Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Borderlands.

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Blood and Bullets

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Chapter Eight

"..." Naruto was quiet as he finally stepped out from the 'secret' door beside the Six-Shot's bouncer nearly two hours after sending Maya outside, his duffel bag slung across his back again. There was Maya, held by the back of her neck by the large man from earlier much like one would hold a kitten. Scattered all around the room were several unconscious men. Sighing heavily, Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose. "What'd you do this time?"

"Tell him to let me go, first..." Maya grumbled as she dangled from the man's hand, feeling rather humiliated by the fact she was helpless against the guy and that her feet were roughly six inches off the ground.

"Alright, Nicolai. Set her down." Naruto ordered quietly, more annoyed with Maya than anything. Immediately, the one known as Nicolai dropped Maya, who stumbled slightly before whipping around and giving the man a scathing glare that only made him roll his eyes. He stood at 6'8" with short and messy snow white hair, tanned skin, and sharp dark blue eyes. While he was quite muscular, his build was more lean in appearance than bulk, but he was far from being small. He was clad in baggy black pants held up with a black leather belt while the leggings were tucked into black combat boots and a storage device strapped to the side of his right thigh, his torso clothed in a black sleeveless top with white panels on the sides that hugged his upper body like a second skin, and black leather fingerless gloves on his hands that had silver metal caps on the knuckles. He didn't talk much, but then again, he tended to solve problems a lot easier with his fists than he did with words. "Now, what happened?"

"Well...A couple of them started hitting on me, one got a bit more 'hands-on', and I got mad..." Maya answered a bit casually while dusting herself off, throwing Nicolai another glare. Naruto sighed and looked back towards the men Maya had knocked out.

"So you beat the shit out of all of them?" Naruto inquired, making Maya a little sheepish in response. "I can understand smacking around the one that put his hands on you, but ten of them? Really, Maya?"

"I only kicked him in the nuts to teach him a lesson in respect, but then his buddies-" Maya's arguement was cut short when Nicolai snorted and crossed his arms over his chest.

"She didn't give them the chance to back off. She just started pounding on the others without warning." Nicolai answered, smirking slightly at Naruto. "I have to admit, she's a fiesty one, that's for sure."

"Tattle-tale..." Maya mumbled with a huff, crossing her arms over her chest as she pouted childishly. Rolling his eyes at Maya's sudden case of immaturity, Naruto led the Siren back to his truck. As they got in, Naruto put his keys in the ignition, but didn't turn the Titan on. Instead, he put his hand on the duffel bag beside him and glanced over at Maya.

"So...What'll it be? Are you in or out?" Naruto asked seriously, making Maya frown slightly and stare at the dashboard in front of her in thought. "If you don't want to join, I'll still come around to visit when I can, but I won't be able to tell you what I'm doing. I can't risk any information being leaked out to the Guardsmen."

"...Will you at least drop me off back at Sanctuary?" Maya asked quietly. Naruto sighed softly as he started up the truck, nodding in response. Maya couldn't take it any longer and a snicker slipped out before it became full-blown laughter, confusing Naruto. Before he could say anything, Maya crossed the cab and smashed her lips against his in a passionate kiss. "I'm not going anywhere without you...but I still want to stop by Sanctuary."

"You can be such a bitch sometimes, you know that? Playing tricks with a man's heart...That's so not cool..." Naruto grumbled in complaint while backing out of the garage and pulling out of the main gate to the town of Iron Sands. Maya let another snicker slip out. He then shoved the bag towards her.

"What's this?" Maya asked out loud curiously even as she opened the bag and looked inside. She cocked an eye brow in confusion. "What the hell? Armor? New clothes? You knew I was going to join, didn't you?"

"No, but you can't blame me for hoping. Since we'll be getting into more dangerous situations than what you might be familiar with, I decided to get you some new gear. Plus, it'll keep others from recognizing you right away, which will help throw the Guardsmen off your trail if they try to look for you, being a Siren and all." Naruto answered, getting a cautious look from Maya. Glancing at her out of the corner of his eye as he shifted gears, Naruto rolled his eyes again. "They're looking for another Vault, Maya. That means, they need a Siren to open it. Which reminds me, I need to warn Lilith when we get back to Sanctuary."

