THUD!
Mikoto slammed the door open, the impact echoing through the room. She dropped the brown bag from her shoulder, the contents rustling inside, and gripped the kunai extended from her sleeve, getting into an offensive stance as she took in the situation in the room with her Sharingan.
She expected a repeat of the incident from three years ago and prepared to attack the intruders on sight.
But what she saw shocked her to her core. Instead of the intruders she was expecting to confront, she found Hotaru in a state of distress. Hotaru was sitting on the bed, with his hands clamped around his head, his fingers gripping his hair as he yelled in horror.
After ensuring that no one else was in or around the room, she gradually relaxed her stance, allowing her kunai to retract into her sleeve. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she approached Hotaru slowly, her movements deliberate and cautious, each step measured to avoid causing him any further distress.
Mikoto slowly sat down on the bed next to him and gingerly extended her hands towards his. As she began to pull his hands down, she felt a pang of hurt when she realized he didn't want to let go and was trying to resist. Despite his struggle, he was so weak that she hardly felt any resistance. His eyes were opened wide and unfocused, as he continued screaming.
Mikoto slowly pulled him into her embrace, resting his head against her chest as she wrapped her arms around him, holding him as gently as she could.
She then patted his back softly and whispered, "It's alright, Hotaru. It's alright. Aunt Mikoto is here. No one is going to hurt you anymore. I promise I will stop them." She spoke the words as much for him as for herself.
After pacifying him for what seemed like forever, he finally stopped screaming and fell silent. Mikoto felt something wet against her chest and realised he was crying silenty.
His small frame trembled slightly as he nestled closer, wrapping his arms around her tightly. Mikoto could feel the tension in his tiny body, and her heart ached for him.
She brought him a little closer, kissed him on the top of his head, and gently patted him. She let him shed tears for as long as he needed.
Despite the situation, her lips curved upward in a gentle smile. It had been so long since the last time he hugged her. And despite his less-than-ideal state and distress, he was finally out of the coma.
The questions about what had happened could wait until later; right now, all that mattered was that he felt safe, that he understood he was not alone.
***
The boy found himself being gently pulled by someone. In the next moment, his head rested against something warm and soft, and a pair of arms carefully wrapped around him and held him tenderly.
Soon, one of the hands began to pat his back softly, and a gentle, warm voice—a woman's voice—whispered reassuring words in his ear. The voice promised him safety, and he caught a few unfamiliar names: 'Hotaru' and 'Aunt Mikoto'.
After sometime, he noticed the quietness in the room and realized he had been screaming until then. Still unable to recall who he was and not knowing what was going to happen to him in this unfamiliar place, he couldn't hold back his tears and began to sob.
Before long, he found comfort in her embrace, and despite the fact that she was a stranger, he couldn't help but hug her back. He felt that this woman would never harm him and that he could trust her completely, which was an odd feeling to have about someone he didn't know.
The woman pulled him a little closer, kissed him on the top of his head, and gently patted him.
Yep. She would never.
***
"Hwah"
The boy woke up with a yawn from a long nap. He peered outside the window and judging from the sun's position, it seems to be afternoon.
The woman smiled and said, "Good afternoon, Hotaru. You finally woke up."
Hotaru looked at her. "Good afternoon, Aunt Mikoto? Is that… your name?" he asked hesitantly.
She was a little taken aback. "Y-yes, Hotaru. That is my name. How are you feeling?"
The boy pondered for a moment before deciding to be straightforward. "I am fine. But, who is Hotaru? Is that… my name?"
It was a risk, but he wanted to gauge her reaction before deciding how to move forward. After all, he was in the hospital, and judging by the state of his body, it seemed he had been there for quite some time.
He noticed a flicker of panic in her eyes before she quickly composed herself.
"You d-don… r-rem…"—she paused for a moment—"You d-don't have to worry if you can't remember right now. I will tell you about everything you've forgotten later. But yes, your name is Hotaru, and I am your aunt Mikoto," said Mikoto, smiling nervously.
