Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Borderlands.

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Blood and Bullets

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Chapter Three

"..." Maya sat vigilantly beside Naruto as time slipped by. Reina had left a while ago to gather the parts and tools she would need in order to repair Naruto's truck, leaving the two alone for some time. Not like it mattered; Naruto probably wouldn't wake up for at least another twenty-four to fourty-eight hours. As she sat there beside the cot, Maya picked up a small rock and turned it over in her hand for a moment before half-heartedly throwing it. Lashing out with her left hand as she called upon her Phaselock, Maya watched only as the pebble was trapped by the translucent orb of dark colored energy, only to be released, resulting in it falling straight to the ground. Sighing quietly, Maya rubbed the back of her neck and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees.

She still felt responsible for it all...

Heaving another sigh, Maya forced herself to stand and search for something to occupy her mind. Walking over to the truck, Maya walked around to the driver side and examined the external damage it had suffered. The two tires were badly damaged, but still capable of carrying them a fair distance. The heavily armored panels were scorched and stripped of their paint. Just in front of the driver side door was a deep and mangled dent with small chunks of the armor plating missing, a second one having been left just in front of the rear driver-side tire. From what Reina had been ranting about earlier, the radiator ruptured, a couple bolts in the framework supporting the engine had been sheared, the transmission shell was cracked, the suspension system had been totaled, the ammo box for the passenger side machine guns was busted, the barrels to all four hood-mounted cannons were mangled and broken, the triple-barrel rocket launcher was trashed, the gas tank had a leak, there was a leak in both transmission and brake fluids, the massive custom-made brake drums needed to be replaced; all in all, the truck needed a serious over-haul on almost everything.

The entire event replayed in her mind, over and over again. From the moment she tried to apologize to him up until the moment she saw how badly injured he was. She realized that Naruto had continuously maneuvered the truck to ensure he was positioned between her and whatever the threat was; the explosive barrel, the wrecked Outrider, the rockets, the crash. He might not have even done it consciously, probably reacting instinctually. Reina's words echoed in her mind again as Maya walked around the truck to the passenger door and opened it.

Ya' know, Naruto never was one to do things without a reason...

Sitting down on the bench seat, Maya sighed quietly and slouched, her knee accidentally hitting the dashboard and causing the glove box to pop open, spilling its contents onto the floor. Groaning quietly in mild complaint, Maya leaned down and start gathering everything up, only to pause when she came across an old photo. It was of Naruto and a woman, but it looked to be a pretty old photo. Probably at least ten years old, if her guess was right.

Standing at 5'5", the woman looked to be about his same general age with smooth chin-length dark crimson hair, dark brown eyes that were almost black in color, and sun-tanned skin. A scar crossed her right cheek and over the bridge of her nose, a few others present on the visible skin of her body. She was dressed in a pair of dark grey spandex shorts that cut off just a couple inches above her knees, short-sleeve fishnet top under a black midriff-bearing tank top that hugged her body like a second skin, black elbow-length fingerless gloves on her forearms with a metal plate on the back of her hands, and black open-toe sandals on her feet.

Sheathed behind her waist was a simple-looking machete-like weapon in a tan colored sheath, the handle wrapped tightly in black leather while a tassel of dark maroon string hung from the metal ring that made up the pommel of the blade's handle. The sheath was attached to a thin dark red leather belt that circled her slim waist with the machete handle sticking out from behind her left hip, a storage device attached to the belt behind her right hip, and a pistol holstered to the side of her right thigh.

Naruto looked almost the same back then as he did now, only he didn't have his swords, the cloth 'skirt' thing around his waist, or his goggles, but he was wearing a baggy black long-sleeve trench coat over everything. He still looked younger, being probably between the ages of nineteen and twenty-two at the time the photo was taken, his hair being much shorter than it was now. Maya could tell they were in love with each other, but it was made obvious by the fact that both parties were smiling with their arms wrapped around each other and looking as if they had just been kissing moments prior to being 'ambushed' by the photographer.

"Her name was Sarah." Naruto suddenly spoke up from just outside the door, startling Maya and making her heart race. Turning around, Maya had a look of nervousness on her face, feeling as if she were intruding on his privacy. Naruto was leaning against the side of the truck in order to maintain his balance while keeping his weight off his hurting left leg.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean-" Maya's frantic sputterings of an apology were interrupted when Naruto simply smiled sadly while staring at the photo in her hands. Noticing what he was looking at, Maya slowly handed it to him before sliding over on the bench seat, giving her wounded partner a spot to sit and rest. Gently taking the picture, he climbed into the truck and sat down, wincing slightly in discomfort due to his injuries.