"Why don't you just call her? It'll be faster." She suggested, only for Naruto to shake his head.

"The Guardsmen have already tapped the ECHO Network, listening in on everyone's calls for anything important. That's why the Storm Raiders don't use the ECHO Network or use the FT Network to get around. It only makes it easier for the Guardsmen to track our movements." Naruto explained while Maya pointed up at the sky, wordlessly referring to the satellites orbiting the planet. "Trust me, Maya. We've got our bases covered. Each vehicle owned and used by the Storm Raiders has a special jammer that makes us invisible to any kind of orbital sensors, even my own. Only planet-side sensors can pick us up and none of them have a long enough range to track us properly."

"Oh..." Maya muttered while zipping the bag up again as Naruto pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

"Stupid crank-operated windows..." He grumbled as he cracked the window a little bit, cursing Scooter for not making them automatic. Giggling slightly at how he was behaving as she lifted the bag and set it behind the seat, Maya suddenly smirked out of seductive mischief as she decided to mess with Naruto again. Kicking her shoes off and sliding across the bench, Maya kissed Naruto's cheek, getting a smile out of him. Then she leaned down...

'Oh, damn...' Naruto thought to himself, struggling to keep his mind focused on driving the Titan...

xXx

"Hey, Naruto?" Maya spoke up cautiously as they neared Sanctuary, having made herself comfortable by lying across the bench-seat with her head resting in Naruto's lap. Getting a slight grunt from Naruto in response, Maya continued, though she couldn't blame him for not actually putting effort into saying any real words; he was tired, having driven further between stops than he did on the way out there. "If you don't want to answer, you don't have to and I don't mean to upset you or anything, but...Why did you threaten your leader when she said that you're sister might still be alive?"

"..." Naruto was quiet for several minutes before he finally answered. "Out of everyone that was killed on the night me and my family were attacked...my sister's body was the only one that was never recovered. I spent the first year after that night searching for her, thinking that she might have been alive still. Most of my leads turned out to be traps set by my enemies and others just turned out to be wild goose chases..."

"I'm sorry to hear that..." Maya whispered softly while reaching up and gently caressing his cheek and neck. Naruto only sighed softly and kissed the palm of her hand.

"Don't worry about it. After we get to Sanctuary, we'll stay for a little bit to get some proper rest before heading for Sawtooth Cauldron." Naruto answered calmly, before frowning slightly. "If she really is alive...I won't stop until my sister is safe."

"I know you won't, Naruto. And neither will I..." Maya commented sincerely, smiling softly up at him. As they settled back into a comfortable silence, Maya started thinking about something. "Hey, Naruto? How much longer until we reach Sanctuary?"

"About another four hours. Why?" Naruto responded, glancing down at Maya, who only smiled warmly at him.

"I wanted to see if I had enough time to take a nap. That's all." She replied before rolling onto her side and closing her eyes. Naruto could only shake his head with a slight smirk. She was starting to get lazy...

xXx

"Ooh...That feels great..." Naruto grunted out as Maya massaged his back while he was lying face down on the bed. Rolling her eyes with a smirk, the Siren kept working at a knot in his lower back with her thumbs, getting another muffled groan of approval.

"You know, it's your own fault. You didn't have to drive for so long. You could have found a spot to park so that you could relax a little." Maya admonished, making Naruto snort slightly before groaning again as Maya got rid of the knot. "I'm serious, Naruto. You need to be more careful."

"But that takes all the fun out of it..." Naruto whined childishly, grunting with a playful smirk on his face when Maya lightly smacked him on the back of his head.

"I don't know what I'm going to do with you..." She mumbled with a slight shake of her head, though she couldn't stop herself from grinning at his antics.

"Drop me off at the pound?" He was rewarded with another smack on the back of his head, this one causing him to whine again. "Oww...You're so abusive..."