"I have informed the medical-nin that you are awake. They should send someone soon to check on you, Hotaru," she continued.
The boy nodded although he didn't understand what a 'medical-nin' was. He was relieved that she wasn't asking him too many questions and had promised to fill in the gaps about what he couldn't remember.
Was that why this body was in the hospital? Because he couldn't recall things, or was there something else entirely?
'Well, she would tell me sooner or later. I just need to stay calm and let things take their course.'
The boy looked around the room and thought that it resembled a standard hospital room. Turning toward the window, he peered down into the streets. Outside, he saw a lot of houses and small buildings, all surrounded by trees. Street vendors were selling goods, and children were running around playfully.
At that moment, there was a knock on the door. Mikoto stood from her chair, walked over, and opened it. A man in some sort of uniform stepped into the room.
He uniform consisted of a white shirt with full sleeves, white pants, and a form-fitting white inner shirt that went upto his chin, topped off with a white hat. The word 'Doctor' was printed in red on the upper left of his shirt. He appeared to be middle-aged, with round glasses and black hair that was graying at the temples. In his hands, he held a brown clipboard.
He bowed slightly. "My apologies, Mikoto-sama. I was in the middle of treating a patient, so I was a bit late in arriving here."
"It's alright," Mikoto replied. "Now that you are here, please take a look at Hotaru. He woke up from the coma this morning," she said, gesturing towards Hotaru.
The medical-nin nodded and made his way toward Hotaru's bed as Mikoto closed the door and trailed behind him.
Standing beside the bed, the uniformed man said to the boy, "Good afternoon, Hotaru-kun. I am Takomoto Kenichi. Your mother will be very happy when she learns you have woken up from the coma. How are you feeling now, Hotaru-kun?"
"Physically, I am fine, aside from feeling weak. My vision has been very blurry ever since I woke up," Hotaru replied. "Other than that, I am…"—he hesitated—"I am unable to remember anything. Or anyone. I don't even know why I am in this hospital right now."
"Feeing weak is normal after not being able to eat for such a long time. Your eyes probably have the same problem as well. I think they should be back to normal in a few days. I will check your eyes with a jutsu later, just to be safe," he said.
After saying that, Kenichi considered his words for some time before turning to Mikoto. "Sometimes, when a person goes through a particularly traumatic event, their brain can repress the memories related to that event. Not to mention, Hotaru-kun was only a three year old kid at the time. At that age, children don't have many lasting memories. Perhaps being in a coma for three years after that event caused him to forget other memories unrelated to it as well."
He continued, "Repressed memories are nearly impossible to unlock by medical jutsu. The only way is for the patient to recall them on their own someday. Since Hotaru was only three and didn't have many lasting memories, it may not be possible for him at all. Even Tsunade-sama might find it difficult to recover those memories."
Hotaru frowned. He felt he was on the precipice of realizing something very important. 'Tsunade? Mikoto? Where have I heard those names before? And I definitely saw this guy's uniform somewhere else as well.'
"On the bright side, Hotaru is still a kid. While it maybe difficult for adults to cope with lost memories, for a child his age, it wouldn't be as hard. In a few months or perhaps a year, he should be just like any other child," he concluded his explanation.
Mikoto looked sad. "Is there really no way to help him recover his memories?"
Kenichi shook his head. "I'm sorry, Mikoto-sama."
He turned to face Hotaru again. "I want to check the state of your body, Hotaru-kun. If you could lie down on the bed for me, please."
Mikoto stepped towards Hotaru, who was leaning against the headboard, and helped him lie down on the bed.
Kenichi then put his hands together to mold chakra and then weaved a few hand seals. In a moment, his right hand started to glow in a pale-green hue.