"My mom had snuck up on us and snapped this picture just after Sarah told me she was two months pregnant with our child..." Naruto whispered, recalling the bitter-sweet memories with shocking clarity. "Then it happened..."

"...Naruto?" Maya muttered quietly and worriedly, seeing the tears falling from Naruto's eyes as his face became emotionless and blank. When he answered, his voice was cold and filled with malice and hatred, yet weighed down with heart-ache and suffering.

"I lost everything that day. My mother, my father, my little sister, my fiance, my unborn child. Everything." Naruto hissed out through clenched teeth, only to suddenly relax when Maya gently put her left hand over his own left hand, making him hesitantly look over at her. He was quiet for a few minutes as he composed himself, staring at the photo in his hand. "We had been attacked by bandits. We held our own pretty well, but the rest of the town wasn't so lucky. In the end, the bandits got tired of playing around with us and fired several rockets at us from their Outriders. I was sent out a window in the back of the house by the initial blastwave, but everyone else..."

"That's when you decided to close yourself off from the world, right?" Maya whispered softly, internally wondering where the question had come from. Slowly glancing over at her, Naruto nodded slightly before looking back to the photo. Maya's cheeks burned faintly with a weak blush as she wondered what it would take to coax him back out of his shell, but she managed to ignore those thoughts for the most part. Without thinking, Maya reached over and gently pulled the picture from Naruto's finger tips, only to set it back in the glove compartment along with everything else and shut it. She then reached up and gently caressed Naruto's right cheek with her left hand, turning his head so that he was looking at her. "Don't you think...that maybe it's about time you moved on and let someone in?"

"..." Naruto was quiet for a few minutes and although he didn't say anything, Maya could see the emotion in his eyes as he hesitated, afraid of being hurt again like he had been. That was when he slowly pulled away from her and climbed out of the truck, limping his way back over to the cot. Maya could only sit there while staring down at the dashboard in front of her, feeling as if she had just been kicked in the stomach. She had expected such a reaction from him, but it didn't help to soften the blow any.

'Stupid. He'll never open up to you now.' Maya mentally scolded herself, leaning forward and resting her forehead on the cool metal of the dashboard as she closed her eyes. How could she be so stupid? Sighing out of defeat, Maya figured it was for the best in the end and stayed where she was. For several long minutes, that's how she stayed. Until she heard something, prompting her to open her eyes and look up. Sitting back in the seat beside her was Naruto, having put his shirt back on. He slowly looked up at her and smiled weakly, something that made Maya smile as well.

"..." Maya didn't say anything; she just smiled. Relaxing a little, Naruto reached up with his left hand and closed the door, locking it in place before getting comfortable in his spot.

"...I'm sorry for being such an asshole." Naruto suddenly apologized, surprising Maya and making her blush a little, remembering what Reina had told her about Naruto apologizing first if he actually cared for her. As the hours wore on, Naruto and Maya started swapping stories of their past adventures to pass the time, neither one noticing nor caring how long they were in there...

xXx

"Mmm..." Maya moaned softly in her sleep, curling up a little more as she cuddled a bit closer against Naruto's side. Said blonde was sleeping as well, propped up against the passenger-side door with his left arm wrapped around the slumbering Siren. Outside of the truck, they never noticed the arrival of two others. Climbing out of her Outrunner, Reina raised her arms up and arched her back, groaning as she stretched after having gone through a twelve-hour road trip. Stepping out of a Technical that was modified into something akin to a tow-truck, however, was a rather tall and muscular man.

He stood at almost 6'4", appearing to be about in his late thirties or early fourties. His skin was tanned, his hair short and black, a short and thick beard ran along his jaw line and along his top lip, and a pair of orange-lensed sunglasses hid his eyes while the right lense was a bit cracked. He was dressed in a pair of baggy dark brown and light brown camouflage pants tucked into grey knee-high armor-plated combat boots, a black short-sleeve shirt that was practically skin-tight on him due to his broad chest and wide shoulders, black fingerless gloves on his hands, a pair of metal dog-tags hanging around his neck on a thin chain, and a storage device strapped to the side of his right thigh.

"Maaan...Where'd they run off to now?" Reina whined childishly while taking off her hooded jacket and tossing it into the driver seat of her Outrunner, noticing that Naruto was missing from his cot and Maya was nowhere in sight. She knew better than to think someone had come and kidnapped them. There weren't any signs of a struggle and the truck was still there; even the dumbest of bandits would have tried to take it simply because it looked a lot scarier than a regular Technical. The towering man beside her, Timberwolf, simply tapped her shoulder and pointed at the damaged truck itself.

