Fractured

Escape

He's making a run for it again, Boruto just knew it. That idiot. But why? He shot a glare at Kawaki's shadow clone currently lounging on the couch in his Dad's office. Boruto gritted his teeth, lips curling in a barely contained snarl. "You're a complete moron, you know?" He clenched his fists.

Kawaki's shadow clone, apparently feeling so unbothered that he didn't feel the need to even rise to a sitting position, just shrugged. "Shut up." His eyes rolled. "This doesn't concern you."

"Like hell it doesn't! You're off gallivanting doing who-knows-what when you've got nearly a third of the village sensory unit zeroed in on your movements specifically! Either you really are stupid or your last brain cell got seriously damaged in the fight against Isshiki," Boruto fumed, his voice restrained to a taught whisper so as not to alert his parents. "I dunno how you suppressed your chakra signature to sneak past that sensory ninja outside, but that doesn't matter right now. The real you needs to come back immediately."

On the couch, the clone kept his eyes carefully trained on the opposite wall. He tongued the inside of his cheek lazily.
"You're just mad I figured out how to give ole lazy eyes out there the slip before you did," the clone drawled, picking at his cuticles.

"Are you kidding m—" Boruto groaned in complete exasperation, pulling at the ends of his hair. "You don't get it, do you. If you leave, you may very well be..." he trailed off. To be honest, Boruto didn't really want to think of all the various horrible scenarios that might occur if Kawaki managed to leave the village.

Boruto's patience was already on the verge of breaking into all out panic. He pressed the heel of his palm against his brow, rubbing as he sighed.

"Look, I'm not trying to be a pain, but I also can't help you if you don't let me in on what's going on. I know you well enough by now that I don't think you'd try to leave the village for no good reason again." Or, at least, Boruto thought he could read Kawaki well enough by now to know he's not going to leave on the basis that he still felt like he didn't belong in the village. Boruto felt a bit of sympathy for his dad at this moment for putting up with the brat that Boruto used to be... and still is, at times. If not for the fact that they looked nothing alike, Kawaki could very well be an Uzumaki based on his penchant for willful stubbornness alone. "Just what are you up to? I know you're scheming something," he said.

The clone pursed his lips, finally sitting up, but still not speaking.

"Bro, spill it!" Boruto pleaded, flinging his hand seared with Karma open in desperation. He waited a few seconds before continuing, the silence between the two teens crackling with barely checked emotion. "I've got another third of the sensory unit following me everywhere I go because of this thing," he motioned animatedly to the small diamond shaped mark on his right hand. "So, it's not like I can just easily chase after you. Did something happen?" He paused. "Is it Code?" His voice cracked with unbidden worry.

Kawaki's clone gripped the edge of the couch and looked away, a hint of guilt visible in his charcoal eyes. "Tch. Like it's any of your business. You'd just get in the way." His sharp words left slightly chapped lips without nearly the bite he intended.

"You're pissing me off," Boruto stated. "I don't want to have to drag Dad into this, but I will if I have to." His voice was firm this time, his cobalt eyes unwavering. Kawaki's clone glanced behind Boruto for a second, his eyes landing on Naruto's tattered orange jacket hanging proudly from the armoire against the adjacent wall. Boruto turned his head, following Kawaki's line of vision to his Dad's childhood jacket and then glanced back at the boy – clone— who was now poised tensely on the couch.

-¤-

Periodic street lamps dimly illuminated the residential streets of Konoha as Kawaki's real body ducked between houses and alleyways, trying to avoid being spotted. Despite the fact that he had unintentionally figured out how to suppress his chakra signature, thus rendering sensory types incapable of tracing him remotely, he couldn't be careless and allow other surveillance ninja to spot him. Not now. Time was of the essence, and the last thing he needed was someone like that useless looking ninja at the X Cards shop spotting him and alerting the sensory unit, or worse, HQ.