"OH! You jackass, I'll show you 'abusive'!" Maya snapped back, only to accidentally squeal in surprise when Naruto suddenly rolled over with her still on top of him. Falling on her side, Maya was about to get back up when Naruto pinned her hands to the bed above her head and laid down on top of her with her legs on either side of him to keep her from kicking him, using all of his weight to keep her still. As she tried to somehow get the blonde off of her, Maya couldn't help laughing a little. "Get off of me! You're heavy!"

"Oh, that's rich coming from the woman that says she only weighs a hundred and ten pounds." Naruto retorted teasingly, smirking the whole time while Maya stared at him with mortified shock before giving him a glare that dared him to continue his taunt. Unfortunately for her, she hadn't quite figured out how stupidly bold Naruto really was. "I still think you weigh closer to a buck-twenty-five."

"Ah! You asshole! I do not!" Maya spat while struggling to break free just so that she could hit him for the comment about her weight. "You take that back!"

"Aw...You're so cute when you get mad." Naruto teased further, making Maya blush heavily before fighting even harder to free her hands.

"Take it back or you're not getting any for the next month!" Maya growled as she glared up at him more angrily, only to close her eyes and groan as she leaned her head back, instinctually pressing her hips against Naruto's as he started grinding against her. "Ooooh...That is so not faaaiiir..."

"Who said I fought fair?" Naruto questioned with a grin before leaning down and kissing the blue haired woman under him, making her moan softly and melt into the liplock. Wrapping her legs around Naruto's waist and locking her ankles together, Maya, clad in only her leotard at the moment, held him in place as she parted her lips to give Naruto's tongue access to her mouth. Before they could get any further, however, there was a knock on the door...

"Damn it!" Maya hissed angrily, not in the mood for interruptions at the moment. She had managed to restrain herself the entire ride back from Iron Sands, apart from early on in the trip, and she had been planning on keeping her blonde haired lover to herself for the next day or two to 'catch up'.

"Mm...Ignore them. They'll go away..." Naruto mumbled before kissing her again. A moment later, though, the person knocked again. No longer amused, Maya managed to break free and push Naruto off of her.

"I swear to god, this better be fucking important or I'm going to shoot whoever is behind that door..." She growled as she pulled her pants back on. Naruto had thought she was joking up until she grabbed her Aegis and started stomping over to the front door. Hastily chasing after her to stop her from actually shooting anyone, Naruto tripped and hit the floor before he could even take two steps away from the bed. Throwing the door open with one hand while training her pistol on the person with the other, Maya glared at the 'unwelcome visitor'. Until she saw just who it was. "Wait...Gaige?"

"Uh...Can you, like, not point that thing at me?" The young woman mumbled, her hands held up in surrender as she stared at the pistol resting directly in front of her face. Sighing in relief as Maya put the gun down on a shelf, Gaige stepped into the apartment. "Geez...I don't see you for two years and you start pulling guns on me."

"Well, uh...You kind of interrupted something..." Maya mumbled too quietly for the younger female to hear, only for Naruto to walk out into the living room. And stop, looking a little confused.

"Maya? Who's this guy? He's pretty hot..." Gaige questioned and then remarked, getting a slightly sheepish grin from Naruto while Maya couldn't decide who to glare at; Gaige, for the comment, or Naruto, who had decided to leave the room shirtless.

"That's Naruto...My boyfriend..." The Siren growled out at the nineteen year old. The reaction was instant. Gaige immediately turned her gaze to the wall, whistling innocently as she stuffed her hands in her pockets.

Standing at 5'4", Gaige had decided to change her hairstyle from pig-tails to being kept loose and had grown it out so that her hair now fell past her shoulder blades. She was dressed in a dark crimson tank top with a low-cut collar that showed off the cleavage of her C-cup bust and left her flat stomach and slim waist visible while a black skull in a white cog decorated the front of her shirt, a studded dark maroon leather collar around her throat with a golden buckle on it that had a bright green crystal hanging from it on a three-inch long piece of chain, a dark crimson leather glove on her right hand that left only her index finger, thumb, and pinky uncovered while her middle and ring fingers were sheathed in dark maroon cloth, a pair of black 'Daisy Dukes' short-shorts with a dark red leather belt and gold belt buckle, black and red stripped thigh-high socks on her legs with heavy black knee-high women's combat boots on her feet, and a pair of goggles on her head with green lenses and dark red frames on a black elastic band. Her mechanical left arm looked more advanced than it had been when Maya had last seen her, now sporting polished chrome-plated metal instead of the old dull grey it used to be.

