Anna Karenina

A New Ordinary

We were ordered to return to Hidden Leaf Village immediately,

but Dad's staying longer…

Well, that goes without saying.

The Five Kage have to attend Lord Ohnoki's funeral.

And simply put, we're outsiders.

The Old Man's funeral…

It's too bad we couldn't attend, huh?

Yeah.

And Mitsuki's locked up in a different railcar.

All before I even had a chance to really talk to him.

Damn it. You gave me such a hard time.

Getting friendly with me and then dying just like that…

Seriously, I don't think I can forget you even if I tried.

Oh man, when we get back,

we're gonna have to face Moegi Sensei's wrath.

I deliberately made myself forget about that.

Don't remind me!

Man, I'm not looking forward to this.

But I guess we have to go home.

You got that right.

Ino-Shika-Cho live and die together.

Oh please, give me a break.

Ah! I'm really craving the sweets from home!

You can still eat?

Hey, you guys!

Sweets go into a different section of the stomach, okay?!

Cho-Cho, you can have my lunch.

Oh, yay!

Thank you for the food!

It's kind of a strange feeling.

I always thought the old man couldn't be killed.

If only I could have done something more…

You're wrong, Lady Fourth!

Lord Ohnoki was able to rediscover his true will at the end.

If you say so…

Yeah.

And he left us with an important lesson.

What's important is to protect the Shinobi World with our own hands.

In order to do so, we must nurture the youth of our villages.

And that task lies with those of us alive now. That is our duty, right?

But, it will take time to regain the trust we lost through this.

The villages must become one again.

You don't have to worry about that.

All these people!

It goes to show how big the legacy that the old lord left us, was.

Lord Third!

I may not look like much…

But I promise to become a super-strong shinobi who will protect the village!

I promise to carry out your will, Lord Third!

We have the strongest and hardest will in the entire world.

And that "will" shall continue to be carried on… Right?

I'm home.

Oh.

Big Brother…

It's Big Brother!

Mommy, Big Brother is back!

Boruto!

Do you have any idea how worried we were?!

I'm really sorry, Mom.

But I'm okay.

You made us worry so much!

I-I'm home…

Mom…

U-Um…

I'm really sorry I made you wor—!

Idiot!

I was so worried!

I'm home!

FIRE

FIRE Mitsuki's been placed in solitary.

In reality, he's a hero who prevented a terrible calamity.

But we've got to keep up appearances for the sake of the advisors.

And how do we deal with Boruto and Sarada?

Well, they…

They didn't turn their backs on their friend,

and risked their lives to save him.

Frankly, I want to praise them.

Naruto!

You're back already!

But you realize that we can't do that, don't you?

Yeah.

Stripped of our rank of genin?

Whatever the reason,

you are guilty of leaving the village without authorization.

It's to be expected.

Yes.

I know.

Hey, Dad… I mean, Lord Seventh!

Hmm?

When is Mitsuki's debriefing gonna end?

Yeah, well…

There's a lot of critical intel that only he knows.

I see.

Wait.

Leave your headbands here.

Please excuse me.

So, you're saying you went with them,

in order to investigate what they were planning?

Yes.

If I captured them at that point, there would have been no way

of finding out who the mastermind was.

So, you purposely walked into the heart of enemy territory.

Is that it?

I'm sorry.

I ended up getting so many people mixed up in this.

It's a fact that your actions prevented a worst-case scenario.

Still…

At the very least, why didn't you say something to me?

I'm sorry, I…

Before he left the village,

he had ample opportunity to ask others for help.

But he didn't, and came on his own to meet us.

He was happy to find others like himself.

He couldn't ignore his curiosity for a chance to meet real comrades.

Isn't that right?

For the sake of the investigation, for the sake of the village…

Maybe it wasn't the only reason.

I wonder what's going to happen to Team 7 now?

This isn't like you.

We can start over from scratch, right?

Don't you get it?

We might not be able to see Mitsuki ever again!

What do you mean?

You think he'll be kicked out of the village?

Not just the Hidden Leaf.

It's possible he'll have to take responsibility

for causing chaos in Hidden Stone Village too.

I won't let that happen!

If it does, I'll ask Dad to—!

That's not all!

He might even decide to leave the village on his own…

He wouldn't do anything that stupid!

How can you be so sure?

There are many sides to a person, and what we see is not everything.

We learned that only too well this time—

Sarada!

Mitsuki's gonna be fine.

I'm going home.

UZUMAKI

We might not be able to see Mitsuki ever again!

She's wrong.

This is the place where he belongs.

I wish I could talk… to Mitsuki.

Where am I?

Hey, brat!

Garaga!

I came to say goodbye.

Goodbye?

Yeah.

Our Summoning Contract is over.

That was our agreement in the first place, right?

Oh, right.

Mitsuki's back in the village…

But I still haven't had a good talk with him.

Huh?!

You're not scared, are you?

Quit making excuses and just go settle it once and for all, brat!

Yeah, I know that!

I don't care what he was thinking!

Mitsuki will always be Mitsuki to me.