Despite her mightiest efforts, Hotaru's eyelids felt heavy as they refused to open. Eventually, the young woman won the battle and slowly opened her eyes. The room she was laying in was dark, but the faint light of the morning sun was beginning to illuminate the space about her. The ceiling and walls were white, and she could smell a heavy scent of antiseptic.
'Am I in the hospital?' She thought to herself. There was a slight weight barring down on her feet. The girl's head was to still to heavy to lift after coming out of her deep slumber, but she could see a large, white, furry mass at the foot of her bed. 'A dog, maybe?' The large creature let out a small yip from a puppy dream. Hotaru smiled. 'Shiromaru,' she silently mouthed the dog's name.
Hotaru's eye's fluttered to the window. The curtains were drawn, but they had been separated enough for Hotaru to see the eastern sky. The sun was in the beginning stages of dawn, casting a light, grey haze across the world. She didn't notice at first, but as her eyes adjusted to the world outside of the window, she saw white specs gently floating throughout the air. The small specs danced soundlessly as they fell to earth. The girl lay in her bed, confused by the white substance. The sight seemed vaguely familiar, like she had witnessed it in a long forgotten dream.
'It's snowing…' Hotaru's mind informed her, finally connecting the dots. 'Why is it snowing?' Before she could puzzle out the answer to her question, the sound of snoring pulled Hotaru's attention away from the window. A man sat in a chair at her bedside, slumbering soundly. Every now and a gain, a soft snort would escape him. Hotaru had never seen this man in her life. He had short, brown hair that was partially covered by his happuri forehead protector that shaped his entire face. The neckline of his collar stopped at his chin, giving the stranger a rectangular looking head. Even with his eyes closed, Hotaru could tell the man had large, almond shaped eyes. To Hotaru, the sleeping man looked quite stern and stoic, but his eased, sleeping face called only one word to her mind; kindness. The sleeping man wore the standard ANBU uniform, and as her eyes scanned the sleeping man and the room about her, Hotaru caught sight of the mask laying on her bedside table. A red and green cat mask sat next to a glass of water.
"ANBU?" Hotaru's voice groggily croaked from disuse. The noise cause the dog at her feet to stir. The large hound lifted his head, meeting Hotaru's stare.
"You're awake." The wolfish animal spoke. There was a twinge of shock intermixed with his delight. He had not expected the young woman to ever wake up. Shiromaru gracefully leapt from her bed, licking her fingers before nudging the ANBU awake. He restlessly stirred before shooing the dog away.
"I'll take you for a walk in a minute." The sleeping man groggily spoke.
"You may want to get up now. Hotaru -" Shiromaru retorted, refusing to cease ramming his head into the man's thigh. The ANBU's hurriedly sat up, eyes flying open to look at the girl, stopping to dog from speaking. Fear rested unabashedly on his face; afraid that something had happened to her in the night.
Hotaru's yellow eyes fell on the large, black orbs of the ANBU who protected her. "You… You're awake."
"Who are you?" She asked. Her voice rasped from disuse.
"I, uh, I'm…" He was uncertain how to respond. His eyes flickered hesitantly to his mask. Yamato could not decide if he should put on the mask or not. He was technically no longer assigned to the girl, she would be allowed to know who he is. But, at the same time, he still felt highly responsible for the girl, as though his assignment to her had not ended. Why else would he break into the hospital when he was not away on a mission? Ever since he had been taken off his post from her, Yamato would sneak into her room, and watch over the sleeping girl until dawn.
Shiromaru was perfectly capable of watching over her, but he lacked thumbs. If something were to happen in the middle of the night, how could the dog open the door and get help? It hadn't occurred to the ANBU that he could just bark to get someone's attention.
"This is Yamato." Shiromaru spoke after a pause too long for his liking. "He was the ANBU assigned to guard you."
"I should really go inform the Hokage that you've woken up." Yamato replied, taking hold of his mask and exiting the room.
"What happened? Why is it snowing?" Hotaru inquired, looking to the dog for answers. She unsteadily pushed herself into a sitting position. Hotaru did not understand how it could be snowing. She wracked her brain, trying to process this information. She remembered nothing of reliving memories inside of her mind, Osamu's visit, or her fight with Tendo. The last moment she could remember was hugging Shiromaru as he pledged his loyalty to her.
"It would be best if you wait for the Hokage." The dog said as he leapt back up to the foot of her bed.
Yamato returned with Tsunade and Naruto in tow. Sakura quickly followed behind them.
"Lady Tsunade, what happened to me? Did I hit my head? The last thing I remember, it was just August, and now it's snowing." Words rushed from Hotaru's mouth before she had time to think about what she was saying.
Tsunade stepped forward, taking a seat next to the Akimichi's bed. "Hotaru…" her voice was glum. "You've been in a coma -"
"A coma!?" She asked in disbelief. Her voice was starting to sound normal again. "How long was I in a coma?" She asked, looking back to the snowy scenery. The people in her hospital room fell silent at Hotaru's question. The girl looked back at them, trying to figure out why they were quiet. "What's wrong? It's snowing, so it could have only been a couple months…" Yamato and Shiromaru exchanged a guilty glance behind Naruto and Sakura. "How long was I asleep?" She asked, fear growing inside of her.
"It's been three years." Sakura quietly answered. Hotaru could feel the blood rush from her face and her heart sink with the pink-haired girl's reply.
"What!?" The girl yelled at the four other people in her room.
"Do you remember getting sick?" Tsunade asked.
"Yes. I put those chakra bracelets on, and got sick because I couldn't use the Calorie Control Jutsu anymore."
"That's part of why you got so sick so fast." Sakura explained. "But… What put you in the coma, was the seal on the back of your neck." Hotaru listened intently, staring unfocused at the wall, as the two female medics explained Hotaru's condition to her.
"So, because I put those bracelets on, what should have taken years to kill me only took a couple weeks? And I've missed three years because of it?"
"Yes. Tsunade solemnly stated. "It's taken three years for you chakra system to heal. While your body was healing itself, we had medics and doctors in here daily, pumping medicinal chakra into you to keep you from getting sick again. We've been doing everything we could to get you to wake up for the last three years."
"A lot has happened in the last three years." Naruto finally chimed in. He had been quiet up until this point, which was surprisingly out of character for the pesky blond.
"You're Hokage now, aren't you?" Hotaru asked, looking to the blond man. He smiled at the girl and nodded.
"How'd you know?" Naruto asked with a sly glimmer of happiness.
"For one, you're here. If you weren't Hokage, why would you have come back with Yamato?" Naruto laughed at her comment.
"I see slacking off for three years hasn't made you an idiot." He giddily remarked. Sakura was about to scold the boy, when Hotaru's laugh made her stop. It was the high-pitched cackle that was her true laugh. Not the snort or chuckle that she had been prone to when she returned, but her pure laugh. This was the Hotaru of old.
Shiromaru had noticed it immediately upon waking up, but the humans did not have the same senses as he did. The darkness that Kiba had noticed - that void which claimed every piece of her - was gone. All that remained inside of the young woman, was a golden light of a peaceful and pure soul. Tsunade and Sakura had pulled the darkness out of her, one cluster of chakra at a time. And though she did not remember it, Hotaru herself fought to bring her life back to the light it had once known. The happy, harmless girl was back.