"Um..." Naruto mumbled as he pointed back towards the bed room, not really knowing what to say at the moment. He simply disappeared back into the room when Maya glared at him.

"What are you doing here, kid?" Maya questioned as she slumped into the couch while Gaige sat down at other end.

"I was in the neighborhood and figured I'd come pay a visit?" Gaige replied uncertaintly with a cheeky grin. Maya's unflinching stare made the young woman laugh nervously and fidget. It took only a couple short minutes of staring at her to make Gaige break. "Okay, okay! I heard about this chick out in Sawtooth with a huuge bounty on her head called the Bloody Queen and I wanted to know if you'd come with me."

They both jumped in startlement when Naruto reappeared, holding the tip of one of his swords to Gaige's throat with narrowed eyes, once more clad in his shirt.

"Naruto, what are-" She didn't get to finish as Naruto turned his cold stare onto her for a moment, only to look back at Gaige, who was actually rather nervous. Dethtrap was too big to fit in the room and she hadn't brought any of her guns, so if she got in a fight with the blonde, she was screwed...

"The Bloody Queen...will not be touched until I'm done with her." Naruto stated quietly and calmly, though his tone held an icy bite to it that made Maya shiver just hearing it while Gaige was starting to sweat. The look in Naruto's eyes was enough to let the Mechromancer know that he wasn't playing around. "Do you understand?"

"Y-Yeah..." The young woman squeaked out before sighing in relief once Naruto removed his sword from her neck, sheathing it a moment later. After Naruto grabbed the rest of his things and disappeared back into the bedroom, Maya sighed softly before turning to Gaige.

"I'm sorry about that, kid. We just found out that she might know something about his sister. He's believed that she's been dead for the past ten years, but he never found her body..." Maya explained quietly while trying to calm the young woman down. "He just wants to be sure, is all..."

"N-No, no...It's okay...I didn't know." The red head replied while rubbing her neck where the blade had been a hair's breadth from touching her skin. She had felt as if she'd cut herself just from looking at the sword's edge for too long. After excusing herself for a moment, Maya went to the bedroom and quietly shut the door behind her before glaring at Naruto as he started putting his boots on.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Naruto?" She hissed at him quietly, trying not to be too loud. "I understand you're upset about your sister, but you can't just take it out on others like that! She didn't know anything about this!"

"..." Naruto was quiet for a moment as he finished putting his boots on before sighing quietly. "It might seem easy to you, but being alone all the time has made it rather difficult for me when it comes to my emotions, alright? I'll apologize to her later, but I meant what I said..."

"God damn it, Naruto. She's just a kid. She's not even twenty, yet. You can't just go around threatening people like that." Maya whispered as she knelt down in front of him, gently holding his hands in her own. "I might not know what it's like to have lived such a harsh life as you did, but still...She's a good friend of mine, Naruto. She's like a little sister to me. Promise me that you'll behave yourself from now on? Please?"

"...No guarantees, but...I'll do my best." Naruto responded quietly with a sigh. Smiling slightly with appreciation, Maya leaned up a little and gave him a quick peck on the lips. Squeezing his hands gently as she stood, Maya left the room. Sighing once more, Naruto grabbed his body armor and slipped it on over his head before adjusting the straps and latches that held it in place. 'Great...Another crazy female to deal with for who knows how long...'

"Okay, Gaige, here's the deal. We were already planning on heading out to Sawtooth to find the Bloody Queen." Maya started explaining her proposal. "If she turns out to be a dead end, we'll go ahead and split the bounty fifty-fifty. If she's not, then...We'll just have to take it from there. Okay?"

