"Who is Min… umm… Minato?" he asked, looking as if he had trouble recalling the name.
Mikoto inhaled sharply. "Huh? W—Why are you asking that, Hotaru? Where did you hear that?"
Hotaru could see that she was trying to probe him to find out how much he had heard. But he was prepared for that. "Just now when I woke up, you were saying something about seeing someone… I think I heard the name Minato."
Mikoto secretly let out a sigh in relief. "Oh. I see."
She thought about how to answer it for sometime. "Minato was our village's Fourth Hokage and… also your father, Hotaru."
Hotaru now got the confirmation about Minato and Kushina being his parents. "Hokage? My father? Hmm… Ah, so when I woke up, you were saying that my father was coming to see me?"
Looking at his hopeful expression, Mikoto's heart sank. She didn't know if she should break the news to him. Peering through the window at the village, she contemplated for some time.
Initially, she thought of letting Kushina do it, but in the end she decided to tell him herself and spare Kushina from recalling that day.
"Hmm… A Hokage is… well…" Mikoto began. "Kage is the title given to the leaders of each of the Five Great Shinobi Countries' Hidden Villages. The leader of Konohagakure, our village, is called the Hokage. The Hokage is usually also the strongest ninja in the village."
She paused. "Minato, your father, was the Fourth Hokage of our village, Hotaru. He was the hero of Konoha during the Third Shinobi World War, who single-handedly turned the tide of war in Konoha's favor."
"He was so overwhelmingly strong that many enemy villages issued flee-on-sight orders to their ninja if they encountered Minato, the Yellow Flash of the Leaf," she said, reminiscing about the past.
Hotaru thought, 'Okay. That much is consistent with what is in my memories. And judging from her use of the past tense, it seems Minato has already passed away. Now, if I can find out how long ago that happened—and if the Kyūbi's attack on Konoha was what took him away—then I would have a decent idea of where I am in the timeline.'
Mikoto paused for a few moments before turning from the window to face Hotaru. "Last year, there was an attack on Konoha. The Kyū—" she paused, "—a demon was unleashed in the heart of our village in the dead of night."
Hotaru finally had the information he wanted. 'Okay. So, the Kyūbi's attack on Konoha did happen. And it seems to have occurred one year ago. Alright. Let's see if everything else is the same as in my memories.'
She shuddered just from the memory of seeing the gigantic Demon Fox in the middle of the village. It was so huge that it completely blocked the sky, casting a thick shadow over the land. The air felt heavy with a terrifying killing intent, the likes of which few people would ever encounter even once in their lifetime.
"It took the entire village by surprise. No one was ready for it, Hotaru. It appeared out of thin air, without any warning. In our village's attempts to defend against it, we lost a huge number of ninja.
"We were barely able to fend off its attacks, and the idea of attacking it seemed like a sick dream. Everyone thought the only choice was to flee the village and let the demon continue its rampage. But the problem was that only ninja would be capable of fleeing—and even then, not all ninja could escape. The genin and lower-level ninja, as well as the civilians, wouldn't be able to get away."
Mikoto's face was now pale, and lips were trembling slightly. "Just as the demon was about to level the village with its attack, Minato stopped it and took it outside the village. In the battle that ensued between them… Min—Minato…"
Her eyes began to mist. "Minato fought the demon with everything he had, but they were still at a stalemate, and he was gradually losing. Left with no choice, he used a forbidden jutsu to vanquish the demon, and erased it from existence."
"Because of that jutsu, Minato—," she choked out, a tear sliding down her cheek, her voice trembling with emotion. "On that day, our village lost its greatest ever Hokage."
Then the dam broke, unleashing the tears even as she struggled to hold back her cries. Giving up her fight, she pressed her hands to her face and cried silently.
Hotaru moved closer and sat next to her. He felt bad for making her recall that day, but he had no choice but to push forward. After all, the sooner he learned certain things, the better.
After a while, her sobs stopped. Mikoto finally calmed down and sat there without saying anything.
Hotaru decided to press on with his next question. "Aunt Mikoto, in that case… my mother… during the demon attack… did—"
"Your mother is fine, Hotaru," Mikoto interrupted him.
Hotaru's eyes widened. 'This is something I wasn't expecting. So, Kushina is alive.'
"She is fine," Mikoto repeated, her voice pulling him out of his thoughts.
"Your mother's name is Uzumaki Kushina," Mikoto continued. "Kushina and I are friends, Hotaru. We are best friends who grew up together. We've known each other since we were your age."
Mikoto's voice softened when she spoke about Kushina. Then, suddenly, she added, "Ah! I forgot! You have a little brother as well, Hotaru. His name is Naruto. He is such an adorable little boy."
Hotaru stared at her in surprise. "What?! Really?!"
'So, it turns out Naruto does exist in this world. And what's more, he is my brother—my little brother at that.'
"Yes!" Mikoto exclaimed, a smile spreading across her face. "He and Sasuke always fight, though. I was hoping they would get along very well with each other and become best friends, just like your mother and me."
Mikoto then looked at the wall clock and sat up straight. "Oh, it's so late, Hotaru. Itachi must be having trouble looking after Sasuke all day—although Sasuke might prefer him to me."
She rose from the bed and picked up her brown bag and straw hat. Hanging the bag on her shoulder, she turned to face Hotaru again. "I have to leave now, Hotaru. Itachi and Sasuke are alone at home. I wasn't expecting to spend so much time here today. Otherwise, I would have arranged for someone to look after them."
Hotaru's face fell at the mention of her leaving, a frown forming.
"Ah, don't make that face, Hotaru. I will be back tomorrow by the time you wake up and stay with you for as many days as you want. Okay?" she asked in a playful voice.
Hotaru nodded. "Okay. Aunt Mikoto, you must be back by the time I wake up, just like you said you would."
Mikoto smiled and gave him a thumbs-up before walking toward the door. She paused with her hand on the door handle and turned around. "And I will bring Kushina with me tomorrow. She is going to be so happy. Ha ha!"
As she opened the door, she called back cheerfully, "Bye!" before stepping out and gently closing the door behind her.
Hotaru was sitting on the bed with his thoughts to accompany him until morning.
"Okay. That was good. I have enough information now to plan my next move," he muttered to himself.
"And of course, I need to get out of this hospital and learn to mold chakra before anything else," he muttered, laying down on the bed.