Peeking in between two of the armor slats barring the passenger-side window, Reina couldn't help smiling upon seeing Naruto and Maya sleeping in the cab. Walking back over to the vigilant former soldier, Reina waved him over to the back of the tow-truck.

"Let's leave them alone for awhile. They've earned some time to rest." The short woman informed the man while dropping the tailgate on the Technical...

xXx

Vrrrt! Vrrrt!

"Ngh...Shit...What?" Naruto grunted out as he answered the ECHO, not even bothering to open his eyes.

"Where the hell are you? I was expecting to hear from you a while ago." The caller responded, having used a synthesizer to disguise their voice for security measures. "Anyways, it doesn't matter. They've already reached Pandora."

"...What?" Naruto growled out quietly as he slowly sat forward while his eyes snapped open, unknowingly waking Maya up. "What the fuck do you mean by that?"

"Just what I said. They. Are. Here." The person reiterated more firmly. Naruto cursed under his breath, only to grit his teeth and bite back a groan of pain after accidentally knocking his right hand against the door. "You alright over there?"

"Y-Yeah...Ngh...Just a little banged up, nothing too bad. I'll be fine." Naruto responded, before sighing heavily. "Are they still in orbit or have they already started landing?"

"Still in orbit, but I think they've been sending out a few landing parties of shocktroopers. I'll send you the data I managed to come across." Came the answer, the person pausing for a moment as if investigating something before speaking up again. "Look, I don't know how much longer I can stay here. Hell, I don't know if I'll live to see the end of the day. If I'm still alive and you come looking for me, you know where to find me."

"Yeah. Good luck up there." Naruto answered before both he and the other person broke the connection. Heaving another sigh, Naruto ran a hand over his face before noticing that Maya's breathing wasn't the same. Leaning back in the seat, Naruto leaned his head back and put his arm back around Maya. "How much did you hear?"

"...Only what you were saying." Maya admitted tiredly, yet timidly as she slowly sat up, brushing her hair back with one hand as she avoided eye contact for a moment before looking up at him. "Naruto? Who's here?"

"...Nothing you need to concern yourself with just yet." Naruto answered quietly, yet with a reassuring tone as he reached over with his left hand and opened the door before climbing out. Spotting Reina and Timberwolf, Naruto raised his left hand and waved lazily in greeting, noticing how the two were still unloading some of the replacement parts they had brought. Following after Naruto, Maya kept her voice low so as not to be over-heard.

"Don't you start with that shit, Naruto." Maya hissed, stepping in front of Naruto and staring up at him. "I'm your damn partner. Partners trust each other. I trust you...so why don't you trust me?"

"Maya, it's not that I don't trust you. It's..." Naruto paused for a moment as he broke eye contact, rubbing the back of his neck with his left hand. "It's complicated, okay?"

"Complicated, huh?" Maya questioned rhetorically while attempting to sound as if it didn't affect her, but Naruto could tell by the look in her eyes and the slight waivering in her voice that she was hurt by his response. Turning away, Maya crossed her arms across her middle and walked over to the fire to stay warm, idly wishing she had brought a jacket with her since the thermo-bands built into her outfit weren't doing much against the wind chill.

"Maya..." Naruto called out to her weakly, only to trail off when she ignored him. Sighing heavily, Naruto rubbed the back of his neck again before picking up his body armor, mask, goggles, gloves, and weapons. Cradling his belongings under his right arm, Naruto walked back to the truck and tossed his stuff onto the seat before climbing inside with a bit of difficulty, wincing due to his still healing injuries. "Good job, idiot...You just pissed off the one person that just might have actually wanted to be your friend..."

Slouching in the seat for a minute, Naruto closed his eyes and leaned his head back, only to sit back up and glance around at the others. Reina and Timberwolf were still preoccupied with unloading the tow-truck and Maya had her back to his general direction. Figuring that the coast was all clear for the moment, Naruto reached down under the passenger seat with his left hand and retrieved a metal container mag-locked to the underside of the bench. Setting it in his lap, Naruto closed the truck door before withdrawing a key from a pocket and unlocking the metal 'cigar-box'. Opening it up, the lilac glow of Eridium ore shined faintly from within. Taking one of the smaller pieces, Naruto held it in his left hand before locking the box back up and placing it back under the chair.

