Holy crap, I am sorry to all my loyal fans. As much as I wanna have a good excuse for my absence, all I can really say is that I had a bad case of writer's block.

And also recently, I had received a rather harsh review from the first SOTHV story. Now, I respect anybody who is willing to provide reviews with insight on improvements; I welcome such reviews. It helps me improve future chapters to please the readers. But then again, this review was nothing close to constructive criticism. This reviewer seemed rather cocky to think posting an anonymous review would establish some dominance, but his/her jabs at my bad grammar seemed rather ironic since the review itself contained terrible grammar itself.

On the one good note from it, it did give me insight in that my previous story did have some trouble. For that reason, I may go back to my previous stories to improve some chapters.

Anyways, enough about my rant, onward to the next chapter.

Having found Naruto after having gone missing and presumed dead, it would seem that the reunion would be filled with happiness. Unfortunately, the circumstances surrounding the reunion did nothing to help. Naruto was brought back into the home of Yuki and her uncle and the Konoha shinobi took the time to explain the circumstances of their arrival to the village as well as about Naruto. The entire group sat around the dining table of their home, with Naruto, Yuki, and her uncle sitting on one side, while Ino, Sakura, Hinata sat on the other side with Sasuke standing against the doorway the home.

"I see." Jirou calmly spoke after hearing the details of everything. "It would seem that perhaps Neko..ahem...Naruto may have suffered his amnesia during your encounter with this demon."

Naruto tried concentrating, trying to remember everything that they had been explaining. "I'm sorry, but I just can't remember any of that."

Hinata looked into Naruto's eyes, but when he looked back, she just couldn't feel any love from him. "Naruto-kun, you really don't remember anything? Not even me?"

Naruto looked at her confused. "I'm sorry, but I don't. Is there something special about you that I should know?"

Despite being understanding of things under the circumstances, Hinata still felt heartbroken about all this. Without answering, she left the room.

"Sorry, give us a minute." Sakura said, she gave Sasuke a nudge on the shoulder, indicating that they should all step out for a moment with Hinata."

The team gathered just outside the home, with Hinata sitting by the steps and Ino sitting next to her. Sakura and Sasuke stood in front of them, contemplating everything that was going on.

"I don't understand, I thought the Kyuubi's powers would heal almost anything. How could he have amnesia?" Sakura asked.

"The Kyuubi's powers were only able to heal physical injuries." Sasuke explained. "This isn't physical. Amnesia doesn't cause any physical damage, so there's nothing that can be healed."

"This would be alot easier if one of us knew how to fix this." Sakura wished. "But I don't know of any medical jutsus that can help us."

"There might be one solution." Ino suggested. The fact she didn't mention this firsthand wasn't lost on her mind. "There is a technique that the Yamanaka clan developed. It was created specifically for therapeutic purposes for shinobi that suffered stress from missions. The technique allows the user to enter the mind of the subject and help ease their memories and relieve them of what causes them stress."

"Then, why didn't you suggest using it in the first place?" Sakura asked.

"There's lots of risks that come from it." Ino explained, "For starters, the technique itself is invasive. Should the user be careless, it could cause permanent brain damage to the subject. Secondly, the source of the problem may be severe and the user can't stay in the subject's mind for too long. For Naruto's case, this isn't a case of stress, but amnesia. While technically, the jutsu can work, its never actually been done."

"So, what? You're saying that you'd be going in blindly if you try this technique?" Sasuke asked, greatly concerned about the risks this technique carries.

Ino sighed. While this wasn't exactly the help that she had hoped to offer, it was the only possible solution. "Well, yeah. But the way I see it, there's no other choice. And we're short on time; with the mission at hand, we need Naruto back."

"I'll do it."

Ino, Sakura, and Sasuke looked over to the doorway and saw Naruto standing there. "If this is the only way to get my memories back, I'll do it."

"Naruto, are you sure?" Ino asked. "I've never done this before, so it's a big risk."

"From what you've said, we had a mission. If it's as serious as you claim, you need me back to my normal self to see it through." Naruto said. "If being a ninja has serious risks like this, then this is just one risk I can handle."

Over the vast ocean with the shore of the Hot Springs Village still within view at the horizon, Mezoru's crew carried about their usual duties while the captain was in his cabin, looking over the recent loot. All things considered, he wasn't happy. "Tetsu!"

Tetsu entered his cabin, bringing in the loud noise of the crew from above deck while the doors were opened as he entered. "Captain?"