Everything seemed to fall into place after seeing that guy put his hands together and weave those hand seals, and most importantly, the pale-green hue of that jutsu. 'Wait! I have seen this before! Yes! In Naruto! But why do I have memories of Naruto and nothing else? Not just that. I just spoke to someone named 'Mikoto'. I just spoke to a medical-nin. And this medical-nin just so happened to mention 'Tsunade-sama' of all people. I am pretty confident I am in the Naruto world. But how did this happen?'
Kenichi, having finished his preparations, extended his hand until it made contact with his body. The pale-green hue of the jutsu flowed into the area directly underneath it, creating a refreshing feeling in that area. The medical-nin then began to trace the outline of his body with the jutsu.
Or at least that was what he was about to do when Hotaru suddenly—
[System is about to be Initia…]
—sat upright with a start, mustering energy from who knows where. Taken aback by Hotaru's actions, Kenichi halted the jutsu and stared at him in bewilderment.
'What the f*ck was that? System? What is that?'
"Hotaru-kun, are you alright?" asked Kenichi.
"Hotaru, are you feeling unwell?" Mikoto asked, her voice laced with worry.
Hotaru's heart was still racing from the shock of discovering he was in the Naruto world when a transparent crystalline screen with a light blue hue appeared out of thin air in front of him. He nearly jumped out of his bed. However, as soon as Kenichi stopped using that jutsu on him and the pale-green hue of the jutsu stopped flowing into his body, that screen vanished without a trace.
Hotaru took a deep breath to gather himself. With a sheepish smile on his face, he turned toward them. "I was just surprised by how that green thing felt. I'm sorry for scaring you. Haha," he confessed, prompting them to laugh.
"It's alright, Hotaru-kun. That green thing is called the Mystical Palm Jutsu. That happens to some people when they experience that jutsu for the first time," Kenichi said with a smile. "Now, I'll continue from where I left off earlier."
Kenichi once again initiated the Mystical Palm Jutsu and resumed his work.
After doing this for a few minutes, he nodded and made some notes on the paper clipped to his clipboard. "Firstly, his eyes should return to normal within a week at most. As for the rest, due to prolonged physical inactivity and poor nutrition resulting from the coma, his body is very frail. Hotaru-kun should start with short daily walks and easily digestible foods, gradually progressing to light exercise and proper meals," he said to Mikoto.
During the few minutes that Kenichi used the Mystical Palm Jutsu to inspect him, the transparent crystalline screen appeared out of thin air in front of him once again. This time, however, he was prepared for it.
He didn't have to wait long before—
[System Initiation has been terminated.]
[Do you wish to Initiate System?]
[It may take up to 5 minutes to Initiate the System.]
[Proceed with the Initiation?]
[Accept | Reject]
[Auto-accept in 5 seconds.]
—was displayed in front of him.
And then the timer ticked—
[5… 4…]
—down to 4 when he yelled in his mind, 'What happens if I reject?'
[Then it would be your second rejection. If you reject now, you will have one more chance to do so. If you reject a third time, the System will be permanently deleted.]
[3…]
'Wait. Why are you only offering the initiation while the Mystical Palm Jutsu is being used on me? And how is it my second rejection?'
[System Initiation requires Chakra. Since you do not have Chakra, external Chakra is being utilized.]
[The first System Initiation is attempted without asking for permission.]
[2…]
'Stop the timer for heaven's sake. What if the Jutsu is halted while you are being Initiated?'
[Any interruption in providing Chakra leads to the termination of the Initiation process. It will be considered a rejection on your part.]
'Ah. So, when Kenichi halted the Jutsu earlier, it was counted as a rejection. I am not sure this medical-nin will use his Jutsu on me without asking any questions for 5 minutes. What should I do?'
[And the timer cannot be stopped.]
[1…]
'Argh! F*ck you! Fine, I reject the System Initiation.'
[Host has rejected System Initiation. The System will be permanently deleted upon one more rejection.]
And with that last message, the crystalline screen vanished without a trace once more.