Seeing Hinata's agitated reaction, Makoto felt something was off.
Not just Makoto, but even Hinata's father Hiashi, her sister Hanabi, and the other clan members present all looked astonished.
Many of them were seeing this reserved young lady show such excitement for the first time.
Several clan elders looked at each other, whispering, none knowing what had gotten into the young lady who usually didn't even dare to speak loudly.
Then, noticing Makoto's direct gaze on her, Hinata also realized her loss of composure.
"Ahhh—!"
She squealed, her face red as she buried it in her somewhat developed small chest, her two fingers nervously twirling.
Seeing Hinata's reaction, and not to be narcissistic, but Makoto was genuinely reminded of Hinata's attitude towards Naruto in the original work.
Makoto was a bit bewildered.
Because he didn't remember saving Hinata from being bullied when he was a child.
After all, looking back at Naruto fanfics where the protagonist gets with Hinata, ninety-nine percent of the methods involved rushing out to be the hero when Hinata was being bullied by the difficult citizens of Konoha.
This could be called the standard routine for getting Hinata, just like in One Piece fanfics, where to get Hancock, the protagonist needs to kill a Celestial Dragon.
Makoto thought for a moment, then asked Hiashi, "Can I step outside to talk with Hinata?"
Hiashi certainly wouldn't dare refuse.
"Please do, Leader."
To be honest, if Makoto chose Hinata, Hiashi would actually be happier.
After all, their ages were closer... Hinata was even in the same class as Makoto, and they would look more compatible together.
He was just a little worried that his eldest daughter, who usually didn't dare speak loudly, might not know how to please a man, and if she displeased Makoto, it would backfire.
Makoto got up and walked to Hinata's side.
"Let's take a walk outside."
Feeling Makoto's body heat so close, Hinata's face turned even redder.
"...Okay."
She replied softly, following behind him like a little tail, step by step.
Seeing her like this, Makoto was even more reminded of the abstract behavior of this little girl 'stalking' Naruto in the original work.
Truly, 'swap the genders, and the comments would go wild'.
If their genders were reversed, Hinata would definitely be called out on social media.
The two walked out of the Hyuga Clan's compound and slowly strolled along the streets of Konoha.
Makoto got straight to the point: "Hinata, I didn't save you when we were kids, did I?"
Hearing this, Hinata also looked astonished. She looked up at Makoto in confusion.
"Save? Save me from what?"
Hinata's large, pale eyes were full of bewilderment.
She hadn't encountered any danger as a child, so what 'saving' was he talking about?
Seeing her confused expression, Makoto grew even more curious.
"Were you... never bullied by the other village children when you were little?"
Hinata shook her head blankly.
"..."
At this, Makoto was stunned.
'Had those difficult Konoha citizens changed their ways?'
'They hadn't bullied Hinata?'
'Or was it the butterfly effect of my presence?'
Then, Makoto reconsidered. He thought it more likely that many people in the class had been 'replaced' by players who had traveled over.
Perhaps those bullies simply hadn't been selected by the Reincarnation System and had been directly 'optimized out', so the storyline of Hinata being bullied never occurred.
That was probably for the best.
After all, those difficult Konoha citizens weren't decent people... they deserved to be optimized out long ago.
Makoto couldn't be bothered with beating around the bush. He turned around and looked at Hinata.
"Do you like me?"
Hinata's face turned as red as a boiling kettle, and it seemed like steam was rising from her head.
"..."
Her fingers started twirling again.
Finally, after struggling for a long time, she only managed to muster the courage to say, "I... I really admire you, Leader..."
That was correct. At present, Hinata's feelings for Makoto were simply admiration.
She admired his way of living, so unashamedly and openly.
Makoto was taken aback for a moment.
He blinked, recalling the path of affection between the Naruto-Hinata duo in the original work.
Although many readers in his previous life thought Hinata fell for Naruto because of his 'heroic rescue'…
But thinking carefully, that wasn't quite right.
Naruto's intervention when they were children at most made Hinata notice this boy who was rejected by the entire village.
Then, during their time at the Ninja Academy, she discovered that even though he was rejected by everyone, Naruto still acted as he pleased, not caring about others' opinions, not caring what they said, living frankly and openly, or rather, carefreely.
This was what Hinata longed for.
This led to her developing feelings for him.
Hinata, raised from childhood as the heir to the Hyuga main family and prone to internal conflict, greatly admired such a person, which slowly led to her developing feelings for him.
It wasn't until Pain invaded Konoha that she stood up to protect Naruto, causing those feelings to finally erupt completely.
Now, due to the intervention of the butterfly effect from Makoto, Naruto hadn't pulled off many of the conspicuous pranks he did in the original work.
After all, most of the pranks Naruto pulled were before he graduated from the Ninja Academy.
Because at that time, Iruka hadn't started taking special care of him yet. Since Iruka's parents had died at the hands of the Nine-Tails, he had his own issues to deal with when it came to Naruto, the Jinchuriki.
The anime showed that only after Kakashi guided him did Iruka resolve his issues and start giving Naruto special attention.
And that was already close to Naruto's graduation. So in the early period, Naruto was at his most rambunctious.
Although Makoto had graduated early after first arriving in the Naruto World, before Iruka started giving Naruto special attention, he still kept an eye on the 'Hero's Son' during his time in the village.
Whenever he returned from a mission and saw Naruto, he would usually treat him to a bowl of Ichiraku Ramen.
After all, as the Fourth Hokage's son, his childhood was indeed too tragic.
It was only later, after Iruka resolved his issues and accepted Naruto, that Makoto stopped seeking Naruto out intentionally.
Therefore, Naruto was still doing better than in the original work.
In the early period, Makoto treated him... later, Iruka treated him. So he didn't pull as many conspicuous pranks, nor did he attract as much of Hinata's attention.
Instead, it was Makoto whose light shone too brightly. He became the fastest student to graduate from the Ninja Academy after Kakashi, and also became the disciple of the 'Strongest Hokage in history', Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Such achievements were unique in the history of the Ninja Academy.
This caused Hinata to shift the attention she would have originally directed at Naruto onto Makoto.
So, the way Hinata developed feelings for Makoto was different from Hancock's situation.
Hancock's case was purely the 'suspension bridge effect'. She liked whoever killed the Celestial Dragons.
But here's a question: Didn't Fisher Tiger also kill one?
And he was your direct savior. Why didn't Hancock like Tiger?
Well... on that front, it could only be said that Oda's divine hand, aka the plot, was at work.