Mezoru stood up from his desk. "Prepare the crew to return to the Hot Springs Village."

"We're returning there so soon?"

Mezoru pulled out a knife from his belt and stabbed the wall with it. "Those damned ninjas may have been a hindrance, but the fact they intruded on our work cannot go unpunished!" He approached Tetsu, glaring directly into his eyes. "Do you object?"

Despite the hostile demeanor the captain was displaying, Tetsu remained unaffected. "No, not at all. We leave at once, captain." With a short bow, Tetsu left the cabin to command the crew.

Mezoru went to the wall where he had pierced with his knife and pulled the blade out. "An example needs to be made. They need to know that no ninjas can protect them from us."

Having come to the agreement to go through with Ino's suggested jutsu, the team prepared accordingly. The kitchen of Jirou's home had the dining table cleared out with only a single table set up at one end and a pillow set in front of the seat. Naruto stood before the table, with the others behind him.

"You ready for this?" Sasuke asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Naruto answered after a brief sigh. Following the instructions Ino gave him earlier, Naruto got onto the table, lying on his back and resting his head on the pillow. Ino took her seat at the single chair, sitting with her head directly over his. "Ok, so run this by me again; how does all this work?"

"Once I activate the jutsu, it'll feel like you fell asleep and dreaming. I won't be able to know what's going on, but I can communicate with you through the mental connection we make. You need to talk me through everything that goes on around you so that I can help you with how to repair the amnesia." Ino explained. "Like I said before, there are risks. One way to help reduce the chance of this going wrong, I need you to be as motionless as possible."

Naruto breathed deeply and closed his eyes. "Ok, let's do this."

Preparing the proper hand seals, Ino then positioned her hands on opposite sides of Naruto's head, aligning her palms with the temple of his head. "Shinten Shizukesa no Jutsu(Mind Body Tranquility Technique)."

Naruto inhaled sharply as if something physically probed into his head.

"Relax, just breathe." Ino instructed. "Keep your mind calm. The calmer you are, the safer this will be."

Following her instructions, Naruto breathed slowly. As Ino continued with the jutsu, Naruto relaxed himself and now appeared to be in a deep slumber.

Naruto opened his eyes, but he was no longer lying on the dining table of Jirou and Yuki's home. He was in a dark room; wooden floors covered in dust, no windows or doors on any of the walls and with only light being a single candle right next to him.

"Where am I?" Naruto sat up and looked around his surrounding. While it was dark, he could still see far enough to see the four walls that made up the room.

Naruto? Naruto, can you hear me?

Naruto looked around, where was that voice coming from? The Voice almost echoed, but not in the room. It was almost as if the voice was echoing in his mind.

Naruto?

"Ino?" Perhaps this was what Ino meant when she explained the process of the jutsu she used. "Yeah, I can hear you."

Good, I was beginning to worry that this didn't work. Where are you? What do you see?

Naruto got up from the floor. "Well, it looks like I'm in a room, a rather old room. Its pretty filthy in here. No furniture. Hell, there isn't even a door or windows." While turning around to face the wall behind him, he suddenly spotted something different. "Whoa, that wasn't there before."

What wasn't?

There's a picture frame hanging on the wall behind me, but it wasn't there a second ago.

This is probably your memory constructing a physical form for you to see. What's in the frame?

Naruto slowly approached it. The frame itself didn't seem like anything out of the ordinary; a wooden frame of rather simple quality, no special decorations along the border, no additional colors to it, just a simple wooden frame. Looking closely at the edges of inner frame, he noticed what looked like ripped bits of canvas, the same kind of canvas used in painting. "Nothing. Well, not nothing. Whatever was here is gone. I think this was a painting."

A painting? I think I might know how to help then. This is similar to recovering a long term memory that was difficult to recollect. You'll have to somehow fix this painting in order to recover your lost memory.

"And how do I do that?" Naruto asked. "How do I fix something I don't know?" Looking around the room, he had hoped he could find something to help him. He was having no luck.

Think back Naruto. What's the last thing you remember?

"The last thing?" Naruto thought to himself. "I remember being found on shore. But before that..." Sudden flashes of images appeared on the torn picture frame. While they seemed to fill in the frame, Naruto could tell that it wasn't the right image. "Wait. I remember something. A cliff. Before I was found on shore, I was on a cliff. We were on a cliff."

We?

"Someone was there with me." Naruto began to remember more bits of his memory. What he was able to recall was the image of the person who was with him. "It was...me..."

