Fractured

Diversion

Stupid.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

How could he have been so completely stupid.

He should have seen it coming.

Naruto launched off the wall along a street outside the darkened Hokage residence and made his way up to the roofline, his flame-bordered cloak fluttering wildly behind him. He had told Hinata to stay with Himawari in case something happened. There was no way in hell he was letting one of his children grow up without at least one parent.

Damn it.

He clenched his fist.

"He's headed towards the Scientific Ninja Tool Research Center," Ino spoke directly into his head.

"He's going for Amado. Naruto, don't be reckless. Wait for me to get there," Shikamaru chimed in alongside Ino in Naruto's mind.

This was all his fault, Naruto thought. "Wait for you?" Naruto said aloud. "Shikamaru, he can transport himself out of the village at will. There's no time to wait. It's fine. I've got clones gathering nature chakra for me at home."

"I already warned Amado," Shikamaru offered. "But there isn't really anywhere for him to go. The bunker is on the outskirts of the village. He's got an ANBU escort, but this is Code we're talking about. He clearly somehow knows where Amado is, and this is the same guy who went toe-to-toe with Kakashi and Sasuke and survived. I didn't order for mass evacuation since Code likely has a singular target. The lab is on lockdown, but it won't keep someone like Code out for long."

"Damn it, this is my fault," Naruto finally said as he sprang off the roof of another house. "I got comfortable."

"We all got comfortable, Naruto," Ino said. "But I never thought he would just charge headfirst into the village like this."

"He's got balls, I'll give him that much," Shikamaru added.

"We don't even know if he has any new tricks up his sleeve," Ino stated.

Naruto frowned. "We should assume that he does."

-¤-

"Talk to me, Eida," Code said as he raced through the shadows of the village cloaked in the darkness of night. The hood of his Kara cloak was pulled above his head, his ear resting inside the claw mark inside his hood.

"They know you're there." A feminine voice flowed into his ear. "They're all converging on the lab. You need to hurry up."

Code knew he was less than a minute away from the lab that Amado was hiding in. He had memorized the layout of the Hidden Leaf Village backwards and forwards over the last few months. He knew every building and street in this village like the back of his hand in case plans went awry.

"You don't need to tell me that," Code said. He had gloated before to Eida that he could take Naruto no problem, but the truth was that he had a better chance of taking him down if he could get his limiters removed first. He didn't relish the idea of getting heavily injured again, so he would like to avoid that if possible.

The plan was clear. Get in, grab Amado, and get the hell out.

Code came to a crossroad and looked both ways before continuing his route.

"Second floor, third room on the right." Eida's voice appeared in his ear. "He's got two ANBU guarding him, but it looks like he isn't planning on running."

The door to the lab was in sight. Finally, he thought. Finally, he could get these damn limiters removed. Everything would be exponentially simpler without them. He clenched his fist as the white Karma activated, glowing symbols crawling up the darkened skin of his arms towards his eye. He held out his hand, charging Karma up to blast away the large metal doors in front of him.