"I can't believe I have to resort to this again...but I'm sick of this damn broken hand." Naruto grumbled under his breath as he stared at the small glowing rock sitting in his palm before glancing out through the armor slats one last time. No one was paying attention. Without waiting any longer, Naruto tenderly removed the splint on his right hand before placing the Eridium pebble in said appendage, holding his left hand over it and closing his eyes. A moment of concentration was all he needed before the Eridium took hold and began to shrink, sinking into his flesh. As its amethyst glow transferred to Naruto's flesh, his broken bones began to mend themselves and his flesh began to stitch back together, but it wasn't by much.

Sighing heavily with slight relief as the process came to an end, Naruto looked down at his right hand and slowly curled his fingers, wincing slightly due to the lingering soreness, but his hand was otherwise healed. Unlike Lilith, Naruto had been cautious and careful, borderlining paranoid, when it came to Eridium. Whereas Lilith used it as a power-booster and experimented with it, Naruto barely ever used it and even when he did, he didn't use much. Thus, Naruto wasn't bound to it like the red-haired Siren was now. He was still trying to find a way to help her out, but it wasn't exactly bearing results.

'I still hate using that shit...' Naruto thought to himself as he curled and uncurled his fingers, trying to work out the stiffness in his hand from being stuck in a splint for the past few days. As he pulled his gloves back on, Naruto's mind wandered back towards Maya, making him pause for a moment and look back out through the slat-covered window. He wanted to tell her everything, to reveal all of his faults and secrets to her, but...he was too afraid. He was afraid of losing her like he had Sarah. He was afraid of losing the catalyst that had reignited the spark of Life within him.

'I'll tell her when we get back to Sanctuary since there's no need to go to Liar's Berg now.' Naruto decided while putting his body armor back on and putting his mask on, leaning back in the seat afterwards as he hung his goggles around his neck. Idly playing with his braid, Naruto looked down at it while twisting it around his finger. A small smile formed, remembering when he first met Sarah and how she had said it was 'cute', even though it had only been a few inches long at the time. After losing her, though, Naruto had let it grow out and had been doing so for the past decade, both his and Sarah's engagement rings set at the end of his braid. Glancing at the glove box and recalling Maya's words the 'day' before, Naruto wondered if it was truly time to...move on, to let someone else into his life.

'But I feel that if I do, I'll forget about her...I don't want that.' Naruto countered in his mind, only to lean forward and rest his elbows on his knees, his forehead resting on the smooth metal dashboard as he stared down at the floor. If he did, it would take time and a conscious effort on his part. Could he actually do it? Could he actually let go of Sarah and move on with his life?

The sound of the hood being popped open snapped him out of his thoughts, making him look up just as Timberwolf lifted the large metal panel to gain access to the engine. Sighing, Naruto opened the door back up and stepped out of the truck while grabbing his things. Sliding the unique custom-made sheaths to his swords through the loops of fabric on the back of his waist-band, Naruto grabbed the waist-cloak and clipped the metal rings to his belt loops one-by-one before grabbing his knives and slipping the blades into the built-in sheaths on the sides of his pants. Picking up his TMPs, he holstered them behind his waist and reattached his storage devices to his armor, the lights on the objects flickering back to life as they were turned back on.

Comforted by the familiar weight of his equipment, Naruto casually walked around to the back of the truck after shutting the door. Dropping the tail gate, Naruto stared at the two massive war machines lying in the bed of his truck, their eyes dark and hulking frames motionless. Reaching over, Naruto easily undid the straps keeping them pinned to the truck bed, only to reach under the chins of either hyena-machine and reactivate them. A few moments later, their eyes gradually shined brighter until they were fully active once more.

"Come on. Get down." Naruto muttered while stepping aside, the Hyena Brothers clambering to their armored paws and climbing out of the truck. As he shut the tail gate, Naruto glanced over at Maya out of the corner of his eye, noticing that she was shivering slightly despite being next to the fire. He could tell she wanted nothing to do with him at the moment as she just stared at the fire, her knees drawn up to her chest and arms wrapped around her legs.

'Yeah, you really screwed up this time...' Naruto weakly scolded himself as he leaned forward against the tail gate for a moment. From her spot, Maya was trying her best not to look at him, to keep her mouth shut. A part of her wanted to beat the shit out of him for being such a secretive asshole, but the other part of her wanted to apologize for being a bitch in return. He had his reasons for being like he was, there was no denying that. Honestly, she was surprised he hadn't simply snapped after what he had gone through.