"Yeah...I guess." Gaige sighed out with a pout, propping her cheek on her metal fist as she slumped over onto the arm rest. "Maaan, I was going to get so many new parts for Dethtrap with all of that money, too..."

"Oh, quit complaining. Besides, you aren't the only one with a mechanical companion." Maya replied with a smirk, which only grew when Gaige gave her a confused look...

xXx

"Oh...My...God...They are so awesome!" Gaige exclaimed energetically as she stared at Spaz and Taz. After a minute or two of negotiations with Naruto, Maya managed to convince him to 'show off' a little with them. She wasn't really looking forward to her end of the deal, though. Naruto rolled his eyes before patting the two hyena-machines on their shoulders, wordlessly prompting them to deploy their turrets. Gaige was on the verge of drooling when they did, however. "Where did you get these guys? They're so amazing! And incredibly well-built, too."

"The people that made them were going to decommission them since there was a volatile flaw in their programming, but I rescued them and put them back together." Naruto answered before tapping their shoulders to make the two automatons put their turrets away, only to whistle and tap the truck bed to the Titan, causing both machines to jump up and situate themselves in the back. Deactivating the pair, Naruto shut the doors. "I'm curious, though. Maya said that your...Dethrap...is stored with a digistruct device. Think you can rig a couple of them up for the Hyena Brothers?"

"Yeah, it shouldn't be too hard. I usually charge for labor and the parts, but since you're Maya's boyfriend, I'll only charge you for the parts. Sound cool?" Gaige offered, getting a nod from Naruto, though he was mentally groaning. His funds were starting to run short again after paying Scooter almost three hundred grand for the Titan and another hundred to Marcus for his Striker shotgun. Then there was the extra hundred for enough ammunition for the Titan to refill it four times over. He'll have to go hunting soon to replenish at least a little of the money he had lost.

"Alright. Everybody, load up." Naruto called out to the two women as he climbed into the Titan after opening both of the driver side doors so that Gaige could get in. Once her door was shut, he closed his own and put the keys in the ignition. The whole time, Gaige could only stare at the interior of the cab with wonder, honestly amazed by the quality of materials it was furnished in. The seats were upholstered in comfortable heavy duty fabrics made to withstand a lot of wear-and-tear along with the ceiling, the floors were designed to be an easy-clean no matter what they were dirtied with, and there was even a gun rack in the back window, which bore the original two-shot Jakobs brand shotgun once used by the deceased Sledge. As 'luxurious' as it was, the interior was designed for rough use and made to last.

"Oh, hey...Cup holders." Gaige pointed out innocently, only for Naruto to suddenly lean back and look over the seat to find that there were indeed cup holders built into the side of the rear doors. Looking forward and glancing around the front of the cab, Naruto cursed, smacking the steering wheel with the heel of his palm as he did.

"Shit! Fuckin' Scooter...He put cup holders in the back, but not the front!" Naruto complained, getting a snicker from Gaige and a slight laugh from Maya. Starting up the Titan, Naruto threw the truck in reverse and floored the gas, whipping the truck around before putting it back in first gear and flooring the gas once more.

"Damn it, Naruto! What'd I say about driving more carefully?!" Maya spat after practically peeling herself off of the door beside her with Gaige hauling herself off the floor in the back, having been caught off guard.

"Remember the rules, Maya! First-timers!" Naruto replied with a rather manic laugh, which made Gaige pale at the thought while Maya groaned as she palmed her face with one hand, having forgotten about Naruto's so-called 'rules'. First-timers always got a 'crash-course' lesson in 'self-restraint' since he didn't have any form of seat belts in his truck, apart from the harness for the front passenger, who was put in charge of manning the turret controls...

xXx

"Naruto...What are we doing back out in the Tundra Express?" Maya asked cautiously while Naruto narrowed his eyes. "What happened to going to Sawtooth?"

"I thought it was about time to return the favor to those bastards that fucked up my old truck..." Naruto growled out as he pressed the button on the steering wheel that caused the dashboard to open up and reveal the control consoles for the Titan. Gaige could only stare in wonder from the back seat, though she was jealous that Maya got to sit up front with what looked like controls for the turret. She wanted to shoot up some baddies, too...

