When Adult Naruto heard his son's question, his gaze remained on his younger self and Hinata, his eyes filled with nostalgia.
He nodded gently and lowered his voice, as though afraid of disturbing those long-buried memories:
"Yes. Especially around me, she was very, very shy."
He paused, seemingly recalling that particular point in time:
"And at this stage, she was going through a period of serious self-doubt."
"Self-doubt?"
Yūji was puzzled.
He found it hard to imagine the Mother Hinata he remembered ever experiencing "self-doubt."
Adult Naruto drew his gaze back to his son. His eyes grew deeper, as though he wanted to take him back to that particular state of mind:
"Yes, self-doubt. Back then, she felt she couldn't help me."
He explained slowly, his tone full of understanding and tenderness:
"Within a few months of becoming Hokage at this point in my life, I conquered the Lands of Grass, Earth, Wind, and Lightning in succession. My strength and reputation were growing rapidly, and of the people beside me, only your Mother Hikari was strong enough to fight alongside me."
"Hinata helped out at Konoha Hospital, and she felt she had very little in common with me to talk about. She saw me getting busier and busier, while she seemed to be standing still."
Adult Naruto's voice softened further:
"Later, before we got married, she told me, 'Back then, I thought someone as wonderful as Naruto-kun had no reason to fall in love with the person I was.'"
Listening to his father repeat his mother's words from those days, Yūji felt a jolt. He had never imagined that someone as strong and gentle as his mother had once lacked confidence so badly, her thoughts bordering on feelings of inferiority.
Seeing his son's astonishment, Adult Naruto's lips curved into a