That was when she felt a blanket draped around her shoulders...

"..." Looking up, Maya saw only Naruto's back as he walked away, whistling for Spaz and Taz to follow him. She frowned slightly, watching him leave the grotto of rock and ice and step out into the ivory haze of chilling snow and snapping winds, his two automatons flanking him on either side. As much as she didn't want to go out into the cold, Maya was worried for him and desperately wanted to follow after him, but her more stubborn and defiant side held her back. Thus, she just pulled the blanket tighter around her and spaced out once more...

xXx

"Stay alert, boys. Watch my back." Naruto urged as they neared a ridge, his eyes hidden by his goggles and head shrouded by his hood. Crouching down behind a large stone, Naruto held his hand over the storage unit on his left side, its content menu appearing in his left eye for a split second before it disappeared, his selection digistructing into existence in his right hand. Holding the black monocular to his eye, Naruto peered down at the grouping of buildings set at the bottom of the steep icy slope, which was only a couple miles away from where the others were currently at as they repaired his truck.

"That's unusual." Naruto mused to himself, spotting a few dead bandits lying around the area. It wasn't every day someone found a 'haven' that had already been cleared out of bandits. The only ones that usually cleared out areas like that were Vault Hunters and thanks to Jack, there were only two 'teams' of them. Seeing movement off to the far side of the cluster of industrial structures, Naruto turned his gaze on it and zoomed in. Immediately, he bit back a curse upon spotting a Praetorian, painted a dark midnight blue with black trim while a dull grey stylized double-headed eagle adorned the hood of the vehicle.

Owned by a private military force calling themselves the Guardsmen, the Praetorian was an APC that was based off of the Crimson Lance's Lancer APC, only it hada turret centered on top of it, had heavier armor, and a greater carrying capacity of eight, including the driver and gunner. The turret bore a pair of twin-linked heavy machine guns on either side of the armor-covered turret with armor-piercing anti-tank ammunition, standard-issue, while a smoke grenade launcher was set on either corner in the back. The vehicle's body was more box-ish than a Lancer and made to withstand more punishment than his own truck. Praetorian engines didn't even run on fuel. All in all, just one of the vehicles was worth at least twenty of his own truck.

"Shit, shit, shit..." Naruto chanted with annoyance, searching for the owners of said Praetorian. The first one he spotted was a basic Guardsmen footsoldier, a Fighter, dressed in their usual attire; dark and light grey camouflage jumpsuit with the leggings tucked into black knee-high combat boots with black kevlar-like guards strapped over them with a dark midnight blue plate of metal attached to it, a black tactical vest strapped over their torso with dark midnight blue armor plating covering their chest and abdomen, bands of black material strapped to their biceps with dark midnight blue metal covering their upper arms, black elbow-length fingerless glove-like gauntlets strapped down to their hands and forearms, and lightly armored helmets on their heads bearing a shell of dark midnight blue metal with a similarly made filtration mask set over their mouths and nose while their eyes were protected by twin black lenses. Judging from the grey camouflage Dahl SMG grasped in the Fighter's hands and the grey camouflage Dahl Anaconda holstered at his right hip, the Guardsmen had most likely paired up with Dahl.

Tagging another five Fighters as they wandered around the area in search of any bandits that might have taken to hiding, Naruto spotted two more units of different classifications and was starting to seriously wish he was on another planet. One was a Juggernaut and were justly named. Juggernauts were clad in heavy pitch black armor that covered their bodies from head to toe with a great number of mechanics added into the armor to assist in moving. They had an ankle-length cloak of dark midnight blue fabric hanging from their waist with a series of large pouches attached to it, two menacingly glowing red helm-lenses that peered out from the sunken-in sockets of their armored head coverings, and they almost always carried a minigun and a large number of grenades.

The other was a Rogue, special soldiers trained in the arts of sniping, assassination, torture and interrogation, scouting, infiltration, sabotage, deception, and a few more. They were a modern-day ninja, in Naruto's opinion. Like normal, this one was clad in grey camouflage pants tucked into black knee-high combat boots, a black long-sleeve turtleneck top, black gloves on his hands, a black apparatus strapped over his head that had three scope-like lenses jutting out a couple inches from his, and a baggy black hooded cloak over everything. Apart from the sniper rifle in his hands, Naruto couldn't see any other weapons, but he knew for damn sure that they had throwing knives, explosives, poisons, smoke grenades, and a variety of other things hidden all over their bodies.