"Hell, yeah! I'm all for senseless chaos!" The anarchistic mechanic cheered from her spot, which only made Maya sigh with frustration.

"Shut up, Gaige. You're not helping..." Maya groaned as she glared at the console in front of her, having not really taken the time to read the instruction manual for the turret controls. "You can't be serious, Naruto. I thought you already killed those bandits."

"Yeah, but they were only a raiding party. I'm going for the heart of them, this time." Naruto replied as he reached over and flipped a switch that caused the armored slats to fold down while the rocket launchers rolled out in the back. The holographic HUD flickered into sight on the inside of the windshield as he drove around the corner of an icy cliff wall, revealing a large collection of garages, bandit-owned vehicles, and groupings of shed-like huts that the bandits lived in. Already locking on to numerous targets with his rockets, Naruto fired them before pressing the button-triggers to the hood-mounted guns. "Take this, you fuckin' maggots!"

"Holy shit!" Gaige exclaimed with pure awe, watching as dozens of the make-shift structures were destroyed by the many rockets while the vehicles parked outside were chewed up by the hood-mounted guns. Holding onto the back of the front bench for her life as Naruto whipped the truck into a ninety degree turn at almost a hundred miles an hour, Gaige could only grin with excitement while Maya brought the turret online and took aim, firing a continuous stream of large calibur rounds into the buildings as they passed by them. While coming around for another pass, dozens of Outriders and Technicals poured out from the remaining garages, some just plowing through the flimsy metal doors instead of waiting for them to open. "WHOO! This is so awesome!"

By the time she finished her statement, which was drowned out amongst the deafening bellow of heavy artillery and the Titan's engine, Naruto had already locked onto the vehicles and unleashed two full salvos of rockets with one of each of the four dozen self-targeting projectiles locking onto a single vehicle with the second volley following them up to finish them off completely. Not wanting to waste all of the rockets, he had them fold back into the truck before suddenly turning the wheel and yanking on the E-brake, causing the back end to swing around and smash into the left 'arm' of an Outrider, crushing the not-so-sturdy front support while sending the lighter vehicle spinning and flipping into a Technical's explosive barrel, destroying it instantly.

The sudden turn had lined him up perfectly with a Technical that had been behind them, only for it to hit the plow on the front of the Titan and flip onto its side, sliding a few dozen meters before an Outrider slammed into its exposed under belly, having not seen it when it made to pass behind the Titan. Laughing hysterically in the back seat at the sheer carnage the blonde was reaping, Gaige kept looking around at the holographic display that lined all four walls of the cab, showing everything around them for a full three-hundred-sixty degrees with no blind spots from the truck's design. Slamming on the gas after putting the truck in reverse, Naruto smashed into the crashed Outrider behind him before yanking on the E-brake again to spin back around, batting aside another Outrider with the front end, all while Maya was trying to compensate for her boyfriend's erratic driving as she targeted one vehicle after another.

"Argh! Fuck!" Naruto cursed as he was jarred from a Technical t-boning the Titan on the driver side, hitting his head on the window beside him. He hated them, but he was starting to think that harnesses would be a good idea for all of the seats instead of just one. At least there were, as he affectionately called them, 'Oh, shit!' handles mounted to the ceiling, but they didn't really help with heavy impacts like that. Slamming on the gas to pull away from the Technical, Naruto spun the Titan back around and plowed into the side of the Technical that hit him, flipping it over onto its side, only to throw the truck in reverse and spin back around, pressing down on the triggers again to chew up an Outrider that tried a drive-by on him with someone manning the machine gun turret, the smaller calibur bullets bouncing off the Titan's armor harmlessly while the lighter vehicle was ripped apart by the armor piercing rounds.

"Damn it, Naruto! Pay attention next time! I can't get them all on my own when they're all around us like this!" Maya yelled over the noise before calling out to Gaige behind her without looking away from the screen in front of her. "You okay back there, kiddo?!"

