Night fell over Konoha, at the home of Hokage Uzumaki Naruto.
The dining table was laden with a lavish spread of food, with a freshly unboxed birthday cake in the middle.
Today was Himawari Uzumaki's tenth birthday, the little princess of Konoha.
It should have been filled with laughter and joy.
But Naruto's recent ordeal had cast a shadow over it.
Hinata, Boruto, and Himawari sat silently at the table with their heads lowered, none of them touching their chopsticks.
"Ha, haha." After a long while, Boruto clenched his fist and laughed, breaking the stifling silence.
"Boruto." "Big Brother."
Under Hinata and Himawari's gazes, Boruto cradled the back of his head and said with an easy, nonchalant expression, "Even if this hadn't happened, Dad probably wouldn't have come back anyway. It's been the usual thing these past years, you know~."
As he spoke, he opened the box of candles, counted out ten, and stuck them into the cake. After lighting them one by one, he lifted the cake with both hands and held it before Himawari.
"Don't wait for Dad to come back. Let's blow out the candles and sing the birthday song!"
"Ding-dong!" Just then, the doorbell rang.
"Who is it? Why now of all times?" Boruto had already been forcing a smile, and the harsh, ill-timed doorbell immediately filled him with irritation.
The possibility he wanted most had never even crossed his mind. He knew it was impossible.
"Ah!" What he saw after opening the door left him rooted to the spot.
Naruto stood there, bracing himself against the doorframe with his bandaged right hand and grinning brightly at him. "Yo~."
Boruto was overjoyed. "Dad, weren't you with Uncle Sasuke at that Shikkotsu Forest place before dawn?"
Naruto looked surprised. "How did you know about that?"
"Ah." Realizing