"Son of a bitch...Six Fighters, a Rogue, and a Juggernaut?!" Naruto hissed under his breath, lowering the monocular as he sunk down behind the stone to keep hidden. "Fuck, man. I want that damn Praetorian, but this is ridiculous!"

'If I'm going to hit them, I need to hit them fast.' Naruto thought to himself, taking a deep breath before his mind started going through different scenarious, losing himself in his strategies. 'The first kill will have to be that Rogue; if he slips away, I'm a dead man even if I somehow take out the Juggernaut. The Fighters are easy kills. Second target is that Juggernaut, but how to kill him...Minigun, grenades, heavy armor...'

"Normally, I'd choose a Corrosive grenade, but I don't think it'll eat through his armor fast enough and I don't have any on me. Not only that, but the sun will be rising in a few hours." Naruto muttered to himself absently, tapping his fingers on his thigh. Suddenly, he stopped and a sadistic smirk slowly formed on his face beneath his mask. "Alright, boys. Here's the plan..."

xXx

"How long will it take to repair the truck?" Maya inquired, the blanket still wrapped around her body, as she walked up to Reina as the red head finished lifting the modified Technical truck off the ground with four bottle-jacks.

"Well, the driver side armor paneling is compromised, but nothing critical. Most of the damage can be fixed here, but the suspension will have to be repaired in a garage." Reina responded while stepping back and staring at the vehicle, rubbing the back of her neck in thought. "The guns and turret will be easy for us to repair, the wheels can be easily replaced along with the brake drums, and the leaks can be patched. I don't know about it being fully repaired, but we can at least fix it up so that its drivable. All in all, it'll be about another thirty-six hours, tops."

"That long?" Maya grumbled quietly, really wanting to take a hot shower and maybe have a few drinks before sleeping in a real bed. She may not act like it, but the Siren still liked having a few luxuries available to her. Hearing the taller woman's complaint, Reina couldn't help laughing.

"Trust me. Ya'll be experiencing more of this so long as you're with Naruto." Reina remarked with a grin, making Maya groan and bow her head in defeat. "He doesn't really like being around other people and some how keeps himself busy with bounties and other odd-jobs while he's out in the wild."

"So I've been told..." Maya muttered before shivering slightly as a cold breeze, pulling the blanket around herself all the tighter in an effort to stay comfortable. "Speaking of Naruto, do you know where he went?"

"Nope, sorry." The female mechanic responded while walking over to Timberwolf and peering into the engine housing, grimacing slightly before reaching in and doing something Maya couldn't see. Satisfied, Reina retrieved her hand and wiped the oil and grease off with a rag before continuing her response. "Knowing him, though, he's probably either looking for firewood, getting into trouble, or scouting the area."

"Alright. Thanks." Maya responded before making her way back towards the camp fire, adding a few more branches of dead wood to it. Now that she thought about it, they were getting kind of low on wood. Sitting down on the cot that Naruto had been lying on for the first few standard days of their time in the cave, Maya's train of thought instantly shifted over to the blonde. Maybe she should have been a bit more patient with him earlier. Sure, he had started to open up to her, if only slightly, but that didn't mean he would tell her everything.

'It also doesn't mean that he's actually attracted to me, either...' She thought synically with a slight frown, suddenly wondering where that thought had come from. Granted, he was more appealing in appearance than that idiot Axton, but...his manners and personality were, by far, the most hideous she had ever encountered. Almost quite literally, they were second only to the abundance of psychos scattered all throughout the planet. At least with Naruto, there was only just one of him.

Sighing and shoving those thoughts aside, Maya let out a low groan of boredom, worry, and mild annoyance as she leaned to the side and essentially fell over, half-way lying on the cot with her head resting on the surprisingly comfortable pillow. Idly wondering where Naruto had gone off to, Maya started to doze off a little...

xXx

Silently, Naruto snuck through the group of reinforced concrete buildings that had once been a bunker or something in the past. Waiting in the shadows of an open door, Naruto drew a knife with his right hand, holding it in a reverse grip as a Fighter, unaware of his presence, drew closer. Placing his left hand over the man's mouth to keep him from alerting the others, he quickly drove his knife into the man's neck, killing him almost instantly while dragging him into the room. Stashing him in one of the back rooms, Naruto yanked his knife free and wiped the blood off of it by using the dead soldier's jumpsuit, sheathing it a moment later. Creeping back over to the door way, Naruto kicked some unstained snow over the blood-stained ivory powder at the front of the door, glancing all around as he did.