"Ow...Y-Yeah...I'm good." Gaige mumbled as she pulled herself off of the floor once again, half tempted to just stay there, but didn't. Cursing incoherently as he maneuvered through the circling horde of vehicles, Naruto managed to get out from the center of the bandit-driven Outriders and Technicals, only to bring the rockets to bear once more, his right hand already flying across the touch-screen console as he spun the truck back around, firing off another two salvos of rockets to take out the last of the wheeled opponents after getting a lock on them. Laughing a little insanely once more as he deactivated the rockets once more to keep them from getting ruined, Naruto put the truck into sixth gear while barreling towards the last handful of Technicals and Outriders, the hood-mounted cannons blazing once again.

The lead vehicle, a Technical with a catapult turret mount, was the first to go, causing two Outriders to clip it and wreck, only for Naruto to slam right into the flaming carcass of the Technical and send it flying off to the side. Between the hood-mounted guns and the turret, the last seven or eight vehicles were easily destroyed. Pulling on the E-brake once more and turning the wheel to the left, Naruto brought the Titan to a sliding hault. Putting the consoles away, Naruto moved before Maya could try to beat him up for putting her through hell again and kissed her. Although melting into the kiss, Maya wasn't as distracted by it as Naruto had hoped she would be, quickly punching him in the stomach.

"Oof!" Naruto grunted out from the force while Maya cradled her hand, her knuckles hurting from hitting his body armor. "What was that for?"

"You know why, you asshole!" Maya snarled as she started fighting with the harness to get out of it, only for the blonde to pin her hands to the seat like he had done before, only this time he had moved all the way over to her side and in front of her.

"You might want to close your eyes, girl. This might get ugly." Naruto commented jokingly to Gaige before leaning down and kissing Maya, the red head simply blushing while ducking down behind the bench. Once again, Naruto's plan didn't quite succeed as Maya, still putting up a half-hearted fight to break free, accidentally kicked him between his legs. He instantly slumped forward while one hand went to his abused testicles. "Oow..."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, baby! I didn't mean to do that." Maya sincerely apologized as she wrapped her arms around his neck and shoulders, kissing the side of his head as she let him lean against her, but the laughter in her voice and the sheepish grin on her lips canceled it out. His response was a weak and muffled 'bullshit' as he stayed where he was for a moment.

"Um, guys?" Gaige mumbled out worriedly as she looked outside, watching as several bandits started running out towards them. "I don't mean to interrupt your little moment or whatever, but...we've got company."

After climbing back over to the driver side of the cab, Naruto opened the door while his Striker digistructed into his hands. Just as he shouldered the rifle while getting out, a bullet slammed into his chest, knocking him back from the unexpected force. Before Maya could freak out, thinking that he had been hurt or killed, Naruto grumbled a number of obscenitites while dragging himself back to his feet, tossing the shotgun onto the seat while reaching over and grabbing his sheathed swords, drawing them without taking the sheathes with him. Both Maya and Gaige were shocked when Naruto vanished in a flash of red light, only to reappear in front of the one that shot him, beheading the bandit in the same moment before vanishing once more.

"What...?" Was all Maya could manage to get out as she watched Naruto Phasewalk all across the area, slaying one bandit after another with incredible speed and precision. Gaige, also rendered speechless, stared from her spot in the back seat as the hot blonde turned out to be some sort of Siren-like badass...

xXx

"How long have you been able to do that?" Maya questioned firmly while glaring at Naruto as they made their way back to the Titan after looting everything from the bandit hideout. Swords sheathed behind his waist and Striker back in his hands, Naruto muttered something under his breath that she didn't catch while rubbing the side of his neck, looking off to the side.

"Since the last time we were out in this area..." Naruto mumbled out, knowing he was on the verge of getting his ass chewed out.

"And you didn't think to tell me about it?!" Maya growled out. "Who else knows you can do that?"

"Um...Gaige? The bandits I killed while doing it?" Naruto offered a bit sarcastically, only to duck down to avoid the energy-coated fist that was swung at his head. "Stop trying to hit me, damn it! That shit hurts!"

Laughing at their antics, Gaige watched them from further back. She just might stick around for awhile, finding the pair to be quite entertaining to watch...

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