His surroundings gradually changed from shadowed residential streets to the more brightly lit thoroughfare of the shopping and entertainment district. At this time of night, there weren't as many people around, but it wasn't so late that he could weave his way between buildings without running into anyone. He ducked behind a trash bin in a dark alleyway and thought for a second.

He could take to the roofs for an easy, direct route to the outer wall, but there was sure to be shinobi posted on lookout up there. It wasn't worth the risk. He contemplated using the sewer to avoid being seen, but shook his head. He wasn't familiar enough with Konoha's sewer system to even begin navigating his way out of the village. He'd be going in blind, and time was not on his side.

Kawaki sighed. It was only a matter of time before someone noticed he left a clone at the house. "Tch. Probably that dumbass. Always in my business." He tried to feel annoyed, but smirked instead, a feeling of amused fondness creeping unwittingly through the seams of his carefully crafted armor.

Making up his mind, he detoured into a side street that kept him out of the spotlight. This way would add an extra minute to his route, but it was better than being sighted.

After a few more minutes of stealthy maneuvering, Kawaki felt a slight tug at his consciousness. The sensation was hard to explain. Intimate, but not invasive. Like the comfortable feeling of quiet companionship he got when Himawari would sit with him while he laboriously pieced together her broken vase. But this was nothing tangible, and he knew instinctively that Boruto could tell where his real body was. And that it was not the Kawaki currently in the Hokage's office.

"Dammit Boruto... It's probably cuz he's Otsutsuki too. Or due to our affinity." Kawaki scowled. "He's sensing me via something like wave patterns." He swore once more and picked up his pace.

The more secrets that unveiled about Karma and the changes Otsutsuki data wrought on his body, the more unsettled Kawaki had become. Even though the diamond pattern no longer weighed heavily on his left hand, Isshiki's mark had left a permanent change its wake. Kawaki glanced at his empty palm, clenched his hand and drove his foot further into the ground, taking an extra-long leap to the next backstreet.

Not long after, he reached a relatively unremarkable portion of the village wall. Here there were no lights and no guards stationed nearby. He reached his newly regenerated arm to his pocket, patting the contents there with his now Karma-less hand to make sure the contents there were firmly in place. Satisfied, Kawaki took one last cursory glance around the area before using the closest building as a springboard to scale the wall, his feet infused with chakra. A pang of guilt settled in the back of his mind knowing he was using a skill taught to him by Lord Seventh to vacate the very village the Hokage had spent so much effort making into a home for Kawaki.

My stupid son. The phrase echoed through Kawaki's mind in Lord Seventh's voice, and Kawaki felt his throat tighten. Yeah, well, he might not be so far off the mark, Kawaki thought. Even he was willing to admit this was pretty stupid. As for the other part... Kawaki's eyes were suddenly stinging.

He made a final leap over the wall, landing on one knee in the dirt on the other side. Standing, he brushed off his pants and took note of his surroundings.

It was dark, and he was mostly surrounded by trees, but the faint glow of the village behind the wall gave him enough light to see by. He took a moment to still his mind, closing his eyes to concentrate. His eyes sprang open, and he started running west.

-¤-

Code removed his ear from the black band on his palm. Kawaki was heading west, according to Eida. She really was an asset. It seemed almost unfair to have an ally that literally knows just about everything. Code smirked. It's too easy. Almost no fun. Almost.

He stretched his limbs above his head, leaning slightly to the left, then right. He yawned, then placed his mouth into the band on his palm again.

"I'll check in periodically for any useful updates you may have for me." He lowered his hand from his mouth, placing it on his hip.

"If only I didn't have to spare him," he whined, half joking. Jigen—Isshiki—deserved retribution, and Kawaki was by no means innocent of Jigen's downfall. But he couldn't defy Eida's wishes. He simply was unable to deny her the happiness that she sought from Kawaki—from someone unaffected by her power. He knew first hand how powerful her ability truly was.

"Well," he sighed and cracked his neck, "time to go meet an Otsutsuki."