'Okay, that makes three. They're going to start getting suspicious pretty soon with their men suddenly disappearing.' Naruto noted in his mind, practically whispering to himself in his own mind due to him concentrating so hard on staying hidden as much as physically possible. If only he had one of those cloaking device things like that weirdo Zero had...

Spotting two Fighters a little further down the road, Naruto froze for a split second before sinking deeper into the shadows, watching them. He couldn't hear them, but they seemed a bit nervous, probably due to the eerie silence of the cold night and the sudden lack of communication from three comrades already. Thanks to the HUD wirelessly linked with his neural network, Naruto knew that the two were out of sight of any other soldier. Reaching down, Naruto picked up a small pebble before throwing it as hard as he could, just barely making it past them. Turning with a slight start as the rock hit the ground a few meters away, both Fighters turned and started to cautiously approach the source of the noise.

'Idiots.' Naruto mumbled in his mind as he drew his swords in reverse grips, surging forward as fast as he could. Just as the two soldiers were taking their seventh step, Naruto had already closed the fifty meter gap between them, his eyes cold and apathetic as his blades caught the pale light of the moon. Swiftly passing between them as he swung his blades, Naruto kept running and sheathed his swords, dropping into a slide and slipping through a gap under a make-shift 'fence' of sheet metal. As he disappeared once more, the heads of both soldiers fell from their shoulders and hit the ground, their bodies following shortly after and spilling their crimson life-essence all over the pure, untainted snow.

Sliding for a few feet after slipping through the foot-tall space under the poorly-made fence, Naruto's right foot made contact with a metal sign post while his left fist pushed off the ground. Kicking off at the same time, Naruto managed to give himself just enough of a boost that he was able to grab onto the ledge of a balcony on the second floor of a building, quickly hauling himself up just moments before a Fighter turned onto the same street. Taking a moment to catch his breath, Naruto cautiously peered out and watched as the Guardsman came to a stop directly below him.

"..." Glancing around nervously, the Guardsman took his face-mask off and stashed it in a pocket before fishing out a pack of cigarettes. Lighting one up, the man took a long drag off of it, held it in for a moment, and then slowly let it out, a look of relief forming on his face. "That hit the spot...Urk!"

"Yes, it did..." Naruto whispered quietly, taking the man's cigarette from his hand while wrenching his knife free from the back of his neck, letting him collapse in a boneless heap. Wiping the blade free of blood on the man's uniform, Naruto sheathed the knife and pulled his mask down, inhaling a lungful of acrid smoke as he calmly walked into a nearby alley, mentally reminding himself that he still had a Rogue and a Juggernaut to deal with. He could already hear the distant whirring sound of the titan's minigun revving up, shortly followed by the slow and heavy foot falls of the behemoth. Normally, he might play around with the man for a moment, but the Rogue was still out there. If he wasn't careful, he'd be learning how to breathe through a hole in his forehead...

Taking one last drag, Naruto dropped the cigarette and stomped it out, exhaling before pulling his mask back up over his mouth and nose. Turning and walking in the opposite direction of the Juggernaut, Naruto had just turned the corner when he spotted the almost unnoticable glint of moonlight reflecting off a scope from the roof of a three-story building, his eyes widening with shock before he quickly jumped back into the alley, a bullet striking the stone wall just behind where his head had been a split second ago. Cursing his luck, Naruto quickly ran back out of the alley and slid behind the cover of a building directly across the street.

"Shit!" Naruto hissed, spotting the Juggernaut aiming his minigun down the alley and directly at him. Kicking down a door in front of him, Naruto barely made it inside before a volley of bullets ripped through the air behind him. Making his way for the stairs, Naruto ran up to the second floor and ran at a window, jumping at the last second. Crashing through it and the window directly across from it on the adjacent building, Naruto landed on his feet, only to lose his balance for a moment, prompting him to drop into a shoulder roll and hop right back to his feet. He hated dealing with 'Heavies' and snipers, especially when they're paired together.

THOOM-THOOM-THOOM-THOOM!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"You're fucking late!" Naruto snarled as he ran, making his way up to the third floor of the building, cursing his automatons for their poor sense of timing. Then again, he did give them orders to wait until they heard the sound of the Juggernaut's minigun before peppering the bastard with grenades through the use of guerilla tactics. Moving towards a window, Naruto kicked it to break the glass before using a knife to clear away any remaining glass along the edges. Glancing up above him and seeing the roof ledge just a meter above the window sill, Naruto retrieved a smoke grenade from a pocket on the side of his pant leg, only to set it and toss it up. Hissing out smoke as it spun around in place from the pressurized contents oozing out of it, Naruto gave it a couple seconds before jumping out of the window and planting his feet on the wall directly across from him, only to kick off while twisting his body, grabbing onto the ledge at the last second. Hauling himself up onto the roof, Naruto didn't waste a second and ran for the nearest point of cover, barely avoiding having his head shot off as another bullet ricocheted off an air conditioner unit.

