Forgotten Past

Memory

Naruto woke up the next morning with a deep hunger he had never felt. He looked through the small drawer on his bed side and found an orange and blue jacket, raising a brow in slight recognition but not able to remember where he saw it, he shrugged it on and slid it onto his bare torso. Not seeing a shirt he left the jacket unzipped to show his chest and stomach and pulled on some orange pants as well. He pulled on some blue sandals and headed outside, he assumed that it was his jacket because of the small initials on the inside lable; U.N.

He walked out of the hospital yet again and felt the chilly morning wind on his bare tanned stomach. It made him relax and a bit exposed, since he looked down to see his lean body, an outline of faint muscles on his stomach. He walked down the streets and wondered what to eat. Closing his eyes he took a big whiff to the air and was caught off guard by the delicious scent of some food. He patted his jacket and pants for any money and found a small green frog pouch and opened it to see a wad of bills. Surprised at how much he had he headed towards the delicious smell.

Seeing a small stand at the edge of a corner he walked closer as he saw a sign reading Ichiraku and pulled aside the small sheets. He looked inside and saw a couple of stools, taking one on the middle, he waited for the owner to step forward and get him a bowl of whatever they sell.

"Hey there Naruto, last time I checked you were still in recovery." An old man said as he walked out of the back room with a kind and warm smile.

"Sorry, do I know you as well?" Naruto said with a scratch to his head.

"Sorry about that old man, he's got amnesia at the moment, bad case, he doesn't remember anything about anyone." A familiar voice said as Naruto turned to see Kiba and the rest of the gang.

"Oh hey, Kiba." Naruto said with a respectful wave and greeted the rest. "Shikamaru, Ino, Hinata, Shino... And I think some are missing."

"Yeah, the others went to train, we got called in because you disappeared on us again." Kiba scolded.

"Sorry, I was hungry." Naruto said with a small apologetic smile.

Everyone looked at Naruto sadly, the bright smile he would have on was never shown ever since he woke up. Not even a smile only a small one that everyone didn't seem to be settled on.

"No need to apologize for everything Naruto." Ino said with a giggle as the rest sat down around him.

"The usual for Naruto and for the rest of us." Shikamaru ordered as the old man nodded and got to work.

"Actually, I don't really know what they serve here, I just smelled something delicious and followed the scent." Naruto said in deep thought while the rest just smiled.

"It seems our Naruto is still in there somewhere, not even amnesia would make him forget his favorite food." Ino said with a smile as the rest had one too.

"Favorite food?"

"Yeah, you love ramen, I guess your brain is able to pick up on stuff that you don't want to forget." Ino said deep in thought.

"Yeah, I can see that as well. It seems we'll be able to get your memories back in no time." Shikamaru said with a yawn.

"I see." Naruto nodded.

"What are you wearing Naruto?" Kiba said as he took in the appearance of his blond friend.

"Oh this? I found it in one of the drawers next to the bed I was staying in. I saw some initials and presumed they were mine. But I didn't see a shirt so I just slipped this on." Naruto explained as the rest looked at his bare chest in shock.

He was more fit than Sasuke and now noticed how mature Naruto looked when he spoke. This wasn't the Naruto they know, but it was someone they wouldn't mind staying with until their old friend was back.

"Here you go Naruto, I hope you get your memories back." The old man said as he handed the rest of the ninja their ramen bowls.

"Thank you sir." Naruto said with a small polite bow.

A small pain went through his head as he felt somewhat angered at something, or was it a someone? He wasn't so sure at the moment. He ate at a slow pace and his eyes widened at the delicious taste. But soon he dropped his chopsticks and hissed at the emerging pain in his head.

"Naruto are you alright!?" Someone said from beside him, but he couldn't pinpoint who it was.

Suddenly images of ramen danced in his mind as he saw the old man look down at him with a smile and hand him a bowl. He was much smaller, since he had to jump up onto the stool. He understood what this was, it was his memories. But soon enough he didn't want to see anymore, because some memories was of him walking sluggishly all bruised up to eat a quick meal. Not known when he was going to eat again. He started panicking and breathing heavily. Voices shouted all around him as he felt someone grab him by the shoulder. With blinding speed he swung in defence, he looked around only to see everything blurry. Silhouettes of people surrounded him and he started to remember some Justus. He pulled in his hand and a blue orb started to form. But his vision became black as he felt someone hit him from behind.

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"This is dangerous." Tsunade said as he talked to Naruto's friend's sensei and Kakashi sensei. "To think he had remembered something bad while eating ramen, means he can recall events with major meaning to his life. Ramen was one of the only things he could afford to eat, and we presume he had remembered the struggling hunger he had to endure since no one else let him eat food. If this is the cause of every memory, we need to be careful over what we say and show him."

"I believe that as well." Shikamaru said in deep thought.

"What's on you mind Shikamaru?" The fifth Hokage said concerned at the strategist ninja and leader.

"If what you say is true, how will he react when he remembers more pain over his memories? Will he be capable of bringing Sasuke back without going on a rampage and hurting his allies? And if he did hide the fact that he was holding back since the beginning of the academy entrance, and as strong as you think Lady Hokage, then how are we going to restrain him the next time he remembers more powerful Justus?"

"You're right Shikamaru." Tsunade said pondering at the thought. "But we can't simply let him roam around without memories forever. One thing is keeping him safe, another is lying to the poor boy."

"Maybe, but the Naruto we see now is calm and collected, he's more mature." Ino began but stopped slowly. "But then again he doesn't smile, and he looks so deep in thought, it's as if he feels the emotions from before his body made him forget every painful detail that could kill him."

"Let him be, if he's too weak to remember and live with the fact that he failed to bring Sasuke back then so be it. I'll bring Sasuke back." Sakura said from behind everyone as they stared at the pink girl.

"That is unfair Sakura-chan." Lee said with a look of disappointment. "You know better than anyone that Naruto will never give up searching for Sasuke, something happened back at the battle, we just need to find out what cause him so much pain that his body went into survival mode."

"Agreed, let's just wait out until he wakes up again so we can test out his strength, with his mind erased, he won't have any memories as to why he needs to hold back and go full force." Tsunade said as she waved to the ninja to leave and be patient.