaking figure of Itachi, now holding his head in his hands.

Sasuke wanted to explain the situation to her but Tsunade cut him off with a motion of her hand and walked towards the bed instead.

A nurse came in after her and Sasuke followed them back towards Itachi, feeling slightly left out.

"Shizune give him the sedative and pain killer combo to calm him down."

The nurse nodded and pulled out a syringe and a small glass bottle she had brought with her. She stuck the syringe in the bottle and pulled a clear liquid into it.

Meanwhile Tsunade checked Itachis pulse and the drip. Itachi seemed to have forgotten about the shock of having lost his memory and eyed her and Shizune warily, still sobbing but not at all pleased with the thought of having that syringe pushed into him.

As Shizune stepped closer towards him he tried shuffling away and Madara had to hold him back at his shoulders, which was pretty easy since Itachi was still very weak right now.

"It's just to stop the pain and don't say you don't have any pain. I saw you holding your head and making a grimace some moments ago. Besides it won't even hurt."

Tsunade grabbed his hand with the IV stuck to it and held it for Shizune to push the liquid into.

Itachi looked anything but happy since it still hurt a little and Sasuke wished he could make him feel better somehow.

The sedatives showed effect pretty fast. Itachi stopped shaking and his expression got calmer. He lay down on his bed again with Madaras help.

Now Tsunade turned back towards Sasuke.

"You wanted to tell me what happened."

Sasuke started fidgeting. He still couldn't quite believe this was actually happening.

"Itachi seems to have lost his memory. He can't remember us, himself or anything that had happened."

Madara had answered for him, still holding Itachis shoulder.

Sasuke let himself fall back into his chair and listened intently as Tsunade started questioning his brother.

Apparently Itachi knew all the basic things to live: How to eat, dress, turn on the TV, drive a car etc.. He knew about geography, biology, physics and math, he could read, write and speak in other languages and he even knew the newest newscast.

But he couldn't remember anyone he ever met, nor the places he has been. He couldn't remember his life.

At the end of their questioning session Itachi looked extremely tired and frustrated.

"You have amnesia."

Itachi glared at Tsunade. He had figured that one out already.

"We will take a closer look at your brain again to make sure it isn't anything serious. If we can't find anything that says otherwise I'm sure you will be able to regain your memory back, but I can't say for sure how long it might take."

Itachi nodded and closed his eyes. He was tired.

"Try to stay awake a moment longer, would you?"

Tsunade walked to the end of the bed and pulled down the blanket. Itachi glared again. He felt exposed in front of all those strangers with nothing but the thin hospital gown on his body. They seemed to know him good and Itachi assumed they were from his family.

Itachis legs were as thin as the rest of his body and seemed to have lost a lot of muscles.

"What happened and how serious have I been injured?"

"I will answer some of your questions when you wake up the next time. And now tell me if you can feel this."

She pinched his right foot and Itachi grimaced.

"Yes. Why can't you tell me now?"

Tsunade sighed and pinched his left food, making him grimace again.

"Because it's best for you to remember most things on your own. Either you just won't remember if you're simply told or you might remember too much at once and too fast. Remembering is an enormous stress for your body and brain and could overstrain you. In the best case you would simply faint and have a horrible headache for some days after, in the worst case you could get a heart attack, and that could of course kill you. Can I continue now?"

Itachi, now even paler than before, nodded. Both Madara and Sasuke had also paled visibly. Itachi wasn't out of danger yet. Sasuke remember Tsunade telling them about Itachis weak heart and how they had problems reviving it. Itachi might need a cardiac stimulator for the rest of his life if it didn't get better.

And it was all his fault.

"Good, you still have feeling in both legs. Now move your toes."

Itachi did so. Then he moved both his foots and then his legs with slight difficult. He grimaced. They didn't moved much and he gave up. He felt completely exhausted and ready to faint.

"They feel so heavy and it hurts."

Tsunade slowly nodded in thought. "Where does it hurt?"

"My…lower back…"

Itachi was clearly fighting to stay awake now.

Tsunade pulled the blanket back up.

"All right. That was everything for now. I will check up on you again later."

Itachis eyes fell close and Tsunade beckoned for Madara and Sasuke to follow her out. Shizune stayed behind to change the drip.

Madara closed the door behind them and Tsunade sighed.

"I had feared that he might have amnesia. We will inform you about the examination results as soon as we have them."

"Is there a chance that he might never remember again?"

Tsunade slightly nodded.

"We haven't found anything with the first screening but of course we could have missed something. So yes there is a slight chance that it might be worse than we originally thought."

Sasuke had to lean against the wall for support. The guilt about having caused all this was eating at him again. He pushed it away as Madara patted his shoulder supporting. He wouldn't let this shit rule the rest of his life. Yes he had done a mistake, but Itachi was alive.

"Both of you can support Itachi while he is remembering. Show him places he liked staying, things that could have an important meaning for him and pictures of him and his live. Let him met people he had known and talk with them. You may tell him who you are and you may answer some of his questions. But you shouldn't overdo it as you already heard. Let him remember on his own accord and don't push him. "

Madara nodded while Sasuke groaned, seeing trouble arising.

"Then wouldn't it be best to get him into familiarly surroundings as soon as possible?"

Sasuke gave his uncle a pointed look at that useless question. There were hardly any familiar things for Itachi to remember here in Japan. Their old house had been ripped down and Itachi had been in America the last years. They could hardly fly there with him. Besides, none of them actually knew what Itachi liked and how exactly his life went. He did not write very often.

Madara ignored his youngest nephew, already making up his own plan on how to deal with this.

"He will be released as soon as all checkups are done and we deem him stable enough. But he will need someone to watch over him in case something happens. His other wounds have healed good so far, but not completely. That he can't move his legs properly yet isn't as bad as it seems. It is due to the injured nerve tracts in his lower back were his spine got bruised. That he can already feel and move his legs somewhat is a good sign. He will have to go through a training to build his nerves and muscles up again. This and remembering everything can take some years, but with the right support and if he doesn't give up he will be able to walk again as if nothing ever happened."

AN: Yay, I'm back. Sorry for the late update. I will try to keep it more recent now. Hope you liked the chapter.