"These fuckers are really starting to piss me off..." Naruto growled under his breath, unaware of the fact his 'Warlock' markings were starting to glow a faint red under his clothing nor the fact his eyes were starting to bleed into crimson. Drawing both of his TMPs, Naruto glanced at the spot where the bullet struck the air conditioner, quickly determining the Rogue's general location; three buildings South, one to the East, fourth floor. Taking a deep breath to ready himself, Naruto quickly ran out from cover, raising his left pistol and firing a brief volley at the sniper to buy him a couple moments.

"Tch...Wily bastard." The Rogue growled under his breath, forced to duck back behind the wall as the bullets rang out all around him, striking off of metal and burying themselves in concrete. Quickly slipping back out and taking aim, he unconciously compensated for the lack of line of sight on the target, only to frown slightly behind his mask. "Where did you go?"

For several moments, there was no sign of the man. The Juggernaut was still being harrassed further away out to the North-West by two unknown targets. Deciding it was no longer safe to stay where he was, the Rogue stood and turned around to leave, only to freeze. Standing before him was the target, a Vladov TMP aimed directly at the Rogue's face. Panting heavily, yet silently, Naruto narrowed his eyes at the man from behind his goggles.

"How did you-"

BANG!

"...None of your business, asshole..." Naruto growled before kicking the body over the balcony railing, watching the corpse tumbled in free-fall for a few moments before hitting the ground with a sickening crunch. In truth, not even Naruto knew how he did it. Somehow, everything around him seemed to slow down to a crawl, almost to the point of not even moving, while he himself continued to move at 'normal' speed. Whatever it was, though, it left him exhausted. Leaning back against the wall for a moment, Naruto quickly got his second wind before reaching under his 'skirt' and withdrawing a barb-tipped spike, only to suddenly drive it into the wall beside him and leap off the balcony, the thin cable screeching as he repelled down to the ground. Touching down, Naruto pressed the release switch on his belt buckle, resulting in the cable breaking off.

Drawing his other TMP, Naruto stalked down the streets towards the Juggernaut's location. It was only a few moments before he came to the sight of the heavily armored giant being backed up into a building, trying to limit where his enemies could attack him from and cancel out the threat of their grenade launchers at the same time. Whistling sharply for only a second, Naruto stalked towards the building, which was only a single floor home, while Spaz and Taz backed off. Coming to a stop at the corner of the building, Naruto raised his guns to shoulder height and took another deep breath, only to suddenly turn into the open doorway and take aim, unleashing bursts of gun fire from either gun in sequence as he calmly strafed to the right.

'Left, Right, Left, Right...' Naruto mentally commanded, remaining entirely focused on making the heavily armored soldier flinch continuously to keep him from utilizing his minigun; at such a close range, it would be devastating. Coming within only a few feet of the Juggernaut, Naruto's pistols clicked empty, making him curse and drop the guns before quickly drawing both of his knives and sprinting forward. Lunging at the man before he could recover, Naruto stabbed both blades into the incredibly narrow gap in the thick metal plates between the collar of his body armor and his helmet. Slicing through cables and mechanics, his knives finally met flesh, severing both his jugular vein and carotid artery at the same time while cutting a small gash into either side of his trachea. Bracing his foot against the Juggernaut's chest, Naruto kicked off the man's chest and ripped his knives from the man's throat, landing a bit awkwardly in the cramped space as the monstrous heavy weapon specialist clutched at his throat, having dropped his minigun as he fumbled around with the armor around his neck, unable to apply pressure to the wound in a feeble attempt to prolong his life.

"That's what you get for shooting at me, mother-fucker..." Naruto snarled savagely while sheathing his knives and retrieving his empty pistols, only to turn around and leave the building, heading straight for the Praetorian he had spotted earlier. A tiny notice popped up in his left eye and then another in his right, alerting him to the low battery life of the Hyena Brothers. Biting back another curse, Naruto whistled for the machines and thrust his hand out front of him, pointing his right index and middle finger at the Praetorian further up ahead. Without hesitation, all three of them ran for the truck...

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