"He's not making any sense." Ino said. "First he says he wasn't alone, now he's saying he sees himself. Did he have a Shadow clone?"

Sasuke widened his eyes, he knew what Naruto meant. "The demon. The demon Sakura and I met after we lost Naruto. He took Naruto's form. He somehow took on Naruto's appearance, but also copied my Cursed Seal."

"That's right, I was facing myself, but he was a bit different from me. I saw him because I was supposed to be...I had...a mission." Naruto managed to clear out part of his cloud mind. "I remember. I had a mission; a village was being attacked by pirates. That's why I left home."

The picture frame suddenly became whole. It showed four people standing together, though their heads were still obscured. Instead of their heads being visible, a white blur covered all of them, leaving only their bodies visible and detailed. The only one visible was of the one to the left, which was of himself. "The picture, its whole. But...the faces aren't there."

Do you recognize them?

"I do, I think. I mean, I feel like I know these people, but I can't recall their names." He looked carefully at each of them. "I think two of them may be you guys. The clothes are similar to yours."

Who?

"Uh...what was it...Sakura? And Sasuke, I think?"

That's right, we are friends for years. The voice was now of Sakura's. We were a team when we first became ninjas.

"A team...Team..A team with Sasuke and Sakura..." Naruto repeated the names over and over again to himself, until something triggered in his memory, a piece. "But it wasn't just us, was it? There was another, a teacher. Our teacher...Kakashi-sensei." Almost out of second nature, that name came out of his mouth. Hearing his name out loud suddenly brought out more memories. "We were all in a team, Team 7. That's right. Team 7!"

The painting suddenly revealed the faces of Sasuke and Sakura, partially completing it. As soon as their faces were completed, the whole room began to shake. "Whoa, what's going on?"

This is the risk I told you about. Ino explained. Your mind is trying to fight against me. I can't hold on to this jutsu much longer.

"But I'm not done. I still don't remember everything."

You have to hurry. You need to complete the painting, try and remember the faces.

The walls began to crumble around Naruto, obscuring his view. Naruto quickly grabbed the candle and held it close the painting. "Ok, the final one is clearly a girl. Judging by the way she's standing next to me, we are close. A girlfriend, maybe?" The violent shaking of the room began to kick up lots of dust and debris, making more difficult for the candle to light the room.

Hurry! I can't keep this up!

"Shit, hold on!" Naruto shut his eyes to try and remember who this unknown face was. "Come on! Why can't I remember her?!" The floor around him suddenly began to crack and break.

I'm losing it! I can't hold onto the jutsu anymore!

"Wait, I'm not done yet!" Naruto tried to run towards the painting, finding his footing on the floor as it broke beneath him. Despite his efforts to get closer to the painting, he no longer had anything to hold onto. As the last of the floor crumbled away, Naruto feel deep into the dark, watching helplessly as the unfinished painting drifted away from him further and further.

"Help me..." Naruto reached his arm out, desperately seeking anything to hold onto.

"...HINATA!"

Naruto opened his eyes and threw himself upright on the table. He looked behind him and saw Ino rubbing her head, mentally strained, but still alive from the ordeal. He looked on as Sakura helped Ino onto the chair she had fallen from. "Is she ok, Sakura?"

"Yeah, she's fine." She paused briefly. He said her name. She looked at him. "Naruto, do you remember?"

He smiled. "I do." He looked at Sasuke and nodded at him. "Sasuke." He then looked to Hinata. "Hinata." Her eyes swelled with tears as she ran to him and embraced him. "I'm so sorry, Hinata. I'm sorry I worried you."

"It's alright, Naruto-kun. You're back now." Hinata smiled through her tears. "You came back to me."

Naruto smiled in return as he tightened his embrace on her. "Always." He then look over and noticed that Jirou and Yuki were still present. "Oh, right. I guess I have some explaining to do, don't I?"

About damn time I got an update. I apologize to all my readers for the extremely long delay. Hopefully, future updates won't take as long as this did. Perhaps it was mistake to dedicate myself to so many different stories. Maybe a system needs to be established for myself, but I'll see what can be done.

I had initially wanted Naruto's amnesia to cover more than just one chapter (two, if you include the ending of the previous one), but I worried that would delay the main plot of the story.

I've also gotten some PMs regarding the previous story about Naruto's abilities during his time without his eyes. All that will be explained in time. I'm still deciding whether I want to touch on that in this story, for the next.